What would happen if local viewers stopped watching their local news stations?

[Brain 81]

For any amount of time, but let's say just for one day tomorrow, if at least a large majority of local viewers in a market suddenly didn't watch any local stations at all, would it have any effect on the market?

[ns8401 941]

 

For any amount of time, but let's say just for one day tomorrow, if at least a large majority of local viewers in a market suddenly didn't watch any local stations at all, would it have any effect on the market?

 

One Day? Nothing much. Permanently... Not good.

 

Let's put it this way:

If I run a business and my customers stop showing up, what happens to me?

[Brain 81]

It's a nice little "social experiment"

[tyrannical bastard 3955]

In terms of viewers, it's been a slow slide ever since broadcast television gave way to cable, then satellite, then OTT platforms like Netflix and Hulu, and now, anything mobile.

 

I'd like to see the effects of a mass "unliking" of a station or news outlet on Facebook. Any content worth posting gets lost in Facebook's algorithm in favor of whatever's trending (which is virtually the same damn story on EVERY facebook page!) A hit to the numbers could send shockwaves since it's a finite number requiring effort on the user....

[10Viewer 335]

Ad revenue is what matters for a television station. Typically, a station can charge more for an ad that airs during a block of news.

 

Demographics are what many stations tout anymore. You can have a last place newscast in market share but, if the 18-35 female demographic (or whatever) ranks first or second in that timeslot, that's what you promote to potential ad buyers.