Local TV News Forced to Shift Coverage Focus
by Matthew Lawlor on Oct 2, 2013 | Views: 104 | Score: 0
2005 | 2012 | |
---|---|---|
Crime | 29 | 17 |
Traffic & Weather | 25 | 29 |
Human Interest | 7 | 5 |
Politics | 7 | 3 |
Sports | 7 | 12 |
Accidents or Bizarre | 5 | 13 |
Business | 3 | 8 |
Broadcasting Topic
% of Coverage
Sources:
pewresearch.org
In order to slow the steady drop in viewership experienced by local TV news broadcasts, producers have shifted focus on the topics covered. Traffic, Weather, and Sports now make up 40% of all local news coverage. Political coverage has been reduced by more than half in the last seven years to 3%. Accident/Bizarre coverage has more than doubled to 13%.