2004 Annual Report - Network TV Content Analysis

Beyond time, what is the structure of the three commercial nightly newscasts in 2004?

They remain the showcase for the work of correspondents, their editors and producers. That is because these programs are made up largely of taped, edited packages. By comparison, the "NewsHour" and the morning programs, with their emphasis on extended interviews, are an anchor's medium.

Almost the entire news hole on the three commercial nightly newscasts is devoted to edited packages (84 percent of the time on these programs versus the "NewsHour's" 31 percent and the morning programs' 36 percent).⁵

The three networks average 6.8 such packages each evening, at an average length of 138 seconds, including the anchor's introduction.

Story Origination on Evening News

Percent of All Time

	Commercial	"NewsHour"
Packages	84%	31%
External Interviews	1	56
Correspondent Interviews	1	0
Stand-ups	2	2
Anchor Reads	12	8
External Sources	0	4
Banter	0	0

*Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.