Richard Ailes Fox News 15 Years Celebration - H 2012
Officially surpassing CNN in the first month of 2002, this January marks the 10-year anniversary of Fox News Channel becoming most-watched cable news network on television.
The network, which celebrated its 15th anniversary on the air in October, has been unmoved from its ratings throne for a decade and now outpaces both CNN and MSNBC combined in total viewers for 2012.
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Today Nielsen credits FNC with a 144 percent advantage over MNSBC and a 147 percent advantage over CNN in total daily viewership — with slightly softer margins in primetime. In news’ coveted 25-54 demo, FNC bests CNN by 92 percent and MSNBC by 101 percent.
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Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes sounded off on the event in a statement. “We are extremely proud of the phenomenal achievement created by the hard work and talent of the FOX News Channel employees and recognize how difficult it is for a cable network to sustain this level of dominance for a decade,” he said. “America has clearly embraced fair and balanced news.”
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Known for its more conservative stable of commentators, Fox News has enjoyed particular success during the Republican primary stages of the 2012 election cycle. The net has topped cable competitors in caucus and primary coverage and has hosted two of the five most-watched debates, a statistic it only shares with ABC.
With the network’s 15-year anniversary taking place in New York only three months ago, the ratings milestone is being treated with little fanfare at the network, though they did send correspondents to the ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ exchange on Tuesday. Watch the video below:
