"The Five" at 15: Fox News' unlikely TV survivor
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In an era of shrinking cable audiences, Fox News Channel's weekday roundtable program, "The Five," has continued to grow, thanks to a format that emphasizes chemistry between the hosts as a gateway to tough news discussions.
Why it matters: When "The Five" launched in 2011, the roundtable format was rare in cable news. Today, personality-driven panel discussions are the norm.
Flashback: Nobody expected "The Five," which celebrated its 15th birthday last week, to become a permanent show at launch, says Dana Perino, one of two original hosts still on the panel every day.
- The program was originally supposed to be a five-week placeholder after Glenn Beck's departure, she says.
- But just a few minutes into the debut episode, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, then-head of programming and development, declared from the control room, "It's going to be a hit," and the rest was history.
By the numbers: Since 2011, the 5pm ET program has increased its audience by 148% to more than 3.6 million viewers on average so far this year, per Nielsen data, making it the top program in cable news and the top non-sports show on cable.
- After doubling its audience during its first decade, "The Five" added another million viewers over the next five years, reaching nearly 4 million viewers in 2025 on average.
- The program has held the No. 1 position in cable news for 22 consecutive months.
- Its midnight replay regularly draws more than 900,000 viewers.
Zoom out: While Fox News doesn't pretend to be neutral, hosts of "The Five" strongly credit the show's format and the hosts' chemistry for making debates inviting for its rotating cast of Democratic co-hosts and viewers across the ideological spectrum.
- "We all like each other," says former Democratic congressman Harold Ford Jr., a regular co-host.
- "I have the coolest job for a liberal in media today," says Jessica Tarlov, another Democratic co-host, arguing the show models "the kind of conversations ... Americans were hungry" to see across party lines.
"The secret sauce is teasing," original co-host Greg Gutfeld tells Axios. "You only tease the people you love. If you can't tease someone, the chemistry freezes up."
Between the lines: Over the past 15 years, co-hosts have engaged in heated debates on everything from guns to marijuana, immigration and abortion. Those debates have influenced the hosts' positions, they said.
- Ford Jr. credited Perino with broadening his views on education. Perino credited Gutfeld with pushing her to articulate her own views on marijuana legalization. Tarlov said she's become tougher on sanctuary city policies.
Even Jesse Watters, who is viewed as one of Fox News' more populist conservative voices, says Tarlov has helped him gain a better understanding of what attracts Democratic voters to certain politicians.
- "I think I've noticed a more diverse audience ... at least when people come up to me on the street," he says, when asked about how the show's audience has evolved.
The big picture: "The Five" epitomizes one of Fox News' biggest competitive advantages, which is that viewers tune in for the entertaining personalities as much as the politics.
- The program's loose format has given Fox News personalities the room to broaden their appeal and become stars.
- Watters, who has worked for Fox News his entire career, says he enjoys "The Five" more than his 8pm ET solo show because it's unscripted.
- Gutfeld launched his first solo weekend program in 2015 before transitioning the comedy-focused program to a weeknight comedy-focused talk show in 2021.
