Free Republic

Fox News topped the June viewership figures as well as the second quarter ratings, but all of the news networks continued to show steep declines in a post-election, post Donald Trump presidency news environment. In primetime, Fox News topped with an average of 2.13 million viewers, compared to 1.31 million for MSNBC and 798,000 for CNN. Compared to the same month a year earlier, Fox News was off 42%, MSNBC was down 36% and CNN dropped 57%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News drew an average of 329,000, down 50%; compared to 179,000 for CNN, falling 68%; and 166,000 for...

Update on the Fox News Post-Steal/Post-Arizona ratings collapse. Here are the current Fox News ratings losses since The Steal according to Nielsen as of Wednesday 3/24: Breem -61% Cavuto -58% Ingraham -58% Hannity -56% MacCallum -55% Fox News Primetime 7pm -55% Baier -54% Carlson -51% Outnumbered -50% Smith/Roberts -48% Perino/Hemmer -48% Fox and Friends -47% Faulkner -44% The Five -41%

Fox News will serve as the 'loyal opposition' to Joe Biden, CEO Lachlan Murdoch has announced - adding that the move was designed to boost their ratings. In what was seen as the most frank assessment of the network to date, Murdoch, the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, said that the network would hold the new president to account. Speaking on Thursday at a Morgan Stanley conference, the 49-year-old said that Fox News was aiming to echo MSNBC's success in acting as the main White House critic. 'The main beneficiary of the Trump administration from a ratings point of view...

One of the most chilling examples in modern times of the accelerating full-spectrum assault on free speech and the First Amendment took place yesterday. One of the most chilling examples in modern times of the accelerating full-spectrum assault on free speech and the First Amendment took place yesterday on Capitol Hill, courtesy of a subcommittee of the Democrat-controlled House Committee on Energy and Commerce. For over three hours on Wednesday afternoon, the subcommittee held a virtual hearing titled Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media. The target was conservative media in general and Fox News in particular. Conservatives...

In recent months, the hatred of Fox News from the left has been almost matched by trending memes – from the right! Examples include (to paraphrase) “Fox News has turned left.” “Fox News is being run by Disney.” “The woke wives of the Murdoch sons are running Fox.” “RINO Paul Ryan is running Fox News from his seat on the company’s board of directors.” And so on. All of that is false. Total BS. How do I know? Unlike most of the new anti-Fox critics, I actually watch the Fox News Channel (FNC). I take notes. I have monitored the...

Update on the Fox News Post-Steal ratings collapse. Going from all-time record ratings before their duplicitous Arizona call, to their catastrophic ratings collapse by Monday 1/25. Here are the current Fox News ratings losses since The Steal according to Nielsen as of Monday 1/25: 7am Fox/Friendless -51% 8am Fox/Friendless -51% 9am Perino/Hemmer -48% 10am Perino/Hemmer -41% 11am Faulkner -40% 12pm Outnumbered -41% 1pm Smith/Roberts -32% 2pm Smith/Roberts -38% (used to be Perino's show) 3pm MacCallum -39% (used to be Hemmer's show) 4pm Cavuto -44% 5pm The Five -36% 6pm Baier -51% 7pm Fox Primetime -49% (used to be MacCallum's show)...

Nothing illustrates the political passions of a television network’s audience quite like ratings for a presidential inaugural. The 6.53 million people who watched President Joe Biden take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address on MSNBC Wednesday was a whopping 338% bigger than its audience for Donald Trump’s swearing in four years ago, the Nielsen company said. On the flip side, Fox News Channel’s audience of 2.74 million for Biden on Wednesday represented a nearly 77% drop from its viewership for Trump in 2017, Nielsen said.

CNN topped the other major cable news networks in inauguration coverage of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ swearing in ceremony at the Capitol. CNN drew 9.07 million viewers, compared to 6.14 million for MSNBC and 2.57 million for Fox News. The figures, from Nielsen and released by Fox News, are from the 11 AM ET to 1 PM ET time frame. More complete numbers across broadcast and cable networks are expected to be released over the next couple of days. -snip- Fox News in 2017 drew 10.5 million total viewers, which set a record for inauguration ratings.

Politics editor Chris Stirewalt, along with nearly two dozen digital journalists, have been fired from Fox News. Stirewalt is listed by the New York Times as one of two “senior leaders” exiting the network as Fox “tries to lure back viewers who balked at its coverage of the 2020 election and its aftermath.” The other is Bill Sammon, Fox News’s longtime Washington bureau chief, who told staff that he would be retiring at the end of the month. Stirewalt, however, was “fired” according to the Times, along with “roughly 20 Fox News digital journalists” who were laid off on Tuesday....

Two executives involved in the early call of Arizona for Joe Biden on Election Night, angering many conservatives, are no longer employed at the cable network whose ratings took a subsequent nosedive. Two executives involved in the early call of Arizona for Joe Biden on Election Night, angering many conservatives, are no longer employed at the cable network whose ratings took a subsequent nosedive. Both have been lightning rods for conservatives since the election. The Associated Press reports: Bill Sammon, senior vice president and managing editor at Fox’s Washington bureau, announced his retirement to staff members on Monday. On Tuesday,...

Rupert Murdoch's Daytime Shakeup isn't going as planned for Fox News. Ratings are in for Monday 1/18 (the first day of the new daytime schedule) and compared to the previous Monday 1/11, the shakeup has only made things worse on Daytime Fox. Here are the daytime hour by hour (1/18 versus 1/11) ratings changes according to Nielsen: 9am Perino/Hemmer -2% 10am Perino/Hemmer -2% 11am Faulkner -1% 12pm Outnumbered +1% 1pm Smith/Roberts +2% 2pm Smith/Roberts -12% (used to be Perino's show) 3pm MacCallum -11% (used to be Hemmer's show) 4pm Cavuto -18% 5pm The Five -10% 6pm Baier -9% 7pm Kilmeade...

Update on the Fox News Post-Steal weekend ratings collapse. Going from record ratings before their duplicitous Arizona call, to a catastrophic ratings collapse by Sat-Sun 1/16-1/17. Here are the current Fox News ratings losses since The Steal according to Nielsen as of Sat-Sun 1/16-1/17: Kurtz -59% Neville/Shawn -57% Guttfield -57% Fox and Friendless Saturday -52% Scott -51% Fox and Friendless Sunday -50% Cavuto -48% Jeanine -48% Watters -47% Chris Wallace -41% Bartiromo -41% Levin -33%

Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt was laid off Tuesday as the company restructures itself heading into the Biden administration, according to a report.

Chris Stirewalt, the Fox News political editor in charge of the decision desk which called Arizona for Joe Biden before the polls closed on election night was laid off on Tuesday. According to the Washington Post, Stirewalt, alongside approximately 20 other Fox News staffers were let go today.

Update on the Fox News Post-Steal ratings collapse. Going from record ratings before their duplicitous Arizona call, to a catastrophic ratings collapse by Friday 1/15. Here are the current Fox News ratings losses since The Steal according to Nielsen as of Friday 1/15: MacCallum -56% Baier -56% Ingraham -55% Hannity -54% Bream -54% Carlson -51% Outnumbered -50% Fox and Friendless -49% Sandra Smith -46% Cavuto -45% The Five -43% Hemmer -40% Perino -37%

In a Monday op-ed, the Washington Post called on heavyweight telecommunications corporations to shut down conservative cable news outlets including Fox News, One America News, and Newsmax TV, comparing the need to do so with that of shutting down foreign terrorist influencers. The essay, penned by prominent Trump critic Max Boot, a Post columnist and CNN global affairs analyst, begins by explaining how merely holding the president accountable for “his role in inciting this violent insurrection” is “insufficient.” “There is a whole infrastructure of incitement that will remain intact even after Trump leaves office,” Boot writes. “Just as we do...

James Murdoch claimed on Friday that U.S. news outlets will be faced with a 'reckoning' after last week's deadly pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol. In an interview with the Financial Times, the 48-year-old blamed 'media property owners' for unleashing 'insidious and uncontrollable forces' with their support of disinformation about the 2020 election. James, the youngest son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, also claimed that media groups fueled the riot by leading 'a substantial portion' of the public to believe 'a falsehood' about the election.

Ever since election night in 2020, the ratings at FOX News have been in free-fall. Millions of loyal fans felt betrayed when the network called Arizona early for Biden while holding off calling other obvious wins for Trump. Now they are considering firing their current CEO, instead of people like Chris Wallace and Juan Williams. The stunning thing about this is that they are reportedly considering hiring David Rhodes, the brother of former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes, as their new chief.

Fox executives are said to be fearful a shake-up is on the cards as Rupert Murdoch heads back to the US thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine, courtesy of the UK's NHS. -snip- Top of the priority list is to tackle the decline in ratings seen since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election in November, insiders said. Multiple insiders told The Daily Beast Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace are both fighting to keep their jobs after taking the lion's share of the blame for the figures. Fox has denied there is any truth to the rumors,...

David Rhodes will step down as president of CBS News amid falling ratings and the fallout from revelations from an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against CBS News figures, Rhodes and the CBS network said Sunday night.