News Broadcasting
CNN gets top credibility rating among US news networks
MUMBAI: Rival Fox News from the Rupert Murdoch stable may have the numbers, but when it comes to credibility it is CNN that tops all TV news organizations in the US, according to a recent study.
The findings of the study, released on Sunday, 4 August, by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press, found that viewers trust the news network more than any other television news organization. CNN has held the top spot for believability since the study began in 1985, a CNN release says. The Pew Research Center is an independent opinion research group that studies public attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues.
Of the 1,365 adults surveyed, 37 per cent rated CNN as the most believable. Additionally, the study also found:
CNN’s closest competitor was CBS’ 60 Minutes with 34 per cent giving the news magazine the top grade.
Twenty-eight per cent gave MSNBC high marks for believability;
Fox News garnered 24 per cent of the votes;
The major networks scored an average of 25 per cent.
While CNN may have scored when compared to other news networks, the survey also points out that the image of the media overall has slipped dramatically compared to what it was in the immediate aftermath of the 11 September 11 attacks. The patriotic fervour that united the country then has been tempered since and US public opinion regarding the “messenger” has slipped, coinciding with growing concerns about the economy and business scandals, the survey says.
“The favourable glow from the media’s post-9/11 performance has completely disappeared. As the media’s focus has shifted away from terrorism, Americans regard news organisations with the same degree of scepticism as they did in the 1990s,” Pew has been quoted as stating in the report.
In the survey, conducted in July, only 49 per cent of the respondents said that news organisations are highly professional, down from 73 per cent in November, the Press Trust of India has reported.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
