According to data gathered in late 2024, ** percent of adults aged 65 years or over watched news on TV at least sometimes, more than double the share of adults under ** who did the same. Older news consumers were more likely to turn to print and TV than their younger counterparts, although also increased their news consumption via podcasts.

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.

Cable TV news consumption is on the decline. Adults aged between 18 and 34 years old were the least likely to use cable TV networks as a source of news, with a survey held in the United States in August 2022 revealing that 45 percent never did so. Younger consumers preferred social media sites for keeping up to date, and whilst their older peers turned to cable news more frequently, network news was still a more popular daily news source.

Falling cable news ratings

Back in 2017, FOX News, the leading cable news network in the United States, had an average of almost 470 thousand viewers in the primetime demo. With the exception of 2020 where news consumption soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, ratings have fallen consecutively each year, and by 2022, FOX’s average viewer count sank to 341 thousand. CNN and MSNBC saw even greater drops in their audiences, with the latter seeing its ratings fall by more than 2.5 times between 2017 and 2022.

Why the drop in ratings?

Cable and satellite TV is no longer the norm: only adults aged 60 or above express a preference for traditional TV over video streaming services and apps, and among certain age groups the share who preferred the latter was over 70 percent. Indeed, a 2022 survey found that the majority of Gen Z, millennials, and Gen X did not have a cable subscription. The main reason for cutting the cord was price, with over a third of adults saying that cable was simply too expensive.

In a May 2019 survey in the U.S., ** percent of respondents aged 55 or above stated that they got their news from local television stations in their area every day, compared to ** percent of adults between the ages of 35 and 54 years old who said the same. Local TV news is far less popular among younger generations, who generally prefer to get their news online.

This statistic shows the share of Millennials who watched selected television news sources most frequently in the United States as of June 2019. The findings reveal that the majority of Millennials turned to networks like NBC, ABC or CBS the most when they wanted to watch TV news, and 20 percent watched Fox News the most.

The share of Hungarians not consuming television news was higher among younger generations in 2021. Approximately ** percent of respondents between the ages of 15 to 29 years old stated that they did not watch the news on TV while in case of the oldest surveyed generation this figure reached only ** percent.

This statistic shows the share of adults who watched selected television news sources the most in the United States as of June 2019. The findings reveal that the majority of responding U.S. adults said that they watched networks such as NBC, ABC or CBS the most, and 20 percent said that Fox News was the TV news source they watched most often. Conversely just nine percent said the same about CNN.

The graph shows the cumulative average weekly time spent watching TV news in the United States from 2015 to the first quarter of 2017. According to the source, U.S. adults spent a cumulative ***** billion minutes watching TV news weekly in the first quarter of 2017.

This statistic shows the results of a survey conducted by Cint on the distribution of news TV channels people watch in France in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, ***** percent of respondents stated that they watch BFM TV.

This statistic shows the results of a survey on the level of interest in watching the news on television in Germany from 2018 to 2023. In 2023, ***** million Germans were highly interested in watching the news on TV.The Allensbach Market and Advertising Media Analysis (Allensbacher Markt- und Werbeträgeranalyse or AWA in German) determines attitudes, consumer habits and media usage of the population in Germany on a broad statistical basis.

This statistic shows the results of a survey conducted by Cint on the distribution of news TV channels people watch in the Netherlands in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, ***** percent of respondents stated that they watch CNN.

In 2021, ** percent of Russians consumed news on television daily or almost daily. The share of those watching TV news every day saw a decrease that year. The most popular news channels on Russian television in 2019 were Russia-1 and Channel One.

The results of a survey carried out in the UK in 2019/2020 show which generations are more likely to read magazines or newspapers while watching TV. Just under a third of over *** sometimes do so. Roughly ********* of all respondents hardly ever do this.

This statistic presents the frequency with which viewers watch television shows or video content from Vice News in the United States in 2017, sorted by age group. During the survey, **** percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years stated that they watched Vice News about once a week.

The statistic describes the share of respondents who watch television in the Middle East and North Africa as of 2018, by content. During the survey period, about ** percent respondents stated that they watched the news on TV.

This statistic presents the frequency with which viewers watch television shows or video content from NBC News in the United States in 2017, sorted by gender. During the survey, ** percent of male respondents stated that they watched NBC News about once a week.

The statistic presents the most popular times to watch television in the United States as of *************. The data shows that ** percent of surveyed people in the U.S. watched television in the evening, whereas the least popular time for TV viewing was between midnight and 6am.

The findings of a study conducted in August 2022 showed that 24 percent of surveyed U.S. adults stated that they watched network news on a daily basis. Adults over the age of 65 were the most likely to used network news to keep up to date each day, with 43 percent saying that they did so, compared to just nine percent of 18 to 34-year-olds.

The graph presents the average time spent viewing top news channels in the United States from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2017. According to the source, consumers spent an average of ***** minutes watching news channels in the first quarter of 2017.

In May 2024, the leading cable news program in the United States ranked by number of viewers was "The Five", averaging **** million total viewers. "Jesse Watters Primetime" ranked second with **** million average total viewers that month.