Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
How have the age demographics of Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC viewers changed over the past decade?
Executive Summary
The central claim — that age demographics of Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC viewers have shifted over the past decade — is supported by multiple, recent data points showing a clear pattern: Fox News’ audience remains oldest and in many measures has aged or held steady at older medians, while CNN and MSNBC have fluctuated with periods of both gains and losses in younger-demo viewership. Major surveys and ratings snapshots from 2024–2025 produce mixed signals about direction and magnitude because methodologies differ, but they converge on the finding that television cable-news audiences skew older than the general public and that network-specific programming and ratings swings have driven short-term demographic changes [1] [2] [3].
1. The headline: Who is getting older — and who is not?
Over the last several years, median ages reported for cable news viewers place Fox News among the oldest audiences; Pew’s August 2025 analysis reports a Fox median age of 55 and CNN at 50, both above the U.S. adult median of 47, reinforcing the long-term pattern that cable-news viewers skew older than the general public [1] [4]. Nielsen-style ratings and network reporting for 2024–2025 show Fox News dominating total viewers and holding strong in the 25–54 demo at times, while CNN and MSNBC have experienced sharper volatility and episodic declines in younger-demo viewership during ratings slumps in 2024–2025 [5] [2] [3]. These sources together indicate an enduring older audience composition for cable news overall, with network-level shifts driven by programming, personnel, and momentary news cycles [1] [2].
2. The decade arc: gradual drift or episodic churn?
Claims that age demographics shifted dramatically over the past decade rest on two different evidentiary paths: repeated cross-sectional surveys (e.g., Pew 2025) and year-to-year ratings comparisons (network and industry reports from 2023–2025). Pew’s cross-sectional work shows median-age differences in 2025 but does not map a continuous trendline back year-by-year; industry ratings reports document big swings — Fox’s prime-time gains and CNN/MSNBC declines in some recent quarters — that can be read as short-term episodic churn rather than a smooth, uniform decade-long drift [1] [2] [3]. The divergence in methods explains why some summaries describe a large cumulative change (one analysis noted a 23% increase where earlier claims noted 20%) while others emphasize stability in long-term age skew [6] [2].
3. Why numbers diverge: methodology, definitions and incentives
Differences between surveys and ratings countings produce divergent narratives. Pew’s audience-median approach measures regular news consumers across platforms and yields a stable comparative picture [1] [4]. Nielsen-style ratings and network press releases report viewers in specific time slots and demos like 25–54 and can vary wildly by programming changes, host moves, and breaking news. Networks have clear incentives when publicizing data: press releases highlight wins (CNN noted Q3 2024 audience gains), trade pieces emphasize Fox’s dominance in 2024, and partisan outlets may frame declines as collapse or corrective churn [7] [5] [3]. Read any single statistic against the methods and the publisher’s agenda to understand what the number actually measures.
4. The role of younger audiences and platform shifts
Younger adults have steadily migrated to digital platforms for news, which depresses younger-demo TV viewership and thereby raises the median ages of cable networks even absent shifting allegiance among older viewers. Pew’s August 2025 work explicitly notes younger Americans prefer social and digital news sources, which systemically biases cable audiences older [1]. Ratings snapshots showing declines in 25–54 viewers at CNN and MSNBC and relative resilience at Fox reflect both content choices and the broader structural trend of younger audiences favoring streaming and social — not necessarily a large-scale exodus from one cable brand to another [2] [3].
5. Bottom line and what’s missing from the record
The available data through mid-late 2025 supports the claim that age demographics across Fox, CNN, and MSNBC have changed in important ways: Fox remains older, CNN and MSNBC show more fluctuation, and overall cable-news audiences are older than the population [1] [2] [3]. What remains incomplete is a standardized, decade-long time series using a single methodology to quantify net shifts — the published record mixes cross-sectional surveys, quarterly ratings, and partisan reporting. For a definitive decade-long trend, merge Pew-style representative samples with longitudinal Nielsen/demo datasets and adjust for platform migration; until then, the best reading is a combination of enduring older skew plus network-specific, episodic demographic swings [4] [6] [3].