---
title: "We Report, You Decide… To Watch"
description: "From 1998 to 2008, the share of Republicans saying they regularly watch Fox News rose 22 percentage points, from 14% to 36%."
date: "2009-11-18"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2009/11/18/we-report-you-decide-to-watch/"
---

# We Report, You Decide… To Watch

Over the past decade, then share of Republicans who regularly watch Fox News has grown substantially. In 2008, 36% of Republicans frequently tuned into the Fox News Channel, an increase of 22 percentage points from 1998 when just 14% regularly watched Fox News. The shares of Republicans and Democrats watching Fox News were relatively equal in 2002, but starting in 2004 a partisan gap emerged in viewership of Fox News, CNN and network news. As more and more Republicans have turned to Fox for their news, a decreasing number have tuned in on other news outlets. In 1998, 25% of Republicans regularly watched CNN, but in 2008 just 17% reported they did. There has also been a substantial drop off in Republicans watching network news. A quarter of Republicans regularly said they watched network news in 2008, down from 40% in 1998. During the same time, Democrats have increasingly turned to Fox News rivals CNN (25% regularly watched in 1998, 33% in 2008) and MSNBC (10% regularly watched in 1998, 18% in 2008). However, the share of Democrats who say they regularly watch the Fox News Channel has remained largely unchanged over the past decade (19% in 1998, 21% in 2008). [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1395/partisanship-fox-news-and--other-cable-news-audiences)