How do members today consume media? Have a crack at the poll.

[El Presidente]

One of our non-posting members (for good reason ) has a successful  youtube/podcast channel with just over 20 million subscribers. I did a catchup with him earlier this week where he set out for me the monumental change over the past 5 years of how the general public receives their news as well as general viewing habits. 

Can you guess the average age today of people who watch MTV? CNN? BBC? I hadn't realised cable TV has lost 40% of viewership over the past 5 years (not independently verified to be fair). Free to air? Holy Moly it is a last out the door, turn out the light's moment. OK not that bad.....but the trendlines are worrying particularly for those in the industry.  

I was a little stunned.  I do turn 60 in Feb 2025 and still enjoy nothing more than reading two newspapers on a Saturday while smoking a cigar and drinking a Negroni. Picture happy dinosaur here. 

Still, I am an avid Youtube/Podcast consumer. I actively seek out contrary opinions to my own beliefs, which are malleable based on facts. I am center right on some issues, center left on others. I am happy to change the needle on the basis of well-grounded arguments. I find the process of self-discovery enlightening. 

How do members today consume media? Have a crack at the poll. 

 

[rabidraccoon]

I cut the cable TV cord 10 years ago mostly because I just can't stand ads. I get most of my news from digital newspaper sites though. I consume a lot of podcasts but not news related...it's mostly science, comedy, cigar and history podcasts.

[Duxnutz]

How is Joe Rogan? 

[Li Bai]

It seems like people have lost faith in the mainstream media and I think it's understandable, to some extent.

[El Presidente]

17 hours ago, Duxnutz said:

How is Joe Rogan? 

Joe is on another level 

.....he says Hi 

[RDB]

For news, I have become more traditional and shrunk back to highly trusted original content providers like the Economist, FT and BBC. I read a lot more long-form blogs now from experts on specific topics. I also listen to a lot more podcasts, but none of that is news.

In my opinion a lot of the ‘news’ available online is poorly informed attention-farming crap. Scandal, horror, provocation… it’s all there to poke your dopamine receptors. And ideally to make you share the content with suitable expressions of disgust / outrage.

Of course all content providers need an audience and their primary purpose is to keep you engaged and paying (one way or another). But it’s worth being very choosy. 

If something online purports to be free, then it is you who are being sold.

[El Presidente]

Average age of someone who watches MTV?

[Cigarsmoker81]

My father in law is the only guy I know that still reads printed news paper. 

I'm surprised to see how much are actually still watching tv. We’ve cut the cord at home 5 years ago and never looked back. 

Funny thing is I find myself more informed about recent news than the past. I do check my Instagram often and most important news is updated immediately. I do subscribe to ft news and Bloomberg which I find important and relevant to my work. 

[gormag38]

I mostly get my news from traditional sources that are in the digital form. E.g.. local paper subscription (mostly for following sports) and USA Today. If there's a big event (e.g. the past election) I'll turn on a local station or one of the big news networks. Never really a specific one, just 'til I find a talking head that doesn't seem like a complete ass. With that being said, there is a lot of times where I'm scrolling on X or FB and see a news event; that typically prompts me to check one of the sources stated above however. As I know you and others know there is SOOOOO much misinformation out there; trusted FB headlines designed to get clicks is a dangerous game. 

[El Presidente]

24 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Average age of someone who watches MTV?

59 MTV

60 CNN and BBC

70 MSNBC

I was blown away 🙄

[gormag38]

10 hours ago, El Presidente said:

59 MTV

60 CNN and BBC

70 MSNBC

Man, I am an outlier in that regard I suppose. Would never have guessed that; ESPECIALLY for the MTV demo.

[anacostiakat]

We still get a newspaper delivered but the value is increasingly going south. Does not align with our views. Not sure why we continue to get it frankly. Much more on X/Twitter etc., where I find more value. Even when views do not align with mine. Heh...

[El Presidente]

Conservative Media I entertain

The Australian Newspaper (physical and digital)

Modern Wisdom Podcast.

All In Podcast. 

Left media. 

Pod save America (hugely entertaining). 

Kara Swisher/Pivot/Prof G. 

Best of the lot.

Uncomfortable Conversations (Josh Szeps). Jesus, he deep dives into the most awkward areas. 

I listen to others but along with Lounge Lizards (cigar podcast), these are my dailies as I travail my 2 hour daily walk, phone call, gym sessions. 

[LizardGizmo]

I follow a large variety of people on X and normally learn of news/breaking news there. Thankfully my feed isn’t full of garbage.

For news I comb through digital versions of Financial Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal and on the weekends I’ll read the Economist.

For entertainment, I like a big variety of comedy podcasts as well as music and interview content. I think Rick Beato on YouTube is doing great work - especially with in his interviews with people like David Gilmour, Keith Jarrett and Steve Lukather.

[Chibearsv]

I read one local daily physical newspaper mostly for the NY Times daily crossword. That's my sole news source and I'm happy with it. We watch local morning news more for entertainment than enlightenment since they basically repeat what I've already read in the paper.

[99call]

All of Adam Curtis' docu series. The Trap, Bitter lake, Hyper-normalisation, A Century of Self, TraumaZone etc etc.     

News: New European, New Statesman, Politico, Reuters, Byline times.

[Ciscojohansson]

7 hours ago, 99call said:

All of Adam Curtis' docu series. The Trap, Bitter lake, Hyper-normalisation, A Century of Self, TraumaZone etc etc.     

News: New European, New Statesman, Politico, Reuters, Byline times.

Love Adam Curtis! Hyper-normalisation is great but they are all great. We gave up on linear TV in 2020. We still have a TV but use laptop/pad etc. TV news I cannot stand anymore but I enjoy comparing news stories from different outlets. For example I listen to the Duran(pro-Russian) and then compare the same with the MSM version (anti-Russian). 

[joeypots]

FOH is my main source for news.

News papers, a couple of blog/substacks, tv, and I like Apple News to get to see stuff I wouldn’t usually gravitate to.

Not really news but the historian, Helen Cox Richard, writes six times a week and puts current events in historical perspective. Great stuff.

[BoliDan]

Everything seems to be biased these days. I usually just go to Google news and try to pick source with the least sensationalized headline.

[Chibearsv]

11 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Average age of someone who watches MTV?

MTV still exists? I had no idea.

[99call]

3 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

MTV still exists? I had no idea.

Yup. I had no idea too!

[MrBirdman]

I have actually cut back on the news I get from podcasts or YouTube I find the format is just too conducive to groupthink. I used to subscribe to more Substacks but cancelled most of them after doing a subscription cull earlier this year. The one quasi-political podcast I listened to was a legal realism podcast called Supreme Myths, but it went on hiatus earlier this year.

A close friend of mine runs one of the most successful news channels on YouTube - if you are on YouTube a lot I guarantee you’ve had their videos recommended - and he’s completely lost his mind because of it. He is completely consumed by the news cycle and incapable of talking about anything else anymore. The channel is not officially partisan but the right-leaning content does better so they focus there more. As a result one out of every three texts I get from him are about transgender stuff. To his credit though when asked his profession, he’ll openly tell people he’s “one of the people ruining the country.” 

It’s taught me that there is such a thing as being too well informed. 

[bmac]

Almost all social media and Amazon prime music. I pick and choose what I consume and still seek out differing opinions and views at age 57. I count FOH as social media and learn a lot here.

[MrBirdman]

4 minutes ago, bmac said:

I count FOH as social media

How dare you insult this beloved forum! Ban this man! 

Seriously, I like to think of FOH as the thinking-man’s r/cigars. 

[bmac]

Just now, MrBirdman said:

How dare you insult this beloved forum! Ban this man! 

Seriously, I like to think of FOH as the thinking-man’s r/cigars. 

To me FOH is the cream of the crop when it comes to thought.