15. Joe Rogan 

Perhaps there really is no ceiling for Joe Rogan, who remains the undisputed champion of the podcasting world. Rogan closed out the year atop the Spotify, Apple and YouTube lists, an incredible feat that underlines just how monumental his influence has become.

In a year without an election, Rogan’s impact on the political world was never going to be as make-or-break as it was in 2024 — when Donald Trump sat down with him, and Kamala Harris didn’t, and many people believe that was a major factor in the campaign. But Rogan still proved to be a kingmaker — or, at least, a prince maker — like when he dramatically boosted the profile of Democratic Texas legislator James Talarico.

“You need to run for president,” Rogan told Talarico. The Texas legislator isn’t quite going that far, but he did opt to run for Senate — where a primary showdown with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) awaits.

Other highlights from Rogan’s 2025 include his June sit-down with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — which racked up an astonishing 5.3 million views on YouTube alone. A debate he moderated between Douglas Murray and Dave Smith pulled in another 5 million. And his three-plus hour conversation with Elon Musk this fall commanded a jaw-dropping 10.5 million (His channel, by the way, boasts 20.5 million subscribers.)

But the UFC analyst’s real superpower is his insatiable interest in, well, everything, which allows him to appeal to, well, everyone (or most). One day he’s trading jokes with Theo Von. The next, he’s offering a window into the mind of “security expert” Gavin de Becker, a man whose mere call to Olivia Nuzzi reportedly compelled Tucker Carlson to offer her a shotgun. And the one after that, he’s enjoying a dulcet-toned conversation with the likes of Lionel Richie.

No matter your interests or perspective, Rogan has something to offer you. And in an age of institutional mistrust, his relentless, wide-ranging curiosity has earned him the confidence of millions and the sort of influence that few, anywhere in any profession, can match.

14. Bill Maher

Bill Maher began 2025 by suggesting that it was “possible” that the incoming president he has spent the last decade lambasting might have him arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay. By mid-April, they were sitting down to a friendly dinner at the White House — at Trump’s invitation.

The unlikely summit arguably drew more interest than the one involving Trump and Vladimir Putin later in the year. After the odd couple’s meal together in April, CNN’s Saturday evening re-run of Real Time – which first goes to air Friday evening on HBO – hauled in the cable news network’s best primetime ratings for that entire week.

The sitdown served as a monumental testament to the 69-year-old comic and political commentator’s cultural cachet. Decades after he debuted it, Maher’s brand of fearless, quick-witted verbal combat still draws so many eyes – on HBO, CNN, social media, and now on YouTube, where his Club Random podcast boasts nearly 750,000 subscribers who promptly consume new episodes as soon as they’re posted each Monday.

In the age of independent-minded content creators, Maher can be easily recognized as a pioneer – and one of the only independents who continues to thrive. His show also remains a coveted spot for any political commentator and heck, who else can say that he is regularly cited in a positive light by both Fox and MS NOW?

13. Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson’s 2025 marks a turning point for CNN. Roughly a year into his tenure, he unveiled the network’s long-anticipated subscription and streaming initiative — a bold attempt to future-proof a legacy brand in a rapidly shifting media economy. For a project of this scale to come together in just twelve months reflects remarkable focus and speed.

When he arrived in the fall of 2023, Thompson inherited a newsroom shaken by leadership churn and battered morale. His first job was cultural: steady the place and restore confidence. His second was strategic: develop a business model that could sustain CNN beyond the declining cable bundle. The initial subscription product, launched quietly in late 2024, was modest by design — a market-research laboratory more than a finished platform. But when the full offering debuted in the fall of 2025, it revealed a comprehensive strategy built around CNN’s strengths: live reporting, global reach and authoritative journalism. For the first time, the network had meaningful footing in a direct-to-consumer future.

Just as this reinvention began gaining traction, an even larger uncertainty arrived. The proposed sale of CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery to Netflix has unsettled employees and industry observers alike. The deal is far from done; it still faces a long discovery process, regulatory scrutiny and, in particular, approval from a Trump-era FCC whose posture toward concentrated media ownership remains unpredictable. A competing hostile bid from Paramount adds another layer of volatility. Oh, and the President of the United States has pronounced that CNN must be sold — saying “it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part” of “any deal” involving Warner Bros. Discovery.

Against that backdrop, no one can say with confidence what corporate home CNN will have in two years or what priorities a future owner will impose. This uncertainty has led CNN employees to put even more faith in their leader to protect them.

Through it all, Thompson has maintained a characteristically low profile. He prefers the work to speak for itself — a calm, deliberate rebuilding of CNN’s identity and business. His 2025 shows a leader moving quickly yet thoughtfully, reshaping a storied network while the ground beneath it keeps shifting.

12. Stephen A. Smith 

(Matt Patterson/AP photo)

If only Michael Jordan’s transition from professional basketball to baseball had gone as smoothly as Stephen A. Smith’s transition from sportscaster to political commentator. To be sure, Smith still keeps busy firing off his hottest takes on the latest scores, trades, highlights, and flubs on both ESPN and his daily SiriusXM sports show. But he’s also now established himself as a pundit worthy of endless invitations onto cable news airwaves and his own new weekly Sirius political talk show, Straight Shooter with Stephen A on the prominent POTUS channel. Despite only launching this latest endeavor in September, Smith has already interviewed a murderers’ row of prominent guests, including Hakeem Jeffries, Mike Johnson, Ted Cruz, Zohran Mamdani, Bill Maher, Sean Hannity, and JB Pritzker on Straight Shooter — which is quickly emerging as a favorite place for powerbrokers left, right, and center to reach new audiences.

But Smith isn’t merely providing a platform for others; he’s building one that, by all indications, appears to be a launching pad for even bigger and better things for his own brand. Smith most frequently appears on a channel called NewsNation, but is not under any exclusive contract there, which allows him to regularly appear on larger venues as he chooses. That means more Stephen A. in front of more – and more diverse – sets of eyes. In a new era of political media dominated by figures who understand the value of viral content, and prioritize authenticity, Smith seems to have been designed in a lab to excel. His all-over-the-map convictions, habitually packaged in explosive tirades, has not only attracted the attention of cable news bookers, his backers at SiriusXM, and his fans on platforms of all kinds, but pollsters who have – in perhaps the ultimate testament to his influence – begun measuring the public’s interest in a 2028 White House campaign.

11. Meidas Touch 

In 2025, the MeidasTouch Network — founded by brothers Ben Meiselas, Brett Meiselas, and Jordy Meiselas — solidified its dominance as not just a progressive media force, but a leading new media juggernaut. The MeidasTouch Podcast regularly tops the charts in what has become a very saturated podcast field — driving anti-Trump narratives through viral content which has exploded in President Trump’s second term.

February saw the flagship podcast dethrone The Joe Rogan Experience as America’s most popular, surging to 56 million downloads. By May, MeidasTouch emerged as YouTube’s top political podcast, consistently ranking in the top 10—often the only political show there—outshining the likes of Megyn Kelly and Ben Shapiro.

They grabbed the top tier and held onto it with explosive Jeffrey Epstein coverage that included viralizing a 2010 deposition where Jeffrey Epstein was asked about Trump and women “under 18.”

The outfit is also helped along by a crew of contributors that include viral video influencer Acyn Torabi, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, and young Democratic influencer Adam Mockler, who has become a regular on cable news as well.

Boasting over five million YouTube subscribers, MeidasTouch’s relentless barrage of anti-Trump content shows an appetite for resistance media hitmaking that isn’t letting up.

10. Jake Tapper 

(Andy Kropa/Invision/AP photo)

The list of cable news anchors who have the ability (or willingness) to score major interviews with top figures on both sides of the aisle and the gumption to then hold those interview subjects to account is extremely short. The anchor of CNN’s The Lead is unquestionably on that very short list.

Jake Tapper has firmly established himself as one of the most visible and respected journalists in contemporary American television news. As the lead Washington anchor for CNN and host of The Lead and State of the Union, he isn’t just famous, he also brings a distinct, often assertive style to political coverage that has earned him a reputation for tough, even-handed interviewing.

While grabbing headlines during Trump’s first term for epic throwdowns with the likes of Kellyanne Conway and other Trump officials, Tapper avoids easy partisan rhetoric and centers on an old-school, facts-first approach across the political spectrum.

Tapper holds down two hours of anchor duty every day and faces stiff competition at both 5 and 6 p.m., but always manages to command a great deal of attention for his interviews despite squaring off against ratings heavyweights in his time slot — namely Fox’s The Five.

Of course, his biggest impact in 2025 came in bookstores. Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again was the dominant political book of 2025. Co-authored with Alex Thompson of Axios, the book shed new light on Joe Biden’s aborted reelection bid. The book predictably angered many on the left still reeling from Donald Trump’s victory, who were in no mood to re-litigate the 2024 election — as well as many on the right, who wondered what took so long for reporting like this to come out about Biden. Despite the blowback from some partisans, the book was a massive hit, and it dominated news cycles for weeks.

Tapper, who has long reported on the military and national security, ended the year contributing to exclusive CNN reporting on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, highlighting the journalistic bona fides that have made him a household name and enormously influential.

9. Bret Baier

(Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP photo)

Fox News’s universally respected anchor finishes 2025 as cable news’s most-watched anchor by a significant margin. Bret Baier’s Special Report continues to not only tower over his rivals in the 6 p.m. hour, but oftentimes finish among the Top 5 cable news shows – a feat that is especially impressive because he’s doing it outside of the peak hours of primetime and without overt political opinion.

The massive nightly audience in excess of 2.5 million total viewers explains, in part, why new CBS News boss Bari Weiss was apparently so interested in signing Baier away from Fox. But Baier — happily locked into a long-term deal — was never going anywhere.

And why would he? Baier has spent 16 years building a powerhouse platform at Fox News. It’s a platform where he continuously hosts the top political figures both foreign and domestic. In fact, many world leaders in Washington to visit President Trump subsequently swing by Fox’s DC bureau for an audience with Baier. Special Report has become the place where you find out what really happened between Trump and various leaders when the cameras were sent out of the Oval Office.

His access to President Trump — on and off-the-record — has been staggering. He’s spoken with the president on Air Force One, backstage at speeches, on the golf course. Baier has maintained that access even though he’s pressed Trump time and again on uncomfortable topics. The president, who often steers clear of challenging interrogators for longer interviews, respects Baier too much to avoid him.

The fact is, few news anchors can match — or even approach — Bret Baier’s level of influence, particularly in Donald Trump’s America.

8. Sean Hannity

(Frank Franklin II/AP photo)

You can’t have a list of influential media stars — particularly during the Trump era —without Sean Hannity sitting near the top, flashing his signature grin. In many ways, Hannity is the face of Fox News and has been for almost two decades now, having joined the ratings-dominant network at its onset in 1996.

In 2025, Hannity’s eponymous show won the prime time ratings war at 9 p.m. for yet another year, edging out MSNBC’s top-rated Rachel Maddow and trouncing his CNN competition. Hannity is a mainstay in the Top 5 programs on all of cable news, easily bringing in an audience in excess of 2.5 million viewers a night and surging to over 3 million during big news events. Hannity, however, isn’t just an immovable force on TV, but he is also a massive presence on radio, streaming, and the web.

On the radio, Hannity reaches millions on his 3-hour-a-day syndicated show that airs on over 750 stations nationwide. Between Fox and the radio, Hannity pulls down 4 hours of hosting duty every weekday. He also hosts a long-form interview program on Fox Nation, where he’s talked to everyone from Tony Robbins to Russell Brand in a platform much more similar to the manosphere’s popular podcasters than traditional cable news.

Hannity is also the longest-running active cable news host – and has been for nearly six years ever since Larry King signed off in April 2020. His longevity in the business is attributable to both his talent in front of the camera and his reliable conservatism. But despite being a fierce defender of President Trump, he didn’t dabble in the rampant election denialism and eschews many of the conspiratorial fever swamps.

Of course, his long friendship with President Trump grants him unprecedented access to the White House and the commander-in-chief himself, which he regularly displays on his nightly program. Hannity scored major sit-downs with both Trump and Vice President JD Vance throughout the year and is a regular stomping ground for top officials, like Attorney General Pam Bondi. But that doesn’t stop Hannity from also mixing it up with the likes of Stephen A. Smith, another friend, or former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Hannity isn’t just a top media figure, he is a party leader acting as a kind of elder statesman, coaching his team to focus on the kitchen table issues and avoid the noise. Amid all the current volatility in the MAGA mediasphere, Hannity’s place has never been more secure.

7. Matt Drudge 

AP Photo/Michael Caulfield

Matt Drudge’s eponymous news aggregation website, the Drudge Report, still remains the go-to for news junkies of both parties looking to quickly know. . what they need to know. While Drudge himself has become more unpredictable in his politics during the Trump era, his site hasn’t changed from its original design – dating back to the 1990s. And somehow he has also maintained his enormous influence. Just having a “Drudge link” is still a really really big deal for any publisher, small or large.

Drudge’s politics have morphed from a reliable backer of the GOP to often a critic of Trump himself and some of his MAGA acolytes. Drudge sharpened his criticism of Trump during the 2024 presidential election, making him one of the few historically conservative opinion shapers to buck MAGA and continue to thrive. He’s kept up that tone throughout 2025 — often making life miserable for the White House comms shop with every single refresh of his homepage.

Trump’s appearance has become great fodder for Drudge. If the president’s got bumps and bruises, or someone snaps a photo unflattering angle of him, you can bet that image will be splashed across the top of the Drudge Report. (A July shot of Trump’s thinning hair being one particularly notable example.)

But the billions of clicks he gets every year are not of liberal friendly content either. Drudge just highlights DC’s political scandals with his signature flair and drama. And while Drudge himself remains a reclusive figure, his wildly influential site does the talking for him.

6. Kaitlan Collins 

(Alex Brandon/AP photo)

In 2025, Kaitlan Collins proved herself a genuine unicorn in cable news—anchoring The Source each night at 9 p.m. while serving as CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent and making news at both. The two positions somehow feed each other, making her contributions larger than either job alone. Her reporting from inside the Trump White House gave her nightly broadcast unusual depth, and her nightly broadcast sharpened her instincts on the beat.

If she were a baseball prospect, scouts would call her a five-tool talent. She is a reliable presence in Trump gaggles, unafraid to pose direct questions with clarity and fairness. Her reporting credibility draws guests who might otherwise avoid CNN, including figures from the right who trust that she will conduct a rigorous but respectful interview. She is steeped not only in the day’s news but in the political circuitry behind it—the motivations, pressures, and calculations that shape events before they surface. And she continues to break stories at a rate that sets her apart in a crowded field.

Her 2025 scoops demonstrated both remarkable range and access: Trump’s private assurances to advisers about expected Cabinet departures; internal campaign polling that shifted the suburban strategy; the discovery of a new West Wing communications channel created for sensitive policy discussions; escalating tensions between senior national security officials; and the earliest on-camera interview with a key GOP figure after a major legal ruling. Each one underscored not just her reach but the trust and information flow she maintains at the highest levels.

Collins has become a defining voice in the industry, a news-making journalist central to its political coverage and a figure whose work strengthened the network’s competitive position. She is the rare anchor-correspondent whose authority increases in both roles at once, and 2025 was the year the industry had to recognize it.

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