Martha MacCallum, Bret Baier co-anchored ‘Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses’
Ron DeSantis takes second in Iowa, Haley in third, Fox News projects
Fox News decision desk projects 2024 Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis finishing in second place, with Nikki Haley in third, behind former President Donald Trump in first.
Fox News Channel crushed viewership of MSNBC and CNN combined on Monday night during special coverage of the Iowa GOP caucuses, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.
Fox News averaged 2.8 million viewers from 8-11 p.m. ET compared to 1.1 million for MSNBC and a dismal average audience of 688,000 for CNN. Fox News more than quadrupled CNN’s audience and doubled MSNBC’s viewership.
Fox News also thumped the competition among the demographic most coveted by advertisers, averaging 402,000 adults age 25-54 from 8-11 p.m. ET compared to 194,000 for CNN and only 143,000 for MSNBC.
Martha MacCallum and Bret Bair co-anchored Fox News’ "Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses."
During the 8 p.m. ET hour when each network called former President Trump’s victory, Fox News averaged 2.9 million viewers compared to 1.2 million for MSNBC and 848,000 for CNN.
Fox News’ "Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses," co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, averaged 2.7 million viewers from 10 p.m. through 12 a.m. ET, while MSNBC averaged 930,000 and CNN settled for only 541,000 during the key time period.
"Democracy 2024: Iowa Caucuses" also featured Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto, senior political analyst Brit Hume, "America’s Newsroom" co-anchors Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer, "The Five" co-host Harold Ford Jr., "America Reports" co-anchor Sandra Smith, Karl Rove, and Kellyanne Conway, in addition to Baier and MacCallum.
FOX NEWS CHANNEL’S TRUMP TOWN HALL CRUSHES VIEWERSHIP OF CNN’S HALEY-DESANTIS DEBATE
Former U.S. president and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump applauds at a watch party during the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 15, 2024. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
It was much of the same when looking at total day viewership, as Fox News averaged 1.5 million viewers on Monday compared to 712,000 for MSNBC and only 446,000 for CNN.
"FOX & Friends," "America’s Newsroom," "The Story," "Your World with Neil Cavuto," "The Five," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "The Ingraham Angle" and "Hannity" were all live from Iowa on Monday.
Trump achieved a significant win in Iowa, more than doubling the 24% support he received in 2016, according to Fox News Voter Analysis. MSNBC refused to air Trump's speech after his landslide win, while anchor Jake Tapper interrupted it on CNN.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis edged out former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy finished far behind with single-digit support, dropping out and endorsing Trump as the results became clear.
MORE THAN 5 MILLION VIEWERS TUNED IN TO FOX NEWS' GROUNDBREAKING DESANTIS-NEWSOM DEBATE
It’s been a busy week for Baier and MacCallum, who co-moderated town hall events with Haley, DeSantis and Trump from Iowa ahead of the critical caucuses.
Baier and MacCallum also co-moderated the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee last year, which averaged 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched debate of the 2024 cycle to date.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
