A Pew Center study of local news in three different U.S. cities determined one clear winner in the competition for top local news provider — TV. The three cities studied include Denver, Macon, Georgia and Sioux City, Iowa. What’s particularly notable is that TV is such a dominant source for news in a large market like Denver, which has 143 local news providers, according to Pew.
These findings bode well for TV newsrooms, but the study is also a reminder of why focusing on local content vs. network feeds and franchise material is so important.
According to the study “nearly nine-in-ten residents follow local news closely—and about half do so very closely.”
The Pew report also offers interesting details on the topics of news people pay attention to — a fifth or more of people in all three cities studied say they closely track news about weather, crime, schools and education, as well as government and politics.
In a world where celebrity news and sensational stories are available across a myriad of channels, this study seems to be a reminder of where local stations should continue to focus their news coverage to better serve their communities and maintain their audiences.
