Local TV news, the U.S. dominant news medium in the early 1990s, has continued to remain on the top, according to the 2006 Biennial News Consumption Survey by Pew.

In the early 1990s, when there weren't as many sources as today, nearly 80 percent of Americans regularly got their news from local TV, while about 60 percent consumed news from newspapers and nightly network news, while about 45 percent got their news from radio.

However, those dominating media all lose ground due to the emergence of new sources. Online news, which had a usage rate of almost nothing in 1996, was consumed by more than 30 percent of the U.S. population on a regular basis in 2006. Cable TV news and network morning news also accounted for more than 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Local TV news, though still the number one source where Americans get news, saw its usage drop to only 57 percent, according to the Pew study. Newspapers and radio were also in decline, to 40 and 36 percent in 2006, respectively.