News Broadcasting
Marginal fall in telecast of news in US local TV Channels in 2013, shows study
NEW DELHI: Even as television news channels in India are showing a rise, the actual amount of news content is dropping. A study shows that the average amount of news on local television in the US dropped slightly in 2013 from the year before – down 6 minutes after a 6 minute drop a year ago.
The number of TV stations producing local news actually went up by two this year to 719 stations. However weakly, that reverses an eight year trend of fewer newsrooms. Those 719 TV stations run news on those and another 307 stations; a record total of 1,026 stations running local news.
But the latest Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)/Hofstra University Annual Survey found the median remained at 5 hours per weekday, and both average and median remained the same for both Saturday and Sunday. The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2013 among all 1,659 operating, non-satellite television stations. Valid responses came from 1,300 television stations (78.4 per cent). Some data sets (for example, the number of TV stations originating local news, getting it from others and women TV news directors) are based on a complete census and are not projected from a smaller sample.
Generally, the bigger the market and the bigger the news staff, the more news a station is likely to run, according to Bob Papper who is emeritus distinguished professor of journalism at Hofstra University and has worked extensively in radio and TV news. This research was supported by the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University and the RTDNA.
Overall, the numbers are almost identical to a year earlier. The overall average slid by 0.1 per weekday (6 minutes), although the median remained exactly the same. So did both Saturday and Sunday. The biggest markets cut back slightly; the middle markets, 26 to 150, rose slightly or stayed the same; the smallest markets, 151+, fell. Fox affiliates and PBS affiliates were most likely to cut back.
A clear trend is developing, said Pepper who has conducted this study for the twentieth year. Last year, the percentage increasing news dropped by four points from the year before. This year, the drop is almost five points. That downward trend is most pronounced in both the largest and smallest markets, according to a report on the website of the National Association of Broadcasters.
There was a 10 point drop, overall, in the percentage of stations adding a newscast in the last year — which follows on the heels of a 6 point drop the year before. The drop was most pronounced in top 25 markets, which fell by 23 points from the year before. Those adding newscasts spread them surprisingly evenly across several time periods. Late news additions (which include 9 pm in Central and Mountain time) led the way, with a number of those newscasts being added to stations other than the news department’s own air. Right behind that was Saturday and/or Sunday morning. Almost at the same level were various weekday morning newscasts, especially 4:30 am, and early evening newscasts, especially at 5 pm.
The percentage of stations cutting a newscast dropped by half from a year ago. What few cuts that were made were scattered across all day parts.
Stations neither adding nor cutting a newscast rose by 11 points from 2012 — and 24 points in the top 25 markets.
The amount of news planned has turned into a pretty reasonable predictor of future behavior. A year ago, the overall numbers weren’t much different from the year before that, but I noted two key differences. First, “other commercial” stations were much more likely to say they expected to increase news, and top 25 market news directors were a lot less likely to expect the amount of news would increase. Both of those things took place between last year and this.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
