The network saw a less than 1% increase in total viewers the day after Rupert Murdoch’s striking testimony was revealed
As Dominion Voting Systems continues its defamation lawsuit against Fox News, total viewership at the network has remained steady amid the continuous revelations about the on-air anchor’s endorsement of false claims about the 2020 election.
After Dominion Voting System’s Feb. 16 filing, which unveiled the striking discovery that dozens of networks executives and hosts, including Murdoch and host Tucker Carlson, were privately appalled by the network continuing to invite guests who presented unsupported election-fraud theories, the next day, Feb. 17, saw a slight 2.4% increase in total viewership when compared to total viewership for the first full week of February.
Similarly, following Murdoch’s striking testimony from a deposition revealed Feb. 27, in which he admitted that Fox News hosts “endorsed” on-air what they knew to be a false narrative, the network saw a less than 1% increase in total viewership on Feb. 28 when compared to the first week of February.
Following the Feb. 16 filing, Feb. 17 brought in 1.73 million viewers on average across the network’s sales day, which runs from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., which marked a 2.4% uptick in total viewership when compared to total viewership for the first full week of February (Feb. 6-10), which averaged 1.69 million viewers. Likewise, Feb. 17 earned 229,000 viewers in the cable news key demographic of adults aged 25-54, marking a 11.8% decrease from the previous week’s demo viewership of 259,600.
We also looked at the numbers for the next week, Feb. 20-24 (which didn’t provide any new Dominion revelations). It counted 1.69 million total viewers on average — on par with the average for the first full week of February while seeing a slight decrease from Feb. 17’s figures. The week also averaged 213,200 viewers in the demo, marking a 17.8% decrease from the first week in February’s numbers and a slight 6.9% decrease from Feb. 17’s demo viewership.
The tides quickly turned again following the release of Murdoch’s testimony on Feb. 27. As Feb. 28 brought in 1.7 million average viewers in the sales day, the network saw a less than 1% increase in total viewership as compared to both the first week in February and the previous week, Feb. 20-24. In the demo, Feb. 28 brought in 200,000 viewers in the demo, marking a 23% decrease in the demo from the first week of February and a 6.2% decrease from the previous week.
The full week of Feb. 27 to March 3 averaged 1.75 million average viewers — a 3.5% increase from total viewership for the first full week of February and even slighter 1.2% increase from Feb. 17. This week also saw an average demo viewership of 223,600, which marked a 13.9% decrease in demo from first full week of February and a 4.9% increase from the previous week’s demo viewership.
When compared to the average viewership for the full month of February 2023, which averaged 1.45 million total viewers in total day, total viewership for Feb. 17 was up by 19.3% while Feb. 17’s demo viewership also saw also saw a 19.3% increase as compared to February 2023’s demo viewership, which averaged 192,000 viewers in total day.
Likewise, Feb. 28 saw a 17.3% uptick in total viewers as compared to the average viewership for February 2023, while the date experienced a 4.2% increase in demo viewership.
We then did a year-over-year comparison to February 2022, which averaged 1.7 million total viewers. Feb. 17 saw a slight 1.7% increase in total viewers while experiencing a 22.6% decrease when compared to demo viewership for February 2022, which averaged 296,000 demo viewers.
Feb. 28’s total viewership was on par with February 2022 averages, while the date saw a 32.4% decrease as compared to Feb. 28’s demo viewership.
Those decreases in the demo may raise eyebrows, but we see them as inconclusive as the network’s figures were elevated by both the onset of the war in Ukraine in February of last year and this year’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7.
Despite the controversy, the steady viewership was anticipated by experts in the field. Evan Nierman, founder and CEO of crisis PR firm Red Banyan, noted that the network’s loyal viewership won’t be “going anywhere.”
“Fox’s devoted fans aren’t going anywhere,” Nierman told TheWrap. “Fox has a loyal base of viewers, and I don’t expect a large number of them to decamp because of this lawsuit. Fox should be concerned with the financial implications of settling this matter or losing at trial, and is probably more worried about their current audience moving to outlets further to the right.”
“Dominion and its private equity owners join a long line of public figures and corporations across the country that have long tried to silence the press and this lawsuit from Staple Street Capital-owned Dominion is nothing more than another flagrant attack on the First Amendment,” Fox News said in a statement. “Fox News will continue to fiercely protect the free press as a ruling in favor of Dominion would have grave consequences for journalism across this country.”
Loree Seitz
Loree joined TheWrap as a reporter in 2022 after interning at the publication during the summer of 2021. Loree has covered entertainment, film and television for TheWrap and has reported on the media industry and the cable news beat. She has also written for MovieMaker Magazine, where she interned in 2020.