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Fact check: What is the average age of CNN viewers compared to Fox News viewers in 2025?
Executive Summary
The available analyses do not present a single, consistent average age for CNN and Fox News viewers in 2025; instead they report differing median ages and snapshots from multiple surveys that point in the same direction: Fox News viewers skew older than CNN viewers, but the magnitude of that gap varies by dataset and date. Major reported figures range from a modest five-year gap (CNN median 60 vs. Fox 65) to larger estimates where Fox medians are in the high 60s while CNN sits in the low-to-mid 60s or around 50 in one Pew estimate, reflecting discrepancies across measurement methods and sample frames [1] [2] [3].
1. What the key claims say — a confusing mosaic of medians and declines
Four distinct claims emerge across the supplied analyses: a report that CNN’s median viewer age is 60 while Fox and MSNBC medians are 65; a Nielsen-linked claim putting Fox median as high as 69; data showing CNN’s total-day median around 67 in Q1 2024; and a Pew survey with lower medians (CNN 50, Fox 55). These pieces describe median ages rather than arithmetic averages, and one set of materials focuses on recent rating declines rather than demographics, noting steep viewership drops for both networks in 2025 [1] [4] [2] [3] [5]. The divergent numbers demonstrate that different organizations, sample periods, and metrics (median vs. mean, total-day vs. primetime, TV-only vs. digital-inclusive) drive different headline figures [6].
2. Why medians, means, and measurement windows change the story
Median and average (mean) ages can differ substantially when audiences are skewed; several sources explicitly report median ages, which identify the midpoint viewer but do not show distribution tails. Nielsen and industry reporting often provide medians for Total Day or Primetime windows; Pew produces population-based survey medians. The supplied materials include medians ranging from 50 to about 69, a spread that cannot be reconciled without knowing each study’s methodology. This methodological divergence explains much of the apparent conflict: advertiser-facing Nielsen snapshots, independent Pew surveys, and digital-platform audience mixes each capture different cohorts [1] [4] [3].
3. Temporal and platform effects — 2024 vs. 2025 and TV vs. YouTube
Some analyses reference Q1 2024 medians, others cite surveys from March 2025, and some commentary notes growing younger audiences on YouTube for all cable brands. Where digital audience shares are included, brands show substantially younger reach, with more than half of YouTube viewers identified as Millennials or Gen Z in one account; this pulls any overall “average” younger when platforms beyond linear TV are counted. Conversely, Nielsen-TV medians in 2024–2025 emphasize an older linear-TV base. The result is a split between TV-centric tallies that show older medians and cross-platform tallies that lower average ages [4] [6].
4. Where the largest numbers come from — who says Fox viewers are oldest?
The highest median figure cited for Fox comes from a Nielsen-linked mention of a 69-year-old median; similarly high medians (67–70) appear in reporting about cable-news audiences. These figures consistently portray Fox as the oldest-skewing audience, often several years older than CNN in the same dataset. Industry reporting and news analyses converge on the direction of the difference even if they disagree on magnitude: Fox > CNN in viewer age is consistent across datasets supplied, but the precise gap ranges from roughly 2–15 years depending on the source and measurement [2] [6].
5. What’s missing and how that matters for an “average” age claim
None of the supplied analyses gives a directly comparable arithmetic average for both networks constrained to the same sample, timeframe, and platform mix—so any single-number claim about “average age in 2025” would be inherently incomplete. Crucial missing elements include whether figures are medians or means, whether they cover total-day or primetime, whether they are TV-only or include digital audiences, and exact sampling dates. The Pew March 2025 survey offers one population-based point (CNN 50, Fox 55) that conflicts with Nielsen-style medians; without harmonized methodology, the data support a directional conclusion only: Fox’s audience is older than CNN’s, but the exact average age depends on how you measure it [3] [1].
Bottom line: The supplied sources consistently show Fox News viewers skew older than CNN viewers in 2025, but they report different median figures depending on methodology and platform mix; no single, directly comparable “average age” value for both networks in 2025 can be derived from these materials alone [1] [2] [3].