How have trust ratings for Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC shifted since 2020?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Since 2020, public trust and audience patterns for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC have shifted in contrasting ways: YouGov data show net trust movements and large partisan gaps (CNN net trust 80 points higher among Democrats than Republicans; MSNBC 77 points) and reported increases in Republican trust for multiple outlets including Fox, CNN and MSNBC by 12–18 points in YouGov’s 2025 poll [1]. At the same time Nielsen-based ratings through 2023–2025 show Fox News consistently leading in viewers (often by large margins) while CNN and MSNBC have trended lower or been volatile in total and demo ratings [2] [3] [4].
1. Audience dominance vs. trust: Fox News still leads viewers, trust is more contested
Ratings data across multiple 2023–2025 reports show Fox News remains the cable leader in total viewers and primetime averages — for example Fox has generally higher primetime viewership than its two competitors and posted strong Q2 2025 primetime averages of roughly 2.63 million [2] [5]. But higher audience does not translate into unambiguous public trust: YouGov’s 2023 and 2025 trust tracking places Fox among the more polarizing outlets and shows changes over time in net trust (38% trusting Fox in 2023 in one YouGov sample; later net trust shifts among Republicans in 2025) [6] [1].
2. Trust is highly partisan: CNN and MSNBC remain polarizing
YouGov’s 2025 analysis highlights that CNN and MSNBC are among the most politically polarizing sources: net trust in CNN is 80 points higher among Democrats than Republicans, and MSNBC is 77 points higher among Democrats [1]. That partisan skew means aggregate trust scores can hide very different trends within party coalitions — Democrats consistently report stronger trust in CNN/MSNBC, Republicans gravitate far more to Fox and allied outlets [1].
3. Republican trust rebound for several outlets in 2025 — including Fox, CNN and MSNBC
YouGov’s 2025 reporting notes a 7-point increase in Republicans’ average net trust across outlets surveyed, and lists Fox News, CNN and MSNBC among those with the biggest increases in net trust among Republicans — gains of about 12–18 points each [1]. This complicates a simple narrative of declining trust for legacy cable brands: at least among Republicans, measured net trust rose for multiple major outlets in the 2025 survey [1].
4. Ratings trends show divergence since 2020 — Fox up, CNN and MSNBC uneven
Nielsen-derived reports and trade coverage through 2025 document a widening gap in raw viewing: Fox’s total- and primetime-viewer counts in 2025 frequently outpace CNN and MSNBC by multiples (examples: Fox primetime daily averages in mid-2025 were often well over 1.5–2.4 million while CNN and MSNBC were in the hundreds of thousands) [3] [4] [5]. CNN and MSNBC experienced sharper year-over-year declines at times (CNN down double-digits in some reports; MSNBC more mixed with occasional growth followed by declines) [7] [3].
5. Numbers tell two stories — short-term spikes and long-term polarization
Trade reporting documents episodic surges (election nights, special events) that temporarily narrow gaps — for example an election-night spike in 2025 where all three networks rose and Fox still led in 24-hour totals [8]. But longitudinal trust polling from YouGov shows enduring polarization: even where trust rose for some groups, relative trust differences between parties remain stark [1] [6].
6. What the sources do and don’t say — limits and competing interpretations
YouGov’s trust items provide snapshots of perceived trust and net trust shifts by party, but methodology differences across years and question framing can affect comparisons; YouGov itself cautions about such factors [6]. Ratings pieces rely on Nielsen or aggregated metrics and show viewer totals, not normative trust. Available sources do not mention a unified causal explanation tying specific editorial decisions to every trust or ratings change; they report the shifts and note partisan patterns and business moves [1] [2] [9].
7. Bottom line for readers
Since 2020 Fox News strengthened its audience lead in raw viewers while trust metrics have shifted in more complex, partisan ways: poll data indicate significant partisan gaps and some Republican-side gains in net trust for multiple outlets in 2025, even as CNN and MSNBC remain strongly preferred by Democrats [1] [6] [5]. Interpretations differ depending on whether one emphasizes viewers (ratings) or attitudes (trust polls), and both data streams must be read together to understand these networks’ changing positions [1] [3].
Sources: YouGov trust reporting and analyses and trade/rating coverage including Statista, TV Insider, ScreenRant, Deadline and Adweek as cited above [1] [6] [2] [3] [4] [5] [8].