It seems like every year, and it pretty much is, the latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey shows another record-high amount of local news. Both local TV and radio stations reported double digit increases in the minutes of local news they broadcast in a given day: 18 minutes more per weekday for TV and 21.2 minutes for radio.
More than two-thirds (68.9%) of all TV news directors say staff burnout is worse now than it was one year ago. That’s the latest finding of the 2023 RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey. The percentage was a bit lower in top 25 markets (at 59.4%), but all other market sizes were in the two-thirds range or higher, peaking in the smallest markets at 77.3%. Stations in both the Northeast and the Midwest were near 75%, but both the South and West were in the mid-60s.
The latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey found that local television news salaries rose by 4% in 2022. That’s better than last year’s 1.1% (two years ago, salaries rose by 3.5%). But inflation in 2022 hit 6.4% so 2022 was the second straight year of a drop in real (after inflation) wages: down 2.4% this year after last year’s 5.9% shortfall. That brings the two-year cumulative loss to 8.3% in terms of real wages.
Taking Stock Of Local TV News, OTT And NextGen TV In 2022
This is the third year for the RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey question: What, if anything, are you doing with OTT? It’s the second year that we’ve asked what, if anything, stations are doing with NextGen TV.
The latest survey from the RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University shows that more than one in five TV news directors have reported an attack on newsroom employees in 2021. While the survey showed a correlation between the size of the market and the numbers of attacks, news directors in market 101 and smaller reported an increase in attacks compared to 2020.
More Stations Produced More Local News In 2020
Local radio and television news played an essential role during 2020 in keeping communities informed during COVID, a nationwide racial reckoning and a treacherous election cycle. The first installment of the annual RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Newsroom Survey shows that despite facing revenue shortfalls, budget cuts and unprecedented operational challenges, more local TV news aired in 2020 than ever recorded by the long running survey.
