Advanced Television

Study: Americans strongly value local news

September 29, 2025

The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) has released a study which reaffirms the essential role of local news in Americans’ lives.

The 2025 Local Broadcast News Study, a 3,100+ respondent surn conducted by GfK/NIQ, takes a deep dive into users of local broadcast news to see how they receive local news content, the value they place on local news and the influence of local news on consumer purchase decisions. Key findings from this study reinforce the significant role of local broadcast TV news and its value in influencing consumers in considering and purchasing products and services.

Key Findings:

The findings show that Americans overwhelmingly value access to local news, whether on traditional television or digital platforms, and that this access strongly influences how they research products, make buying decisions, and choose service providers.

How They Get and Value Their News

  • Though local news is predominantly consumed on their televisions, four out of ten respondents consume it on mobile and/or PC device with 27 per cent doing both.
  • 95 per cent of respondents think it is important to be able to receive local news information on their local TV station.
  • 72 per cent of respondents that have cable, satellite, or a streaming provider would likely seek out another provider if their current one stopped carrying their local TV news stations.
  • Local broadcast news is important for providing information during severe weather and emergencies (95 per cent for local broadcast news station and 94 per cent for local broadcast station websites/apps) and during political elections (93 per cent for local broadcast news station).
  • A significant majority of sports fans (92 per cent of those that follow sports news) value local broadcast news stations for the sports news they provide.
  • Local broadcast TV news assets (88 per cent for local broadcast TV news, 84 per cent for local broadcast TV station’s dedicated streaming video news app, and 82 per cent for local television station text/video on a website/app) are #1 for trust.   Local broadcast TV station news is also among the least prevalent when it comes to fake news.
  • Fake news is most prevalent on social media (44 per cent) and cable news (25 per cent).

Frequency of Viewing

  • The majority of respondents watch linear local TV news on a television (78 per cent) or mobile device (60 per cent) daily or a few times a week and over half of the respondents watch local TV news on local TV websites (56 per cent) or streaming services (51 per cent for local station’s dedicated streaming news app and 53 per cent for local TV news on a streaming service) daily or a few times a week.
  • Two-thirds of respondents are loyal to the same station for their local news.

Influence on Online

  • Television ads on local news are motivation to do further research online (76 per cent of legal service recipients, 74 per cent of car buyers, and 69 per cent of home remodelers) and respondents said ads on local TV news influenced their online search selections (82 per cent).
  • Four out of ten turn on the TV (41 per cent) or click on the stories to get more details (37 per cent) after seeing local stations’ news content on social media.

Influence on Purchase

  • Local broadcast TV news assets are important in influencing consumers to both consider (58 per cent) and actually purchase a product (53 per cent).
  • Advertisers concerned with ad placement, can be confident that Local Broadcast TV viewers find it the least objectionable programme type as it relates to purchasing a product (only 11 per cent versus 27 per cent for Soap Operas and 22 per cent for Reality programmes).

The study demonstrates that local news is a strong driver of consumer engagement. With high levels of reach and trust, local news continues to be a valued, critical place where advertisers can reach active and engaged consumers.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research

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