Rivera said in June that he quit his job at Fox News after being “fired” from the network’s afternoon panel show.
How The Five surpassed Tucker Carlson in the ratings: It’s the “Avengers of Fox News” — but at an hour that reflects the increasing dominance of older viewers.
Exclusives
There is a new cable news ratings champion. Nielsen data for 2022 rank the Fox News roundtable program The Five as the most watched show in cable news with an average of 3.5 million viewers. The figure tops Tucker Carlson Tonight, which averaged 3.3 million viewers for the year. The figure for the Fox News primetime show is up 3% over 2021 when it was the most watched program for the year. But The Five grew more, up 17% over 2021.
Tarlov has the challenging task of serving hot takes from the left on the No. 1 show on cable news.
Fox News again topped the monthly ratings, as The Five topped in total viewers and Tucker Carlson Tonight won the 25-54 demo. The network saw a 4% rise in total day viewership, while it said that its late night show Gutfeld! saw its highest rated month since its April, 2021 launch, with 2.19 million viewers.
The most-watched program at the Fox Corp. cable outlet for the past two quarters hasn’t been one of the opinion hours hosted by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham. Instead, the Fox News show with the biggest overall audience is The Five, a panel program that producers believe airs views from the right (four of the five co-hosts) and left (a single host, who rotates among three regulars). The show, which airs at 5 p.m. — not typically a bulwark of top viewing in the TV business — lured an average audience of around 3.68 million for the first three months of the year.
The former prosecutor and vocal Donald Trump supporter will join Fox’s afternoon panel show The Five as a co-host, joining Jesse Watters (who will soon be getting his own show at 7 p.m.), Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. Harold Ford Jr., Geraldo Rivera and Jessica Tarlov will share The Five‘s liberal co-host chair.
The round-table show The Five has proven to be one of Fox News Channel’s most durable properties. The Five, which these days relies largely on a trio of regulars and two rotating guests, outmaneuvered primetime colleagues like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity to become the most-watched show on the network — and cable news — in October, according to Nielsen data.
Juan Williams announced on Fox News’s The Five Wednesday that it would be his last day co-hosting the popular show. Williams, who has been the resident Democrat on the panel, said he would continue to be a political analyst for Fox, working out of D.C. The Five is based in New York.
The co-hosts on Fox News Channel’s The Five went to a remote format Thursday, with reports that Juan Williams tested positive for the coronavirus.
Fox News Channel’s panel show The Five relies on the combative camaraderie of its longtime hosts. Now patched together from five separate locations, its characteristic conversations can sometimes literally miss a beat.
