There a question which is raising to me now: why are there still news bulletins from the main commercial networks if there are so many 24-hour news channels? (Like CNN, MSNBC and last and least Fox News Channel.) Is it to give the viewer a total round-up of the main events of the day?
And aren't NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News and World News Tonight a little waste of money as they're only on air for a couple of minutes a day? Right, the UK also has 24-hour news channels, but other channels who carry news like BBC One, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Five have several bulletins a day.
There a question which is raising to me now: why are there still news bulletins from the main commercial networks if there are so many 24-hour news channels? (Like CNN, MSNBC and last and least Fox News Channel.) Is it to give the viewer a total round-up of the main events of the day?
And aren't NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News and World News Tonight a little waste of money as they're only on air for a couple of minutes a day? Right, the UK also has 24-hour news channels, but other channels who carry news like BBC One, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Five have several bulletins a day.
Err - the main US and UK networks are available to more viewers than the 24 hour news networks. There are still many viewers in the UK who only receive the main 4 or 5 networks (and don't get any digital channels, or analogue cable) - so there are still many people who need to watch their news via the main networks. The US is similar - though more people have cable there are still many who only watch TV over-the-air and thus only get their local network affiliates, and a few others. AIUI none of the main US News networks are carried on analogue OTA (or ATSC digital OTA for that matter)
Additionally the main network news in the UK gets pretty high ratings (often network news bulletins take many slots in the top 50 viewed shows of the week) - and massively outrate the News channel ratings - some people just want to watch a decent, well produced, well funded 30 minute news bulletin as part of their main TV viewing -rather than having to surf away to another bit of their digital TV EPG to find it.
Over here WNT is 30 min. long and is redone 3 or 4 times daily for the other time zones, but they usually repeat the stories, interviews, etc.. The commercials take up about 9 minutes a show.
Is it actually re-done, or is it just recorded and played out again and again?
I would expect that they retain the ability to "refresh" it for the different timezones - as otherwise they would run the risk of broadcasting completely out of date reports. Whether they always need to do this is a different question. Be interesting to know...
Evening news programmes over the last decade have really taken a back seat to cable news and other 24-hour news channels. Whilst years ago, a nightly news programme might have won 40 percent of the audience on a given night, they're lucky now to get two or three percent. And, moreover, the audience that watches is generally older and retired.
Given the opportunity, though, I usually watch the CBS Evening News, although all three programmes are roughly equal in terms of focus. ABC World News Tonight is an hour long, and is much better designed than the other two programmes, so perhaps it excels in those areas.
My recommendation is to save yourself the trouble and skip American news altogether.
Are you sure about that 2-3% figure - seems incredibly low for a US Network - AIUI it is still pretty unheard of for any of the 24-hour networks to get decent ratings (and most still make a loss) If they were outrating the "Big-Three or Four" then they'd be coining it in surely...
Over here WNT is 30 min. long and is redone 3 or 4 times daily for the other time zones, but they usually repeat the stories, interviews, etc.. The commercials take up about 9 minutes a show.
Is it actually re-done, or is it just recorded and played out again and again?
I would expect that they retain the ability to "refresh" it for the different timezones - as otherwise they would run the risk of broadcasting completely out of date reports. Whether they always need to do this is a different question. Be interesting to know...
From what i remember reading here on the forum is that it is done live on the east coast (at 10:30 GMT). That version also goes to the BBC to get re-edited for News 24. The next hour,(for the central time zone) the program is redone live, any live interviews get stamped, Live ET (Eastern Standard Time). The mountain time zone get the repeat of the last bulletin and doesn't get a live show unless if major breaking news requires the news rundown to be altered significantly. Lastly, the Pacific time zone gets the last live show and again any interviews gets stamped, Live ET. There is no major difference between the shows.
The network bulletins get much more than 2 or 3% This is from cnn.com
"NBC's "Nightly News" bounced back to win the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.9 million viewers (6.2 rating, 14 share). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.1 million (5.6, 12) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.5 million (4.6, 10)"
My ideal would be Peter Jennings in the NBC set.
That's another point: how come all these sets look so '90s and outdated? With bold, golden fonts and name straps, warm colors, orchestral music and sets that always stay the same. Is it a difference in culture between Europe and the US? Only the "new" World News Tonight-set looks a little flashy and modern, but still, the graphics are still odd.
And from the 18-24 age demographic, it's certainly well within that range. But true, the average US household rating is 7 to 8 percent. This is still a vast difference from the share they had in the 60s and into the 70s. If they were getting less than 10 percent back then, heads would have rolled, indeed.
NBC Nightly News is a damm fine programme -
(But then it is the only news studio out of the networks, that I've been in to - so maybe I'm slighty bias )
And remember - catch Tom whilst he's still on...!
(Even though he sometimes reads the news through clenched teeth..)
The only thing that makes me laugh out loud about American News programmes is that they have the name of the anchor even if he's not presenting it. It's so stupid saying "From ABC News, this is World News Tonight with Peter Jennings - reporting tonight...(insert name here)"
ABC News is still my favourite though.
Slightly off-topic: having said that I like the idea of a voice-over presenter announcement - the old UK "The Six O'Clock News from the BBC, with Nicholas Witchell and Philip Hayton (or whoever!)" had a real punch. It's a shame ITV dropped it recently. Having the presenters call themselves in the third person just looks and sounds daft. Also I'm sure Jane Hill would appreciate having to say Mathew Amroliwala less.
I like Peter Jennings. Occasionally you see him doing stuff on N24 or a big report for WNT and he's very very good. He's one of those poeple who is wasted on presenting like Bowen.
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