A newly released study from the Video Advertising Bureau finds that Americans “overwhelmingly trust” TV news over any other digital media source like search, social or AI. When isolating that group of respondents to potential voters, the VAB finds that they are almost nine times more likely to trust TV news than social media platforms.
Some 50% of total respondents rank AI lowest for trust.
The findings come from the VAB report The Lead Story: How Multiscreen TV Drives Cross-Partisan Engagement for Political Ad Campaigns, an analysis of how Americans engage with political and news content across today’s fragmented media landscape.
The study is based on findings from a December 2025 survey conducted in partnership with Dynata of 2,319 U.S. adults that examines where viewers spend their time, which sources they trust most and how different TV contexts influence outcomes for political messaging.
Behaviors and sentiments were assessed across five key voting and party affiliation groups—potential voters, non-voters, Republicans, Democrats and Independents—to understand their commonalities and differences.
Among the findings is that audiences turn to TV news sources to stay informed on political issues far more than any other platform. Further, voters are 60% more likely to use TV news to stay informed than they are social media, and twice as likely than non-voters to be pay-TV subscribers.
Additionally, TV news is the primary starting point for understanding current events or issues for voters, while social media is viewed as more supplemental. The study finds that voters are also much more likely to watch TV news—with 61% typically watching local news and 57% typically watching national news. This compares to 38% and 25% of non-voters, respectively.
Meanwhile, social media is far more likely than TV programs to be viewed as a source of fake or misleading information, as potential voters are almost three times more likely to believe social media platforms are most likely to provide fake or misleading information versus TV.
Beyond political ads, people are much more likely to purchase products from advertisers in TV news, as potential voters are 42% more likely than not to buy from advertisers adjacent to a breaking news story on local TV news.
“Today’s voters, regardless of political involvement or party affiliation, move fluidly across trusted multiscreen TV platforms, spanning both linear and streaming, to stay informed on current events and political issues,” said Jason Wiese, Executive VP of Strategic Insights & Measurement at the VAB. “TV news delivers the scale, trust, credibility and authenticity that no other media can for both political and non-political advertisers. This creates the opportunity to reach audiences in high-quality viewing environments that are positively perceived and can inform, engage and ultimately drive action.”
Read the full report, which includes in-depth data, charts and analysis, by clicking here.
