News networks like to claim they’re the most trustworthy or American’s favorite, so we asked 1,126 Americans to pick a winner. Get this: Nationwide, Americans prefer ABC News, with FOX News close behind, followed by CNN. But, when we divide the country into nine regions, FOX dominates, taking five regions and tying with ABC in a sixth. More on this after the break.
America’s favorite news networks across the nation
Nationwide, it’s a close call. ABC is the most watched news network, edging out FOX by one percentage point. CNN rounds out the top three.
America’s favorite news network (full results)
- ABC News: 20%
- FOX News: 19%
- CNN: 15%
The tight margin means ABC can continue to claim, “Every Day More Americans Choose ABC News, America’s #1 News Source.” But FOX is hot on the network’s heels with the cheeky motto, “Standing Up For What’s Right.” CNN, however, doesn’t appear to be the “Most Trusted Name in News.”
Regionally, however, FOX News is the most popular news network.
America’s favorite news networks by region
FOX’s regional dominance in our survey mirrors Nielsen ratings from last August, which saw FOX climbing while every other network fell. And FOX isn’t the only right-wing network to rank in our survey.
Newsmax finished in 9th place, tying with CNBC at 2%. These results show the rising popularity of fringe, far-right news networks.
In our research, we broke the county into nine regions, following the names used by the US census.
America’s favorite news network (full results)
- FOX News
- ABC News
- CNN
FOX News (six regions)
FOX finished first in the Pacific, Mountain, West South Central, South Atlantic, and East South Central parts of the US. The network tied with ABC News in the West North Central region.
FOX was the second-most popular news network in the Mid-Atlantic (tying with CNN) and New England, and the network tied with CNN for third place in East North Central.
ABC News (four regions)
ABC News is the most popular news network in the East North Central, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regions of the country.
The network finished second in four regions—Pacific, West South Central (tied with CBS), East South Central, and South Atlantic—and third in Mountain. These results make ABC the second-favorite news source in the US.
CNN
FOX News’s nemesis, CNN, had no first-place finishes but took two second-place and five third-place spots to be America’s third favorite news network. With CNN reportedly making a right turn, it will be interesting to see where the network stands next year.
Generational takeaways
How do the survey results break down generationally? Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z all get their news from different networks.
- 1 in 4 (24%) of Baby Boomers prefer FOX News.
- Gen X also chose FOX, with 22% of Xers preferring the network
- Millennials (21%) and Gen Z (26%) prefer ABC
According to AllSides.com1 and MediaBiasFactCheck.com2, ABC News leans left. If true, that would also confirm that older generations lean conservative while younger generations have liberal views.
Methodology
We polled 1,126 Americans about their media preferences. We then segmented the Americans who had a preferred news network into 9 regions.
Sources
Endnotes
- “ABC News (Online),” AllSides.com. Accessed Oct. 26, 2022.
- “ABC News,” MediaBiasFactCheck.com. Accessed Oct. 26, 2022.
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