Newsmax TV’s nighttime show “Greg Kelly Reports” beat out Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Monday evening in the key demographic, marking a first-time win for the smaller conservative rival.
“Greg Kelly Reports” averaged 229,000 viewers Monday in the key 25-54 age demographic. MacCallum’s show that evening garnered 203,000 average viewers in the key demographic. Although the win was narrow, it marks a first for Newsmax, CNN reported.
“We’re here to stay,” Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Tuesday according to CNN. “The ratings are showing that.” (RELATED: Newsmax CEO Denies Rumors Of Acquisition By Trump Backers)
Despite the win, Fox News still typically heavily outpaces Newsmax, ranking four times higher during any hour, Nielsen data indicates. For example, Fox News had an average of 1.36 million viewers throughout Monday compared to Newsmax’s 316,000 viewers – despite the latter network’s win at the 7 p.m. time slot.
Additionally, Fox News has continued its reign as the most-watched cable news network for primetime shows with total viewers. The network had 1.3 million viewers with 198,000 for the key demographic across the total day for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6, Nielsen data shows. Fox News also saw 2.7 million viewers with 412,000 in the key demographic for primetime shows that week.
REPORT: Newsmax TV beats Fox News for the time ever in ratings matchup https://t.co/1TcHNr2diK pic.twitter.com/C3mRA4L8eC
— Newsmax (@newsmax) December 9, 2020
For the entire month of November, Fox News garnered a record-breaking month for primetime coverage with 3.939 million average viewers.
“Greg Kelly Reports” was not the best-ranking show Monday night, despite beating out MacCallum. CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” had 423,000 viewers for the key demographic and MSNBC’s new show “The ReidOut” averaged 280,000 viewers. (RELATED: CNN Earns Huge Ratings For November With 135% Growth In Total Viewers)
Still, it’s evident that the election and President Donald Trump’s push for supporters to watch Newsmax and One America News Network may be making a difference. Kelly’s show used to have around 100,000 average viewers with just around 10,000 in the key demographic before the election, according to Nielsen data. These days, it averages a little under one million viewers on its better nights.
Trump has consistently criticized Fox News since the election, when the network became the first to call Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden. He wrote that its daytime shows are “not watchable” on Dec. 6 and continues to prop up Newsmax and OANN, two networks that have backed Trump’s claims of mass voter fraud.