A newly-released Gallup poll finds that television is America’s main source for news consumption, and that among the specific channels, Fox News leads the pack for most-preferred outlet.

According to the study conducted late last month, 55% of surveyed Americans prefer television as their “main source of news,” with “the Internet” second at 21%, “print” next at 9%, and “radio” at 6%.



Among those who answered “television” as their main source, a plurality named “non-specific” TV news as their preferred source. But among those networks specifically named, Fox News ranked highest, garnering 8% of answerers’ preference. CNN came in second with 7%. ABC, MSNBC, NBC, Univision, PBS, and BBC were all only mentioned by 1% of surveyed Americans. CNBC and CBS were mentioned by less than 0.5% of Americans [chart below, via Gallup]:

The survey also reinforced several notions about news consumption, including the demographic stereotype that seniors have a heavier reliance on television and print news, while younger generations incorporate a greater reliance on the Internet in addition to television news.

Gallup also discovered that Fox News has a high sense of “loyalty” from Republican viewers, with 20% of surveyed GOP’ers naming Fox as their source of news. No other news outlet garnered as much loyalty from surveyed Democrats or Independents, save for CNN’s naming by 10% of surveyed Dems.

The survey also found that Fox and CNN viewers differ demographically:

[N]early two-thirds of Fox News-oriented news consumers are 50 and older, compared with barely a third of CNN-oriented news consumers: 66% vs. 35%. Relatedly, 69% of the Fox News group is married, versus 37% of the CNN group. Additionally, core CNN viewers are more likely than core Fox News viewers to be male, while core Fox News viewers are much more likely than core CNN viewers to be white, Protestant, attend church weekly, and to earn $75,000 or more per year.

Read the full results here.

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