NEW YORK—As local stations, TV news outlets and networks ramp up their efforts to secure a larger share of what promises to be record political spending in the fall mid-term 2026 elections, the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) has released a new study that examines how effective political messaging is likely to be on various platforms.

The December 2025 survey based on findings conducted in partnership with Dynata of 2,319 U.S. adults examined behaviors and sentiments across five key voting and party affiliation groups, potential voters, non-voters, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. It also examined how viewers spend their time, what sources they trust most and how different TV contexts influence outcomes for political messaging.

Results, published as “The Lead Story: How Multiscreen TV Drives Cross-Partisan Engagement for Political Ad Campaigns” found that Americans overwhelmingly trust TV news over any other digital media source like search, social or AI. Collectively, potential voters are almost 9 times more likely to trust TV news than social media platforms, while 50% of total respondents rank AI lowest for trust.

In addition, the survey found that audiences turn to TV news sources to stay informed on political issues far more than any other platform. Further, voters are 60% more likely to use TV news to stay informed than they are social media, and twice as likely than non-voters to be pay-TV subscribers.

TV news is also the primary starting point for understanding current events or issues for voters, while social media is viewed as more supplemental. Moreover, voters are much more likely to watch TV news—with 61% typically watching local news and 57% typically watching national news, compared to 38% and 25% of non-voters, respectively.

Social media is far more likely than TV programs to be viewed as a source of fake or misleading information, as potential voters are almost 3x more likely to believe social media platforms are most likely to provide fake or misleading information vs. TV.

Beyond political ads, people are much more likely to purchase products from advertisers in TV news, as potential voters are 42% more likely than not to buy from advertisers adjacent to a breaking news story on local TV news.

"Today's voters, regardless of political involvement or party affiliation, move fluidly across trusted multiscreen TV platforms, spanning both linear and streaming, to stay informed on current events and political issues," said Jason Wiese, executive vice president of strategic insights & measurement, VAB. "TV news delivers the scale, trust, credibility and authenticity that no other media can for both political and non-political advertisers. This creates the opportunity to reach audiences in high-quality viewing environments that are positively perceived and can inform, engage and ultimately drive action."

The full report is available here.

ATLANTA—Former news anchor Valeria Sistrunk has officially announced the launch of RateMyStation, a digital platform that aims to bring more transparency to the broadcast journalism industry by offering a kind of "Glassdoor for News," where journalists, producers, and newsroom staff can rate their work environments, share experiences, and advocate for healthier professional cultures in a secure, anonymous environment.

The launch comes at a time when broadcast stations are under increasing financial pressure to produce more local news with the same or fewer resources, a dynamic that has made it difficult for some stations to recruit new talent or retain existing talent. Stations have also come under fire for offering low pay to entry level journalists and producers, a problem that could become even worse if the ongoing industry-wide consolidation results to layoffs.

The inspiration for RateMyStation stems from Sistrunk's personal experiences navigating toxic newsroom dynamics. Recognizing a systemic lack of accountability in the industry, she developed the platform to empower media professionals with the data necessary to make informed career decisions. By centralizing reviews on management, pay equity, and workplace safety, the site aims to bridge the information gap between station leadership and prospective employees.

As part of the effort to provide journalists with more transparency about work environments, RateMyStation said that it serves as a dual-purpose tool for both employees and newsroom leaders. For journalists, it offers a collective voice to highlight excellence or signal red flags regarding newsroom morale. For station groups and local managers, the platform provides a clear metric of internal reputation, offering a roadmap to improve retention and foster more supportive environments.

The initiative also focuses on the specific challenges of the media industry, including high-pressure deadlines, contract negotiations, and the mental health toll of daily news cycles.

To help fund the effort, the site includes merchandise shop featuring products designed to resonate with the unique lifestyle of media professionals. Proceeds from the shop directly support the platform's mission to provide advocacy resources and maintain the digital infrastructure required for verified, anonymous reporting.

More information is available at https://ratemystation.com.

Some of the biggest news stories of all time — the Chilean Miner Rescue, the O.J. Simpson Trial, and the Miracle on the Hudson — started with high-quality reporting from local news.

Today, local news broadcasters face unprecedented challenges. According to Pew Research, Americans increasingly turn to social media platforms or other online sources. Younger US adults are now reported to trust social media information as much as information from national news outlets.

While local channels have seen a large audience decline, they still attract the biggest audience compared to cable and network stations — and that presents a huge opportunity for local broadcasters. In fact, despite that viewership decline, local TV stations have seen an increase in revenue from both advertising and retransmission fees in recent years, particularly during election years.

Using Technology to Make More with Less

Even simple weather forecasting graphics involve ingesting and processing multiple data sources. If local news created graphics from scratch every broadcast and updated them manually, they could never keep up with national organizations.

Automated data ingestion and templated graphics expedite and simplify this process, allowing local news producers to use the highest-quality graphics without overburdening their creative teams, saving a lot of time and resources from repetitive manual creative work.

Local news network Graham Media Group uses ‘super-templates’ to create and distribute high-fidelity, on-brand graphics for their network of stations from a single creative hub.

Watch this video to see how Graham Media use XPression to do more in less time.

Ensuring Brand Consistency & Integrity Across Platforms

Brand consistency conveys professionalism and credibility. Automated templates like lower-third graphics, over-the-shoulder graphics, transitions, etc., give local news the ability to quickly incorporate consistent graphics, even when covering novel topics.

Automation also makes it easier for newsrooms to distribute content to multiple platforms. 86% of Americans “sometimes” or “often” get news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet, so news stations must leverage creative technology to configure their news broadcast graphics to fit different aspect ratios, screens, orientations, and contexts.

Leveling the Playing Field with Smart Content Creation

There is a huge opportunity for local TV news stations in this election cycle. High-quality stories told with a true local voice, real on-the-ground reporting, and clever use of high-fidelity graphics can give local news stations an edge over larger broadcasters in an age when people are ever more discerning in the sources they choose.

Ross Video’s technology like XPression and Streamline Pro help local broadcasters around the world take full advantage of modern graphics and compete with national broadcasters. To learn more about how Ross Video solutions can make your newsroom more efficient and effective, reach out to one of our team here.

Keeping Pace in the Election Race

2024 is a big year for newsrooms with a record number of elections taking place around the globe. For advanced insights on how newsrooms can get ahead in addressing their elections needs with cutting-edge graphics, download our guide.

A major new survey and analysis of how news is consumed on digital media highlights the ongoing financial crisis of the news media around the world, particularly in the U.S. as “the U.S. news industry shed jobs at a precipitous rate over the last year, with total losses of nearly 2,700 positions in 2023 – the grimmest year since the pandemic – followed by a wave of high-profile layoffs in early 2024,” the researchers reported. 

The “Digital News Report 2024” from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism provides a detailed breakdown of consumer attitudes towards news consumption as well as deep dives into such topics as the use of AI in journalism for both global audiences and consumers in specific countries like the U.S.

In terms of the U.S., only 28% of American surveyed said they had accessed local TV news in the last week while overall trust in the news media remained stable but low. Only 32% said they trusted the news in 2024 (same level at 2013). The global average was 40%; the U.S. ranked 35th out of 47 countries surveyed.  

Local TV news in the U.S., however, fared much better, with 62% trusting it, the highest score of any other online or TV source. Regional and local newspapers came in second (58%). 

Among the broadcast networks ABC and CBS raked the highest (52%). NBC/MSNBC was trusted by 49% followed by CNN at 48% and Fox News at 43%. 

In terms of their preferred way to access news, 72% of Americans said online news sources, including social media, remained a top choice  slightly down from 75% in 2013. TV came in second at 51% (down from 72% in 2013 but up 3 percentage points since 2023), followed by social media at 48% (up from 27% in 2013) and print at 16^, down from 47% in 2013. 

The researchers also reported that: "Concern about what is real and what is fake on the internet when it comes to online news has risen by 3 percentage points in the last year with around six in ten (59%) [globally] saying they are concerned. The figure is considerably higher in South Africa (81%) and the United States (72%), both countries that have been holding elections this year. Worries about how to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content in online platforms is highest for TikTok and X when compared with other online networks."

In the U.S., the survey found a surprisingly limited awareness of AI, with 42% saying that had heard only a small amount or nothing about it and 5% didn't know what it was.  Slightly more than half (52%) said they had heard a moderate or large amount about AI. 

In the U.S. respondents indicated they were concerned about the use of AI to produce news, with only 23% saying they would be comfortable with AI produced news versus 52% saying they were comfortable with news produced by humans. About 42% they were comfortable with news produced mostly by humans with AI, versus 30% who were uncomfortable. 

Key findings globally include:  

• “In many countries, especially outside Europe and the United States, we find a significant further decline in the use of Facebook for news and a growing reliance on a range of alternatives including private messaging apps and video networks. Facebook news consumption is down 4 percentage points, across all countries, in the last year," the researchers wrote.
• “News use across online platforms is fragmenting, with six networks now reaching at least 10% of our respondents, compared with just two a decade ago. YouTube is used for news by almost a third (31%) of our global sample each week.”
• “Linked to these shifts, video is becoming a more important source of online news, especially with younger groups. Short news videos are accessed by two-thirds (66%) of our sample each week, with longer formats attracting around half (51%). The main locus of news video consumption is online platforms (72%) rather than publisher websites (22%), increasing the challenges around monetization and connection.
• “Although the platform mix is shifting, the majority continue to identify platforms including social media, search, or aggregators as their main gateway to online news. Across markets, only around a fifth of respondents (22%) identify news websites or apps as their main source of online news – that’s down 10 percentage points on 2018. 
• In terms of sources for news that people pay most attention to on various platforms, there was “an increasing focus on partisan commentators, influencers, and young news creators, especially on YouTube and TikTok.”
• “As publishers embrace the use of AI we find widespread suspicion about how it might be used, especially for ‘hard’ news stories such as politics or war. There is more comfort with the use of AI in behind-the-scenes tasks such as transcription and translation; in supporting rather than replacing journalists.
• “Trust in the news (40%) has remained stable over the last year, but is still four points lower overall than it was at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. 
• “Elections have increased interest in the news in a few countries, including the United States (+3), but the overall trend remains Downward.”
• “At the same time, we find a rise in selective news avoidance. Around four in ten (39%) now say they sometimes or often avoid the news – up 3 percentage points on last year’s average.”
• “In exploring user needs around news, our data suggest that publishers may be focusing too much on updating people on top news stories and not spending enough time providing different perspectives on issues or reporting stories that can provide a basis for occasional optimism. In terms of topics, we find that audiences feel mostly well served by political and sports news but there are gaps around local news in some countries, as well as health and education news.”
• “Our data show little growth in news subscription, with just 17% saying they paid for any online news in the last year, across a basket of 20 richer countries.”
• “In some countries we find evidence of heavy discounting, with around four in ten (41%) saying they currently pay less than the full price.”
• “News podcasting remains a bright spot for publishers, attracting younger, well-educated audiences but is a minority activity overall.”

NEW YORK—While some viewing is undoubtedly shifting from traditional TV to streaming, a new study from TVB shows that local broadcast TV news continues to punch above its weight, delivering audiences that are 8 to 12 times larger than the programs viewed on six major SVOD services. 

“In response to industry reports about growing streaming viewership, TVB did an analysis comparing local broadcast TV news audiences in five geographically diverse LPM markets and streaming service viewing in those same markets,” explained Hadassa Gerber, chief research officer, TVB. “The analysis included 4,942 programs on six SVOD services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+ and HBO Max) and up to 79 local news programs in each of the five markets.”

“In each market, local broadcast TV news had 8-12 times more adult 18+ viewers than the streaming platforms combined!” she continued. “Due to measurement reporting limitations, the streaming audiences included both ad-supported and ad-free subscribers. Ad-supported platforms are what marketers need to reach consumers, so it is important to note that if the ad-supported streaming audiences could be culled from the total streaming audience numbers, local broadcast TV news audiences would surpass subscription streaming by even greater than 8-12 times margins.”

The conclusion is based on an analysis comparing one-day viewing of local broadcast news to streaming services, which included Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+ and HBO Max, the TVB said. 

Because of the different methodologies that Nielsen uses to accumulate SVOD audiences and linear audiences, the only way to have an apples-to-apples comparison is to look at one day of SVOD audiences versus the same one day of linear broadcast TV audiences. The TVB randomly selected the date of February 15th, 2023, and five geographically diverse LPM markets available in Nielsen’s national system. The data for impressions are for adults 18+.

The TVB also said that it included 4,942 programs on those 6 SVOD services and compared it to the news programs in each market which had only 58-79 programs (depending on the market). 

Even so, local news in each of the five markets had 8-12 times the daily impressions than the streaming platforms combined. That includes those viewing with and without ads, an important point given the fact that Netflix subscribers predominantly choose to subscribe to the ad free service and Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are entirely ad free.

Key takeaways from each market:

• New York: 59 local broadcast news programs totaled 6,610,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 718,000.
• Los Angeles: 79 local broadcast news programs totaled 4,979,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 663,000.
• Chicago: 64 local broadcast news programs totaled 3,860,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 329,000.
• Dallas: 60 local broadcast news programs totaled 3,023,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 310,000.
• Atlanta: 58 local broadcast news programs totaled 2,168,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 229,000.

NAB Show once again is helping attendees push the creative envelope with focus on content personalization, automated production and using data to engage viewers more deeply in entertainment, all of which fall under the umbrella of Intelligent Content being highlighted in the Intelligent Content Experiential Zone in the West Hall.

It’s easy to understand why intelligent content is turning heads. With the assistance of the cloud and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) tools, broadcasters, producers and others are finding new paths to creativity and more opportunities to monetize content.

“AI for intelligent search is becoming almost table stakes for content creators across the board,” said Sean King, senior vice president and general manager for Media, Entertainment and Advertising at Veritone.

“Regardless of the media type, these groups are creating so much content on a daily basis and have such large content libraries that having the ability to find what’s needed gets harder and harder without AI. It’s all about extracting value from content.”

Personalization

Whether it’s a recommendation engine that presents viewers with possible content of interest, a TV reporter trying to find a specific piece of raw or stored footage or a documentarian wishing to buy historical footage, the gas in the engine of these searches is enriched metadata.

“The key — the very first thing — to [enabling] personalization is to enrich the metadata, whether it’s on-demand or live,” said Julien Signes, executive vice president and general manager of Video Network at Synamedia.

An AI natural language engine can extract meaningful metadata for each frame of video from speech, text and subtitles. Similarly, AI tools enabling facial and object recognition can create relevant metadata for each frame. Together, these and other AI algorithms bring a new level of precision and visibility into content repositories, said Signes.

“You need to have a rich data set,” he said. “Otherwise, AI is useless.”

The good news for M&E companies is that “search” and “recommendation” are among the more mature AI-based media applications. “Some areas of M&E are advancing more quickly than others in adopting cloud-based workflows,” said Francesco Venturini, corporate vice president, Communications Media Industry at Microsoft. “For example, data analytics and recommendation engines are more mature and widely used in cloud environments, as they leverage big data and AI capabilities to deliver personalized and engaging content to customers.”

TV News

While personalization is often thought of in the context of SVOD subscribers and recommendation engines, it also pertains to television news — whether it’s a reporter searching a MAM for specific historical footage, a news director looking to review the work of specific reporters on a given topic or a news producer looking to unearth societal trends to put stories into better context.

“AI is able to source content automatically, based on a search,” said Philippe Petitpont, CEO and co-founder of Newsbridge. “A reporter can say, ‘I want a baseball stadium at night in California,’ and automatically AI can search footage and show in the search engine, relevant content that will be useful. In a second, the reporter can have all the images, and that can be done over a thousand, over a million hours of video.”

In the news marketplace, speed to air is one important element of staying competitive — another way AI is well-suited to the newsroom.

“AI speeds up the discovery of raw material,” said Paul Shen, CEO and founder of TVU Networks.

“In the past, you could spend two hours to produce a story. Now, you can do that within minutes. Not only can AI discover content, but it also can be used to feed reporters clips relevant to their stories.”

Helping reporters create stories extends beyond finding relevant content in an instant, however.

“We’re in a place where you could leverage existing AI models and do a first pass on the creative side, writing a story comparing, for instance, today’s banking world to the mortgage crisis of 2008,” said Veritone’s King. “You will still want a human in the loop, but this can really accelerate the process.”

AI also will play a role in personalizing stories for distribution on various social media platforms — not simply conforming to aspect ratio requirements but best practices when it comes to story length.

“A generative AI [artificial intelligence that generates content, such as ChatGPT,] workflow can take an existing story and generate a 30- or 60-second summary [for distribution via social media],” said King.

Monetization

One important capability of NextGen TV is the ability to support content personalization. With ATSC 3.0’s internet back channel from smart TVs and other devices, two-way connectivity with viewers can happen, bringing personalization to viewers and new revenue to broadcasters. The cloud will likely be an important enabler of this personalization, and AI could be used to unearth viewer preferences to enable better targeting of ads and content.

“ATSC 3.0 is a segmented broadcast/IP hybrid approach, where personalized ads or content can be downloaded over the consumer’s internet connection and then triggered by ad insertion markers in the main video stream. This is akin to how OTT providers use SCTE-35 to signal an opportunity for an ad server to deliver an ad for that user,” said Evan Statton, senior principal architect, M&E, at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“In the case of ATSC 3.0, the broadcaster or playback client would likewise maintain information about a viewer, then use that data to query the ad server to determine the best advertisement for that user. The advertisement would then either be scheduled into the main output via the ATSC 3.0 non-real-time (NRT) subsystem or delivered via the internet to the viewer’s device.”

Beyond commercials delivered to individuals based on their interests, personalization could drive new program packaging options for linear broadcast. One centers on marrying recommendation engine tech with the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) in a 3.0 world.

“[There’s interest in a] personalized EPG experience. This would prioritize the most relevant and interesting [programs] to you [across linear TV channels] where they might be ranked from one to 30, and your one through 30 will be different from mine,” said Greg Riker, chief revenue officer at ThinkAnalytic.

While exceedingly capable for a variety of applications, AI has an important limitation, said Synamedia’s Signes. “Don’t assume AI is a magic wand,” he said. “It’s something that needs to be [deployed on] a case-by-case basis and with patience. Over time it improves; it gets better progressively; so be patient.”

Copyright NAB 2023.

WASHINGTON—Local TV found an increased role during the Covid-19 pandemic, and surprisingly, despite financial troubles across many industries from 2020, local TV news ended 2020 with both a record high in employment and increased salaries. However, 2021 has already seen some of those gains be erased.

Local TV news added 500 jobs during 2020, more than making up for the 300 jobs lost in 2019. With the 500 news jobs (a 1.8% increase), total full-time jobs in local TV news rose to 28,000, beating out the previous high set in 2009.

The specifics as to how the local TV industry got their aren’t simple though. More stations loss staff than added in 2020, with a record 30.2% making staff cuts; 22.9% grew. The growths were enough though to have the job total increase overall.

Staffing averages were up across most market sizes, regions and network affiliations. The big four networks were most likely to have gained staff. Stations in bigger markets, non-network affiliates and stations in the Northeast were most likely to have made cuts.

Digital staffing was up on average, with many news managers saying they have more staff dedicated to digital. Other newsroom roles saw gains as well, including photographer, producer, editor and social media producer/editor.

Solo journalists are being used more at least some of time, per RTDNA, but fewer newsrooms “mostly or only rely on solo crews.” Small markets overwhelmingly use solo journalists, with mid-markets doing so increasingly.

Solo journalist and producer roles were the most in demand positions in 2020, with nearly a quarter of created jobs for solo journalists. Solo journalists, digital roles and producers made up about three-quarters of new hires.

As the number of jobs went up, so did the salaries. After falling for the first time in seven years in 2019, local TV news salaries were once again on the upswing, increasing on average by 3.5% (2.1% after accounting for inflation). This represented the largest increase since 2016, RTDNA says.

Salary increases were made for 70% of local news position; 20% saw decreases and 10% stayed the same. Increases were mixed across markets, but those in markets 101-150 faired the best, with the top 25 seeing salaries for most positions falling.

Average and median starting salaries both rose to the highest they’ve been in the history of RTDNA’s survey. Average starting salaries increased $2,100 to $32,600, and media starting salaries were up $1,200 to $31,200. However, the starting salary for a college graduate ($50,944) was well below average, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employees.

Despite all the growth in 2020, the start of 2021 has been rough. RTDNA says that more than 400 jobs were lost through March of 2021.

For more information, visit RTDNA’s website.

WASHINGTON—Local TV news had its biggest year ever, as RTDNA reported a record number of local TV stations aired local news in 2020. According to a survey, 1,116 TV stations shared local news with its viewers.

The data comes from a survey conducted by RTDNA and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

The 1,116 TV stations airing local news content is up 18 from the previous all-time high, which was set in 2019. Of the 1,100+ stations, 710 produced their own news content, up five from 2019; 406 stations, meanwhile, aired local news, up 13.

Stations also set a record for hours of local news aired. Stations saw an increase in weekday news that, even with a slight decrease in weekend news, resulted in an overall net gain in average hours of local TV news. A little more than a third (34.5%) of TV stations reported they increased the amount of news they aired in 2020, up 7.3 percentage points from 2019.

Increases in the amount of news produced occurred in all market sizes. All staffs of 21 or more also increased their amount of news in minutes. Among the network affiliates, CBS stations were the most likely to increase their output, while Fox stations actually did not see an overall increase in news output.

All of this came in a year where budgets were mostly cutback because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Only 16.3% of stations reported a budget increase in 2020, compared to 36.8% in 2019. Inversely, 29.3% of stations saw budget cuts, up from 2019’s 9.1%. Stations in the top 50 markets were most affected by budget cuts.

Related, fewer news departments were profitable in 2020, according to news directors, with more reporting losses. However, the percentage of station revenue generated by the news department remained steady.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. Pew Research Center reported that despite losses in ad revenues, gains in retransmission revenue helped lead to double-digit year-over-year revenue increases in the second half of 2020, with several groups setting record revenues.

The impact of Covid went beyond the financials, though. More than 90% of TV news directors said their newsrooms were still being significantly impacted by the pandemic at the end of 2020. More than 80% say at least some staff remain remote, which in some cases may become permanent. For 30%, there were budget cuts and reduced staff sizes, particular among stations in the Northeast. Seven of 10 news directors expect long or permanent changes in their workflow.

For more information, view RTDNA’s full report.

HUNT VALLEY, Md.—Local TV news will become a real-time emergency information portal with the new broadcast technology being deployed in cities across the nation. ATSC 3.0—also referred to as “NextGen”—can automatically target the impact zone of an incident with pre-formatted alerts. This means less revenue lost to service disruptions, more relevance to viewers and more revenue options for broadcasters. 

“Currently, newsrooms and the Emergency Alert System are separate,” said Ed Czarnecki, chairman of the ATSC TGS3-10 Emergency Alert AHG Working Group and vice chair of ATSC Advanced Emergency Information Implementation. “This gives the station flexibility and control over content, and the audience controls what they want to see,” he said during a recent webinar—the second in a six-episode series on how to make money with NextGen TV. “It makes emergency information a value-added service that not only increases community engagement, but … may provide additional abilities to monetize the information.”

MAKING IT EASY

Emergency alerts cover an escalating spectrum of urgency, from traffic alerts to emergency evacuation orders. They often come from multiple agencies and tend to bypass the newsroom. NextGen changes that without throwing a wrench into the workflow.

“We want to work within the current workflow,” said webinar panelist Lane Michaelsen, group news director for Sinclair Broadcast Group. “What we want to keep in mind here is the user and producer experience, so that it’s not an additional mind game on either end.”  

Accordingly, Sinclair is developing alert templates that can go out as they are. Severe weather warnings, for example, can be pre-embedded with links to the station, a live camera, radar and perhaps a sponsorship. These can go out without being touched by a producer, or enhanced within the alert template with live video and additional information. Sinclair’s WJLA and Fox’s WTTG in Washington, D.C., are preparing to test this advanced alerting capability over a 60-day period to hammer out a turnkey workflow on the station side.

On the receiver side, geo-targeting is activated within the NextGen consumer device, so only those devices in affected areas will display the alert, which can run as a live-linked bug or a crawl concurrent with programming. With the exception of presidential EAS messages and tests, viewers decide what they want to see.

Panelist Dan Shelley, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association, described this ability as a “game changer” that will improve newsroom workflow, “not the least of which because the phones won’t be ringing off the hook because you’re [a television station] in say, Kansas City, Mo., that has interrupted programming for your entire viewing area for a tornado warning in a fringe county. This will allow people in that county on the edge of your viewing area … to get all the information [they] need without affecting those not in the path of the storm.”

BROADCAST APP IS KEY

This advanced alerting capability rests on the NextGen Broadcast App, which will reside in receivers and enable user clickthrough for further information. It is also the foundation of geo-targeted advertising by ZIP Code, business district or other granular criteria. (More on NextGen Advertising in webinar No. 3, scheduled for Aug. 4 at 2 p.m. ET. Register here.)

What’s more, said panelist Jim DeChant, vice president of technology at News-Press & Gazette, the Broadcast App will underpin the ecosystem for reaching NextGen-enabled mobile phones, computers and TVs.

“The broadcaster app itself will have the look and feel of social media, so basically, instead of changing channels and doing different things on different devices, people will be able to access information in similar ways across all media,” he said.

DeChant also emphasized how integrating emergency information into the news workflow can affect communities in times of crisis. At News-Press Gazette, TV stations use bespoke workflow software that allows journalists to post stories from the field to digital platforms and the playout server simultaneously, in real time. NPG witnessed the power of this immediacy last August after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, drove misinformation on social media and panic in the community. 

“Our newsroom was able, in real time, to show people what was happening in their community, and in about four hours time, we were able to calm the community down and give people the information they needed,” he said. “I see the emergency alerting system as being so core to this, and 3.0 being able to provide that user experience that will literally be the calming lifeline to a community.”

REACHING THE WIDEST AUDIENCE

Ultimately, advanced alerting will be effective proportionally to how many people see it, so it’s imperative to understand what gets attention as younger generations migrate away from TV. 

“It’s no secret that the audience is changing and along with it, the way news is consumed,” said Fred Baumgartner, director of NextGen TV Implementation at ONE Media and moderator of the webinar.

TV industry strategist and webinar series producer Josh Gordon weighed in with a recent survey* of more than 2,000 respondents that demonstrated how younger and older viewers prefer news stories that impact them differently. Looking across generations—Gen Zs 18-21; Millennials, 22-37; Gen Xers 38-53 and Boomers, 54-72— younger respondents prefer viewing news on mobile devices and have greater preference for news stories that surprise them; older viewers prefer large screen TVs  and have a diminished desire for news that surprises. Asked generically about local TV news, all age groups said it made them feel connected to their communities. Also, if there was something people wanted to know about their communities, they first turned to local TV news.

However, younger viewers said they preferred stories that “make me think” or “surprise me,” while older viewers  preferred “reports on issues I care about” and helped them “prepare for my day.” 

“Younger viewers are more opportunistic,” Gordon said. “They have access to their information all the time. It’s something to think about as we consider how to construct content that will appeal to a younger audience.”

NEW YORK—The coronavirus (COVID-19) has dramatically altered people’s daily lives as well as their viewing habits, as indicated by a new report from TVB, particularly among millennials (ages 18-34).

TVB’s “Broadcast TV Viewership During Coronavirus” looks at TV viewership for seven broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, Telemundo and Univision) in 25 LPM markets for the first two weeks of March in 2020—when the coronavirus hit the U.S. in earnest—and compared it to the same time period in 2019. Overall, TVB found that TV viewership has increased in 2020 over the same period in 2019, even as live sports are not available.

Millennials, who are often cited as the age group most often leaving traditional broadcast for streaming options, were big drivers on this surge. Local news programming is among the biggest draws for millennials. Among those aged 18-34, local news airing Monday to Friday at anytime during the first week of March 2020 saw a 52% increase in live viewing compared to 2019, and then the second week was up 83%. The Live+1 viewing numbers were nearly identical—52% for week one, 84% for week two.

The evening news is the most popular time to watch the news for millennials. More than half of the views for all local news came from evening news programs in week one and week two, for live and live+1. The second week of March in 2020 saw a 106% increase in viewership of millennials for evening news in both live and live+1 measurements.

Local broadcast TV news has also garnered the trust of millennial viewers, with 71% saying they trust what they hear on those TV broadcasts; network broadcast news comes in at 61%, cable news channels at 53%. Local TV news also is the most trusted digital source for millennials with 61%, just ahead of national/local newspapers’ digital presence (60%).

More information on the study can be found on TVB’s website.

NEW YORK—A new survey finds that local television is the most trusted source of news and information among consumer, and that three-quarters of adults trust at least one local news brand in their market.

The survey, conducted by SmithGeiger for Hearst Television, found that local TV far surpasses any other news source—on air or on a digital platform—as a trusted news source.

"At a time when journalism is under unprecedented scrutiny, with consumers juggling an overwhelming number of providers and platforms from which to get information, quality and relevance matter more than ever," said Hearst Television SVP, News Barbara Maushard. "Local news teams are best positioned, as members of the communities they serve, to cover what matters to people within each and every community – and to get it right."

When it comes to trust, 73 percent of news consumers –69 percent of those 18 to 24 years of age and 74 percent of 25- to 49-year olds—trust at least one local TV news brand. Trust in local TV news also compares quite favorably to that in social media. While 74 percent of respondents use social media daily for news, social media sites are trusted by only 17 percent of consumers, the survey found.

The survey also asked respondents about how often they consume local TV news. A total of 81 percent of 18- to 49-year-old consumers view local TV news at least once a week on at least one platform. Sixty-three percent get their local TV news on a television at least once a week. Forty-nine percent watch TV news daily.

Even younger adults watch local TV news, with 51 percent of those 18 to 24 years old and 59 percent of 25- to 34-year olds saying they get local TV news on a television at least once a week.

For the survey, SmithGeiger conducted 2,069 online interviews with media consumers in eight Hearst television markets. 

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NEW YORK—When people in the Boston area wanted to do about the impending “bomb cyclone” that made its way through the region last week they did so by tuning into their local broadcast news channels for storm coverage, according to a survey by TVB. The “Bomb Cyclone Media Usage in Boston” survey, which was conducted by Research Now, echoed other surveys issued about media usage during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.