ANALYSIS: Fox News ratings tank as viewers flock to OANN and Newsmax
Pollemix News – November 27, 2020
In the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential Election conservative news behemoth Fox News has suddenly found itself in a ratings freefall, as their fiercely loyal fanbase has abandoned the network for more reliably pro-Trump outlets such as OANN and NewsMax.
It is a rude awakening for Fox, as the network had positioned itself as Trump’s personal media outlet and was instrumental in his 2016 Presidential victory. President Trump also recognized the value of having Fox as his own loyal news channel and returned the favor by giving unprecedented access to the network whilst lavishing praise on stars such as Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro who used their show as a megaphone for Trump’s opinions.
As a result of the symbiotic relationship between Trump and Fox, ratings soared as the President’s followers flocked to the network. Unfortunately for management, the increasingly pro-Trump agenda at the channel began to cause friction with the ‘News’ division within the network, with insiders saying that Fox journalists including Chris Wallace were dismayed by the “pro-Trump propaganda” that was being promoted by opinion hosts such as Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.
The falling out between the News and Opinion side of the network came to a head in the wake of the shambolic First Presidential Debate, with moderator Chris Wallace being publicly accused by his own colleagues as being biased towards Joe Biden. Following the encounter Trump attacked Fox repeatedly, saying that the network had changed stripes since 2016 and encouraged followers to abandon the network for OANN and Newsmax. In spite of this Fox remained wholeheartedly supportive of the President throughout his campaign, but it was the network’s premature calling of Arizona for Joe Biden that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to a furious Trump phoning Rupert Murdoch to demand a retraction that was firmly rebuked by the Fox empressario.
It was this ultimate act of betrayal that led President Trump and his loyal fans to abandon the network and Fox has now found itself in somewhat of an identity crisis. The network has regularly skirted between news and opinion, but in light of what they perceive as an inevitable Trump defeat Fox has looking to pivot away from their consistently pro-Trump commentary back towards their recently discarded “fair and balanced” motif. Unfortunately for Fox, their recent success has been built on a foundation of unequivocal Trump support and their abandonment of the President to a more even-handed rhetoric has alienated their fan base leading to a huge spike in viewership for reliably pro-Trump networks OANN and Newsmax. In fact, the fall in ratings have been so precipitous for Fox that they have found themselves behind even CNN of late, a surprise after almost 2 decades of cable news dominance.
Newsmax has been the biggest beneficiary of Fox’s decline, with viewership climbing exponentially. Recently, prime time Newsmax host Greg Kelly had an audience 10 times larger than his usual 80,000 viewers demonstrating the hunger that exists amongst Trump’s loyal supporters for hosts that will reaffirm rather than pour cold water upon their hopes. In spite of the exodus, Fox executives are confident that their fans will “return home” to the network if Biden is inaugurated but some hosts have seemingly recognized the threat of these upstart conservative outlets and looked to pivot back to unequivocal support for President Trump. Perhaps most notably is Tucker Carlson who eased off on his attacks on former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and walked back his tacit concession that Trump looked likely for defeat after suffering an overwhelming backlash and ratings nosedive last week.
Consequently, Fox’s ratings have plummeted by 30% since the election and while they still dwarf their conservative counterparts in media the rapid decline in viewership will be a worrying trend. The question now is whether Fox’s “lost viewers” will return to the network if Trump is deposed as President and the “false hope” of a Trump second term emanating from OANN and Newsmax is proven untrue. Regardless, Fox will need to determine how they will position themselves in a post-Trump era if Biden is indeed inaugurated. Will they revert back to pro-Trump conservative opinion as a retort to the liberal media and win back their right wing fan base or do they continue to try and entwine news with opinion to maintain credibility with the mainstream media?
USER POLL: If you were a Fox viewer, have you recently switched to Newsmax or OANN?
