ABSTRACT
Today television news globally follows a similar format, with some cultural variations. The way television news is structured came about largely because of audience research steeped in sociology and the work of media consultants. In the United States, local television, not the networks, drove most of the news developments with extended newscasts and the Eyewitness News and Action News formats. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, television news started catering to the needs and wants of a mass audience and news became better tailored to fit the visual strength of the medium. The audience became a participant rather than a bystander. By the late 1970s, Eyewitness News and Action News had merged and the hybrid formula that emerged drew mass audiences and created huge profits for station owners. Today’s global, viewer-friendly format stems from developments in American local television news. Furthermore, television news remains the worldwide, premier news source, despite declining viewing figures and threats from a younger audience more apt to go online for news.
