Fox News has long held a dominant place in the cable news ratings. That dominance is on display in other avenues, too.
What We Know: A poll of registered voters from The New York Times and Siena University asked where they get their news. Fox News was the highest single-source brand on the poll. By itself, it eclipsed entire mediums like national television networks and local broadcast news.
What The Numbers Show:
| News Source | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Social media | 23% |
| Other (includes no preference and the internet) | 11% |
| Fox News | 10% |
| National television networks, like CBS, NBC or ABC | 9% |
| National print or online news organizations, like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal | 7% |
| CNN | 6% |
| Local broadcast news (includes non-talk, non-public local radio) | 6% |
| Aggregation sites (such as Bing, Google, Yahoo News or Apple News) | 4% |
| Public radio/NPR/PBS | 3% |
| International news sources (such as the BBC, Al Jazeera and The Guardian) | 3% |
| MS NOW | 2% |
| Newsmax | 2% |
| Doesn’t consume news | 2% |
| Talk radio/conservative personalities | 1% |
| Conservative news sites | 1% |
| Liberal news sites (such as Mother Jones and Occupy Democrats) | <1% |
| Liberal personalities | <1% |
| Local print or online news organizations | <0.5% |
| Friends and family | 0% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 7% |
What Remains Unclear: The age demographics of the poll. The New York Times says the list of those surveyed “contains information on the demographic characteristics of every registered voter.”
What It Means: Nielsen data shows that Fox News has the most politically diverse audience in the cable news space. This information would appear to corroborate that. It also shows the strength of the Fox News brand that it stood out above a collective of national television networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC by itself.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
