Fox boasts of two decades of ratings dominance as Watters takes primetime slot

Network continues ratings lead over MSNBC and CNN, centers primetime lineup around opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Jesse Watters

Fox News celebrated two decades of consecutive monthly ratings victories over its competition on Tuesday as the conservative network reaffirms its commitment to its opinion content across its primetime lineup.

A news release from the company noted the company’s growing share of the cable news audience market while competitors CNN and MSNBC shed viewers; it also touted the success of newly-launched programme Jesse Watters Primetime, the network’s answer to what will replace The Story with Martha MacCallum.

Watters has drawn liberal ire in recent weeks with comments about Dr Anthony Fauci, Covid-19 adviser to two presidents, suggesting that young conservatives ambush him in public and using imagery in his words that many claimed was overtly violent. Fox representatives strongly denied those characterisations.

The company’s success has continued to be a point of frustration for some in the media industry including media reporters at rival CNN, who regularly excoriate the network for its coverage of Covid-19 and other issues, and in particular the continued embrace by opinion hosts like Watters of former President Donald Trump.

“I am immensely proud of this landmark achievement as it is a testament to the dedicated teams across FOX News Channel, who are the backbone in making us number one for 20 consecutive years with the most loyal and politically diverse audience in cable news,” said the CEO of Fox News Media, Suzanne Scott.

Fox appears to be doubling down on its commitment to views from the pro-Trump wing of the GOP, as it now boasts a solid block of reliably pro-Trump or pro-Republican hosts from 7pm through midnight every weekday. By comparison CNN’s primetime lineup remains largely devoid of explicitly opinion-based programming (particularly with the departure of outspoken host Chris Cuomo) and MSNBC retains a mix of centre-left and anti-Trump GOP hosts up to 11pm, when the network reserves an hour for a newscast headed by departing host Brian Williams.

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy has also emerged as an on-camera foe of President Joe Biden and his top press secretary Jen Psaki, leading to a moment last week in which the president was heard verbally insulting Doocy on a hot mic. The president later called Doocy and apologised.

While the network has made no secret of its embrace of right-leaning opinion voices, the network’s executives clearly show an interest in appealing to left-leaning viewers as well and in its press release on Tuesday celebrated pro-Trump opinion host Tucker Carlson’s popularity among such viewers.

Tucker Carlson Tonight, the release boasted, was “the number one program among Democrats in the 25-54 demo” while it and two other Fox programmes “placed among the top four cable news programs with Democrats in total viewers”.

CNN’s 9pm slot remains open as the third-place network remains tight-lipped over who will replace Cuomo following his ouster amid sexual misconduct allegations and concerns about the extent of his involvement into the campaign launched by his brother, former New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, to discredit women who had accused the governor of sexual misconduct.