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Fact check: How do liberal news outlets in the US compare to conservative outlets in terms of viewership in 2025?
Executive Summary
Liberal cable outlets (primarily CNN and MSNBC) have substantially lower primetime viewership than Fox News in 2025, while trust and audience loyalty remain strongly polarized along partisan lines. Cable ratings across Q2 and Q3 2025 show Fox News averaging roughly 2.4–2.6 million primetime viewers versus roughly 0.5–1.0 million for CNN and MSNBC, and surveys show Republicans disproportionately rely on and trust Fox while Democrats favor liberal outlets [1] [2] [3]. This analysis compares those ratings and trust findings, highlights demographic details, and flags where survey language and outlet definitions constrain conclusions.
1. Ratings Tell a Clear Story About Reach — Conservative Outlets Dominate
Quarterly cable ratings in mid- and late‑2025 show a consistent lead for Fox News in total primetime audience size, with Q2 reporting Fox at 2.633 million compared with MSNBC at 1.008 million and CNN at 538,000, and Q3 showing Fox around 2.483 million versus MSNBC 802,000 and CNN 538,000. These figures indicate a stable, multi‑hundred‑thousand viewer gap that favors Fox across both quarters, and monthly snapshots in September 2025 similarly show Fox with roughly 2.54 million primetime viewers versus MSNBC’s 810,000 and CNN’s 543,000 [1] [2] [4]. The metric consistently shows Fox’s programming drawing larger audiences in total viewers.
2. The Demographic Picture Shows Nuance — Adults 25–54 Vary by Network
When focusing on the coveted Adults 25–54 demographic, the networks show different strengths: Q3 reports Fox at 243,000 in that demo, CNN at 87,000, and MSNBC at 66,000, while monthly September data listed Fox at 280,000, CNN 87,000, and MSNBC 69,000. These numbers show Fox leading in both total viewers and the 25–54 demo, but the gap narrows compared with total viewers and shows variability month-to-month [2] [4]. Advertiser‑relevant audiences are smaller overall than total viewers, and the networks’ relative positions differ slightly depending on which window and quarter are compared.
3. Trust and Partisan Affinity Amplify Viewership Patterns
Survey data from mid‑2025 indicate that trust aligns strongly with partisan identity, with Republicans more likely to use and trust Fox while Democrats prefer CNN and MSNBC. One May 2025 survey found 61% of Republicans used Fox News in the past month versus 40% for CNN, reflecting a partisan divide in actual usage and trust [3]. Pew data in July 2025 reinforced that 56% of Republican‑leaning consumers trust Fox News, placing it ahead of other outlets among conservatives, which helps explain persistent viewership advantages for Fox [5]. Partisan trust thus both reflects and sustains the audience gaps visible in ratings.
4. Trust Rankings Complicate a Simple “Liberal vs. Conservative” Narrative
Broader trust studies from late spring 2025 complicate a binary framing by placing non‑partisan or public‑service outlets at the top of overall trust rankings: The Weather Channel, BBC, and PBS were listed among the most trusted sources, while CNN, MSNBC, and Fox were described as most polarizing, and social platforms like YouTube were noted as relatively trusted among social media options. This indicates that audience trust does not linearly map to partisan labels and that many Americans still turn to a wide array of outlets for news beyond the major cable players [6]. Trust and usage patterns therefore include non‑cable influences.
5. What the Data Does Not Resolve — Cross‑Platform Audiences and Online Reach
The provided datasets focus predominantly on cable‑television primetime ratings and household or demo numbers, leaving digital streaming, social video, and non‑primetime consumption unmeasured in this summary. Surveys show partisan trust and monthly usage patterns but do not fully capture time spent on streaming platforms, website traffic, or younger audiences consuming clips on social platforms where CNN, MSNBC, and Fox also compete. Because the metrics differ — ratings versus survey self‑reports — one must treat the cable primetime dominance by Fox as a clear but partial snapshot of 2025 news consumption [1] [3] [6].
6. Bottom Line: Conservative TV Outlets Lead in Cable Viewership; the Full Ecosystem Is More Complex
In conclusion, Fox News led cable prime‑time viewership in mid‑ to late‑2025 by a wide margin, while CNN and MSNBC attracted substantially smaller cable TV audiences; partisan trust surveys from the same periods show conservative audiences clustering around Fox while Democrats lean toward liberal outlets [1] [2] [3] [5]. However, broader trust research and the absence of comprehensive digital metrics caution against reducing 2025 news consumption to cable primetime numbers alone: trust rankings and cross‑platform consumption patterns suggest a more fragmented and nuanced media ecosystem [6] [4].