Fox News ratings have plummeted as the network faces an “identity crisis” in the wake of Donald Trump’s departure from the White House last month.
In fact, according to Nielsen, Fox News’ primetime programming was down 25% last week from what it was at that exact time last year.
The decline is particularly significant given that there has been a lot of big news in the last few weeks, what with Trump leaving office and the beginning of the Biden administration.
According to a tweet by The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona, “CNN primetime total viewership, meanwhile, was up 141% and MSNBC witnessed 36% growth.”
He added: "In the primetime key demo last week (M-Su), CNN was up 172% compared to last year and averaged 875,000 viewers aged 25-54. MSNBC was up 50% with 540,000. Fox was down 25% and drew 429,000. Tucker Carlson placed 16th in the weekday demo last week, Hannity 18th, and Ingraham 24th."
Based on the above figures, it seems that Trump’s exit and his predecessor’s inauguration did boost the number of viewers for Fox News’ rival networks, which include CNN and MSNBC.
Based on the Nielsen numbers for January, released earlier this week, Fox News ranked third amongst the three networks for the first time since 2001. In addition, CNN ranked number one across all of cable.
According to CNN reporter Brian Stelter, a Fox News insider told him in regards to the conservative news station's ratings: "We are lost."
As CNN reports, Trump’s presidency had benefitted the network in terms of its viewership figures in the short-term. However, the network also “hurt” the former president and vice versa.
"Never before had a network been so closely affiliated with a commander in chief," the Washington Post writer Sarah Ellison and Jeremy Barr wrote on Tuesday. Now Fox News is experiencing "something of an identity crisis."
A number of Twitter users have since commented on the network’s ratings slump, with one saying: "They’ve monetized hate, division, lies, and propaganda for years. They’re responsible for so much destruction.”
Another agreed, adding that they “couldn’t be happier” about Fox News’ apparent downfall.
