Broadcast TV news climate change coverage U.S. by network 2024| ��ƽ��

Number of minutes of climate change coverage by major broadcast news channels in the United States from 2015 to 2024

Characteristic	FOX	ABC	NBC	CBS
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Release date

March 2025

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2015 to 2024

Supplementary notes

*Includes morning news as well as nightly news, and Sunday morning political shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC, and the Sunday morning political show on Fox. Figures for years prior to 2020 do not include morning news or Sunday morning political shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC and therefore are not directly comparable.
The source searched transcripts in the Nexis database for: ABC's Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week BS’ Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; NBC’s Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press; Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday; and PBS NewsHour for any of the terms and any derivations of the following terms: climate change, global warming, changing climate, climate warms, climate warming, warming climate, warmer climate, warming planet, warmer planet, warming globe, warmer globe,global temperatures, rising temperatures, hotter temperatures, climate science, climate scientist, Paris climate, climate accord, Paris accord, climate agreement, Paris agreement, climate deal, climate crisis, green new deal, climate conference, climate plan, COP 26, carbon emissions, greenhouse gases, or net zero.

Citation formats

CBS aired the highest number of minutes of climate change coverage in 2024, with a total of *** minutes (over six hours) across its morning news, evening news, and Sunday political shows. Figures for 2015 to 2019 do not include morning shows for ABC, NBC, or CBS, but show an overall increase in coverage between those years. Fox News Sunday aired ** minutes of coverage in 2021, the highest since 2017, but this number fell to just minutes in 2024.

Climate coverage in broadcast news remains limited

In 2023, over half of all climate change segments across broadcast television news programs were aired between July and September. Most aired in July (the hottest July on record) when a total of *** news segments on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox combined covered the topic. The main driver for climate coverage was extreme weather across the globe, with these discussions making up over ** percent of coverage. However, only **** percent of segments were dedicated to climate justice.

Representation and diversity

In 2023, of the ***guest appearances made during climate coverage on broadcast TV climate segments, just ** were made by people of color. The source noted that whilst climate change disproportionately affects minority communities, most people appearing on broadcast TV news to discuss the matter were non-Hispanic white men.