Television news isn't dying. It’s just moving. If you look at the raw numbers for ratings for tv news in 2025 and early 2026, you might think the sky is falling, but that’s a surface-level take. Honestly, the reality is way more complicated than just "fewer people are watching."
People are still obsessed with the news. They're just not all sitting on a floral sofa at 6:30 PM waiting for a man in a sharp suit to tell them the world is ending.
The data from the last year is wild. We've seen historic shifts in how Nielsen tracks who is watching what. For the first time, "Big Data + Panel" is the law of the land, merging those old-school diaries with actual data from 45 million households. It’s changing the scoreboard in real-time.
The Cable News Shocker of 2025
Everyone expected 2025 to be a total ghost town for cable news after the 2024 election madness. Usually, when the voting stops, people tune out and go back to watching cooking shows or whatever. But that didn't happen across the board.
Fox News actually grew. They ended 2025 with an 11% jump in primetime audience. That's kinda insane for a non-election year. They averaged about 2.76 million viewers. Meanwhile, the others felt the post-election hangover way harder. CNN saw its audience dip, and MSNBC—which is now rebranding or spinning off into something called "MS NOW" under the new Versant company—struggled to keep its 2024 momentum, dropping about 25% in total primetime viewers.
- The Five is still the undisputed heavyweight champion. It averaged 4.1 million viewers in 2025.
- Jesse Watters Primetime and Hannity aren't far behind.
- Gutfeld! is the weird outlier that keeps winning, actually growing in the 18-49 demographic while almost everyone else lost younger viewers.
It's not just about politics. It’s about "appointment viewing." Fox has managed to make their hosts feel like family members you actually want to have a beer with—or at least argue with at Thanksgiving. CNN and the new MS NOW are still trying to find that "sticky" factor in a world where everyone gets their headlines from an algorithm before the teleprompter even rolls.
Broadcast News is a Different Beast
While cable fights for the loudest voice, the big three—ABC, NBC, and CBS—are fighting a war of attrition. The numbers here are sobering. Since 2020, over 3 million people have basically stopped watching primetime broadcast TV.
CBS still holds the crown for the most-watched network in primetime, averaging 4.4 million viewers in 2025. But compare that to 2015 when they were pulling nearly 11 million. That's a lot of "ghosts" in the machine.
NBC is right on their heels with 4.2 million. They actually won the total year-end "most-watched network" title in 2025 if you count all hours, thanks largely to sports and the sheer power of the NFL. But for pure news? ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir remains a juggernaut, though even it isn't immune to the "streaming bleed."
The Streaming Infiltration
You can't talk about ratings for tv news without talking about The Gauge. That’s Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of what’s actually happening on our screens. In November 2025, streaming hit a massive 46.7% of total TV watch-time.
Think about that. Nearly half of all "TV time" isn't even on a TV channel.
This is why you see NBC pushing NBC News NOW so hard and why Fox launched Fox One. They know the linear cord is being cut faster than ever. The "Big Data" transition Nielsen made in September 2025 was designed specifically to catch these "lost" viewers—the people watching news clips on YouTube or streaming live feeds on their Roku.
Why the "Demo" is Everything
If you ever hear a TV executive crying in a bar, they’re probably crying about the "25-54 demographic." This is the age group advertisers actually pay for.
In 2025, the demo numbers were brutal for traditional news. While Fox News stayed relatively flat or saw minor dips (down only 6% in the demo compared to larger total audience gains), NBC's demo audience dropped 22%.
The 18-49 group is even harder to find. They don't watch "the news." They watch "the news as interpreted by a creator they like." This is why shows like The Daily Show actually saw a 4% gain in younger viewers last year—it’s news-adjacent, and it’s served in snacks that fit a digital lifestyle.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that "nobody watches news anymore."
Wrong.
The reach is still there. Over 90% of the U.S. population is still reached by some form of TV every week. The problem isn't the audience; it’s the monetization. A viewer on a local ABC affiliate is worth way more in ad dollars than a viewer watching a clip on TikTok.
We also see a weird "split" in the audience. Older viewers (65+) are still tethered to the linear box. Their reach with connected TV (CTV) is 20 points lower than younger groups. This creates a "two-country" media landscape. One country watches the 6:00 PM news; the other country sees the 6:00 PM news three hours later as a "For You" recommendation.
What to Expect in 2026
The trend lines aren't going to magically point up again. We are in a permanent state of "fragmentation."
- Deduplicated Measurement: Expect Nielsen to get even more aggressive about "deduplication." They want to prove to advertisers that the guy watching Special Report on his phone and the lady watching it on cable are the same person—or at least part of the same "reach."
- Live is the Only Life: News and sports are the only things keeping the lights on for linear TV. If it isn't happening now, nobody wants to watch it on a schedule. This is why "FAST" channels (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) are exploding.
- Local News Crisis: Local stations are feeling the squeeze the most. Without the big national budgets, many are turning to "centralized" newsrooms where one anchor covers three cities. It’s efficient, but it’s losing the "local" in local news.
Actionable Insights for the News Junkie
If you're trying to make sense of the noise, or if you're a media buyer trying to figure out where the eyeballs went, here is the "ground truth" for 2026:
- Follow the "Big Data": Ignore the "Fast National" numbers you see on Twitter/X the next morning. They’re often wrong now. Wait 48-72 hours for the "Big Data + Panel" finalized numbers. That’s the real currency.
- Watch the Platforms, Not Just the Channels: A network's health is now measured by its "Media Distributor Gauge" score—how it performs across cable, broadcast, and its own streaming apps combined.
- Don't Count Out "The Five": It’s a cultural phenomenon that defies the usual laws of TV gravity. It remains the most important hour in cable news for understanding where a massive chunk of the country is getting their talking points.
- Streaming is the New Primetime: If you aren't looking at the Nielsen Streaming Top 10, you’re only seeing half the map.
The era of "one nation, one news source" is long gone. We’ve traded the campfire for a million little flashlights. It's messier, sure, but the hunger for information hasn't changed—just the plate we're eating it off of.
Next Steps to Understand the Media Shift
Check your own "Digital Wellness" or screen time settings this week. Note how much of your "news" comes from a direct broadcast versus a social media aggregator. If you’re a business owner, look at FAST channel advertising; it’s currently the highest-growth area for reaching people who have ditched traditional cable but still want the "lean-back" experience of a news ticker. Keep an eye on the Nielsen Gauge reports released every month to see if streaming finally crosses the 50% threshold in 2026.