Is Trump Really a Ratings Bonanza For Newsmax – His New Favorite Network?
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Two months into 2022 and we have so far had two rallies by former President Donald Trump – neither of which were aired on the three major cable news networks, including Fox News.
More pro-Trump networks like Newsmax and OAN have been all too happy to fill the void. Newsmax has touted its boost in the ratings during both rallies, spawning media coverage and speculation that Fox may “ultimately follow their audience” – as conservative commentator Charlie Sykes told the Washington Post.
However, while Newsmax is scoring big from Trump rallies, his most recent appearance on the network was a total dud. Trump’s interviews on the network offer a counterpoint to the narrative that his base may eventually dictate coverage.
Newsmax boasted on its website that the network pulled in 2.9 million total viewers during Trump’s Jan. 15 Saturday night rally in Arizona, which was enough to surge past CNN and MSNBC in the ratings, but not enough to top Fox.
Notably, Newsmax reported that their viewership for the Arizona rally was a 40% increase from Trump’s previous rally in Iowa on Oct. 9. Following the success of the Arizona rally, Newsmax reported last week that Trump’s Jan. 29 rally in Texas also brought in 2.9 million cable viewers.
Newsmax added that though it “is carried in 20 million fewer homes than Fox, total audience impressions for both networks during Trump’s speech was almost at parity, both drawing around 1.4 million viewers per minute, according to Nielsen.”
Trump sent out a statement highlighting the ratings bump on Newsmax, a network he has favored since losing the 2020 presidential election, as its coverage has promoted his claims the election was stolen.
While the rallies have undoubtedly given Newsmax a boost, Trump’s Feb. 2nd appearance on the network didn’t seem to move the needle at all.
Trump’s interview with Robert Schmitt brought in only 220,000 total viewers and 33,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. While Schmitt’s audience almost doubled the previous hour, it still landed his show in fifth place on the network for the day.
Robert Schmitt Tonight trailed Eric Bolling, Grant Stinchfield, Sean Spicer, and Greg Kelly in terms of total viewers and in the demo.
Fox’s Laura Ingraham, who competes against Schmitt at 10 p.m., brought in ten times the viewers in the demo with 371,000.
While one certainly can’t outright compare an interview to a rally, given the differing scale and promotion ahead of time, the dynamic surrounding Trump’s rallies will be an interesting one going forward.
Trump is expected to hold about two rallies a month through the midterms and while the main cable networks didn’t broadcast his last two rallies live, they covered the headlines out of them relentlessly.
Trump is still a mainstay, at least in terms of mentions, on all three major networks – and Trump still regularly calls into Fox News shows like Hannity.
Fox, for its part, continues to dominate the cable news industry at the moment and simply may be avoiding carrying the rallies as it wants to stake out a more neutral standing going into the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told The Washington Post of his decision to cover the rallies, saying, “We can’t speak to Fox News’ decisions, but we believe this rally was a significant news event that was worthy of coverage.”
“Newsmax treated the Texas rally like a Super Bowl, with pre-game coverage and postgame analysis from Bill O’Reilly and Ben Carson — both former Fox News personalities — as well as an on-screen poll asking viewers whether they want Trump to run again,” the Post’s Jeremy Barr wrote of Newsmax’s coverage.
The sheer length of a Trump rally may also explain why Fox is not airing them as they do not want to take away multiple hours from regular programming, which often beats out prime time broadcast shows like Survivor and Big Brother.
As the 2022 and even the 2024 election cycles heat up, covering Trump, who is still arguably the de facto leader of the GOP, will undoubtedly pose dilemmas for media executives, newsrooms, and reporters across the country.
How right-leaning media will choose to cover Trump is particularly interesting as outlets are competing both to retain right-leaning viewers and grow their audience, goals which may prove to be mutually exclusive in the current political climate.
Just how willing Fox News will be to allow Newsmax, especially as OAN is about to be dropped by its biggest distributor, to be the primary source for Trump rallies and appearances on cable is another big question. One which will undoubtedly in part be answered by the staying power of the audiences tuning into Trump’s rallies on Newsmax and whether or not Newsmax can bring any of those viewers back to watch its regular programming.
For Fox, however, Trump’s call into Fox & Friends this past Saturday offers a pretty clear indication. The 8 a.m. hour of Fox & Friends, which Trump called into, pulled in 1.8 million viewers. The 9 a.m. hour then grew to 1.9 million, a pretty clear indication that Fox viewers are coming for Fox content, not for Trump. Something that can’t be said for Newsmax.
