Disparities in U.S. household income are deep and wide. Always have been. Always will be. But when it comes to what kind of news media we consume it seems as if class warfare
goes out the window and we all just want to sit around the warm, blue glow of our television sets and sing Kumbaya. A majority of respondents in three separate income brackets -
ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 or more - prefer to watch cable news than read any of the most-widely circulated newspapers a la USA Today, the Wall Street Journal or the New
York Times, or listen to the radio. The differences in media consumption between people who earn between $10,000 and $100,000 are negligible; most of them watch cable news, while
a just handful opt for the major dailies or radio. People earning $100,000 or more, however, have a much higher propensity for newspapers and/or talk radio, with the Journal
having the most appeal among more affluent consumers.
| $10K-$50K Household income(total population: 107,662,000) | |||
| Profile ranked by percentage of target | % of Households | Target Persons | |
| 1 | CNN (wk) | 29.50% | 31,747,555 |
| 2 | FOX News Channel (wk) | 23.70% | 25,507,380 |
| 3 | CNN Headline News (wk) | 19.10% | 20,567,205 |
| 4 | Radio formats: News/Talk/Information | 15.50% | 16,724,180 |
| 5 | CNBC (wk) | 13.60% | 14,685,095 |
| 6 | MSNBC (wk) | 11.60% | 12,494,730 |
| 7 | USA Today (M-F) | 5.80% | 6,278,355 |
| 8 | Radio formats: All News | 3.60% | 3,904,160 |
| 9 | New York Times (Sunday) | 3.50% | 3,794,855 |
| 10 | New York Times (M-F) | 3.00% | 3,241,850 |
| 11 | Wall Street Journal (M-F) | 2.80% | 3,019,140 |
| 12 | Radio formats: Talk/Personality | 2.70% | 2,884,440 |
| 13 | Radio formats: Spanish News/Talk | 1.10% | 1,146,070 |
| 14 | Radio formats: Educational | 0.80% | 851,755 |
| 50K-$100K Household income (total population: 69,116,165) | |||
| Profile ranked by percentage of target | % of Target (Comp) | Target Persons | |
| 1 | CNN (wk) | 34.40% | 23,781,060 |
| 2 | FOX News Channel (wk) | 25.90% | 17,879,775 |
| 3 | Radio formats: News/Talk/Information | 23.20% | 16,054,335 |
| 4 | CNN Headline News (wk) | 22.40% | 15,509,240 |
| 5 | CNBC (wk) | 17.40% | 12,057,930 |
| 6 | MSNBC (wk) | 15.80% | 10,950,900 |
| 7 | USA Today (M-F) | 9.40% | 6,506,960 |
| 8 | Radio formats: All News | 6.30% | 4,385,220 |
| 9 | Wall Street Journal (M-F) | 6.10% | 4,213,290 |
| 10 | New York Times (Sunday) | 5.70% | 3,918,410 |
| 11 | New York Times (M-F) | 4.90% | 3,393,595 |
| 12 | Radio formats: Talk/Personality | 4.90% | 3,360,730 |
| 13 | Radio formats: Educational | 1.10% | 787,005 |
| 14 | Radio formats: Spanish News/Talk | 0.50% | 325,880 |
| $100K+ Household income total population: 27,872,690) | |||
| Profile ranked by percentage of target | % of Target (Comp) | Target Persons | |
| 1 | CNN (wk) | 40.30% | 11,244,025 |
| 2 | Radio formats: News/Talk/Information | 31.50% | 8,772,645 |
| 3 | FOX News Channel (wk) | 28.00% | 7,814,190 |
| 4 | CNN Headline News (wk) | 26.00% | 7,238,625 |
| 5 | CNBC (wk) | 23.20% | 6,456,385 |
| 6 | MSNBC (wk) | 20.10% | 5,598,255 |
| 7 | Wall Street Journal (M-F) | 14.50% | 4,053,470 |
| 8 | USA Today (M-F) | 13.30% | 3,709,125 |
| 9 | New York Times (Sunday) | 12.90% | 3,604,180 |
| 10 | Radio formats: All News | 12.80% | 3,558,655 |
| 11 | New York Times (M-F) | 10.70% | 2,989,640 |
| 12 | Radio formats: Talk/Personality | 7.30% | 2,046,120 |
| 13 | Radio formats: Educational | 1.60% | 453,900 |
| 14 | Radio formats: Spanish News/Talk | 0.40% | 111,740 |
Source: Medialink; data from Scarborough Research, Scarborough USA+, Release 2 2003
Key: M-F/Watched Monday through Friday; WK/Weekly viewing
*Household percentage is arrived by dividing the number of respondents for a criterion (watched CNN or read WSJ, etc.) by the total population for that household income
category.