Fox News again handily topped the September and third quarter ratings, although as its viewership was down versus the same periods in 2025.

MS NOW saw gains in the most recent figures, and CNN also showed uptick in September and in certain dayparts for the quarter.

In primetime in September, Fox News averaged 1.72 million viewers, down 32% from the same month in 2025. MS NOW averaged 839,000, up 3.6% from a year earlier. CNN posted 539,000, down 0.7% from 2025. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 156,000 viewers, down 44.3% from a year earlier, compared to 90,000 for CNN, up 3.4%, and 79,000 for MS NOW, up 16.2%.

In total day in September, Fox News averaged 1.11 million, down 31.1% from 2025. MS NOW averaged 544,000, up 6.7%, and CNN posted 373,000, down 7%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 106,000, down 40.8%, compared to CNN with 53,000, down 14.5%, and MS NOW with 52,000, up 15.6%.

In the third quarter primetime, Fox News averaged 2.06 million viewers, down 17% from a year earlier, compared to 930,000 for MS NOW, up 16%, and 607,000 for CNN, up 12.8%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 183,000 viewers, down 24.7%, compared to CNN with 101,000, up 16.1%, and MS NOW with 84,000, up 27.3%.

In third quarter total day, Fox News averaged 1.32 million, down 15.8% versus 2025, compared to MS NOW with 592,000, up 20.3%, and CNN with 426,000, up 7.6%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 120,000, down 24.5%, compared to CNN with 61,000, flat, and MS NOW with 56,000, up 36.6%.

Fox News’ The Five was the top cable news show in September, averaging 2.79 million viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime with 2.4 million, Gutfeld! with 2.12 million, Hannity with 2.06 million and Special Report with Bret Baier with 2.04 million.

In the 25-54 demo, The Five was tops with 273,000, followed by Gutfeld! with 214,000, Jesse Watters Primetime with 212,000, Hannity with 204,000 and MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show with 186,000.

Each network touted certain aspects of the figures. Fox News said that they were on track to have its highest rated midterm year ever. MS NOW promoted double digit viewership increases.

Among other networks, NewsNation said that its primetime viewership was up 12% in primetime in the third quarter and 8% in adults 25-54. NewsNation averaged 120,000 viewers in primetime during the third quarter, and 13,000 in the demo.

Newsmax averaged 185,000 in primetime for the quarter and 9,000 in the demo.

MS NOW’s top rated show in September was The Rachel Maddow Show, averaging 1.79 million viewers. CNN’s top show was NewsNight, averaging 610,000, and NewsNation’s was Cuomo, averaging 167,000. Newsmax’s top show was Rob Schmitt Tonight, averaging 305,000.

Gerry Cardinale, Paramount board member, investor and key architect of its pending merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, says the notion that CEO David Ellison is tight with Donald Trump has been “way overstated.”

“Forget about where you are on the political spectrum,” Cardinale said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in L.A. on Thursday. “You have an administration that’s pro-business. Anybody in corporate America should have a relationship with that administration. And that’s not because it’s Trump. Trump is pro-business, he’s very interested in the technology community. So having that relationship does not mean in any way that there’s this coziness.”

Skydance’s pursuit of Paramount got complicated by a lawsuit Trump filed against Paramount-owned CBS News, but regulators approved it promptly approved it after the suit was settled for $16 million despite the dubious merits of the case. Then, during the chase for Warner Bros. Discovery, which Paramount expected to formally acquire next week after a year-long quest, Ellison and Paramount had numerous points of intersection with the Trump administration.

Ellison and others visited Trump’s compound in Mar-a-Lago, courted him in Washington and hosted events for him, including around the White House Correspondents Association ceremony. In operating Paramount, Ellison acquired The Free Press and installed its founder and editorial leader, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief of CBS News. The news division and shows like 60 Minutes have made a number of changes to its programming that are widely perceived to be overtures to the administration.

And then there is the UFC, which has a multi-billion-dollar rights deal with Paramount. Trump has attended UFC events, including one spectacle last summer held at the White House. Bloomberg editor Lucas Shaw, who was interviewing Cardinale, nodded to the spectacle, which streamed live on Paramount+. “There’s a difference between having a relationship and staging a fight on the White House lawn,” he said.

Cardinale replied by naming senior leaders of TKO Group, parent company of the UFC, including Nick Khan and Ari Emanuel. “They were in the front row next to Trump, Is Trump too cozy with them? Is Ari too cozy with Trump?” Shaw mentioned that Emanuel used to have Trump as a WME client.

“The inference on ‘cozy’ here is just not appropriate,” Cardinale said. “There’s nothing to it. I’m telling you. I’ve been with David, by his side every step of the way. There’s nothing to it. It makes for great headlines and clickbait. There’s nothing to it. Absolutely not.”