NBC News (Online)

About NBC News (Online)'s Bias Rating

NBC News (Online) is featured on the AllSides Media Bias Chart™.

NBC News (Online) is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Lean Left.

NBC News bias is Lean Left. AllSides finds that NBC News' reporting is consistent with a Lean Left bias; its reporting often omits right-leaning perspectives and generally has a leftward bent, focusing on topics of importance to the left.

NOTE: This media bias rating only refers to the online news at NBCNews.com, NOT NBC broadcast TV content. 

What a "Lean Left" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Lean Left display media bias in ways that moderately align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. A Lean Left bias is a moderately liberal rating on the political spectrum.

• NBC Rated Lean Left in Aug. 2022 Blind Bias Survey

NBC Rated Lean Left in Aug. 2022 Blind Bias Survey

NBC News was rated Lean Left in the Aug. 2022 AllSides Blind Bias Survey. 

On average, respondents who self-reported being on the left (Left, Lean Left) and respondents who are Center rated NBC News as Lean Left. Respondents on the right (Right, Lean Right) rated NBC News as Left.

Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all rated the bias of NBC News as Lean Left, on average.

A total of 822 people across the political spectrum rated the bias of NBC News. A total of 822 people from across the political spectrum rated the bias of NBC News. The weighted average was -2.55, which is in the Lean Left category. The middle 50% of responses lied between -4.85 (Left) and -0.80 (Center) – an interquartile range of 4.06.

During an AllSides Blind Bias Survey, people from all sides of the political spectrum and a diverse array of ages and geographic locations rate the bias of content from a media outlet blindly, meaning all identifying branding information is removed. Sign up for a Blind Bias Survey here.

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As of September 2023, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for NBC News (Online). On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

As of July 2016, a small majority of over 550 AllSides users disagreed with our NBC News bias rating of Lean Left. As of October 2019, a small majority of 5,349 people disagreed out of 9,528 votes; however, when those who disagreed were asked what NBC's bias rating should be, the average of their votes came out to Lean Left.

As of September 2023, AllSides has medium confidence in our Lean Left rating for NBC News (Online). An Editorial Review or Blind Bias Survey has affirmed this rating, or multiple reviews have returned differing results. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast company network NBC. The division under NBC Universal News Group, a subsidiary of media conglomerate NBC Universal. The group's various operations report to the president of NBC News. The company was founded in 1926 for radio, and the first news program in American broadcast television history aired on February 21, 1940. The group's broadcasts are produced and aired from Rockefeller Center, NBC's headquarters in New York City. Meet the Press is the longest-running television series in American history.

Political Leanings of NBC Audience

According to a 2014 Pew Research Study, Where News Audiences Fit on the Political Spectrum, 26% of NBC News consumers are mostly liberal; 36% have mixed views, 14% are mostly conservative and 5% are consistently conservative. NBC News's ideological composition overall "largely mirrors that of the broader public, though conservatives are somewhat underrepresented in its audience relative to their share of all respondents," Pew notes.

NBC News Donations to Democratic Party: 2008 Election

In the 2008 election, NBC News — along with ABC and CBS, two other major broadcast television networks — donated a total of $1,020,816 to the Democratic Party, given by 1,160 employees from all three organizations, according to an analysis by The Washington Examiner of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Only 193 donations were made to the Republican Party, totaling $142,863.

According to the Examiner, "Among NBC contributors were Saturday Night Live producer Jeffrey Ross, who contributed $500 to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CN, former NBC Today Show weatherman Willard Scott. who gave $500 to the Republican National Committee, NBC Universal CFO Jennifer Cabalquinto, whose donations to Obama totaled $1,200, and NBC Universal "editor" David Mack, with $250 to Obama and $2,300 McCain."

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Owner: Comcast

NBC News is owned by NBCUniversal. Comcast owns NBC Universal. Brian L. Roberts is the chairman, president, and CEO of Comcast. Comcast is publicly traded.

Financing and ownership information last updated February 22, 2021. If you think this information is out of date or needs to be updated, please contact us.