Fox News is Still the Most-Watched Network Among GOP Voters — But One in Seven Has Tuned Out

Fox News is the most-watched news network among Republican voters, but around one in seven GOP voters who used to watch Fox News no longer watch the channel, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Fabrizio Lee, a GOP polling firm, polled more than 1,000 voters who are either registered Republicans or affiliate as Republicans on their news network viewership habits. The survey took place from Feb. 20 to March 2, 2021.

The poll found that 48 percent of Republican voters watch Fox News regularly than any other news network, while 26 percent of Republican voters watch Newsmax at least weekly. Fox News has lost some Republican viewers, with 14 percent responding that they used to watch Fox but don’t anymore, but the network maintains a wide lead over the conservative competition, with more Republicans saying they watch Fox daily than those who watch Newsmax weekly.

“Not surprisingly, nearly half of GOP voters say they watch Fox at least once a week,” the survey report said. “While more GOP voters say they stopped watching more established news networks, roughly 1 in 7 GOP voters say they no longer watch Fox.”

Thirty-two percent of Republican voters who used to watch Fox News now watch Newsmax at least weekly, and 28 percent of them watch OANN at least weekly.

However, 37 percent of former Fox viewers have never watched Newsmax, and 53 percent have never watched OANN.

“No question that Fox’s loss among GOP voters are Newsmax’s and OANN’s gains,” the report said. “Many GOP voters who are former Fox viewers claim they watch either Newsmax or OANN at least once a week, with none of the competing news networks coming close.”

In terms of Republican voters planning to support Trump in the 2024 primary, 38 percent of them watch Newsmax at least weekly, and 29 percent of them watch OANN at least weekly. Fifty-four percent of GOP voters planning to vote for Trump in the next presidential primary watch Fox at least weekly.

“One can reach a majority of GOP voters planning to vote for President Trump in a 2024 primary through Fox News, but Newsmax and OANN have also become viable alternatives to reach a wide swath of these voters,” the report says.

Although Fox dropped in the ratings following the 2020 presidential election, recent viewership is on an upswing, with Fox last week finishing first among total viewers, and viewers in the valuable A25-54 demographic, in both total day and prime time. And while it’s not surprising that conservatives make up most of the Fox News audience, one recent Pew study showed that Democrats also watch Fox, and another showed that independents also tune in to the conservative network.

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told Mediaite that Newsmax has made “remarkable gains across cable television,” and also streams for free on Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto, and other platforms.

“We reach over 100 million homes this way, with 40 million of these homes not even connected to cable,” Ruddy said. “Newsmax owns this market.”