Coverage of political candidates and their families will likely be a hot topic by media networks and cable news stations ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
A new study showed coverage of candidates often varies depending on the network.
What Happened: Barring any changes in candidates announcing a run for the 2024 presidential election or anyone gaining steam in the polls, a rematch of the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is likely to happen next November.
Those two candidates are heavily covered by the media, but a recent study shows that different networks spend more time on different people.
The president's son, Hunter Biden, who was indicted on weapons charges, saw more coverage by Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOX)(NASDAQ:FOXA) according to data from the Stanford Cable TV News Analyzer, shared by Axios.
Hunter Biden saw an average of 38 minutes of coverage in the month of September for Fox, compared to 24 minutes of coverage by Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)-owned CNN and 21 minutes by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)-owned MSNBC.
President Biden also received heavier coverage by Fox with an average of 77 minutes in the month of September, compared to 42 minutes by MSNBC and 31 minutes by CNN.
For comparison, Donald Trump was covered an average of 148 minutes in the month of September by MSNBC, 79 minutes by CNN and 35 minutes by Fox.
Related Link: Political Ad Spending In 2024 Election To Smash Records
Why It’s Important: Those who follow cable news likely won’t be surprised given the conservative hosts on Fox.
With multiple indictments and federal charges, Trump was heavily covered by mainstream media but saw less coverage by Fox.
The report also comes as Fox faced several defamation lawsuits over the way it handled the 2020 presidential election and claims made by hosts and guests on air.
Trump sat out the first two Republican primary debates, which may explain a drop in the viewership. The second primary debate that aired on Fox Business had 9.3 million viewers, a drop of 27% from the first debate.
The two Republican primary debates rank among the lowest-watched primary debates since Trump entered the 2016 election race.
Cable news stations are likely to cover the presidential candidates heavily as the election nears and different viewers may want different candidates covered either positively or negatively.
A report from AdImpact predicts the 2024 election cycle will hit a new record of $10.2 billion in advertising, which would be an increase of 13% from the 2020 election.
Media companies will be looking to grab extra viewers tuning into political content and grabbing higher advertising rates given the strong demand.
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