Television news programming continues to be a powerful platform for advertisers looking to reach current and prospective customers, with new data released by the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) showing strong purchase intent among American consumers who watch ad spots during local and national TV news broadcasts.
In a new report released this month, VAB said multi-screen television news remains a credible advertising environment at a time when marketers are evaluating the effectiveness of different video platforms.
The report was based on survey responses from more than 2,300 American adults who were queried in December of last year. VAB worked on the study in partnership with the global market intelligence firm Dynata.
Local television news had a positive effect on brand perception across all three age groups measured: Among adults 18 and older, 47 percent said they had a better opinion of brands that advertise during local television news, compared with 17 percent who disagreed.
The impact was also evident among younger viewers: Thirty-seven (37) percent of adults 18 to 34 had a better opinion of brands that advertise during local television news, compared with 17 percent who disagreed. Among adults 35 to 54, 46 percent said local television news advertising improved their opinion of a brand, compared with 14 percent who disagreed.
Purchase intent is also strong when local broadcasters run ad spots during breaking news — most choose not to do so when a story is ongoing, but many cut to commercial breaks after several hours of uninterrupted coverage.
Those spots prove to be particularly powerful, with 31 percent of Americans saying ads shown during breaking news coverage make them more likely to purchase a product or service, compared with 25 percent of adults who said those spots would make them less likely to make a purchase.
Nearly one-quarter of young American adults said local news advertising after a breaking news story would make them more likely to buy, compared with 18 percent who said it would make them less likely. Among adults 35 to 54, 25 percent said they were more likely to purchase, compared with 15 percent who were less likely.
National television news also showed a positive effect on purchase intent: VAB said 28 percent of adults 18 and older said ads shown during national television news would make them more likely to purchase, compared with 22 percent who said they would be less likely. The gap was wider among adults 35 to 54, where 24 percent said national news advertising would make them more likely to buy, compared with 14 percent who said it would make them less likely.
Ad Outcomes Depend on News Investments
The overall takeaway, as VAB is concerned, is that local and national news programming remains a golden opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers who are more likely to purchase a product or service compared to spots run against other forms of TV content.
But that only works if broadcasters are willing to continue making investments in local news programming. Many large local TV station owners have justified the need to grow their operations through mergers and acquisitions by pointing to their commitment to support local news programming; at the same time, some of those broadcasters, like Sinclair, have closed local newsrooms in recent years while others like Nexstar and E. W. Scripps have reduced the number of local journalists working at their stations.
Two years ago, Scripps also laid off workers at its national news channel Scripps News and affirmed plans to revert the channel into a limited, streaming-only operation. In a memo sent to Scripps employees, CEO Adam Symson said the reason for the layoffs and programming changes was rooted in a view by marketers that “advertising around national news is just too risky for them given the polarized nature of this country,” despite many of the accolades that Scripps News journalists brought to the company.
“I vehemently disagree,” Symson wrote, “but it is hurting Scripps News, along with every other national linear and digital news outlet.”
Earlier this month, Symson said the company’s local news operations in some regions will rely on a centralized content “hub” that will consolidate certain routine and remedial tasks. Symson said the hub model will allow it to “centralize the digital news production work that doesn’t need to be replicated in every market” while “preserving our ability to serve local communities across every platform” in an efficient way.
Later, Scripps President of Media Dean Littleton told the website TV Technology that the company will lean on artificial intelligence tools in its local news-gathering practices as part of a broader “digital-first” strategy.
“We are essentially reallocating resources from the production of newscasts to the development of journalism,” Littleton said. “(We’re) moving resources from the process of creating the traditional newscast, and then investing in resources to create original reporting in our markets.”
