A new study commissioned by TVB shows 79% of respondents used TV station news for information about the wildfires as compared to the second highest, radio, at 47%.
TV Stations No. 1 Source For Calif. Fire News
TVB released a proprietary California Wildfires Media Usage Study conducted by Dynata that shows that local communities overwhelmingly chose local TV stations as their preferred news source for wildfire coverage over all other media.
Steve Lanzano, TVB president-CEO, said: “Recent wildfires that burned thousands of acres of land across California created an urgent need for reliable, real-time local reporting on everything from mandatory evacuation orders to fire safety preparedness.
“The California Wildfires Media Usage Study is another proof point among a multitude of research confirming local broadcast television’s continued dominant position among consumers as the most trusted and relied upon news source for potentially life-saving coverage in times of emergency.”
Key insights from the study include:
- News Source: 79% of respondents used TV station news for information about the wildfires as compared to the second highest, radio, at 47%.
- Time Spent: At 2 hours and 35 minutes, respondents spent more time with local broadcast television than any other source, more than twice the time spent with radio, the second highest platform.
- Information Source for Wildfire Preparation: 62% of respondents chose TV stations for information when preparing for emergency situations.
- Trust: Local broadcast TV news assets were the most trusted source for coverage and information. 90% of respondents agreed that TV station news was the most trusted, while TV station news websites and apps were also a trusted source at 81%. Social media was the lowest at 58%.
- Why Local TV Assets? The top reason cited for watching TV station news was that respondents wanted information pertaining to their area. The top reason cited for using TV station news websites and apps was that they trust the news from their station’s website/app.
TVB commissioned Dynata to survey 1,553 respondents about their media consumption habits related to the California wildfires. Interviews began on Tuesday afternoon, October 29, 2019 in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California and concluded Monday, morning, November 4th.
Get more information about the California Wildfires Media Usage Study here.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Comments (2)
tvn-member-4225652 says:
November 6, 2019 at 9:03 am
I really question the value of this report. First, how does this data compare to regular viewing? In San Francisco there was no fire danger so to say viewers watched for 2 hours and 35 minutes, what would they have normally watched without the fires? Likely close to 2 hours and 35 minutes! I can tell you in the real local communities where the fires were burning with the exception of LA, there was no local TV. So if we can talk about the victims and not just people sitting around watching the video of the fires, then you’re numbers would be thrown out the window as newspaper, radio and their websites were the primary source for those affected the most. Aren’t these the more important numbers? When tragedy strikes and there is no power, there is no gas, 77,000 acres are burning, 357 homes destroyed and over 4,000 firefighters working day and night to contain the fire, those residents do turn to radio and newspaper because there are no TV stations in the local market and SF TV does not adequately cover the news when it comes to wine country, Sonoma and Napa Valley. By your own admission respondents were interviewed in LA and San Francisco. As bad as the fires were in LA, it affected a relatively small portion of the overall city. So it makes sense other Angelenos would watch TV and again would likely watch anyway fire or no fire. The TVB can commission a report or advance it because on the surface it appears TV viewing is up, but in reality this data is being skewed toward TV viewing and is not an accurate report of where people turn for news when they are impacted by tragedy. This report is talking to TV viewers who watch everyday no matter what the news is about.
tvn-member-3011604 says:
November 6, 2019 at 1:39 pm
Internet may be down (as happened to Spectrum during a recent CA fire), cell towers might get knocked out, but boring, reliable over-the-air broadcasting is right there pumping out life-saving information. Reason enough for the FCC to stop auctioning off anymore TV spectrum and to abandon their misguided plan to sell C-Band spectrum.