• by Sara Guaglione , October 1, 2019

News outlets are among the most politically polarizing brands, according to a recent study by market research company Morning Consult.

News outlets made up 12 of the 15 most politically polarizing brands, from the more than 3,700 brands that Morning Consult tracks daily. Morning Consult polled over 13,000 survey respondents for each brand from July 1 to August 8.

The brands with the greatest difference in net favorability (the share of U.S. adults with a favorable view of each brand minus those with an unfavorable view) among self-identified Democrats and Republicans.

They are, in order: Trump Hotels, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, NBC News, MSNBC, Fox, ABC News, The Washington Post, CBS News, Fox Business, Smith & Wesson, Fox Nation, CNBC and Nike.

While the 2019 data is similar to a poll Morning Consult conducted last year, some of the brands have become even more polarized.

The difference between Republicans’ and Democrats’ net favorability for CNN, for example, grew 14 points to 80 this year, due to a 12-point drop in net favorability among Republicans. 

Republicans held more negative views than Democrats of every media outlet on the list — except for Fox News. 

These sentiments did not seem to impact some news outlets’ businesses. Viewership for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC increased in 2018, according to Comscore data, as did total revenue and profit. 

The New York Times experienced record print and digital subscriptions last year.