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TV channel ranking · United States

Which TV channel has the largest audience in the US in 2026?

The 30 largest television channels and services in the United States by estimated active audience, from anonymized search-behavior signals. NBC leads with approximately 89M people. Average age and female share per channel are in the table.

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Top of the ranking
89M us audience

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Age brackets, gender split, regional distribution down to postal code, and the brands this audience overindexes on — per country, for 500,000+ brands, teams, artists and media properties across 170+ countries. Open in the browser, no login.

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Top 30 TV channels by US audience

Rank Name US audience Avg age Female share
1 NBC 89M 42.8 56.3%
2 CNN 80M 43.3 50.4%
3 CBS 65M 42.4 55.4%
4 Peacock 59M 38.2 45.0%
5 ESPN 50M 36.7 36.7%
6 Netflix 50M 37.5 55.8%
7 DirecTV 48M 40.0 52.8%
8 HBO 47M 39.3 51.1%
9 Fox News Channel 44M 43.3 50.1%
10 HBO MAX 43M 38.4 53.5%
11 NFL Network 36M 33.8 40.6%
12 NBC News 35M 44.7 61.8%
13 CBS Sports 33M 42.5 31.7%
14 Golf Channel 27M 36.6 35.7%
15 Fox (Poland) 27M 25.0 42.4%
16 CBS News 25M 44.6 49.7%
17 Discovery Channel 23M 42.5 49.4%
18 TLC (TV network) 22M 38.8 69.2%
19 PBS 21M 45.5 57.9%
20 E! News 20M 39.9 76.1%
21 Nickelodeon 19M 32.4 62.4%
22 QVC 19M 49.2 80.7%
23 CNBC 18M 42.9 44.9%
24 Kelley Blue Book 18M 41.8 35.3%
25 Hulu 17M 39.3 53.9%
26 Telemundo 16M 36.8 54.9%
27 CBS Corporation 16M 44.4 50.2%
28 Cocomelon 15M 38.3 61.3%
29 NBC Sunday Night Football 15M 33.0 34.5%
30 Bravo (U.S. TV channel) 15M 38.1 67.4%

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Frequently asked questions

Which TV channel has the biggest audience in the US in 2026?

NBC has the largest measured audience with approximately 89M people showing active interest over the trailing 12 months.

Is this the same as TV ratings?

No. Ratings measure viewing of specific programming in specific time slots through a measurement panel. This measures people showing active interest in the channel as a brand, which captures its standing beyond any single broadcast.

Why are streaming services listed alongside traditional channels?

Because they compete for the same attention and the same advertising budget. Ranking them on one metric is what makes the comparison useful; separating them by delivery technology no longer reflects how audiences behave.

Can I see the age skew for a single channel?

Yes. Average age and female share are in the table for every channel, and each name links to the full profile with age brackets and regional distribution.

How often is this updated?

Weekly, from the latest search-behavior data.

Using this ranking for sponsorship & media planning

Rankings like this are the starting point for commercial questions: Which audiences match a brand's target group? How does a rights holder's fanbase compare to its league peers? Where does a media plan reach the most engaged fans? Rascasse combines audience size with demographics, regional distribution and brand affinities — the full dataset behind this page is available in the platform, including exports and benchmarking.

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