Local Broadcast TV News Delivers a 10x Larger Audience than Subscription Streaming Viewing According to New Study

TVB (www.tvb.org), the trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry, today issued this statement regarding local TV news and subscription streaming audiences.

“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. 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,” said Hadassa Gerber, Chief Research Officer, TVB.

“In each market, local broadcast TV news had 8-12 times more adult 18+ viewers than the streaming platforms combined! 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.”

About the analysis:

Industry numbers, such as the Nielsen Gauge report, show that streaming has a higher portion of the viewership pie than linear platforms. It should be noted that the Gauge report includes all streamers, even those that advertisers cannot reach because they stream without ads. Even so, TVB wanted to get a better idea of the size and scale of these streaming viewers, and how they compare to local broadcast television, specifically, local broadcast news.

TVB did 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. 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. We randomly selected the date of February 15th, 2023, and five geographically diverse LPM markets available in Nielsen’s national system. The impressions cited below are for adults 18+.

It should be noted that we 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). Still, local news in each of the five markets had 8-12 times the daily impressions than the streaming platforms combined. And that includes those viewing with and without ads (if you have been reading the press, you know 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.

Members of the media interested in speaking with TVB’s Chief Research Officer, Hadassa Gerber, may contact TVB media relations at tvb@jcir.com or 212-835-8500.

About TVB

TVB is the not-for-profit trade association representing America’s local broadcast television industry, including linear and digital platforms. Its members include the U.S. television stations, television broadcast groups, advertising sales reps, syndicators, international broadcasters, and associate members. TVB actively promotes local media marketing solutions to the advertising community and works to develop advertising dollars for the medium’s multiple platforms, including on-air, online, and mobile. TVB provides a diverse variety of tools and resources, including its website, to support its members and to help advertisers make the best use of local ad dollars. For more information, visit www.tvb.org.

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