Newly-minted solo Fox News host Will Cain, who heads up the aptly named “The Will Cain Show,” broke a record in his debut, according to a ratings report this week.
His new daytime show debuted on Tuesday and garnered 3.5 million viewers, with 451,000 in the key 25-54 demographic, according to the network.
“Rookie mistake. Set the bar too high,” the host said in celebration of the achievement.
“The Will Cain Show with 3.5 million P2+ and 451,000 A25-54. Will Cain increases the 4pm slot vs. same period last year by more than double with P2+ and by more than triple with A25-54 and A18-49. Will Cain’s share of the cable news audience for his debut was 68% with P2+, 73% with A25-54 and 71% with A18-49. Debut was a top 10 telecast in all TV vs. all cable and broadcast prime Thank you! Awesome start!” he wrote on the X platform.
The show was the highest-rated debut show in the history of Fox News, the network said.
Cain’s debut more than doubled the network’s average viewership for the 4 PM ET slot in 2024, showing a 106% increase in total viewership and a 128% spike in the highly sought-after 25-54 demographic. The show’s performance ranked among the top 10 telecasts across all of television, outperforming every program on CNN and MSNBC, as well as popular broadcast shows like ABC’s “The Rookie” and CBS’s “FBI: International,” the report said.
On the same day, The Five was the most-watched program in all of television, drawing nearly 6 million viewers and 762,000 in the 25-54 demo. Other network heavyweights, including Special Report with Bret Baier (4.6 million viewers), The Ingraham Angle (4 million viewers), and Jesse Watters Primetime (4.7 million viewers), all saw significant ratings, it said.
MSNBC was not as fortunate as its flagship program, The Rachel Maddow Show, only had 1.68 million viewers, with only 149,000 in the same key demographic.
President Donald Trump mocked Maddow’s ratings in a late-night post on his TruthSocial account on Friday.
“Wow! Rachel Maddow has horrible ratings. She’ll be off the air very soon. MSNBC IS CLOSE TO DEATH. CNN HAS REACHED THE BOTTOM. This is a good thing. They are the Enemy of the people!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Fox News finished 2024 with the highest audience share in nearly a decade and marked nine years in a row as the most-watched network in cable news.
The hit show The Five smashed records as the number one cable news program in viewers and became the “first non-primetime program to ever deliver four million viewers in the fourth quarter,” according to a press release from Fox News.
It was also a huge year for two hosts of The Five, Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. The late-night hit ‘Gutfeld!’ was the most watched in the 25-54 age demographic and “Jesse Watters Primetime” topped the 18-49 year old demographic.
During its highest-rated fourth quarter ever (4,026,000 P2+; 429,000 A25-54), The Five made history by becoming the first non-primetime show to reach over four million viewers and by topping cable news in viewership for three straight years.
With an average of 3.4 million viewers and 331,000 in the 25–54 demographic, FNC’s late afternoon ensemble program (weekdays, 5 PM/ET) attracted the greatest audience of any cable news program in 2024. With The Ingraham Angle topping the 7 PM/ET timeslot with 2.5 million viewers and 278,000 in the 25-54 demographic, FNC’s primetime lineup dominated the cable news competition.
With 3.1 million primetime viewers and 352,000 in the 25–54 demographic, Jesse Watters Primetime was the most popular cable news program at 8 PM/ET.
Hannity, which airs weekdays at 9 PM/ET, attracted the third-largest viewership with 2.8 million viewers and 341,000 in the 25–54 demographic.
