Embarrassing: Reruns of 'Hannity' at 2AM Are Getting More Views Than Any Show on CNN
The second airing of the Fox News program “Hannity” on weeknights is getting better ratings than every single show that makes up CNN’s lineup.
A graphic shared by Fox News contributor and Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha shows host Sean Hannity’s program drawing 911,000 viewers at 2 a.m. Eastern Time.
The closest CNN program is “The Arena with Kasie Hunt,” which airs at 4 p.m., with 807,000 viewers.
“The Lead with Jake Tapper” is next for CNN at 804,000 during the 5 p.m. Eastern hour. Longstanding host Anderson Cooper’s program only draws an audience of 684,000 at 8 p.m.
Hannity’s prime-time airing at 9 p.m. attracts 2,380,000 viewers.
By contrast, CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlin Collins,” which airs during the same time slot, pulls an audience of 558,000. So CNN is apparently no longer “the most trusted name in news.”
Absolutely hysterical that reruns of Hannity at 2 am are now getting more viewers than every single show on CNN. https://t.co/fg8L7O3jpl
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 18, 2026
Fox News reported that during the 2016 presidential campaign, CNN’s prime-time lineup averaged 1.3 million viewers, which largely continued into his first year in office, when the number was approximately 1 million. Now its prime-time average viewership is 573,000.
“DePauw University professor and media analyst Jeffrey McCall feels the drastic decline in CNN’s audience was likely caused by a combination of factors,” according to Fox.
“One key is that the establishment media and left-of-center voters were in deep denial when [Donald] Trump first won the presidency in 2017. They couldn’t believe Hillary [Clinton] had actually lost, which led to the Russia collusion conspiracy theories and related reporting, and then eventually to impeachment. There was great hope at that time for the Trump ‘resistance,’ and those niche viewers couldn’t get enough of that coverage,” McCall told the news outlet.
That type of coverage is not working during Trump’s second term.
“Even the ‘hair on fire’ rhetoric that Trump won’t leave the White House after this current term, and will maneuver into a third term, is getting no traction,” McCall said.
Fox News reigned supreme in 2025 with an average prime-time audience of 2.76 million, up 11 percent.
Outkick founder Clay Travis noted on social media last month, “Interesting that MSNBC and CNN both saw viewership tank in first year of Trump 2.0. Huge change from Trump 1.0 when he sent their ratings soaring. Meanwhile Fox News grew by double digits.”
Interesting that MSNBC and CNN both saw viewership tank in first year of Trump 2.0. Huge change from Trump 1.0 when he sent their ratings soaring. Meanwhile Fox News grew by double digits. pic.twitter.com/vHXjxZuFcJ
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 1, 2026
Fox News airs the top 12 most-watched news programs on cable, the network reported in a Dec. 15 news release.
They are: “The Five” (4.1 million viewers), “Jesse Watters Primetime” (3.6 million), “Hannity,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “Gutfeld!” “The Ingraham Angle,” “The Will Cain Show,” “Outnumbered,” “The Faulkner Focus,” “America’s Newsroom,” “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” and “America Reports.”
Fox added, “Notably, each program delivered double-digit year-over-year growth with viewers.”
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