Daily Beast: “If you’ve been on Fox News’ digital news site or bouncing around the right-wing media ecosphere in recent weeks, you’ve no doubt come across an article or three about the recent collapse in viewership at CNN and MSNBC. And the tanking ratings have largely been tied to the ‘credibility’ issues the two networks supposedly have in covering President Joe Biden’s administration following Donald Trump’s exit from the White House. Lost in all this coverage, however, is one stubborn fact: Fox News has also suffered a precipitous drop in its viewership.”

“Following a record-setting year in cable news viewership that was spurred by a once-a-century pandemic and a dramatic presidential election – which then climaxed with a one-two punch of Trump inciting an insurrection and Biden’s inauguration – ratings have tumbled across the board as interest in politics has waned. During the month of January, for instance, CNN enjoyed its most-watched month yet, drawing a daily average of 1.907 million total viewers and a total primetime audience of 2.737 million. At the same time, during that same month, Fox News finished third in cable-news ratings for the first time in 20 years, averaging 1.374 million viewers in total day and 2.621 million in primetime. MSNBC, for its part, was second across the board that month, drawing 1.662 million viewers per day and 2.658 million in primetime. One noticeable thing, however, about the large audiences that CNN and MSNBC pulled in during that month is the massive growth it experienced from the same time the previous year. Fox News, on the other hand, actually suffered a year-to-year drop in viewership, despite the historic news cycle. Compared to January 2020, CNN nearly tripled its viewership in the key 25-54 demographic, and more than doubled its total daily viewership and its primetime audience both overall and in the key demographic. MSNBC also saw double-digit year-to-year growth across the board in both total day and primetime viewership.”