Despite a number of controversies and criticism from the president, Fox News saw its biggest year ever in 2019, attracting the highest number of viewers in its 23-year history.

According to ratings from Nielsen, Fox hit an average of 2.5 million viewers per night in 2019, making it the top-rated basic cable network. Fox easily beat out third-place MSNBC, which attracted an average 1.75 million viewers.

The network also aired four of the top five most-watched shows on cable news in 2019, with its right-wing programs Hannity and Tucker Carlson Tonight each drawing an average of more than three million viewers.

Despite the network’s success, a number of hosts and commentators attracted controversy, often around issues of race and extremism, leading some advertisers to cut ties with Fox.

Host Tucker Carlson was the subject of repeated boycotts for outlandish comments, such as when the host referred to white supremacy as a “hoax” just days after the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. (Shortly before killing 22 people, the El Paso shooter posted a manifesto warning of a “Hispanic invasion”.)

This year, the network also lost one of its longtime hosts, Shepard Smith, who repeatedly criticized Donald Trump for attacking the media and sharing baseless claims. “Even in our currently polarized nation, it’s my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will survive,” Smith said in his farewell message.

Trump had repeatedly attacked Smith while he was still at Fox, but the president’s criticisms of the network this year extended far beyond one host. Recently, Trump has lashed out against Fox for interviewing some of the president’s Democratic critics as the House moved toward impeachment.

“The Dems wouldn’t let @FoxNews get near their bad ratings debates, yet Fox panders,” Trump tweeted earlier this month, referring to the Democratic National Committee’s decision not to air primary debates on the network. “Pathetic!”

Trump has instead turned his favoritism toward One America News Network, a lesser-known outlet that was once dismissed by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow as “paid Russian propaganda.”

But given the Nielsen ratings, the president’s supporters do not appear to be abandoning Fox News en masse.