Brian Steinberg
·4 min read
Bret Baier has in recent days been turning up in places where Fox News viewers might not expect to see him.
Yes, that was Baier and co-anchor Martha MacCallum anchoring President Joe Biden’s Oval Office address last Wednesday night, offering some news analysis of his decision to step down after his current term before ceding the screen to regular 8 p.m. opinion host Jesse Watters. And Baier and MacCallum greeted the Fox News primetime audience each evening at 10 p.m. during the week of the Republican National Convention. The usual host at that hour, Greg Gutfeld, instead moderated a live version of his comedy roundtable program at 11 p.m.
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Fox News Channel may be better known for the rightward opinion shows that fill up its primetime grid, but in July, at least, it’s getting large audiences for more of its news content. The Fox Corp.-backed outlet has won more viewers than rivals CNN or MSNBC during RNC coverage, as well as during its coverage of Biden’s July 21 bombshell that he would exit after his term and its handling of the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Fox News Channel saw its total day viewership in July among viewers between 25 and 54 – the demographic most coveted by advertisers – surge 120%, to an average of 268,000. CNN’s viewership in the same category rose 42%, to 111,000, while MSNBC’s hiked 9%, to 82,000. The network is seeing more total-day viewership overall compared to July performances in previous election cycles in 2020 and 2016, while CNN’s and MSNBC’s overall audience in the same category has slipped.
“We have been able to turn on a dime and get shows up within seconds of things happening,” says Baier, during an interview. “When we push this button, the machine starts to work, and I think it’s starting to get recognized beyond our traditional viewership.”
The results are likely to bolster one of Fox’s ongoing pitches to Madison Avenue
It’s natural to focus more on news in a month when outsize events take place, but in the past, much of that audience tended to gravitate toward CNN. And while Fox News has taken presidential speeches before and given Baier and MacCallum primetime roosts for Election Night and other occasions, it feels like the network is keeping a wider eye on the potential for breaking headlines.
Case in point? Fox News assigned “Fox News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream to be on during Trump’s rally in western Pennsylvania on July 13, in the belief that he might possibly announce his vice-presidential pick. Bream was poised, says Jay Wallace, president and executive editor of Fox News Media, “knowing that we didn’t have a VP nominee at that point, even though Trump was making ti seem like he wouldn’t do anything during that event.”
Fox News has also proven willing to turn its opinion programs into news events, such as a debate Sean Hannity held earlier this year between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. When it has given over its schedule to news coverage that might not typically appear – including Biden’s recent NATO press conference — “time and time again, viewers have come to us more than anybody else,” says Wallace.
Fox News may have new reason to , as Wallace says, “be where the audience is.” Like its rivals, the network is grappling with the continuing migration of cable and satellite subscribers to streaming services. Even as it sees spikes in viewership, Fox News is projected to see its subscriber base erode by about four million, or 5.8% in 2024, according to Kagan, a market-research firm that is part of S&P Global Intelligence. Subscribers are predicted to fall to about 64.6 million at the end of this year, compared with 60.6 million in 2023. Kagan sees CNN subscribers falling about 4 million, or 5.7%, to 66.3 million. MSNBC’s subscriber base is projected to tumble by about 4 million, or 5.8% to 64.5 million, according to Kagan. Fox is likely to have more appetite for news breaks in the near future, says Wallace. “The election is going to, obviously, create a lot of opportunity, I’m sure.
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