Who’s That Guy? Many Americans Don’t Know This Top News Anchor

Despite anchoring the country’s top-rated newscast, only a quarter of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center recognized NBC Brian Williams.

This result stands in stark contrast to the same survey given in 1985, when half of Americans recognized number-one-rated anchor Dan Rather.

According to the recent survey, only 27% of Americans knew Brian Williams, while 53% had no answer. Another 18% falsely identified the anchorman as someone else — 3% thought he was former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, 2% thought it was Vice President Joe Biden, and 1% thought it was Rather.

Full results below:

Pew attributes the decreased public recognition of top news anchors to a decline in nightly network news broadcasts since the 1980s: “In November 1985 an average of 48 million Americans watched one of the network newscasts each evening. By 2013, that number had fallen to 24.5 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.”

The survey’s demographic breakdown from 1985 to today would likely cause headaches for news executives, as a mere 15% of people under the age of 30 recognized Williams, compared to 41% recognizing Rather in 1985.

“Young people are among the least likely to regularly watch network news,” Pew notes. “The vast majority of viewers were older Americans; a trend that is expected to continue.”

[h/t Pew via FTVLive]

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