NEW YORK—While some viewing is undoubtedly shifting from traditional TV to streaming, a new study from TVB shows that local broadcast TV news continues to punch above its weight, delivering audiences that are 8 to 12 times larger than the programs viewed on six major SVOD services.
“In response to industry reports about growing streaming viewership, TVB did an analysis comparing local broadcast TV news audiences in five geographically diverse LPM markets and streaming service viewing in those same markets,” explained Hadassa Gerber, chief research officer, TVB. “The analysis included 4,942 programs on six SVOD services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+ and HBO Max) and up to 79 local news programs in each of the five markets.”
“In each market, local broadcast TV news had 8-12 times more adult 18+ viewers than the streaming platforms combined!” she continued. “Due to measurement reporting limitations, the streaming audiences included both ad-supported and ad-free subscribers. Ad-supported platforms are what marketers need to reach consumers, so it is important to note that if the ad-supported streaming audiences could be culled from the total streaming audience numbers, local broadcast TV news audiences would surpass subscription streaming by even greater than 8-12 times margins.”
The conclusion is based on an analysis comparing one-day viewing of local broadcast news to streaming services, which included Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+ and HBO Max, the TVB said.
Because of the different methodologies that Nielsen uses to accumulate SVOD audiences and linear audiences, the only way to have an apples-to-apples comparison is to look at one day of SVOD audiences versus the same one day of linear broadcast TV audiences. The TVB randomly selected the date of February 15th, 2023, and five geographically diverse LPM markets available in Nielsen’s national system. The data for impressions are for adults 18+.
The TVB also said that it included 4,942 programs on those 6 SVOD services and compared it to the news programs in each market which had only 58-79 programs (depending on the market).
Even so, local news in each of the five markets had 8-12 times the daily impressions than the streaming platforms combined. That includes those viewing with and without ads, an important point given the fact that Netflix subscribers predominantly choose to subscribe to the ad free service and Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are entirely ad free.
Key takeaways from each market:
- New York: 59 local broadcast news programs totaled 6,610,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 718,000.
- Los Angeles: 79 local broadcast news programs totaled 4,979,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 663,000.
- Chicago: 64 local broadcast news programs totaled 3,860,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 329,000.
- Dallas: 60 local broadcast news programs totaled 3,023,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 310,000.
- Atlanta: 58 local broadcast news programs totaled 2,168,000 A18+, while 4,942 programs on the streaming services reached just 229,000.
