Influence of Cable on Television News Audiences

Abstract

A comparison of television viewing in the 1982–1989 years shows a steady decline of network news viewers, especially among those with pay television. A comparable decline is not found for local broadcast news. The increase in viewing of CNN and the related Headline News was steady, but mostly accounted for by the general expansion of cable, now in about 60% of American homes. One could argue that cable either merely diverts audiences from the traditional networks or that cable services actually win over audiences from the networks in head-to-head competition, and this study finds some evidence that cable is winning the competition.