Fox News is confronting its steepest ratings decline in years, and it is happening at a time when most news channels are enjoying a viewership boom. According to a new analysis from MS NOW, the network is trapped "between a rock and a hard place," with no good choices about how to proceed.

Last week, reports emerged that "stunning" new data for the month of October showed the conservative network suffering a "staggering" drop in viewership — a striking anomaly, given that news outlets typically see ratings climb heading into major elections. Both MS NOW and CNN recorded gains over the same period. Fox still comfortably leads other networks in total viewership, but the decline remains stark, particularly as it comes amid President Donald Trump's historic unpopularity.

"According to Nielsen ratings obtained by Status in advance of their release, October 2026 will be Fox News' lowest-rated month since December 2023, with the network averaging 1.1 million total day viewers," a report from Status detailed. "Among viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic, the picture is even worse. Fox News will post its lowest-rated month in that category in 25 years, averaging just 98,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo. Those figures represent a steep 27 percent drop compared to last October in total viewers, and a 32 percent plunge in the 25-54 demo." The 25-54 bracket is the standard measurement cable networks and advertisers use to price ad time, which is why a 25-year low there draws particular attention from the advertising side of the business.

Addressing the figures in a piece published Monday morning, veteran media analyst and critic Brian Lowry wrote for MS NOW that Fox News is entering "a perilous new phase" as it weighs whether to risk distancing itself from Trump to salvage its ratings — a step that history shows could backfire badly.

"Although Fox briefly distanced itself from Trump immediately after the 2020 election, the network scrambled back into his arms when MAGA loyalists tuned out, triggering a ratings slump and an internal panic that disgruntled Trump supporters would gravitate to other right-wing networks like Newsmax," Lowry explained. "As it turned out, Newsmax's inroads were short-lived, though Fox talents' promotion of Trump's 2020 election lies later led to a nearly $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Nevertheless, since then the cable news leader has generally sought to stay in Trump's good graces."

Fox settled the Dominion case in April 2023, just as it was set to go to trial in Delaware. The litigation, along with the internal communications behind it, was documented in The New York Times and Associated Press coverage of the case.

Fox is also facing the same existential moment as the rest of the news media, which has spent a decade orienting its coverage — positive or negative — around Trump. By 2029, however, he will no longer be in the White House, and "all of cable news will have to grapple with a new playing field," Lowry argued.

"Like conservatives who denounced Trump after the Jan. 6 riot before retreating, Fox and Murdoch made a business decision to hitch the network to Trump's wagon," he later concluded. "That may have staved off disaster back in 2021, but Fox is nothing if not adaptable. And should viewers not return after the midterms, the network could face trying to avoid a 'Thelma and Louise' scenario, where (spoiler alert!) two longtime friends, having stuck together through thick and thin, hold hands as they sail off a cliff." November's post-election ratings will provide the first concrete checkpoint on the question Lowry raises — whether viewers actually return after the midterms.