This piece is part of MTFP’s 2026 poll week, where we’re exploring data on how Montana voters feel about their elected officials, environmental concerns, immigration enforcement and other issues.
Most Montanans watch news in a video format — but which platforms they head to most often varies by age, according to a recent Montana Free Press-Eagleton Poll.
Overall, 57% of Montana voters surveyed reported watching broadcast news more often than “rarely,” ranking the medium as one of the three most popular categories of news media, alongside newspapers and radio.
Podcasts, YouTube and social media ranked behind those traditional news mediums, but higher than newsletters and short-form video, like TikTok and Instagram Reels.
But age breakdowns indicate different generations of Montanans have different media habits. Montanans over 50 were almost four times as likely as their younger counterparts to report “frequently” watching TV news. Younger Montanans, meanwhile, reported getting news from YouTube, short-form video, social media and podcasts.
Older voters were less likely to turn to newer video platforms for news. About 1 in 3 Montanans over 50 said they never get news from YouTube, for example. More than half of that group, 57%, said they never get news from short-form video.
Print and online newspapers, meanwhile, were at least “sometimes” read by a majority of both younger and older Montanans — 60% of respondents below age 50 and 62% of respondents over it.
The trend among Montanans runs parallel to national patterns in media consumption, according to a Pew Research Center poll of U.S. adults conducted in August 2025. Pew found that Americans older than 50 were more likely to turn to print and television than their younger counterparts and less likely to consume news through digital sources such as social media.
The MTFP-Eagleton poll surveyed 801 registered voters through telephone interviews and text-to-web questionnaires. Data was collected from Dec. 23, 2025 to Jan. 3, 2026. The poll, which was weighted to reflect the demographics of the state’s voters, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
This piece is part of the Montana Insights project, which is commissioning rounds of polling to help MTFP readers understand public sentiment on key Montana policy issues. Further findings from the Dec. 2025-Jan. 2026 poll are available here.
OTHER POLL STORIES
Montanans weigh in on Trump, Iran, affordability and congressional candidates
The Montana Free Press–Eagleton poll conducted in late April and early May found registered voters in the state sharply divided on Trump, immigration and Iran, while many remain unfamiliar with candidates in Montana’s key 2026 races and are concerned about the rising cost of healthcare, groceries and gasoline.
Voters lukewarm on personal appeal of Montana electeds
With a 50% favorability rating, President Donald Trump ranks as the most popular elected official in Montana. Many eastern Montana respondents also indicated they don’t know enough to have an opinion of their congressman, U.S. Rep. Troy Downing.
Which affordability challenges worry Montana voters most?
Healthcare was the most-cited cost-of-living challenge, followed by food costs. Rent and mortgage costs were also cited as a source of difficulty by many younger respondents — but few older ones.
