American media and entertainment: TV, news, streaming, and more

American media is large, fragmented, and overwhelmingly commercial. Most of it runs on advertising or subscriptions, public broadcasting is small, and a handful of giant companies own much of what people watch. For readers from countries with a strong national broadcaster, the differences are striking. This guide explains how US television, news, radio, and games work, and how Americans use them today.

Television: broadcast, cable, and streaming

US television has three layers that still coexist, though the balance has shifted sharply. Streaming now takes the largest share of viewing on TV sets. Nielsen measured it at a record 48.6% of TV time in May 2026, against 20.4% for cable and 19.2% for broadcast, with the remainder going to other sources. Nielsen plans a methodology update, so later figures may shift slightly.

Broadcast networks reach viewers through local affiliate stations, which is why local news airs alongside national programs. They remain strong in live sports and major events. Spanish-language networks such as Univision and Telemundo serve a large audience of their own.

Cable was the norm for decades, but many households have canceled it, a trend known as cord-cutting. Live sports were the main thing keeping people subscribed, and those are moving to streaming too.

Within streaming, YouTube is the most-watched service on TV sets, reaching a record 14.2% of all US TV viewing in July 2026. Services have also multiplied, then started to consolidate: Hulu is being folded into Disney+, and cheaper ad-supported tiers have brought back the commercials streaming was once meant to remove.

Who owns American media

Ownership is concentrated. Disney owns ABC and ESPN. Comcast owns NBC, Universal, and Peacock. Fox Corporation owns Fox and Fox News. Skydance, formed in October 2026 when Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery, controls CBS, CNN, HBO, and TNT. Versant, spun off from Comcast, took over several cable channels, including MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. Newspapers are a separate story: local papers have closed or shrunk across the country, leaving some areas with little local reporting.

News and polarization

American journalism was built on an ideal of objectivity, with a firm line between reporting and opinion. Major newspapers and wire services still work this way, and investigative reporting remains strong. Cable news runs on a different logic, mixing reporting with long stretches of commentary. Fox News is widely seen as leaning right and MS NOW as leaning left, while CNN sits between them in many surveys.

Several factors feed the sense of a divided media landscape:

• The end of the Fairness Doctrine. Federal regulators dropped this rule, which required broadcasters to air contrasting views, in 1987. Partisan talk radio grew quickly afterward.
• Strong free speech protection. The First Amendment limits government control of content, so the press is less regulated than in many democracies.
• Audience sorting. People tend to choose sources that match their politics, and algorithms on social platforms can reinforce this.
• Falling trust. Gallup has recorded a long decline in Americans' trust in the mass media, and the partisan gap is wide.

These divisions matter most around US elections, when coverage and advertising peak.

Public media after the funding cuts

The US has never had an equivalent of the BBC. Public media consists of PBS (television) and NPR (radio), along with hundreds of independent local stations. Federal support used to flow through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but Congress rescinded its funding in 2025, and the corporation began winding down, with its dissolution announced in January 2026. PBS, NPR, and their stations continue, now relying on listener and viewer donations, foundations, corporate sponsorship, and in some cases state funding. Stations in rural areas depended most on federal money and are the most exposed.

Late-night TV and other formats

Late-night talk shows are a distinctively American genre: a host's comic monologue on the day's news, then celebrity interviews. They long served as a major outlet for political satire. Audiences and budgets have been shrinking, though. CBS ended The Late Show in May 2026 when Stephen Colbert signed off, and it retired the franchise instead of hiring a new host. Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel on ABC were still on the air at that point, and Saturday Night Live remains an institution.

Game shows, reality TV, and daytime talk also draw large audiences. Above all, live sports dominate the ratings. The Super Bowl is usually the most-watched broadcast of the year, with about 125 million US viewers in 2026 and a record of nearly 128 million in 2025.

Radio and podcasts

Radio survives largely because of the car and long commutes, as our page on driving in the US explains. Stations are mostly commercial and local, playing music or talk. Talk radio is often strongly political. Podcasts have become a major medium in their own right, from investigative series to long-form interviews, and politicians now treat them as an important route to voters.

Music, movies, and games

Film and music are big enough to have their own pages: see Hollywood and American movies and American music. The largest of the three by revenue may surprise some readers.

Video games took in about $60.7 billion in US consumer spending in 2025, according to industry data from Circana. That compares with about $9 billion at the North American box office and $11.5 billion in wholesale recorded music revenue, though these are not measured in exactly the same way. Games reach all ages, and live-streaming and esports have created new careers.

An advertising-driven system

Advertising shapes the American media experience more than most visitors expect. Commercial breaks are frequent, and political ads flood the airwaves in election years, since paid political TV advertising is legal, unlike in many European countries. Prescription drugs are also advertised directly to consumers on TV, something only the US and New Zealand allow.

How Americans consume media now

• On demand: fewer people watch at a scheduled time, except for sports and news.
• On the phone: video, news, and music increasingly reach people on mobile devices.
• Through social platforms: YouTube and short-video apps are major sources of entertainment and news, especially for younger adults.
• Fragmented: few programs still gather the whole country, with the Super Bowl as the main exception.

If you are moving to the US, a cheap antenna still picks up local broadcast channels for free in most metro areas. Internet plans are covered in our guide to phones and internet.

Related articles:

• Hollywood and American movies
• American culture
• US elections
• USA vs. Europe