Data and trends about key sectors in the U.S. news media industry
Since 2004, Pew Research Center has issued an annual report on key audience and economic indicators for a variety of sectors within the U.S. news media industry. These data speak to the shifting ways in which Americans seek out news and information, how news organizations get their revenue, and the resources available to American journalists as they seek to inform the public about important events of the day. The press is sometimes called the fourth branch of government, but in the U.S., it’s also very much a business – one whose ability to serve the public is dependent on its ability to attract eyeballs and dollars.
Over the years, the Center’s approach to these indicators has evolved along with the industry, carefully considering the metrics, sectors and format in which the data appear. Instead of a single summary report, our approach is to roll out a series of fact sheets showcasing the most important current and historical data points for each sector – in an easy-to-digest format – a few at a time. (State of the News Media reports from 2004-2018 are archived as PDFs and available here.)
In the U.S., roughly nine-in-ten adults (93%) get at least some news online (either via mobile or desktop), and the online space has become a host for the digital homes of both legacy news outlets and new, “born on the web” news outlets.
News media made by and for Black and Hispanic Americans – the two largest racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. – have been a consistent part of the country’s news landscape. Explore statistics on the Hispanic- and Black-oriented news industry.
Local TV companies generated more revenue in 2022 than in 2021, consistent with a cyclical pattern in which advertising revenue rises in election years and falls in non-election years.
The audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting.
In a difficult advertising environment for the magazine industry overall, newly-released numbers from the Association of Magazine Media (MPA) show the nation’s news magazines being hit particularly hard.
As the economics of commercial journalism have been upended and newsrooms have shrunk, a variety of funders have sponsored nonprofit news operations to fill perceived information gaps. A report finds that while they voice optimism about the future, many organizations worry that they don’t have sufficient business-side resources.
It’s not on the air yet but, already, Al Jazeera America is creating a buzz in the world of journalism. Unlike so many news outlets that have been shedding staff the past few years, it’s hiring (and hiring big), bringing on about 800 employees as it prepares to launch an ambitious cable news channel later this year.
In 2012, a continued erosion of news reporting resources converged with growing opportunities for those in politics, government agencies, companies and others to take their messages directly to the public.
After an unusual uptick in the overall audience for evening news in 2011, the trend line returned to its normal in 2012. The combined viewership for the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts dropped 2%, to 22.1 million, resuming the downward trajectory of nearly three decades. It now appears that 2011 may have been an outlier, with the bigger audience attributable to an unusual number of major news events that year, including the Arab Spring, the Japanese earthquake and the killing of Osama bin Laden. Even a presidential election couldn’t keep some viewers from deserting network news in 2012.