Week of Oct. 5 Cable News Ratings: CNN Up in Both Measurements

CNN finished the week of Oct. 5, 2026 with gains in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during primetime and total day, making it the only basic cable news network showing increases across those measures, according to Nielsen big data + panel. Fox News remained the most-watched network overall, averaging 1.6 million total viewers and 145,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime, but it was down 2% in total viewers versus the prior week. Fox’s demo rose 4%. During total day, Fox averaged 1.07 million total viewers and 94,000 A25-54 viewers. MS NOW posted declines in both measures compared with its primetime average the prior week, while CNN gained 7% in total viewers and 8% in the demo during total day.