What percentage of viewers under 30 watch CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC in 2025?

1. What the reporting actually measures — and what it doesn’t

Most industry pieces in the set focus on total viewers and the advertiser‑valued Adults 25–54 demo, not on the under‑30 cohort. For July 2025, Deadline/Nielsen figures cited in reporting list Fox News primetime averages and A25–54 counts (Fox primetime ~2.41 million total; 257,000 A25–54), CNN primetime ~497,000 total with 92,000 A25–54, and MSNBC primetime ~865,000 total with 81,000 A25–54 — but none of those sources break the audience down into an explicit “under 30” percentage ^{[1] [2]}. Pew’s March 2025 survey gives median ages for many outlets and shows TV news audiences skew older, but it also does not convert those medians into a percent under 30 for each cable channel ^[3].

2. Age signals in the available data — older audiences, younger reach on platforms

Pew’s audience‑age analysis shows major cable networks’ audiences “tend to be older than U.S. adults overall,” with median ages for broadcast networks in the high 50s and Pew explicitly notes Fox News and CNN’s audiences skew older — a datapoint that implies a relatively small under‑30 share on linear TV, but it does not quantify it ^[3]. Complementary reporting about digital platforms shows these brands reach younger people on YouTube and TikTok: The Wrap notes median ages for Fox/CNN/MSNBC YouTube viewers in 2025 are lower (reported medians around 67–70 for TV, with YouTube audiences “at least 30% younger”), and networks are aggressively pursuing younger viewers via social ^[4]. Those platform metrics imply more young viewers off TV than on — but again, they don’t produce a precise under‑30 percentage on linear TV ^[4].

3. Why A25–54 is emphasized — and why that matters for interpreting “under 30”

Industry coverage repeatedly emphasizes the Adults 25–54 demo (A25–54) because advertisers value it. The sources provide A25–54 counts (e.g., CNN 92,000; MSNBC 81,000; Fox larger) but A25–54 excludes many viewers under 25 and only partially overlaps with “under 30.” Thus using A25–54 as a proxy will misstate the specific share of under‑30s; the sources stress A25–54 performance but do not provide the finer slice the user asked for ^{[1] [2]}.

4. Occasional event spikes don’t reflect routine audience composition

Election‑night and special‑event reporting shows large short‑term shifts: some nights MSNBC or CNN beat Fox in total viewers or in the A25–54 demo (e.g., off‑year election nights where MSNBC averaged over 3M and CNN led in A25–54) but these are episodic peaks rather than steady under‑30 composition indicators ^{[5] [6]}. Relying on those spikes to estimate routine under‑30 shares would be misleading ^{[5] [6]}.

5. What a responsible answer would need (and where to find it)

To produce the precise percentages you requested, one needs audience age‑breakdowns by single‑year bins or at least by 18–24 and 25–34 cohorts from a source like Nielsen/Comscore or a Pew survey table that includes channel‑specific shares for “18–29” or “under 30.” The current reporting set does not contain those tables or percentages (available sources do not mention a per‑network % under‑30 for 2025). Look for Nielsen national TV audience detail, a Pew Research cross‑tab with 18–29 shares by outlet, or platform analytics (YouTube/TikTok) that include age histograms.

6. Bottom line for your question

Available reporting documents audience size, median ages, and A25–54 demo counts — all indicating cable news TV audiences skew older and that younger audiences are more available on digital platforms — but none of the provided sources give the exact percentage of viewers under 30 who watch CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC in 2025 ^{[1] [3] [2] [4]}. If you want exact percentages, the next step is to request Nielsen/Comscore age‑breakdowns or a Pew Research table that lists 18–29 (or under‑30) shares by outlet.