Fox News tops cable news ratings for Iowa caucuses

Viewership was down during Monday night’s Iowa caucuses compared to previous cycles, but Fox News won the top spot among cable news outlets for the night.

Fox averaged 2.5 million viewers from 7-11 p.m., including 573,000 in the key advertising demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research figures. MSNBC came in second place averaging 1.1 million viewers, while CNN earned 673,000 viewers.

Overall viewership was down from the 8.5 million viewers who watched the 2020 Iowa caucuses, according to a Variety report at the time. Monday night’s caucuses came during a busy night on television, with coverage competing against an NFL playoff game and the annual Emmy Awards.

Fox has consistently ranked as the top-watched cable news channel for years as each of the major networks face headwinds in the form of increased cord-cutting and changing viewer habits.

Ratings for the first five Republican presidential primary debates have tapered off steadily.

Fox, CNN and NBC were among the outlets to call Monday night’s caucuses for former President Trump at 8:31 p.m., a relatively early race call that earned some scorn from the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who finished in second place 30 points behind Trump.

Updated at 4:25 p.m. ET