Topline
Programming from the Fox Broadcasting Company earned more viewers across linear televisions and streaming in May than the month before, new data from Nielsen shows, largely thanks to a spike users of the Fox-owned Tubi streaming service, and a spike in Fox News viewers amid coverage of former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial.
Key Facts
Viewers watching Fox programming accounted for 6.4% of all TV usage in May, seventh place among media companies, according to Nielsen, up from 6.1% in April for the highest month-to-month jump of any media company.
The growth can be attributed to a 5% monthly viewing increase for Tubi TV—a free ad-supported streaming service owned by the Fox Corporation that accounted for 1.8% of all TV usage in May—and a 1.6% monthly rise in viewership for the Fox News Channel.
Viewers flocked to Fox News in May for coverage of Trump’s trial, which saw him become the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes, and the channel was the most-watched across cable in the week of the verdict with an average viewership of 2 million at any given time, besting TNT’s ratings during the NBA playoffs.
The Walt Disney Company owned the largest share of TV usage when broken out by media company in the month of May, Nielsen's latest report shows, at 11.4%.
YouTube, which has been the most-watched streaming service for 16 months, accounted for 9.6% of all TV usage in the No. 2 spot, followed by NBCUniversal (8.9%), Paramount (8.8%), Warner Bros. Discovery (8.1%) and Netflix (7.6%).
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Key Background
Fox News led all of cable and broadcast during the coverage of Trump's guilty verdict on May 30. “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” which was on air when the guilty verdict was announced in the 5 p.m. EST slot, was the most-watched non-sports cable program of the week in the No. 4 slot with 4.47 million live viewers (three NBA playoff games on TNT scored more viewers that week). “The Five” on Fox News, which aired after “Your World,” was the fifth most-watched program of the week and MSNBC's evening coverage the day of the verdict ranked in the No. 6 to No. 8 spots. CNN’s special verdict coverage ranked at No. 40 for cable programs that week with 2.2 million live viewers.