Television News Most Popular News Source Percentage Local

Television News

Most Popular News Source Percentage Local TV News 65. 5% Local Newspaper 28. 4% National Network TV News 28. 3% Local Radio News Programs 14. 7% Internet 11. 2% National Newspaper 3. 8% Someplace Else 1. 3% Source: RTNDF Survey of the Future of the News, October 2006

Evening News Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research

Sources of Information § § § 62% 50% 49% 38% 31% 30% Local TV News Cable TV News National TV Newspapers Internet Radio § Rasmussen Poll Conducted August 3 -4, 2008 http: //www. rasmussenreports. com/public_content/politics/pt_survey_toplines/august_2008/toplines_ne ws_sources_august_3_4_2008

§ 2* Which cable news network do you generally watch—Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC? § 35% Fox § 42% CNN § 20% MSNBC § 3% Not sure

Network News The Big Three: 1985 -2004 Dan Rather Peter Jennings Tom Brokaw

Network News The (New) Big Three (and PBS) Katie Couric Charles Gibson Brian Williams Jim Lehrer

Cable News Anchors

TV News Viewers § In 2006, the median age of nightly news viewers stayed at roughly 60 years § TV News desperately wants to attract younger viewers without losing older ones

2006: Katie Couric Joins CBS § First woman anchor § Recruited from Good Morning America (breakfast television) § Cohost of Good Morning America, Charles Gibson, recruited to anchor ABC § CBS increases soft news at first

CBS Reduces Hard News Source: Andrew Tyndall

CBS and Katie Couric

Network News Who Is Winning? Katie Couric Charles Gibson Brian Williams 3 rd: 7, 810, 000 2 nd: 8, 950, 000 1 st: 9, 380, 000

Network News: Changes over past 20 Years: Ownership changes: conglomeration by multinationals a. 1985 General Electric buys NBC (5% of profits, 1994) b. 1985 Capital Cities Communications buys ABC 1995 Disney buys both c. 1995 Westinghouse Electrical Corp. buys CBS (40% of profits in 1995)

Week 9: Television News 1. Ownership changes: Effects a) Profits over Prestige (no more public service requirements) b) Cost Cutting c) Drive to increase audience share

Week 9: Television News Changes over past 20 Years: 1. Ownership changes: Effects 2. More accessible stories: a) Graphics b) Soft News (infotainment) c) Shorter, faster paced stories d) Teasers (to stop people from using the remote)

Week 9: Television News Changes over past 20 Years: 1. Ownership changes: Effects 2. More accessible stories: 3. Less Foreign News a) Too expensive b) Seen to be less relevant/important to public

Foreign Coverage

Week 9: Television News Changes over past 20 Years: 1. Ownership changes: Effects 2. More accessible stories: 3. Less Foreign News 4. More commercials

Week 9: Television News How much news is in a 30 minutes broadcast? : CBS: 1981: 23 2000: 18: 20 NBC: 2000: 19: 00 2003: 20

Cable News Source: Kagan Research, LLC, a division of Jupiter Kagan Inc.

Week 9: Local TV News Why do we have local television news?

Week 9: Local TV News Why do we have local television news? 1. Reflect local community interests 2. US is a very diverse, decentralized society: people think local 3. Most services controlled at state/local level: education, police, transportation, health, social services, etc. 4. PROFITS!!

Percentage of TV Station Revenue Produced by News Year 2005 2004 2003 Average Percentage 44. 9% 42. 8% 46. 1% 2002 39. 7% Source: RTNDA/Ball State University

Factors That Drive Local TV News: 1. Time 2. Staff 3. Technology 4. Dramatic power of visual images 5. Competition for viewers 6. Costs

Factors That Drive Local TV News: 1. Time 2. Staff 3. Technology 4. Dramatic power of visual images 5. Competition for viewers 6. Costs 7. Profits!!!

New Developments § One of the major issues in local TV news in recent years has been the trend toward stations producing more news without increasing their staff to do it. § Local TV content can now be accessed as podcasts, on cell phones, on outdoor screens and streamed over the Internet.

Week 9: Local TV News Group Exercise 1: Pretend you are a local tv station here: 1. What sorts of stories are important for people in a local community? 2. Will people watch if you show these stories? 3. How do you maintain an audience?

Topics in Local TV, Percent of all time Gov’t/Elections Crime Accidents Business Domes. Issues Science Foreign Rel. Defense/Military Celebrity/Entertainme Lifestyle nt Morning Evening Late All 8% 12% 13% 11% 38 46 44 42 9 6 6 8 8 5 * 5 6 13 23 14 1 2 4 2 5 2 3 4 2 5 1 2 7 2 2 4 16 8 3 10

What is a "Good" Newscast? • TOPIC RANGE • STORY FOCUS • ENTERPRISE LEVEL • NUMBER OF SOURCES • VIEWPOINTS • SOURCE EXPERTISE • LOCAL RELEVANCE

Watch the local news broadcast: 1. What tactics were used to attract viewers? 2. Are these examples of bad journalism? 3. What aspects were good?