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While the term “mainstream media” is often used as shorthand by conservative pundits as a way to talk about what they see as liberal bias in legacy media, the term misses the mark by a vast margin. That’s because the most influential outlet in the political media ecosystem offers a decidedly conservative and pro-Trump point of view: Fox News.
Since the 2024 election took place on Nov. 5, the top 500 most-watched cable news shows aired on Fox News, revealing just how dominant a voice it has become in US politics. The first non-Fox News show to show up in cable news ratings from Nov. 6-Jan. 14? CNN’s Election Day America, which showed up at spot 507.
According to Nielsen, Fox News Channel commanded the TOP 400 cable telecasts in December. That’s the 400 top airings in all of cable for December. Another network doesn’t appear on the ranker until 401 — a spot which went to MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show.
And if you look at
With some notable exceptions, Fox News has been the top-rated cable news outlet for almost every month over the past two decades. Over the last few years, Fox News’ viewer base has been significantly larger than all other cable news outlets — MSNBC, CNN, NewsNation, and Newsmax — combined.
Consider the outsized influence that a cable news megaphone has on America’s domestic politics and the nonstop criticism of the Biden administration and praise of Trump’s nationalist MAGA positions. It’s almost shocking that the 2024 election result was as close as it was. However, Biden’s disastrous debate performance revealed a significant decline, which led to calls for him to bow out; giving Vice President Kamala Harris a shorter campaign window are significant variables that merit mention.
Again, Fox News has been a dominant
This is not a phenomenon that is unique to cable news. Anyone who has had to watch their favorite team lose a championship game in a rout knows that you rarely watch a game to the bitter end — nor does one stay tuned in to watch the other team celebrate. On the other hand, in 2022, I stayed up into the wee hours watching the post-nattty press conference featuring my beloved Kansas Jayhawks after they defeated North Carolina. I couldn’t get enough, so I stayed tuned in.
We saw this in 2021: CNN benefited from a raft of significant news events to be the top-rated cable news network in January. MSNBC was the most-watched cable news network in the first quarter of 2021. Fox News was on a historic run in last place. But the reports of Fox News death were premature, and the pivot to a critical voice under a Democratic administration? It turns out to be a remarkably successful and lucrative value proposition. By December 2021, “Fox News
This is encouraging news for Fox News competitors, especially MSNBC, who will almost certainly take a similar oppositional view to the second Trump term that Fox News did with the last four years under Biden.
This does raise a question of how Fox News will pivot in its coverage — will viewers continue to hear how bad the economy is, and how crime is taking over the streets with smartphone-shot videos of New York Subway crimes broadcast on the regular? If the crime comes from a “blue” state or city, then probably. But we should expect to hear a lot less grievance and complaints about how America is a complete and total mess now that Trump has taken office. A lot of massive problems will magically disappear in terms of cable news coverage, suggesting that the massive problems weren’t THAT big of a deal all along.
No one is suggesting Fox News will fall off during the second Trump term — the pro-Trump network effectively navigated the first Trump term as the ratings-dominant cable news outlet. Still, a predictable pivot in coverage could actually abate the partisan division, and dare I say, make America great again? I’m not holding my breath.