Local News Still Most-Watched Programming on Broadcast TV, Even Among Young Viewers
Have you heard the news? Chances are Millennials and Gen Zers have, according to a new survey by Publisher’s Clearing House, EShap and TVRev that was recently released. The survey deals with how people choose to interact with broadcast TV, and which groups are more likely to engage with the medium.
The survey found that 63% of respondents still watch at least some broadcast TV every month. Nearly half (42%) reported watching broadcast daily, and only 37% said they hardly watched or never watched. As expected, older viewers were more likely to watch every day; 52% of those between 55-64 turn on broadcast channels daily, and that number jumps to 63% of viewers 65 and older.
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The survey also breaks down what these viewers are choosing to turn on most often when they access local broadcast channels. Local evening news was the answer given most often by every age group, though prime time viewing gets less popular as audience segments get younger. Even as streaming tries to take on all of linear TV’s old duties in an effort to replace traditional TV, it’s clear that local news is still a powerful draw.
However, there are troubling numbers for the long-term resilience of broadcast TV in the survey. Most notably, younger viewers are quite willing to seek out streaming platforms like Local Now and others that offer free local news broadcasts. Over 55% of respondents aged 25-54 said they had streamed local news using various methods recently. These viewers are accustomed to thinking of other sources besides broadcast TV for watching local news, and unlike older generations are more than comfortable using them.
Local channels are also valuable purveyors of live sports. DIRECTV recently lost hundreds of local affiliates in markets across the United States because of a dispute over retransmission fees with Nexstar, who owns the channels. The two sides reached a new deal this week, in large part because of the pressure on both sides to restore the channels before another week of college football and NFL games were missed by DIRECTV customers.
The PCH, EShap, and TVRev survey demonstrates that broadcast TV is still a cornerstone of many American’s TV habits. Local news is particularly in demand, but younger audiences are increasingly willing to find that programming elsewhere, and broadcasters must continue to find ways to reach these viewers on TV or via streaming if they hope to survive.
Local Now
Local Now is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to movies and TV shows. The service also provides several virtual streaming channels, including newscasts from New York, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. Over 220 cities in the United States have a localized feed. Local Now offers live severe weather coverage from The Weather Channel to people viewing in areas impacted by the severe weather event