When it comes to share of Americans who watched talk shows online or on TV, ** percent of 18 - 29 year olds do so in the U.S. This is according to exclusive insights from the Consumer Insights Global survey which shows that ** percent of 30 - 49 year old consumers also fall into this category.Statista Consumer Insights offer you all results of our exclusive Statista surveys, based on more than ********* interviews.

Adults between the ages of ** and ** were the most frequent viewers of Saturday Night Live, with ** percent of respondents in this age bracket stating that they watched the program often, and ** percent stating that they watched it sometimes. Younger generations tend to view SNL far more than older generations, whereas more than half of adults aged 65 or above said that they never watched Saturday Night Live at all.

Saturday Night Live

First airing nearly 45 years ago, Saturday Night Live has won more Primetime Emmy Awards than any other show in history during its run and has established itself as a major source of American comedy and pop culture. The show’s ***** episode aired in 2018 and garnered a household rating of *** as well as a household share of around ** percent. Many of the show’s most popular segments go on to become viral video sensations, like Melissa McCarthy’s impression of Sean Spicer, which was seen by ** percent of Americans. Alec Baldwin’s impression of Donald Trump was even more popular, with ** percent of U.S. viewers watching the sketch.

SNL and politics

Being a late-night variety show that often touches on current events, SNL has never shied away from sketches about politics or political leaders – in fact, these are often some of the show’s most popular. Dozens of Presidents have been either depicted or referenced on the show, with Barack Obama even appearing to portray a caricature of himself. After drawing the anger of Donald Trump, the show’s audience has become more politically divided, with far more democrat-leaning Americans viewing it that Republicans.

According to the most recent data, U.S. viewers aged 15 years and older spent on average almost ***** hours watching TV per day in 2023. Adults aged 65 and above spent the most time watching television at over **** hours, whilst 15 to 19-year-olds watched TV for less than *** hours each day. The dynamic TV landscape The way people consume video entertainment platforms has significantly changed in the past decade, with a forecast suggesting that the time spent watching traditional TV in the U.S. will probably decline in the years ahead, while digital video will gain in popularity. Younger age groups in particular tend to cut the cord and subscribe to video streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. TV advertising in a transition period Similarly, the TV advertising market made a development away from traditional linear TV towards online media. While the ad spending on traditional TV in the U.S. generally increased until the end of the 2010s, this value is projected to decline to below ** billion U.S. dollars in the next few years. By contrast, investments in connected TV advertising are expected to steadily grow, despite the amount being just over half of the traditional TV ad spend by 2025.

Monday Night Football on ESPN averaged around 15 million viewers in the United States during the 2024 NFL regular season. This marked a fall from the previous season's figure, but an increase of 12 percent on the average audience during the 2022 season. Sunday, Monday, happy nights The NFL has primetime games that are broadcast across the entire United States by one major network on Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night – these games start at around 8:30 pm Eastern Time. Sunday Night Football consistently remains the most viewed television show in the United States, with other NFL broadcasts also featuring high in the ranking every ear. TV networks pay top dollar The NFL generates an estimated 10 billion U.S. dollars per year from broadcasting rights deals, a figure that has increased significantly over the years. ESPN agreed on a nine-year deal with the NFL – at an average annual cost of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, ensuring the network has the rights to show Monday Night Football until at least 2032. Following on from this, Amazon Prime won the rights to Thursday Night Football for an estimated 1.2 billion U.S. dollars annually.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in December 2023, entertainment and variety shows had the highest viewership rating among women sixty years and older, lying at about **** percent. This genre was generally more popular among women compared to men. It was also more popular among older groups. Total average viewership that month amounted to around **** percent.

In 2025, **** million Americans watched the Grammy Awards ceremony. This figure marked a decrease from the previous year, and represented the fourth-lowest TV audience since the 2000 ceremony. Throwback to the Grammys’ glory days The Grammy Awards have suffered viewer losses for the better part of a decade. The show's rankings last peaked in 2012, when an estimated 39 million people tuned in to watch Music's Biggest Night. After that, the format failed to draw the same impressive audience numbers as it did in the early 2010s. But what made the 54th annual Grammy Awards so special? For one, the event incorporated various musical tributes to Whitney Houston, who had died the day before the show. On top of that, the ceremony was hosted by LL Cool J, who was the first Grammys host in seven years. Spotlight on other awards ceremonies The Grammys are not the only awards ceremony that has lost viewers and relevance over the past decade. Even the Oscars, Hollywood's most prestigious celebration, have recently failed to draw television viewers' attention. In 2024, the number of Academy Awards viewers stood at **** million, and even though this figure marked a significant improvement compared to the previous years, the audience was still only half as big as it was back in 2015. A similar downward trend also unfolded at the Golden Globes, where the number of TV viewers dropped to *** million in 2025.

The 2025 NFL Draft took place at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the first pick being quarterback Cam Ward to the Tennessee Titans. While the average TV audience across the event stood at around *** million, a record **** million viewers tuned in to watch the first round of the Draft.

The 35th season of the long-running animated comedy show "The Simpsons" drew in an average of ************ viewers, but whilst this figure may seem impressive at first glance, viewer numbers have been on the decline for years. Season 12 pulled in an audience of almost *********** However, viewership has been falling ever since (with the exception of the small spike in viewer numbers between seasons 20 and 21). As viewer numbers for the show have dropped, so has the cost of a 30-second ad spot during "The Simpsons" broadcasts, though the price for an ad during 2018-19 season showed signs of improvement and marked the first increase in around 4 years. Attitudes towards ‘The Simpsons’ Whilst "The Simpsons" has often come under fire for its controversial content and reinforcement of negative stereotypes, the show continues to run and remains popular. "The Simpsons Movie" made over *** million U.S. dollars at the North American box office in 2007 and the film regularly features on video streaming services alongside the show itself. Even in spite of falling viewer numbers the long-running TV series is still held in good favor, especially among younger generations. "The Simpsons" was the favorite contemporary TV show among Millennials according to a survey held in the U.S., and also performed well with respondents in this age group in a ranking of favorite TV shows of all time.

What are the most-watched news networks? In November 2023, Fox News was the most watched cable news network in the United States and continues to do well in terms of its primetime audience, with **** million primetime viewers in that period. Fox News viewers in the 25-54 demographic amounted to *** thousand, whilst MSNBC had just *** thousand. When looking at Fox News viewers compared to CNN, the overall average number of primetime viewers was notably different. CNN has been losing viewers in recent years, although during the coronavirus outbreak, tended to pull in a larger audience than usual. Which cable news channel has the most viewers in prime time? Performing well during the mid-evening prime time slot on cable television is the goal of any network that takes its ratings seriously.Cable news networks like Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are engaged in a monthly battle to hit the top spot during primetime and grab the highest cable news ratings during those precious evening hours. Fox News ratings during primetime are generally higher than its two direct competitors, and was the top channel for watching the State of the Union Address in 2020. What is prime time TV? Primetime television is the time at which the audience peaks, and in the United States usually takes place between 8pm and 11pm. TV networks show their most sought after or successful programs during this time, and this slot is where advertisers like to spend their money in order to maximize the number of viewers who will see their products. In fact, many of the most-watched news shows like Hannity or The Rachel Maddow Show which debate news coverage from a particular point of view, draw in massive audiences each month, ultimately contributing to the overall ratings of the network they belong to.

Estimates suggest that in 2026 U.S. adults will spend around ** percent of their time watching traditional TV each day. This figure has generally fallen in recent years and the downward trend is forecast to continue in the years to come. Screen time Although average daily time spent watching TV appears to be decreasing, this does not necessarily mean that people are spending less time in front of screens; this drop is likely due to an increasing amount of time spent with phones, tablets, and laptops. With on-demand streaming services such as Netflix gaining massive popularity, people can watch a huge range of programming whilst on the go, meaning that screen time is no longer limited to time spent at home in front of the TV. Young people around the world have been especially quick to adopt smartphone-based video streaming habits meaning that television screen time will likely fall even further in the future. Television in the U.S. As mentioned above, the way people are consuming their video entertainment content is rapidly changing in the United States. By 2028, estimates suggest that only **** million U.S. households will pay for traditional TV services, down from over ** million as of 2019. In order to compete for people’s business, cable and satellite providers must find a way to adapt in a way the meets the needs of today’s increasingly mobile consumers. Some are launching their own streaming services in a bid to tackle cord-cutting, most notably Comcast.