Fox News in free fall with no good options to save itself

Fox News is facing its worst ratings decline in years, at a time when most news channels see a boom in viewership. As it faces this free fall, a new piece from MS NOW argued that the network is trapped "between a rock and a hard place" with no good choices about how to proceed.

Last week, reports emerged that "stunning" new data for the month of October showed that the conservative Fox News had experienced a "staggering" decline in viewership, despite the fact that news networks typically see increased ratings heading into major elections, as was the case for MS NOW and CNN during the same time period. While Fox still comfortably leads other networks in total viewership, the decline remains stark, especially as it comes amid President Donald Trump's historic unpopularity.

"According to Nielsen ratings obtained by Status in advance of their release, October 2026 will be Fox News' lowest-rated month since December 2023, with the network averaging 1.1 million total day viewers," a report from Status detailed. "Among viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic, the picture is even worse. Fox News will post its lowest-rated month in that category in 25 years, averaging just 98,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo. Those figures represent a steep 27 percent drop compared to last October in total viewers, and a 32 percent plunge in the 25-54 demo."

Discussing these developments in a new piece on Monday morning, veteran media analyst and critic Brian Lowry wrote for MS NOW that Fox News is entering "a perilous new phase," as it weighs whether to risk distancing itself from Trump to salvage its ratings, which history shows could backfire on it badly.

"Although Fox briefly distanced itself from Trump immediately after the 2020 election, the network scrambled back into his arms when MAGA loyalists tuned out, triggering a ratings slump and an internal panic that disgruntled Trump supporters would gravitate to other right-wing networks like Newsmax," Lowry explained. "As it turned out, Newsmax’s inroads were short-lived, though Fox talents’ promotion of Trump’s 2020 election lies later led to a nearly $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Nevertheless, since then the cable news leader has generally sought to stay in Trump’s good graces."

Fox is also facing the same existential moment as the rest of the news media, which has spent a decade orienting coverage, positive or negative, around Trump. By 2029, however, he will be gone from the White House and "all of cable news will have to grapple with a new playing field," Lowry argued.

"Like conservatives who denounced Trump after the Jan. 6 riot before retreating, Fox and Murdoch made a business decision to hitch the network to Trump’s wagon," he later concluded. "That may have staved off disaster back in 2021, but Fox is nothing if not adaptable. And should viewers not return after the midterms, the network could face trying to avoid a 'Thelma and Louise' scenario, where (spoiler alert!) two longtime friends, having stuck together through thick and thin, hold hands as they sail off a cliff"