Local TV News Project 1999

Story Length

Last year's results shattered the myth that viewers -- whose attention spans are supposedly shrinking -- want their news shorter and faster. Stations at both the high and low ends fared better by avoiding too many very short stories (under 20 seconds) and by selectively airing more very long ones.

This year, with a different sample of stations, the basic finding holds up. There is no penalty for length. However, we found less suggestion of a reward for it.

Master stations tended to run more stories over two minutes than did earnest stations. But contrary to last year, rough-and-readys ran fewer long stories. When all stations were grouped by ratings trend -- up, down or flat -- no statistical correlation between story length and ratings success showed up.

The suggestion this year is that story length will help you if the story deserves it, but not if it doesn't. It is a matter of taste, judgment and mix.

Focus Groups

To augment the lessons from the first two years of the content study, we also conducted four focus groups last winter in two cities, Atlanta and Tucson. The purpose was to see if viewers recognized what the study defines as quality, and to discover how they responded to the criteria.

One finding dominated the discussion. Viewers are aware and scornful of the techniques local news uses to manipulate them. They find much of this laughable. "We've got a helicopter and you guys don't," mocked a Tucson viewer. Everyone broke into laughter. "How about åWe bring you the news first,'" the moderator asked, quoting a local station. "Don't care," responded one viewer. "Doesn't matter," said another. An Atlanta viewer called the happy talk between anchors "comical.... They discuss each others' ties." People are also irritated by constant repetition of stories and by teases.

Another finding is that viewers not only recognize the elements of quality the design team believes in, they appreciate them. People yearn for local television news to have more value in their lives, to be more relevant and significant, and to involve more follow-up. A Tucson viewer praised a station that was "aware of the more serious nature of the story." Others said they wanted the news delivered when they as citizens can still have a stake in the outcome.

The one promotional concept that viewers liked was a station being "On Your Side" -- but only if the station's coverage lived up to it.

We prompted the groups to see how much viewers responded to other elements in local news besides content, the things we don't measure in our study. We found anchors matter. "News is more believable with a good anchor," said a Tucson viewer. "You learn to trust them just when they get rid of them," said another, complaining about turnover.
The overwhelming impression, however, should worry the profession. Everyone in the focus groups considered much of local television to be superficial, exploitative and designed to entertain. "Cut the goofy stories," said an Atlanta viewer. "They're stupid." Often, viewers see local TV journalists simply as personalities not to be taken seriously.