Local TV News Broadcasts 'Holding Steady' RTDNA Says

The amount of local news produced by TV stations is “holding steady overall,” said the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in a news release. An annual survey of newsrooms by RTDNA shows that medium market stations are adding the most newscasts and major markets are cutting the most, the release said. Weekday afternoons and weekend mornings saw the most expansion among stations adding newscasts, and midday newscasts were the most often cut, RTDNA said. “The average TV station offers 5.3 hours of local news every weekday, with some stations offering as much as 12.5 hours a day,” RTDNA said. In radio, local newscasts are showing a slight drop, the association said. “Country and adult contemporary stations are most likely to offer local news, slightly more so than stations branding themselves as news/talk,” said the survey. Radio stations offer on average 75.6 minutes of news every weekday, RTDNA said.