TV news directors boost digital initiatives
By Bob Papper and Keren Henderson
Aug. 8, 2024 — More than three-quarters (78.3%) of TV news directors say they’re doing something new and important digitally in the latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey.
That’s up three points from a year ago and plus 10 points from 2022. Stations in bigger markets with more staff are more likely to innovate digitally, but that is not completely true this year. Market size makes no meaningful difference with every group coming in between 72% and 85%. Staff size makes a difference, with stations with 21 or more staffers much higher than smaller newsrooms. FOX affiliates lag well behind other groups.
Overall, website traffic is down from a year ago. Page views dropped 15% and unique visitors dropped 31%. Page views are up in markets 1 to 25, and unique visitors are up in markets 101 to 150, but all other groupings are down.
Podcasts continue to be big news in media trade journals, but they’re still not getting much love and attention at TV stations. Still, on average, every market and staff size edged up from a year ago except the smallest staff (1 to 10 news people), but the median (typical) number of podcasts at a TV station remains at zero — the same as it’s been.
About the Authors
Bob Papper is Research Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University and has worked extensively in radio and TV news.
Keren Henderson is Associate Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University.
This research was supported by the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
About the Survey
The RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2023 among all 1,876 operating, non-satellite television stations and a random sample of 4,764 radio stations. The television response rate is different for every question, but Valid responses came from as many as 1,387 television stations (73.9%) and 631 radio news directors and general managers representing 1,902 radio stations. Some data sets (e.g. the number of TV stations originating local news, getting news from others and women TV news directors) are based on a complete census and are not projected from a smaller sample.