SAN FRANCISCO—Local television news faces a stark generational divide, according to new consumer research released by #FutureOfTV.Live, a quarterly research initiative from Ring Digital.
Just 10% of 18–24-year-olds watched local TV news during the previous week, compared with 64% of adults 65 and older—a 54-point gap.
Daily television viewing shows a similarly large divide: 31% among 18–24-year-olds versus 81% among adults 65 and older.
The findings are part of the Fall 2026 #FutureOfTV.Live Report, based on a September survey of 1,376 U.S. adults, weighted by age and gender to U.S. Census population data.
"The challenge for local broadcasters isn't simply that pay TV is declining. It's that the next generation of viewers is developing an entirely different relationship with news and television," said Brian Ring, founder of Ring Digital and #FutureOfTV.Live. "The question is increasingly how broadcasters bring their programming into those new viewing behaviors—and then turn discovery back into tune-in."
The Fall 2026 research is sponsored by Big Blue Marble, a cloud and streaming solutions provider serving sports, news and broadcast clients globally.
The report covers a range of topics—vertical video, interactivity, and mobile video news—as part of a larger exploration of news audience behavior.
Among respondents who watched a local newscast, 35% said they last watched through a pay-TV service, compared with 18% through social media or YouTube, 13% through a free streaming app, and just 7% through the station's own app.
The report also found mobile news consumption is substantial. Based on the data, #FutureOfTV.Live estimates 108 million U.S. adults watch news video on their phones daily. Among surveyed mobile news-video viewers, Facebook and YouTube Shorts each reached 46%, followed by TikTok at 37% and Instagram Reels at 33%.
The research also tested possible solutions to the challenges this shift presents. It reports a positive audience reaction to low cost, high ROI interactivity used in CNN's late-night programming. It also tests a "TikTok meets TV Guide" concept designed to use short-form, vertical video discovery to drive viewers into live and linear programming.
The full report is available here. Read the full research and analysis at #FutureOfTV.Live.
