Viewers Leaving Local News News Fast
This should scare the hell out of people working in TV news.
A new Pew Study shows that the decline of people watching local TV news is quickly gaining speed.
Poynter writes that more than half of the people surveyed who are 65 and older said they watch local, network and cable TV news. But drop below that age, even to the 50- to 64-year-old bracket and viewership drops way off.
The study says only a fourth of college-educated Americans watch local TV news regularly compared with nearly half of Americans who have a high school level or less education. Women watch local news more than men, and non-whites told the Pew researchers they watch local TV news more than whites.
"One of the issues we have documented throughout our past three years of research is that younger people are turning less to local TV news. They turn to online. It has been gradual year to year." Pew's associate director of journalism research, Katerina Eva Matsa said.
Anyone that has kids knows this is not news. Young people are not watching TV news and TV news is barely doing anything to change that.