October 9, 2025 • 6 mins
"If your kid tells you a world event happened, do you ask for a source—or just assume it came from TikTok?" In this fast-paced and hilarious episode of The Ben and Skin Show, hosts Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray (with Ben Rogers still out sick) dive into the surprising—and slightly terrifying—truth about where Americans are getting their news. Spoiler alert: TikTok is now a major news source for 1 in 5 Americans. That’s up from just 3% in 2020. The crew breaks down the implications of this meteoric rise, shares personal stories (including Skin’s son becoming an NBA expert via TikTok), and debates the future of journalism, attention spans, and misinformation.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Give me that news quickie. Oh uh oh.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
One in five Americans now regularly get news on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I actually thought it would be higher. Let me just
say two and four americans in my household get their
news from TikTok. Yeah, which is fine. It's the accuracy
of it that worries me.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You know, oh, one hundred percent. The misinformation is I mean,
the train has left the station. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I can't tell you how many pieces of information about
current affairs or world news I have heard my children's
state boldly as fact that I'm like, what where did
you get that crap? It was on TikTok?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So one in five is twenty percent? That's right, Dand
I'm gonna read this headline again very slowly. One in
five Americans now regularly get news on TikTok in twenty
twenty percent of Americans got their news from TikTok in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Did we know it was a thing? Yeah? Three percent.
It's three percent few America number one.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Dang. So if it's three percent to twenty percent, if
we're just following the growth here forty percent twenty thirty,
I was say thirty seven percent. Yeah, I mean that
would be seventeen. But I think inflation you have to added.
Inflation have to add a couple more percents the interest
rate might Okay, I have a.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Lot of interest rate talk here on the Eagle.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I don't. Uh. I don't look at TikTok too
much for a reason. I mean, I remember look at
it we had the very first day we were on
the Eagle, Mark Cuban was in studio and we were
just talking about a lot of things, but we were
just talking about talking about TikTok and TikTok was more
prevalent in February of twenty twenty, a month before Covid.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But he was talking about how the NBA has got to,
you know, understand that kids are going to be looking
at TikTok and they're going to be looking at highlights
and it is addicting, wasn't And he was talking about
the addictive nature of it. And I've always liked been
like not saying everything that Cuban says is gospel to me,
but that one was like and then you just look
around and see how people get TikTok and kind of
(02:22):
can't stop it. But I'm like, you know, I don't
need that. I'll it was time to time, but I
don't like to be there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
He was looking at it too from the perspective of
marketing the NBA. And let me just tell you, my
son never I never tried to push the NBA on
my son. My son found the NBA by watching highlights
on TikTok and got real into it and got real
knowledgeable about it, completely independent of me, who works on
an NBA broadcast and has for almost twenty years. Think
(02:50):
about that. He had the ability to walk down the
hall and ask me anything, have access to anything. He
never wants. It wasn't until he had educated himself and
then we start having debates and conversations and it was
really fun. I had nothing to do with it. It was
all from highlights on TikTok. Then I would be watching
the game and he had no interest in watching it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
He just wanted to see the highlights. Yeah, it's too long,
that's a game. And it's like Cuban had kids that
were of the age, so he knew yeah right, and
so is your business has to change with the times.
There was a lot of people that got real upset
when Adam Silver a month ago or two months ago
publicly said we're a league of highlights. Sure, And man,
(03:36):
I can't tell you how much self righteous chest out
stuff I heard from people in the NBA or who
cover the NBA about that. And I'm like, he just
stated what was fact. He's not saying, don't watch games.
They suck if you igno. It's kind of like the
whole thing with gambling. So you're gonna stick your head
in the sand. It's kind of like streaming. You're gonna
(03:57):
act like it's not happening. Yeah, let me know how
that worked out for you.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
You know, yesterday college football they made the decision that
college football players are allowed to bet on what like
they weren't allowing that story. You don't have to gamble
in sports now because yeah now college football. No, can't
gamble in college football, clearly, right. But it's like the
NFL's dealt with that. I mean, Calvin Ridley gets suspended
(04:21):
an entire year just because he bet on the NFL.
I have some more stuff, I might say, because I
think some percentages on where people are getting the news
on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and WhatsApp, you have
that stuff. Oh hell yeah, man, Hell yeah, dude, hell yeah. Okay,
he's excited about it, like December.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Okay, is that your way of saying the segment is over?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
How much time do we have left?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I mean, by my account, we have a minute.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Oh I would love to jam a little further than
This is a topic that means a lot to me.
So I'm I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
We're doing this.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I think when you look at it, at what percent
do you all think, are all.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, guys, we're out of time? Fine for fine, for fine?
What percent do you think get it off Facebook? Get
what off Facebook? The news? I think fifty two percent? Man? Yeah,
did he nail it again? Fifty three percent.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I'm sorry, I was just gonna say that's that's pretty accurate.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, what about boobtube? What YouTube? You can get news
on YouTube?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Uh, probably just a percentage of people who consume YouTube,
which I don't know that number, So I would say
forty one percent. Really good? Did you see this? I
could not Instagram. Instagram is gonna be much lower because
there's it's not really a news eighteen percent.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
One Twitter or X Yeah, sixty nine.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think that's a good number that people like, I'm
gonna say, fifty four fifty seven percent. Jeez, read it. Yeah,
I read it. Suck it, losers, I read it. Twenty
two percent, thirty four, thirty five percent. Okay, next door app?
Next door Appy? What? Next door app? Okay? Thirteen thirty
(06:17):
three percent.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Dude, people are talking news in the next door app,
trust me right, I have to go in there and
mess around with them a little bit.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Those are really good numbers, Kevin, thank you for adding
to the commentary. Coming up next, This was a huge
moment in sports broadcasting history, and we will revisit. Okay,
it's Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football next
Give me that news quickie. Oh uh oh.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
One in five Americans now regularly get news on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I actually thought it would be higher. Let me just
say two and four americans in my household get their
news from TikTok. Yeah, which is fine. It's the accuracy
of it that worries me.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You know, oh, one hundred percent. The misinformation is I mean,
the train has left the station. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I can't tell you how many pieces of information about
current affairs or world news I have heard my children's
state boldly as fact that I'm like, what where did
you get that crap? It was on TikTok?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So one in five is twenty percent? That's right, Dand
I'm gonna read this headline again very slowly. One in
five Americans now regularly get news on TikTok in twenty
twenty percent of Americans got their news from TikTok in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Did we know it was a thing? Yeah? Three percent.
It's three percent few America number one.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Dang. So if it's three percent to twenty percent, if
we're just following the growth here forty percent twenty thirty,
I was say thirty seven percent. Yeah, I mean that
would be seventeen. But I think inflation you have to added.
Inflation have to add a couple more percents the interest
rate might Okay, I have a.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Lot of interest rate talk here on the Eagle.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I don't. Uh. I don't look at TikTok too
much for a reason. I mean, I remember look at
it we had the very first day we were on
the Eagle, Mark Cuban was in studio and we were
just talking about a lot of things, but we were
just talking about talking about TikTok and TikTok was more
prevalent in February of twenty twenty, a month before Covid.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But he was talking about how the NBA has got to,
you know, understand that kids are going to be looking
at TikTok and they're going to be looking at highlights
and it is addicting, wasn't And he was talking about
the addictive nature of it. And I've always liked been
like not saying everything that Cuban says is gospel to me,
but that one was like and then you just look
around and see how people get TikTok and kind of
(02:22):
can't stop it. But I'm like, you know, I don't
need that. I'll it was time to time, but I
don't like to be there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
He was looking at it too from the perspective of
marketing the NBA. And let me just tell you, my
son never I never tried to push the NBA on
my son. My son found the NBA by watching highlights
on TikTok and got real into it and got real
knowledgeable about it, completely independent of me, who works on
an NBA broadcast and has for almost twenty years. Think
(02:50):
about that. He had the ability to walk down the
hall and ask me anything, have access to anything. He
never wants. It wasn't until he had educated himself and
then we start having debates and conversations and it was
really fun. I had nothing to do with it. It was
all from highlights on TikTok. Then I would be watching
the game and he had no interest in watching it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
He just wanted to see the highlights. Yeah, it's too long,
that's a game. And it's like Cuban had kids that
were of the age, so he knew yeah right, and
so is your business has to change with the times.
There was a lot of people that got real upset
when Adam Silver a month ago or two months ago
publicly said we're a league of highlights. Sure, And man,
(03:36):
I can't tell you how much self righteous chest out
stuff I heard from people in the NBA or who
cover the NBA about that. And I'm like, he just
stated what was fact. He's not saying, don't watch games.
They suck if you igno. It's kind of like the
whole thing with gambling. So you're gonna stick your head
in the sand. It's kind of like streaming. You're gonna
(03:57):
act like it's not happening. Yeah, let me know how
that worked out for you.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
You know, yesterday college football they made the decision that
college football players are allowed to bet on what like
they weren't allowing that story. You don't have to gamble
in sports now because yeah now college football. No, can't
gamble in college football, clearly, right. But it's like the
NFL's dealt with that. I mean, Calvin Ridley gets suspended
(04:21):
an entire year just because he bet on the NFL.
I have some more stuff, I might say, because I
think some percentages on where people are getting the news
on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and WhatsApp, you have
that stuff. Oh hell yeah, man, Hell yeah, dude, hell yeah. Okay,
he's excited about it, like December.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Okay, is that your way of saying the segment is over?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
How much time do we have left?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I mean, by my account, we have a minute.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Oh I would love to jam a little further than
This is a topic that means a lot to me.
So I'm I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
We're doing this.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I think when you look at it, at what percent
do you all think, are all.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, guys, we're out of time? Fine for fine, for fine?
What percent do you think get it off Facebook? Get
what off Facebook? The news? I think fifty two percent? Man? Yeah,
did he nail it again? Fifty three percent.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I'm sorry, I was just gonna say that's that's pretty accurate.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, what about boobtube? What YouTube? You can get news
on YouTube?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Uh, probably just a percentage of people who consume YouTube,
which I don't know that number, So I would say
forty one percent. Really good? Did you see this? I
could not Instagram. Instagram is gonna be much lower because
there's it's not really a news eighteen percent.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
One Twitter or X Yeah, sixty nine.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think that's a good number that people like, I'm
gonna say, fifty four fifty seven percent. Jeez, read it. Yeah,
I read it. Suck it, losers, I read it. Twenty
two percent, thirty four, thirty five percent. Okay, next door app?
Next door Appy? What? Next door app? Okay? Thirteen thirty
(06:17):
three percent.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Dude, people are talking news in the next door app,
trust me right, I have to go in there and
mess around with them a little bit.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Those are really good numbers, Kevin, thank you for adding
to the commentary. Coming up next, This was a huge
moment in sports broadcasting history, and we will revisit. Okay,
it's Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football next
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