Cable news ratings fall, more Americans turn to digital sources and social media

[KARAH RUCKER]

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR NEWS? NEWS CONSUMPTION HABITS ARE CHANGING. PEOPLE ARE TURNING AWAY FROM CABLE NETWORKS IN BIG NUMBERS.

YEAR OVER YEAR – FOX SAW AN OVERALL 20% DECLINE IN VIEWERSHIP, ALTHOUGH STILL PERCHED AT NUMBER ONE.

CNN SAW A 19% DROP AND IN THE TARGETED DEMOGRAPHIC OF ADULTS 25 TO 54, FOX LOST 38% OF ITS AUDIENCE. CNN – DOWN 27%.

MSNBC WAS THE ONLY MAJOR NEWS NETWORK WITH A GAIN – AN UPTICK OF 2%.

IF MAJOR CABLE NETWORKS LIKE FOX AND CNN LOST ROUGHLY A FIFTH OF THEIR TOTAL VIEWERSHIP AND A THIRD OF THEIR YOUNGER AUDIENCE, WHERE ARE THOSE VIEWERS GOING TO GET THEIR NEWS? AND IS IT A **RELIABLE SOURCE FOR NEWS CONSUMPTION?

DIGITAL NEWS SOURCES SAW GROWTH IN 2023 WHILE OTHER MEDIUMS SHRUNK. DIGITAL NEWS SITES LIKE NEWSBREAK AND NEWSWEEK SAW BETWEEN 60% AND 90% GROWTH YEAR-OVER-YEAR.  

THIS IS IN LINE WITH PEW RESEARCH, WHICH FOUND 86% OF AMERICANS TURN TO THEIR DIGITAL DEVICES TO STAY INFORMED. TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS SAY THEY VISIT NEWS WEBSITES OR NEWS APPS. HALF OF AMERICANS SAY THEY OFTEN OR SOMETIMES USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS A NEWS SOURCE.

IF YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE GETTING NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA, ARE YOU GETTING THE FULL PICTURE? FACEBOOK’S ALGORITHM DEMOTES POSTS THAT HAVE NEWS LINKS ATTACHED.

ACCORDING TO META’S MOST RECENT 2023 Q-3 STATISTICS, 95% OF POST VIEWS DID NOT INCLUDE A LINK TO A SOURCE OUTSIDE FACEBOOK. 5% OF CONTENT DID, WHICH IS UP SLIGHTLY FROM 3 PERCENT OF POSTS IN Q-1. 

SO IF USERS RELY ON NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA, THEY MIGHT NOT BE SEEING A LOT OF IT.

THERE’S ALSO A COMPLICATED HISTORY OF SELECTIVE CENSORSHIP ON THESE PLATFORMS OF WHAT CONTENT YOU’RE ALLOWED TO SEE.

BIG TECH CAN PICK AND CHOOSE POSTS VISIBLE TO ITS USERS UNDER CURRENT LAW – SOMETHING KNOWN AS SECTION 230. BUT THAT’S BEEN CHALLENGED BY TEXAS AND FLORIDA AFTER SUPPRESSION OF CONTENT DURING THE PANDEMIC.

THE SUPREME COURT IS POISED TO POTENTIALLY DECIDE THIS SUMMER IF BIG TECH VIOLATES FREE SPEECH BY UTILIZING ALGORITHMS.

NOW ENTERING A GENERAL ELECTION YEAR, DO PEOPLE EVEN CARE ABOUT THE NEWS ANYMORE?

WHILE VIEWERSHIP TYPICALLY SLOWS DURING AN OFF-ELECTION YEAR, THE DECLINE IN RECENT RATINGS ALSO COMES AS THE PUBLIC FACES HIGH LEVELS OF NEWS FATIGUE AND QUESTIONS WHETHER THE MEDIA IS ACCURATELY AND FAIRLY REPORTING THE NEWS.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT. WE SEE OUR INDUSTRY CHANGING AND WE WANT YOU TO STAY INFORMED. THIS ISN’T JUST SOME PITCH FOR YOU TO TURN TO STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. THIS IS HOW WE STRIVE TO TELL EVERY STORY. GIVING YOU THE FACTS AND ALLOWING YOU TO COME TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS.

WE’RE UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF BECOMING YOUR UNBIASED NEWS SOURCE HEADING INTO AN IMPORTANT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. IF YOU’D LIKE TO LEARN MORE – READ OUR MISSION STATEMENT AT SAN.COM.