News ratings rose on February 28 with the start of military strikes against Iran, and have remained above their usual levels in the nearly two weeks since then.
The three largest cable news channels — Fox News, MS Now and CNN — are running ahead of their seasonal averages so far in prime time. Smaller outlets like Newsmax and NewsNation also rose. Year-to-year comparisons are a bit more complicated, in part due to the timing of President Donald Trump’s two recent addresses to Congress.
The war began with early morning (US time) strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28, and satellite news coverage throughout the day resulted in viewing levels far higher than on a typical Saturday. Fox News drew nearly 3 million full-day viewers — the most Saturday viewers in 23 years — and nearly 4 million viewers in prime time. CNN and MS Now also exceeded 1 million viewers most of the day, which is rare for them on weekends.
For the week of March 2, Fox News Channel attracted 3.11 million viewers in prime time (more than ABC and NBC), 31 percent above its previous average for the 2025-2026 season. MS Now averaged 1.35 million viewers, up 36 percent compared to the previous period of the season. CNN’s 1.05 million viewers improved 59 percent. At the bottom of the rankings, Newsmax’s 242,000 prime-time viewers and NewsNation’s 206,000 viewers were up 22 percent and 60 percent compared to their season averages through March 1.
Year-over-year comparisons are unfavorable for cable news, as the first full week of March 2025 included Trump’s address to Congress, while this year’s State of the Union address was on February 24. Comparing the two weeks of presidential speeches to each other, Fox News was flat (3.95 million this year vs. 3.94 million in 2025), while MS Now (1.43 million vs. 1.18 million) and CNN (1.09 million) vs. 716,000) both grew. State of the Union ratings were down this year, so the increase in weekend viewing at the start of the war likely contributed to the shocks for MS Now and CNN.
The first two nights this week show Fox News (averaging 3.27 million viewers on Monday and Tuesday) down about 9 percent (about 320,000 viewers) compared to the same days last year. However, both MS Now (1.76 million) and CNN (866,000) were up by about 200,000 viewers each.
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