A Brief History
On October 7, 1996, Fox News Channel debuted on cable, later to become the most watched of the cable news networks. Fox was late to the party, with CNN starting the cable news craze in 1980. MSNBC, the #2 cable news outlet, also launched in 1996, and Newsmax premiered in 2014 as a major player. Many other financial, sports and specialty news channels are also available on cable.
Digging Deeper
Prior to the ascendancy of cable news, network TV news was king, starting with 15 minute broadcasts and in 1963 moving to the 30 minute format. Before television exploded in the 1950s, radio was a major source of news and before radio newspapers informed our population. Now, printed newspapers are a dying breed, with dwindling readers and revenue and many papers going out of business.
Americans get their news today mainly online via their computers and smartphones, with TV claiming 27%, radio 6% and newspapers only 5%.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is your main source of news?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Brownell, KC. 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News. Princeton University Press, 2023.
Risely, Ford and Ashley Walter. How America Gets the News: A History of U.S. Journalism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.
