Friday, May 25, 2012


Where do People turn for News?
2012

It has been a year since I wrote my last article comparing news audience sizes. The numbers have remained largely the same. Only at Truth Matters can you directly compare the reach of newspapers, cable news shows, news magazines, and the network news. Inclusion on this list is only meant to show the reach of a news source, not to comment on its credibility or value. I did that back in January.




The following numbers represent the average circulation of weekly opinion news magazines in 2010. These statistics old because State of the News Media included them last year, but not this year. Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations. Accessed through State of the News Media 2011.

1. National Review                             203,085
2. The Nation                                     146,602
3. The Weekly Standard                       99,033




The following number represents the average viewership of PBS Newshour, PBS’s evening news program, for the month of March 2011. This statistic is older than the others because PBS’s lack of traditional commercials means that it doesn’t subscribe to Nielson’s ratings service. Source: PBS. Accessed through the Huffington Post.

PBS Newshour                                            1,100,000




The following numbers are the average daily circulation for the 26 most widely read newspapers from October 2011 through March 2012. Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations.  Accessed through the Huffington Post.

1. Wall Street Journal                                             2,118,315
2. USA Today                                                           1,817,446
3. New York Times                                                 1,586,757
4. Los Angeles Times                                               616,575
5. New York Daily News                                          579,636
6. San Jose Mercury News                                      575,786
7. New York Post                                                     555,327
8. Washington Post                                                507,615
9. Chicago Sun-Times                                            422,335
10. Chicago Tribune                                              414,590
11. Dallas Morning News                                       405,349
12. Denver Post                                                      401,120
13. Newsday                                                           397,973
14. Houston Chronicle                                          384,007
15. Philadelphia Inquirer                                     325,291
16. Phoenix Republic                                            321,600
17. Minneapolis Star-Tribune                             300,330
18. Tampa Bay Times                                            299,497
19. Orange County Register                                280,812
20. Newark Star-Ledger                                       278,940
21. Oregonian                                                      247,833
22. Cleveland Plain Dealer                                   246,571
23. Seattle Times                                                 236,929
24. San Diego Union-Tribune                             230,742
25. Detroit Free Press                                           230,739
26. San Francisco Chronicle                                 220,515



The following numbers represent the average daily audience of Comedy Central’s satirical news programs for the second quarter (April-June) of 2011. This statistic is old because I have to wait on Comedy Central to release press releases to obtain audience numbers. Source: Comedy Central Press Release. Accessed through TV by the Numbers.

The Daily Show with John Stewart            2,200,000
The Colbert Report                                    1,500,000




These are the average daily viewership values for the top 30 cable news shows for the month of April 2012. Source: Nielson. Accessed through the Huffington Post.



1. The O’Reilly Factor                                            2,870,000
2. Hannity                                                                2,075,000
3. Special Report with Bret Baier                          1,778,000
4. On the Record with Greta Van Susteren        1,722,000
5. Fox Report with Shepard Smith                       1,688,000
6. The Five                                                                1,674,000
7. America’s Newsroom                                          1,272,000
8. Your World with Neil Cavuto                            1,252,000
9. The O’Reilly Factor (replay)                               1,220,000
10. America Live                                                     1,191,000
11. Studio B                                                             1,113,000
12. Fox and Friends                                               1,082,000
13. Happening Now                                              1,029,000
14. The Rachel Maddow Show                              985,000
15. The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell     931,000
16. The Ed Show                                                       875,000
17. Hardball with Chris Matthews                        744,000
18. Politics Nation                                                    712,000
19. Piers Morgan Tonight                                      567,000
20. The Situation Room                                            548,000
21. The Ed Show (replay)                                       537,000
22. Anderson Cooper 360 (10 PM East Coast)        522,000
23. Anderson Cooper 360 (8 PM East Coast)           504,000
24. Red Eye                                                                   466,000
25. Fox and Friends First                                           458,000
26. Dylan Ratigan Show                                            455,000
27. Martin Bashir                                                        449,000
28. John King USA                                                       435,000
29. Morning Joe                                                          412,000
30. Erin Burnett                                                           409,000

                                  Sunday News Shows       

The following numbers represent the viewership of the Sunday News Shows on May 13. Sadly, CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley was not included by TV Newser. Source: Nielson. Accessed through TV Newser.

1. Face the Nation              CBS                             3,010,000
2. Meet the Press               NBC                            2,720,000
3. This Week                        ABC                            2,150,000
4. Fox News Sunday          Fox News                    1,050,000
5. Al Punto                           Univision                    553,000





The following numbers represent the average circulation for the US weekly news magazines for the year of 2011. Data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Accessed via State of the News Media 2012, a report created by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

1. Time                                  3,337,308
2. Newsweek                       1,524,989
3. The New Yorker             1,041,420
4. The Economist                  844,577
5. The Week                        528,406
6. The Atlantic                       463,625




These numbers represent the average daily audience for the network morning shows in 2011. Data from Nielson. Accessed through State of the Media 2012.

1. Today Show                                NBC    5,400,000
2. Good Morning America           ABC    4,800,000
3. Early Show                                  CBS     2,900,000




These numbers represent the average daily audience for the network evening news broadcasts in 2011. Data from Nielson. Accessed through State of the Media 2012.


1. NBC Nightly News                                 8,750,000
2. ABC World News                                   7,820,000
3. CBS Evening News                                5,650,000




Several network television programs imitate the style of magazines with longer, more detailed stories.  The shows have varying focuses and styles. 60 Minutes is a high quality news program. Dateline covers crime stories. 48 Hours also covers crime stories. 20/20 is a weekly news program that often covers human interest stories. Nightline is a nightly news program. Rock Center is a weekly news magazine on NBC that wasn’t listed in State of the Media 2012. These numbers represent the average audience per show throughout 2011. All are weekly shows except Nightline. Source: Nielson. Accessed through State of the Media 2012.

1. 60 Minutes                     CBS              11,600,000
2. Dateline Friday              NBC                5,700,000
3. 48 Hours Mystery          ABC                5,400,000
4. 20/20                               ABC                4,900,000
5. Dateline Sunday           NBC                4,700,000
6. Nightline                         ABC                3,900,000



These numbers represent the average weekly audience for NPR’s most widely listened to news programs. As these numbers are for weekly viewership, rather than daily or per show viewership, they are not directly comparable with the numbers in other categories. These statistics are from a New York Review of Books Article from 2010. Newer numbers are not available because NPR does not regularly release the audience sizes for their shows. Source: Arbitron

Morning Edition                                         13,000,000
All Things Considered                                13,000,000




The following numbers represent the average weekly audience for the top Talk Radio hosts. As these are weekly audience values, as opposed to daily or per show values, these numbers are not directly comparable to the other categories in this post. Source: Arbitron, among others. Accessed through Talkers Magazine.


Rush Limbaugh                               15,000,000
Sean Hannity                                   14,000,000
Michael Savage                                  9,000,000



Glenn Beck                                          8,500,000
Mark Levin                                          8,500,000
Dave Ramsey                                      8, 500,000

Neal Boortz                                         6,000,000
Laura Ingraham                                 6,000,000


Jim Bohannon                                    3,750,000
Jerry Doyle                                          3,750,000
Mike Gallagher                                  3,750,000
Michael Medved                               3,750,000
Doug Stephan                                    3,750,000

Bill Bennett                                          3,500,000
Clark Howard                                      3,500,000
George Noory                                     3,500,000

Thom Hartmann                                3,000,000
Alan Colmes                                        3,000,000
Stephanie Miller                                3,000,000
Ed Schultz                                            3,000,000
Rusty Humphries                               3,000,000


Kim Komando                                    2,250,000
Dennis Miller                                      2,250,000
Don Imus                                             2,250,000

Hugh Hewitt                                      1,750,000
Mancow                                                1,750,000

Lars Larson                                          1,500,000
Dennis Prager                                      1,500,000

Dr. Joy Browne                                  1,000,000
Gordon Deal                                    1,000,000
Lou Dobbs                                           1,000,000
Bill Handel                                           1,000,000
Roger Hedgecock                              1,000,000
G. Gordon Liddy                                1,000,000



These are the average circulation of select monthly magazines in 2011. National Geographic and Smithsonian are high quality educational magazines. The rest are listed primarily for comparative purposes. It is a partial list, a longer one can be found by clicking the subheading above. Data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Accessed via State of the News Media 2012.

1. AARP The Magaine                               22,407,421
2. AARP The Bulletin                                  22,171,632
3. Better Homes and Gardens                  7,617,844
4. Game Informer Magazine                     7,514,460
5. Reader’s Digest                                     5,560,046
6. National Geographic                              4,480,788
25. Smithsonian                                        2,113,637

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