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You know the story — the good news is that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel; the bad news is that it’s an oncoming train. That pretty much sums up the current situation at many local television stations. They are running out of time to reposition their business for the future.
Viewership of news is decreasing. Recent research from the Pew-Knight Initiative shows declines in attention paid to both local and national news. In 2016, 78% of U.S. adults said they followed local news either very closely (37%) or somewhat closely (41%). National news scored 77% — 33% very closely and 44% somewhat closely. When the same question was asked earlier this year, there was a 12-point drop, to 66%, in those following local news — 22% very closely; 45% somewhat closely. National news registered a nine-point attention drop to 68% — 22% very closely; 45% somewhat closely. (Note: rounding explains why the totals don’t add correctly.)
Research, including some being used by public media companies to support their increased focus on local news, seems to indicate that there is strong interest in getting local news and information. Yet, interest in local news on television appears to have fallen. Pew-Knight reports that in 2018, 41% of respondents said they like to get their local news from television. In 2024, that interest is 32%. What we don’t know is why interest declined. Is it because television is providing less local news, that viewers found other sources