Fox News attracts oldest audience, CNN youngest in TV news

The Wrap
December 28, 2015 at 5:47PM
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly appears on the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly appears on the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor." (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Younger viewers are the name of the television news game and CNN will end 2015 as the leader in that category.

Final ratings for the year will be released next week, but preliminary data shows the original cable news network attracted the youngest median age viewer while Fox News continued to have the oldest.

In total day, CNN's median viewer age was 61 compared to 67 for Fox. But in primetime the difference was starker; CNN's average was 59 while Fox News averaged 68.

MSNBC ranked second in both categories with a median age of 63 during the day and in primetime.

The advertiser-coveted demo is 25-54, leaving CNN's audience closest to that segment.

Entering a presidential election year, it's likely more young viewers — who more often vote in presidential elections than midterms — will tune in to TV news, offering all three networks the opportunity to improve their youth numbers.

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