Local TV NewsA Special Report from Media Group Online, Inc. Trusted and Believed Local TV News Viewer Engagement Ratings, May 2017 Local TV news is certainly not perfect. Complaints include too much focus on traffic accidents, fires, crime, etc. that affect too Engagement Category Rating* few citizens; not enough in-depth reporting on local government Believe local news anchors and reporters 7.7 and issues; and over-dressed, over-manicured and over-coiffed Enjoy watching local news anchors and reporters 7.6 announcers/personalities. Local weather forecasts are accurate 7.6 Despite these and other shortcomings, a number of recent Traffic updates are dependable 7.1 studies found that local TV news is trusted and believed more Stations report breaking news quickly 7.0 than all other news sources. Favorite source of local sports coverage 6.5 Information source for new products and services 6.5 TVNewsCheck (Coda Research Consultancy), May 2017 ■ Videa, a programmatic/ad technology company * Scale of 1–10, with 10 highest rating (and owned by Cox Media) reported from a March 2017 survey that 59% of respondents Are generational differences in news consumption and the said they accessed local news “somewhat or various digital channels that offer news major challenges for very often,” on TV. Social media was a distant local TV news? Definitely. Local TV news is still relevant and competitive, however, and this Special Report from Media second, at 38%; followed closely by print media Group Online explores these challenges and why local TV news and local radio stations, at 36% each. remains a trusted and believable source for many people. ■ A 2016 Pew Research Center study revealed that 46% of survey participants said they “often” watched local TV news, and another 27% “sometimes.” ■ Coda Research Consultancy released a May 2017 survey of more than 2,400 television viewers and discovered high engagement ratings in various categories related to local TV news. Local TV News www.mediagrouponlineinc.com pg. 2 Morning TV Viewership, New York, 2017 Station/Network Total Viewers Adults 25–54 WABC 241,630 78,360 WNBC 119,950 61,040 WCBS 102,590 37,320 WPIX 48.890 27,170 WNYW 46,300 24,300 CNN 47,120 21,390 MSNBC 43,190 15,320 FXNC 67,360 12,290 HLN 6,480 3,930 CNBC 16,850 840 The Poynter Institute (Nielsen Media Research), May 2017 Morning TV Viewership, Los Angeles, 2017 Station/Network Total Viewers Adults 25–54 KTLA 152,100 75,360 KABC 106,900 49,840 The Sun Shines on KTTV 46,310 30,330 KNBC 62,800 28,910 Morning News KCBS 34,410 12,170 Fox News 39,180 11,950 According to a May 2017 article from The Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism, local early morning TV news CNN 28,160 10,580 is blowing the pants off Fox and Friends, Morning Joe, New MSNBC 15,250 7,200 Day, Good Morning, America, Today and CBS This Morning, HLN 5,790 3,670 despite many Americans’ obsession with national news stories, CNBC 2,460 0 especially from Washington, DC. The Poynter Institute (Nielsen Media Research), May 2017 For example, WGN Morning News (Chicago) attracted an average of 127,770 local viewers from 5 am to 8 am during the February 2017 “sweeps.” Fox and Friends was a distant second, with 33,520 viewers. Even during the two hours from 7 am to 9 am, when the national morning shows are in full force, WGN Morning News still had more average viewers than #2 Good Morning, America, at 148,100 and 128,120, respectively. The story was the same in New York and Los Angeles when comparing the local stations and the cable news shows from 5 am to 7 am in total average viewers and adults 25–54. Local TV News www.mediagrouponlineinc.com pg. 3 Understanding Today’s News Consumer The good news for local, broadcast and cable TV news departments is that 57% of Americans “often” accessed news on TV, compared to 38%, online; 25%, radio; and 20%, newspaper, according to Pew Research Center’s 2016 The Modern News Consumer report. Of those 57%, local TV had the largest share, or 46%; followed by cable, 31%; and network, 30%. The challenge for all TV news outlets is that the largest audience who obtain their news from TV are 50 years of age or older; however, this has been widely known for some time. News Consumers’ Preferred Platform, by Where Americans Obtain Their News, by Loyalty, 2016 Age Group, 2016 Very Somewhat Non- News Medium News Medium 18–29 30–49 50–64 65+ Loyal Loyal Loyal TV 27% 45% 72% 85% TV 54% 42% 32% Online 50% 49% 29% 20% News Websites/Apps 15% 22% 27% Radio 14% 27% 29% 24% Radio 13% 12% 14% Print newspapers 5% 10% 23% 48% Print newspapers 12% 11% 10% Pew Research Center, July 2016 Social media 5% 10% 15% Looking at news consumption from a different angle reveals Pew Research Center, July 2016 that those Americans who preferred to “watch” the news overwhelmingly chose TV while those who preferred to “read” With young adults preferring to obtain their news online, it may the news chose online. be comforting to local TV stations that they visited stations’ Websites in much greater numbers than watching the early evening news. The Media Audit’s Winter 2017 Cincinnati, OH Comparison of News Watchers, Readers survey serves as a good example. and Listeners, 2016 Earl News Medium Watch Read Listen Comparison of Evening News Viewership TV 80% 10% 25% and Visits to the Stations’ Websites in Online 12% 59% 14% Cincinnati Among Adults 18–34, 2017 Radio 3% 4% 55% Weekly Cume for Early Target Target Index Index Print 4% 26% 3% Evening News Percent Percent Pew Research Center, July 2016 WLWT (NBC) 11.8% 60 33.6% 112 The Pew Research report also shows that “very loyal” and WCPO (ABC) 7.3% 36 35.3% 96 “somewhat loyal” news consumers preferred the TV news platform. WKRC (CBS) 8.2% 36 30.9% 90 WXIX (Fox) 8.6% 59 32.1% 101 Based on The Media Audit Winter 2017 Cincinnati, OH Survey Local TV News www.mediagrouponlineinc.com pg. 4 Civic Mindedness and Local News Consumption Pew Research Center’s November 2016 report, Civic Engagement Strongly Tied to Local News Habits, found that 59% of people who considered themselves “highly attached” to their community followed local news closely. A similar correlation, or Local TV news was also first among those citizens who always 52%, occurred among those who always vote. voted as well as those who don’t always vote. Even better, whether local citizens were “highly attached,” “somewhat attached” or “unattached” to their community, most Where Local Citizens Obtain Community of them obtained community news every day or several times a week from local TV news. News Every Day or Several Times a Week, by Their Voting Habit, 2016 Always Don’t Always Where Local Citizens Obtained Community News Source News Every Day or Several Times a Week, Vote Vote by Their Civic Attachment, 2016 Local TV news 63% 46% Local radio 44% 32% Highly Somewhat News Source Unattached Word-of-mouth 36% 29% Attached Attached Local newspapers 43% 23% Local TV news 63% 53% 40% Social networking sites 10% 11% Local radio 43% 38% 26% Local newsletters or listservs 10% 7% Word-of-mouth 45% 32% 21% Local blogs 6% 5% Local newspapers 45% 30% 17% Pew Research Center, November 2016 Social networking sites 12% 11% 9% Local newsletters or It’s important to understand that, as with overall local TV news 11% 8% 5% listservs viewership, adults 50–64 and 65+ consider themselves more attached to their community than younger adults, and this is Local blogs 7% 6% 3% also true based on their voting habits. Pew Research Center, November 2016 Civic Attachment and Local Voting, by Age Groups, 2016 Community Attachment Local Voting Age Group Not Very/ Very Somewhat Always Less Often At All 18–29 11% 40% 49% 9% 91% 30–49 17% 46% 36% 20% 80% 50–64 19% 50% 29% 34% 65% 65+ 32% 49% 18% 46% 53% Pew Research Center, November 2016 Local TV News www.mediagrouponlineinc.com pg. 5 This begs the question, “Where can advertisers reach adults 18–44 with an annual household income of $150,000+?” The answer appears to be the stations’ Websites, where visits during the last month among those in the highest-income bracket were essentially the opposite of the data in the previous table. Visits by Adults 18–44 During the Past Month to Dayton’s Primary Network Affiliates’ Websites by Income, 2017 $100K–$150K $150K+ Income Station Income Percent Index Percent Index WDTN (NBC) 30.1% 127 22.5% 95 In Search of Young, WKEF (ABC) 3.7% 22 21.8% 130 WHIO (CBS) 43.2% 127 39.8% 89 Affluent Adults WRGT (Fox) 18.4% 94 26.8% 137 Based on The Media Audit Winter 2017 Dayton, OH Survey The evidence from Pew Research Center and other reliable sources clearly indicates that younger adults are less likely than Advertisers who are specifically targeting younger, affluent older adults to watch local TV news. Utilizing data from The adults may find it advantageous (in Dayton, at least) to buy late Media Audit’s Winter 2017 Dayton, OH survey revealed some night local TV news and the stations’ Websites to reach both interesting comparisons when focusing on higher-income adults higher-income brackets. 18–44, who are prime consumer targets for advertisers – today and during many future decades.