Despite its image as a conservative news organization, the network has a surprising number of liberal contributors!

Nielsen/MRI Fusion data released Tuesday revealed a startling pattern among cable news viewers: Democrats are tuning in in huge numbers to Fox News.

In October, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the most popular show in that time slot among Republicans and Democrats aged 25 to 54. “Of those demo-aged viewers surveyed who identified as Democrats, 39 percent chose Fox News, 31 percent chose MSNBC, and 30 percent chose CNN for programs beginning at 8 p.m.,” according to The Wrap. ET to 11 p.m. ET.”

Furthermore, 42 percent of Democrats aged 25 to 54 watched Fox throughout the day, while 33 percent watched CNN and 25% watched MSNBC. It’s impossible to ignore the enormous share of total viewers that Fox has. Fox makes up 56% of the total prime-time audience in cable news and 55% during the day.

Carlson garnered an average of 101,000 Democrats in the demo throughout that month. The Rachel Maddow Show and The Five tied for second place, each with 88,000 Democratic demo viewers.

Even more astonishing is the fact that Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfeld, with 81,000 and 73,000 Democrats in the demo, respectively, round out the top five.

Fox has three of the top five shows viewed by Democrats in terms of total viewers, while MSNBC has the other two.

Unfortunately for CNN and MSNBC, the top five most-watched programs among Independents are all on Fox, according to the same data. In order of popularity, the five most-watched shows by self-identified Independents are Tucker Carlson, The Five, Hannity, Special Report with Bret Baier, and The Ingraham Angle.

Among Republicans, it’s no surprise that Fox sweeps the top five watched programs. Listed in order of most-watched they are Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Five, Hannity, Special Report with Bret Baier, and The Ingraham Angle.

However, the biggest question is…Why are Democrats tuning into Fox, which is so frequently derided by those on the left? And why do younger Democrats choose Carlson over Maddow?

Sources: Conservativebrief, TheWrap, FoxNews