Pew: Cable Viewership Is Stagnant

The latest Pew survey demonstrates that cable news viewership is in a stagnant period.

The number of respondents who watch Fox News Channel regularly climbed from 17 percent in 1998 and 2000 to 22 percent in 2002 to 25 percent in 2004, and it declined slightly to 23 percent in the 2006 survey. FNC is one point ahead of CNN, which is watched regularly by 22 percent of respondents. 11 percent of respondents were regular MSNBC viewers in 2004, and 11 percent are still regular viewers in 2006. CNBC’s percentage increased one point to 11 percent this year.

The study adds: “Roughly four-in-ten seniors (38%) say they regularly watch cable news channels like Fox, CNN or MSNBC; that is down a bit from 2004 but the same percentage as in 2002. That compares with 30% of people ages 30 and younger. The percentage of young people tuning into the cable news outlets has increased since 2002 (from 23%).” More…