Will Cable News Still Have Viewers By the End of Trump's Second Term?

It should come as no surprise that MSNBC’s ratings have collapsed after its candidate of choice lost the presidential election. CNN’s ratings stink as well, but CNN had no audience before the election, so nothing really changed there.

As MSNBC’s ratings fall, no one should be surprised by Fox News seeing a ratings rise after Trump won reelection.

While Fox is reaching millions of viewers per day and CNN is reaching hundreds of thousands, it may seem these networks are healthy, but the data paints a different picture.

First of all, anyone who says cable news brands like Fox News or CNN are dying or dead is uninformed. Even with decreased viewership on TV, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC are still billion-dollar companies.

However, the cable news channel aspect of these businesses is dying.

According to a Wall Street Journal article I read before the paywall popped up, the median age of an MSNBC viewer is 70, Fox is 69, and CNN is 67. This is not the demographic group advertisers crave unless they’re Judiance or the AARP.

By the time Trump finishes his second term, those viewers will be older, and the audience will not be getting younger. No one under 40 is watching cable news. Yes, some under 40 are, but overall, they’re not.

Podcasts are the new talk radio, another medium with an aging demographic, and YouTube and TikTok are the new TV news channels.

The viewers aren’t coming back to cable except for election night and big breaking news, but that’s not enough to keep the channels on air and growing.

A lot can change in four years from now. By then, ESPN will have launched its new standalone app, giving viewers access to ESPN, ESPN 2, and all the other ESPN networks. This will be another big blow to cable. Sports is the only thing keeping it alive now. Wait until the consumer can bypass cable and get the SEC and Big Ten online for cheaper.

The cable networks are wisely expanding to the internet, with Fox offering the Fox Nation app, and CNN tried streaming, but instead of a plus, it became a minus, but at least they tried. I have no idea what MSNBC’s streaming strategy is. Regardless, whichever brand decides to take a big leap and go all in on streaming and social media and forget cable as the center of its business will win big and have a chance to own the future of live news online.

Four years from now, the odds are all three will still be offering a cable TV feed, but the question is, how many fewer viewers will they have by then? If the current trends continue, the odds are a whole lot less than they do now.

If 2024 was the podcast election, the next election will be even more centered on new media, which is bad news for the cable channels. Could 2028 be the TikTok election? I don’t know, but don’t be surprised if J.D. Vance is doing TikTok dances to try and go viral to reach voters in Pennsylvania.

Chad Whittle, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of mass communication at Georgia College & State University. He holds his Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Georgia College & State University, its administration, faculty, or the University System of Georgia.