It’s amazing that I’m still in meetings in 2026 hearing someone say, when discussing the continued splintering of the media audience “Well, Walter Cronkite isn’t bringing us together anymore.”
Cronkite’s last broadcast was March 6, 1981. I’m in the waning months of living in the “coveted” 25-54 age demographic and I was 9 years old the last time he was on TV. I was ad avid news viewer then, but an outlier to say the least – both a freak and a geek. But a “normal” 25 year-old, every bit a working adult now, was just four years-old when Cronkite’s successor, Dan Rather left the air, 21 years ago this month.
Nobody’s bringing us together and we’re divided by more than just political ideology in the ways we consume news. There’s also a generation gap. It’s one that’s crucial to understanding if you want to form any opinion about the media environment today.
The latest audience data, out this week, about the broadcast evening newscasts really demonstrate the stark divide, which happens at the key age of 55.
Together, ABC, NBC and CBS still command a nightly audience of 19.5 million viewers that dwarf everything on the cable channels, which somehow, too many think of still as “The Media.” It’s not even close. But the numbers tell the story worth remembering: the vast majority of that audience is 55 or older. That means Millennials, GenZ and most of GenX, are checked out.
88% of ABC’s “World News Today,” 85% of NBC’s “Nightly News” and 87% of CBS’ “Evening News” audiences are outside the 25-54 demographic and it’s safe to say those aren’t viewers younger than 25.
The same is true on cable in Prime Time (8-11pm Eastern), where the numbers are 90% for the Fox News Channel, 81% for CNN and 89% for MS-NOW.
Another interesting research report came out recently about “The Last Quarter” – the 25% of Americans who say they have never listened to a podcast. Simply put, they are overwhelmingly 55+ and mostly female. In other words, those most likely to watch broadcast and/or cable TV news programming. It’s worth looking at the report, here.
If you’re older than 55, or close to it, the best way to understand all of this is to talk colleagues, friends and family members in that 25-54 age group, particularly on the younger end. Don’t assume they’re underinformed. Just consider that they get their information differently. They’re much less likely to care if a news story “is in the print edition” or even know what a “print edition” is or how to find one. When they say “I get my news from social media” what they mean is they access news items via social media platforms. They’ll tell you about the podcasts they depend upon to keep up. You may hear about a newsletter.
Yes, this splintering of information access into millions of little pieces has had an effect on society and contributed to the political extremes getting too much attention. It has given certain forms of media too much influence on politics. But it’s reality and it’s imperative to understand it and include as many forms of news as possible in media relations strategies.
Amid all of the change one thing won’t: How old you are largely dictates how you consume news. We have to accept that reality that 55 is a line of demarcation and no matter what side of it you’re on, you want to be informed in different ways.