Quick take
Fox News Digital averaged 178 million multiplatform unique visitors in Q2 2026 — a 29% increase year over year — and led news brands with 4.6 billion multiplatform views and 9.7 billion multiplatform minutes, according to Comscore. The gains were driven largely by sustained video consumption and social reach that amplified multiplatform totals in the period.
By the numbers
- 178 million average multiplatform unique visitors (Q2 2026, Comscore)
- 4.6 billion multiplatform views (Comscore)
- 9.7 billion multiplatform minutes (Comscore)
Fox News Digital performance in Q2 2026
Comscore’s multiplatform tally places Fox News Digital at the top of the news rankings for Q2. The brand posted 4.6 billion total multiplatform views and 9.7 billion multiplatform minutes for the quarter, figures Comscore reports as the lead among national news outlets.
Those results extended multi-quarter dominance: Fox News finished No. 1 for multiplatform views for the 21st consecutive quarter and No. 1 for multiplatform minutes for the 16th consecutive quarter, per Comscore. The Fox News mobile app also contributed meaningfully, averaging about 6.3 million unique viewers in the quarter.
While the broad totals show a notable year-over-year uptick for Fox News Digital, Comscore’s multiplatform metric aggregates desktop, mobile web, mobile app and connected-TV signals and can be sensitive to where audiences watch and how publishers account for social video reach.
Video and social reach driving the edge
Third-party social and platform measurement from Emplifi — cited in the reporting — shows video and social as central to Fox News’s edge in Q2. Emplifi reports roughly 1.4 billion YouTube views across Fox News channels during the quarter, with the main Fox News channel contributing about 1.1 billion of those views.
Social interaction totals were also high: the combined reporting attributes about 270 million social interactions to Fox News in Q2, with platform breakdowns reported as roughly 122 million on Facebook, 51.9 million on Instagram, 18.2 million on X and 78.0 million on TikTok. Comscore and Emplifi were cited as counting approximately 4.4 billion social video views for the brand in the period.
Because social video views and platform engagement can feed into multiplatform tallies, publishers with especially large social-video footprints can see those counts translate into higher overall multiplatform views and minutes. That linkage helps explain why Fox News’s strong social and YouTube numbers coincide with its top multiplatform placement for Q2.
How CNN and peers fared in Q2
CNN’s digital performance in Comscore’s multiplatform report was markedly weaker. Comscore places CNN at about 62 million total multiplatform unique visitors for Q2 2026, with roughly 1.5 billion multiplatform views and 2.4 billion multiplatform minutes for the quarter. Fox News’s lead comes as CNN registered what the reporting describes as its weakest digital quarter since 2015.
Year-over-year change in Comscore’s release shows CNN down roughly 32% in unique visitors, 46% in total views and 41% in minutes compared with Q2 2025. Other national outlets showed mixed results, with broadcast-network digital channels generally trailing the largest digital-first and multiplatform news brands on these combined metrics.
A meaningful part of cross-brand differences stems from measurement choices, notably publishers’ opt-ins for Social Incremental adjustments (see below). That opt-in status can materially affect a brand’s reported multiplatform uniques and complicate direct one-to-one comparisons.
Measurement caveats and what to watch next
Comscore provided the multiplatform uniques, views and minutes figures cited here; Emplifi supplied platform-level YouTube and social video counts. These vendors use distinct methodologies: Comscore’s multiplatform metric aggregates device-level signals and publisher-supplied adjustments, while Emplifi compiles social and platform analytics.
One specific caveat is Social Incremental, an opt-in adjustment some publishers elect to include. Social Incremental can increase a brand’s reported multiplatform uniques and related metrics by accounting for otherwise uncounted social-driven audience activity. Because participation is voluntary, two comparable publishers can report materially different totals based on whether they applied Social Incremental — a factor that can inflate or compress perceived leads in any given quarter.
Going forward, watch whether (1) publishers that did not opt in to Social Incremental change their reporting, (2) social video view rates on YouTube and short-form platforms remain elevated, and (3) mobile-app audience trends persist. Those indicators will help determine whether Q2’s gains reflect a durable shift in consumption or a quarter shaped by especially strong social-video performance.
FAQ
How many unique visitors did Fox News Digital have in Q2 2026?
Comscore reported Fox News Digital averaged 178 million total digital multiplatform unique visitors during Q2 2026.
Why do totals differ between news brands in Comscore tallies?
Totals can differ because Comscore and other vendors use different measurement methodologies and because publishers can choose to opt in or out of Social Incremental adjustments. That opt-in choice can materially change reported multiplatform uniques and complicate direct comparisons.
How did Fox News perform on YouTube and social in Q2?
Emplifi reported Fox News channels totaled about 1.4 billion YouTube views in Q2 2026 and roughly 4.4 billion social video views for the brand in the quarter, alongside about 270 million social interactions across major platforms.
Source attribution: Reporting above is based on Comscore multiplatform figures and Emplifi platform data as cited in Fox News’s coverage. Original reporting: Fox News — Fox News surges 29% in unique visitors during Q2. Additional data reference: Comscore and Emplifi.
