Fox News Channel sees 109% surge in YouTube viewership, besting MSNBC, CNN
As younger audiences drift away from traditional cable, top news networks are ramping up their presence on YouTube — and Fox News has surged ahead in the digital arms race.
Fox News has more than doubled its performance on YouTube from the same point last year — with more than 2.3 billion views logged so far in 2025, according to data from social analytics firm Emplifi.
That surge puts Fox ahead of MSNBC, which led all news networks on YouTube last year and has grown a more modest 27% year-to-date, reaching 1.9 billion views. CNN follows with 1.1 billion views, up 42% from 2024.
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5 Fox News anchor Bret Baier is among the network's talent whose interviews have drawn considerable audiences on YouTube.
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ABC News and NBC News have both taken a hit — dropping to 665 million (down 22%) and 703 million (down 12%) views, respectively.
The performance of the three cable news channels on YouTube virtually mirrors the ratings race on linear television.
Fox News has widened its lead, averaging 2.46 million primetime viewers in May — up over 20% year-over-year — while MSNBC and CNN have suffered sharp declines, with MSNBC down 24% in primetime and CNN down 18%.
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Ratings in the key 25-54 demo followed a similar pattern, with Fox rising 32% as MSNBC and CNN saw steep double-digit drops.
Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Corp — sister company to The Post's corporate parent News Corp.
Among the broadcast networks, CBS News stands out as the only one in positive territory, with its YouTube views climbing 9% to around 300 million.
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5
Jack Forbes / NY Post Design
Disney-owned ABC News disputed Emplifi's figures, according to The Wrap. The network told the news outlet that its internal data shows 745 million YouTube views year-to-date.
Meanwhile, NBC News can take solace in its considerable reach on rival social media app TikTok, where it generated 2.5 billion views in the first quarter of this year.
The digital growth mirrors Fox's ratings dominance on television, but with one key difference: the online audience skews far younger.
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While cable news viewers still have a median age hovering around 67 to 70, YouTube's core audience remains millennials and Gen Z, who now make up more than half of the platform's users, according to eMarketer.
5 Fox News, CNN and MSNBC all saw increases in viewership on the Google-owned video sharing app.
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Fox News' online momentum appears to be driven by a combination of timely programming and exclusive interviews. President Trump's return to office in January has translated into more eyeballs for top shows like 'Gutfeld!' and 'Jesse Watters Primetime' — boosting both YouTube clicks and TV ratings.
High-profile interviews — including Sean Hannity's February sit-down with Trump and Elon Musk, which pulled in 7.4 million views on YouTube — have also performed well.
Bret Baier's conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, taped just hours after a tense meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, attracted 11.8 million views on the Google-owned app.
5 Fox News interviews with President Trump have also attracted significant audiences on both linear television and streaming.
Fox News
MSNBC, meanwhile, has seen its own YouTube viewership grow 27% year-to-date, hitting 1.9 billion views. While Fox leads by 21% on YouTube, that gap is far narrower than on cable, where Fox's TV ratings in May were nearly triple those of MSNBC.
'We continue to invest in YouTube with original content, and we're seeing a community that's building — allowing us to grow our audience and meet them on the platforms native to them,' Brad Gold, executive producer of content strategy and development at MSNBC, told The Wrap.
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CNN, which ranks third with 1.1 billion YouTube views so far in 2025, has seen a 42% jump over the past year. Broadcast outlets, however, have struggled to keep pace.
5 CBS News, a subsidiary of Paramount Global, is the only broadcast network that has seen its YouTube viewership increase so far this year.
Christopher Sadowski
CBS News is the lone exception, with views up 9% to roughly 300 million. NBC News and ABC News, by contrast, have seen double-digit declines, falling to 639 million and 604 million views, respectively.
While YouTube revenue per view is modest — a video with one million views typically yields between $2,000 and $6,000 in ad earnings — the platform is fast becoming an essential outlet for audience retention and brand exposure.
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In Fox News' case, its billions of views could be worth up to $12 million, though that's unlikely to appear on an earnings call anytime soon.
A CNN and MSNBC spokesperson declined to comment. The Post has sought comment from ABC News, NBC News and CBS News.
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