2005 Annual Report - 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 - that is 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.

Data from Tyndall show that the amount of time devoted to news - as opposed to ads, promos and teasers - on the half-hour network nightly news 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 2004 the newscasts shrank just slightly, to 18.6 minutes on average, down from 18.8 minutes a year earlier. NBC had the largest news hole, 19.3 minutes and ABC the smallest, 18.3, with CBS at 18.4.

Average Time Devoted to News on Evening Newscasts
1988 - 2002

Source: ADT Research, unpublished data

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 20 minutes of program uninterrupted by commercials is a factor in their audience growth.
Information on the news hole of the morning shows is more limited, but it shows a similar trend. Over ten years, every hour of morning news contains two 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 Association has discontinued this reporting, but Andrew Tyndall did a census that shows for 2004, the morning shows averaged 42.5 minutes of news each hour, perhaps a slight up-tick.

Average Division of Time on Morning News
1992 - 2001

Source: American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers, Inc., "Television Commercial Monitoring Report," 2001, p. 18.

Last year's report explores the implications of this diminution of news hole at more length, but 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. History suggests, however, that that is not happening. Shrinking the news hole also means that less news has to be gathered each day to fill a newscast.