If Fox News’ viewers are growing weary of the headlines, MS NOW‘s are not. Viewers of the Versant Media-backed cable outlet appear to be growing more interested, not less, in the current news cycle, according to remarks made by Mark Lazarus, the company’s CEO, to investors Tuesday. Lazarus was responding to a question about the state of interest in news following comments made Monday by Fox Corp.
CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who said Fox News’ audience had “viewer fatigue,” which had resulted in a ratings downturn in both the third quarter and October. Neither CEO said as much, but the executives stand on opposite sides of the red-vs.-blue divide. Viewers at Fox News, which caters to a conservative crowd, have likely been put off by growing poll projections that call for Republicans to lose seats in both the U.S.
House and Senate on Election Day. Meanwhile, MS NOW’s audiences, which tilt left, are no doubt encouraged. Indeed, Lazarus called MS NOW’s coming Election Day coverage would be a stand-out event.
Our audiences are active and vibrant and growing for MS NOW, and for that matter, with CNBC,” Lazarus added. To be sure, the audience for Fox News Channel continues to dwarf that of its competitors. Fox News won an average of 2.06 million total viewers in primetime in the third quarter, compared with 930,000 viewers at MS NOW.
Among viewers between 25 and 54 — the demographic most coveted by advertisers — Fox News captured an average of 183,000 in primetime, compared with 84,000 at MS NOW. But Fox News’ numbers are eroding, while MS NOW’s are growing. The primetime averages for Fox News in the third quarter fell 17% among overall viewers and nearly 25% in the advertiser demo.
MS NOW’s primetime averages were up 16% in total viewers and up 27.3% among viewers between 25 and 54. On Monday, Murdoch suggested a spate of tough headlines, including flooding in parts of the U.S. and the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, had turned some part of the Fox News audience off of watching the news. Instead, he suggested, “they are just fatigued and watching slightly less television.” Executives at Fox News Media, he said, have seen the dynamic before and have a “playbook” and know how to navigate the trend.
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