Time Spent on Social Media with News Networks Jumps in October

Social media users.

SAN FRANCISCO—New data from Tubular Labs shows that minutes watched of content from U.S. news organizations on social media increased dramatically, with NBC News seeing a 53% increase in minutes to 1 billion in October. 

Meanwhile Fox News was up 45% in minutes watched to 674 million and CBS News increased minutes watched on social media by 37% to 165 million minutes.

(Image credit: Tubular Labs)

Tubular also found that as interest in the news category spiked last month, minutes-watched increased far more than unique viewership. This could indicate that U.S. news audiences on social video are a more static group whose watch-time ebbs and flows based on current events, the researchers said. 

Fox News and MSNBC were the only major TV news networks to gain unique U.S. viewers, up by 34% and 23% respectively in October.

Despite the viewership fluctuations, most outlets saw a significant increase in minutes watched, attributed to extensive coverage of the Gaza conflict, early 2024 presidential election news, and U.S. Speaker of the House votes. 

(Image credit: Tubular Labs)