ABSTRACT

Perhaps the most competitive arena in local television and the jewel in the crown of the national network organizations is their news, information, and talk programming. During the past decade, there has been a gradual movement of time allocation on local broadcasting stations from entertainment to news and talk. Comparing the daily schedules of stations from 1970 with those of 2000, one sees the entry of early evening local newscasts and late night competition. Independent and Fox Network affiliated stations claim a jump on late night information over their network affiliate competition with the 10:00 P.M. newscasts. National morning programs like Today, Early Show, and Good Morning America; news magazines such as Dateline, 60 Minutes, Prime Time Live, 20/20, and 48 Hours; and Sunday morning interview shows, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, and Late Edition, present up-to-the-minute information, contesting for viewership. Paralleling this trend is the evolution of all-news channels on cable television—CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and dozens of local-market 24-hour cable news channels.