Cable News Ratings: Fox News Leads Despite Viewership Decline – March 9, 2026

Cable news viewership declined across the board during the week of March 9, 2026, according to Nielsen data released by TVNewser, as attention to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East waned and the seasonal shift to Daylight Saving Time potentially impacted viewing habits.

Fox News maintained its lead in total primetime viewership with an average of 2.791 million viewers, but experienced a 10% drop compared to the previous week. The network similarly saw a 21% decrease in viewers aged 25-54, a key demographic for advertisers. During total day viewing, Fox News averaged 1.752 million total viewers, down 14% from the prior week and 176,000 A25-54 viewers, a 20% decline. Despite these drops, Fox News remained the most-watched cable news network overall in both primetime and total day viewership.

MS NOW recorded an average of 1.157 million total primetime viewers and 122,000 A25-54 viewers, representing declines of 15% and 24% respectively from the previous week. Total day viewership for MS NOW was 701,000 total viewers and 73,000 demo viewers, down 12% and 20% respectively. The network slipped to fourth place in total primetime viewers, down from second, and to 11th in the demo, down from sixth. MS NOW also fell to third place from second in total day viewership and to eighth place, tied with ESPN2, in the total day demo.

CNN saw the most significant declines of the three networks, with a 22% drop in total primetime viewers to 820,000 and a 32% decrease in the A25-54 demo to 149,000. Total day viewership fell 18% to 592,000 total viewers and 27% to 98,000 demo viewers. CNN dropped from fourth to fifth place in total viewers and from fourth to eighth in the demo during primetime. It also slid to fourth place from third in total day among total viewers and to fifth place from third in the demo.

The declines across all three networks occurred despite continued coverage of the Middle East conflict, suggesting a potential decrease in audience engagement with the ongoing situation. TVNewser also noted the switch to Daylight Saving Time on March 8, 2026, as a possible contributing factor to the viewership drops. According to Wikipedia, Daylight Saving Time involves advancing clocks during the warmer months to make better use of daylight.

Fox News dominated the list of the most-watched cable news programs, securing 13 of the top 15 spots. “The Five” led with 3.934 million total viewers at 5 p.m. ET. MS NOW’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” airing only on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET, ranked eleventh with 2.126 million total viewers, and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” garnered 1.53 million total viewers. “Gutfeld!” led in the A25-54 demo, averaging 395,000 viewers. MS NOW’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” finished seventh in the demo with 259,000 viewers, while CNN’s “CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip” landed in the No. 14 position with 182,000 demo viewers.

Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) did not observe Daylight Saving Time this weekend, including Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, which have adopted permanent daylight saving time, remaining on UTC+3 throughout the year, according to The New Arab. Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine were the only MENA countries to turn their clocks back on March 26, 2026.