Network TV Newsroom Investment

In addition to staff and bureau cutbacks, the networks have also cut back on the amount of news in each newscast, the block of the newscast that excludes advertising and network promotions and teases. The notion that the 30-minute newscast was really a 22-minute newscast is no longer true. It is closer to 18 minutes.

Some in television believe that the shrinkage of the newshole is an underrated factor in audience erosion. If TV news viewing involves some trade-off between the annoyance of watching commercials and the gain of watching the news, then the annoyance factor is up by over two minutes from an earlier era. Conversely, Tyndall believes that the fact that two of the morning news programs (“Today” and “Good Morning America”) now offer an initial 20 minutes of programming uninterrupted by commercials is a factor in their recent audience growth.

Data from Tyndall show that the amount of time devoted to news on the half-hour nightly news broadcasts shrunk 11% in 12 years, from 21 minutes in 1991, after the first Gulf War, to 18.7 minutes in 2002, on the eve of the second Gulf War. Extra time devoted to coverage of the September 11 attacks in 2001 accounts for the only anomaly in the downward trend.

In 2005 the average time devoted strictly to news showed a slight increase after four years of decline. Data from Andrew Tyndall show 19 minutes on average with just slight differences among the networks. NBC had the largest news hole, 19.2 minutes, and ABC the smallest, 18.1, with CBS at 18.7.

Average Time Devoted to News on Evening Newscasts

1988-2005

Design Your Own Chart

Source: ADT Research

Information on the news hole of the morning shows is more limited, but it shows a similar trend. Over 10 years, every hour of morning news contains 2 fewer minutes of programming — 44 minutes 10 seconds in 1992, down to 41 minutes 57 seconds in 2001 — according to a study from the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers. The study was discontinued after 2001.

Last year, Andrew Tyndall did a census in which he found that morning shows were averaging 42.5 minutes of news each hour. This was an uptick from the American Association of Advertising Agencies 2001 figure of 41.6 minutes.5 Data from a one-month study conducted by Tyndall in 2005 indicated that the news hole figure for morning shows increased slightly to 42.7 minutes. Over the course of his study, “Good Morning America’s” newshole averaged 42.6 minutes an hour, the “Early Show” averaged 42.4 minutes and the “Today Show” 43.3 minutes.6

Average Division of Time on Morning News

1992-2001

Design Your Own Chart

Source: American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers, Inc.

There are several facets to consider. Shrinking the news hole reduces the size of the product, and packs more ads, teases and promos into the show, which may make it more irritating to viewers. On the other hand, all that also translates into more revenue for the news division that could be used, if executives were so inclined, for correspondents, equipment, salaries and other resources to gather the news. Shrinking the news hole also means that less news has to be gathered each day to fill a newscast.