Inside local television stations, news is particularly important because it is responsible for a disproportionate amount of a station's income. According to RTNDA surveys, news accounts for 16 percent of a typical station's programming each day (slightly more than three hours), but news programs represent roughly 40 percent of station revenue. The evidence suggests that the percentage of revenue from news may not be affected much by hard times. Data from the RTNDA surveys, for instance, show that the share of revenue from news was slightly higher in 2001 than it had been in 1999, even though 2001 was a down year in the economy and 1999 was near the end of the 1990s boom.² [1]

Percentage of TV Station Revenue Produced by News Programs, by Market Size

Average of All Respondents

Source: "RTNDA/Ball State Annual Survey," survey of local television news directors

There are signs, however, that the local television news business is getting harder or maybe that there is getting to be a separation between the winners and losers. Surveys conducted by the Radio Television News Directors Association show that in 1996, 62 percent of news directors reported that their newscasts had made a profit. That percentage began dropping in 1998, and has steadily trended slightly downward since, to 55 percent of news directors in 2001 reporting a profit. Eleven percent reported losing money. The rest were either breaking even or didn't know. It is difficult to know whether the declining number of news directors reporting profits is due to rising expenses, declining viewership or economic cycles, but likely some mix of all three is at play.

TV News Profitability by Market Size, 2001

Percentage of respondents in each market grouping reporting profit or loss

Design Your Own Chart [2]

Source: "RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey"