The state of local TV news
Looking for something upbeat in the latest annual report on the state of the media may be a fool’s errand. No matter how you slice it, the news about local TV news is grim. But buried in the fine print are hints that after two horrendous years things are getting a little better, at least on the economic front.
- Stations are expected to make more money this year. Not much more–just 3-5%–but that’s a far cry from the 22% drop in 2009.
- Local TV websites are making money. Online revenue was up 26% last year, to $1.3 billion, and station sites are gaining market share.
But it’s going to be difficult for stations to build on those positives if they can’t solve their biggest problem: the audience for local TV news keeps getting smaller across the board. The report says viewership was down on average by more than 5% in all time slots. Even the one-time growth area, early morning newscasts, lost about 6% of their audience. The only time slot that held its own was at 7 p.m., where some stations have added local news following their network newscasts.
Figuring out how to bring the audience back is critical for stations in the near term, because news still brings in about half of most stations’ revenue. Their websites are making money, but 90% of the revenue still comes from their on-air product, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism report.
So here are a couple of questions I’d suggest local stations consider. Have they diluted the audience for any single newscast by adding news in more time slots throughout the day? Have they driven viewers away by diluting the quality of their newscasts, by slashing staff and joining news-sharing partnerships? Would fewer newscasts with more substance be one way to bring them back?
Maybe the producing/editor function of the local news has something to do with decline of the genre. For example, if the lead story each night is a legit news story, but stories two, three, and four are about breast enhancement, Jennifer Anniston, and animal abuse, viewers who want to see the news will go someplace else and stay there — like a website.
Cheers !!!
The Advertising Business Model worked well with TV News since the ’60s. What business model will emerge to allow an industry to give away the fruits of its labor and still make a profit?
There are costs involved in covering the news… and in the past audience numbers would justify the costs; but now? Which other industry that you know of can give away what it produces and still stay in business?
One reason I think people are turning away from local news is because there is too much national and international news on local news. When you watch the local news when there is breaking news half the time it is national or international breaking news. Local news means local news. There is already 24/7 national and international news on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. The cable news networks do not do their job of reporting important news. Cable news is opinatied spin news. I think since cable news is more spin opinated talk news they do there job of reporting the news so I think the local TV stations have to take on the load of reporting National and international news on local newscasts. Another reason local newscasts quality have gone down the tubes is because you have consultants giving advice to station managers and news directors on what should go on local newscasts. Consultants don’t care about the quality of local newscasts there just there to give advice and make money. The consultant is the middle man that gets between the newscasts. I think the consultants are really the people who decide and call the shots on how local newscasts are produced. Consultants need to be taken out of the news business and the decisons of local newscasts need to be put back in the hands of the news directors and local news people. These consultants are from out of state and do not know a thing about the local area or its issues there just there to get clients and make money and a news consultant life line is contracting with a local TV station. Consultants make their money by their clients and their clients are what every local TV station they work with. If the local TV station dropped the consultant then the consultant loses money. A news consultant is like a car salesman that make their money by which TV station they work with.