Even though we are well into the Internet age, online media
continues to evolve. Video continues to improve in quality, and at the same
time, it continues to be easier to produce and distribute. Online video is also
expanding in the wide variety of ways that it is informing us. From straight
news style interviews, to footage from stabilized drones that would have
required an expensive helicopter just a couple of years ago. The profuse
variety of video is encroaching on, and may be displacing, TV news.
According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism at the University of Oxford, television viewing has declined on by
as much as 4% per year since 2012 in countries like the US and the UK. This is
similar to the decline in newspaper circulation that happened in the 2000s. I
see this as an indicator that as those raised on broadcast television continue
to age and decline, viewership of scheduled programming, including TV news, will
also decline. They also point out that there is no reason to expect the subsequent
generations raised with access to on demand video to choose programmed viewing
as they get older.
To further show the demise of cable television, including TV
news, the Reuters Institute notes that those habituated to on demand viewing are
less willing to be constrained to viewing a cable connected television. They
have become accustomed to being able to access video content on any number of
internet connecting devices including smart phones and tablets, smart TVs, personal
and laptop computers, and gaming consoles. This idea is supported by Digitalsmiths
and TiVo’s 2016 quarter three Video Trends Report survey showing nearly 18% of respondents
had “cut the cable” within the last 12 months.
With the growing number of people opting out of scheduled
programming, more people will either encounter their news by happenstance, or
they will actively seek out news programming; most likely it will be a
combination of both. Network news will most likely become a place we verify
what we have encountered elsewhere. I know that this is the case for myself.
Also, it seems to me that TV news programs will continue to shift their focus
turning into infotainment programs populated by talking heads. I see the more substantive
news being delivered by standalone video articles reporting on specific news
events. This would fall in line with the growing demand for instantaneous
information.
Sources:
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