Television news fragmentation in the United States began on 01 June 1980 when Robert “Ted” Turner launched CNN in Atlanta, Georgia.
At that time, national television news took place for 30 minutes each evening about dinner time. TV sets would show ABC News (Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings, Max Robinson), CBS News (Walter Cronkite) or NBC News (John Chancellor), depending on which local television station broadcast a signal strong enough for the antenna on your roof to capture.
In 1977, those three broadcast networks accounted for more than 90% of the prime-time television (news and entertainment) watched by Americans. Our television diet was relatively homogeneous.
CNN (Cable News Network) was the first 24-hour television news network, and it was available to cable subscribers across the country.
Turner had already demonstrated an ability to disrupt the status quo. Over a period of 10 years, he had “transformed Atlanta from a three-station market into a four-station market.”
And then he launched CNN.
Then President George H.W. Bush launched the Gulf War in 1991. There’s nothing like a war to create demand for 24×7 news reports.
MSNBC, a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC, launched 15 July 1996. Later that year, Fox News Channel (FNC) would launch on 07 October 1996.
The name of the “channel” may include “news.” However, most of the air time is devoted not to reporting news but, instead, to pundits talking about the news. One example, in the second quarter of 2020, the Tucker Carlson show on Fox News had 4.331 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That was a record for a cable show. It also exceeded the total primetime audience of the three major cable networks, 4.2 million viewers.
Punditry rules. It’s cheaper to produce (no pesky reporters to pay) and generates more buzz and eyes.
Although cable disrupted free, over-the-air television, its days are numbered. Streaming services and Internet “television” is the way of the cord-cutter.
According to Pew Research, in 2015, 76% of American adults said they watched television via cable or satellite. In 2021, the share had dropped to 56%.
However, “cable news” is being delivered via each network’s internet presence.
The data I found that characterized primetime cable news as having a small mindshare relative to the networks focused on TV sets; it was Nielsen data. There was nothing about mindshare here, on the Internet. I fear that in this space, “cable news” is winning if only because the fragmentation feels greater due to linked digital ecosystems.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com