More surprising are the stats about Carlson and Fox News’ pull with self-proclaimed Democrats. Of those demo-aged viewers surveyed who identified as Democrats, 39% chose Fox News, 31% chose MSNBC and 30% chose CNN for programming from 8 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. In total-day viewership, Fox News grabbed 42% of Democrats aged 25-54, CNN nabbed 33% and MSNBC got 25%.

Carlson was top among Democrats in the demo across all of cable news that month and ranked third place among Dems in total viewership, too. Of the top four programs among Democrats in total viewers, Fox News had three: “The Five,” “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Hannity.” The top spot in total viewers went to MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

These numbers only account for October but reveal that Fox News’ and Carlson’s sizable audiences are not that easy to define. Consider Carlson’s ratings that month. In October, Carlson’s show was the top-rated program in the demo across all of cable news and was the second highest-rated show overall, coming in only behind Fox News’ late-afternoon panel show “The Five.” In total average viewers, he netted 3.081 million viewers and in the demo, he secured 483,000. For the entire year of 2021, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the highest-rated program in cable news overall, bringing in an average of 3.214 million total viewers with 535,000 in the demo.