Pew Research Center has published new fact sheets on trends in network, cable, and local TV news between 2020 and 2022.
Among the findings from Pew: advertiser expenditures for the news programs of ABC, CBS and NBC have declined substantially since 2020; while local TV news audiences remained relatively stable from 2021.
The fresh information is part of the Center’s bi-annual state of the news media project.
And, Pew finds that in 2022 local TV news audiences remained relatively stable from the previous year. Financially, local TV companies generated more revenue in 2022 than in 2021, consistent with a cyclical pattern in which advertising revenue rises in election years and falls in non-election years.
In 2022, an election year, local TV over-the-air advertising revenue totaled $20.5 billion, a 27% increase over 2021, according to a Pew analysis of MEDIA Access Pro and BIA Advisory Services data.
Total digital advertising revenue for local TV stations increased 23% between 2021 and 2022, reaching a total of $2 billion. Digital advertising revenue accounted for 9% of total ad revenue.
Revenue for the 842 local TV stations defined as “news-producing stations” (stations that have a news director and are viable, commercial and are English-language affiliates in the U.S.) was $16.9 billion, according to BIA data reviewed by Pew.
Meanwhile, Pew finds that in 2021 retransmission revenue reached $14.1 billion, up from $12.7 billion in 2020 and $11.5 billion in 2019. Kagan projects that this figure will reach $15.9 billion by 2027.
Among the other key takeaways:
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Local TV average audience for the late-night time slot is the only time slot that had any significant change from 2021, with a 7% decline in average audience. The ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA East and WGA West strikes are likely the root cause of the dip.
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Average audiences for the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS and NBC remained relatively stable for all three networks. ABC evening news viewership remained above 7 million, with 7.4 million viewers in 2021 and 7.6 million viewers in 2022. NBC viewership remained at just over 6.5 million, and CBS viewership remained at just below 5 million for both years.
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Average audiences for morning news programs from ABC, CBS and NBC were stable between 2021 and 2022 but overall have declined since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, morning news viewership decreased by 11% for NBC, 9% for ABC and 8% for CBS.
