|
|
back on schedule
Anxious to return to viewing habits after attacks
By Kevin Downey
The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., drew massive TV coverage, some six times that for the Gulf War, and rightly so, as the most audacious attacks ever on American soil.
Yet interestingly, American viewers are expected to return to their normal viewing at the same pace as they have in the past for far less important news stories.
In sum, yes, it is a huge story, and yes, Americans have been rattled as never before, but all that said, viewers are no less anxious to return to their regular TV habits, if not more so.
"Our relationship with some TV programming is particularly strong and is representative of what we consider to be our daily routine," explains Stacey Lynn Koerner, senior vice president and director of broadcast research at Initiative Media North America, which just completed a study of the news coverage and viewer attitudes following the attacks.
"People embrace television. It’s something that we share and that makes us feel like the whole world has not crashed down around us."
Initiative found that some 32,940 minutes of news coverage of the attacks aired on the major broadcast networks in the six or so days following the attacks, compared to 5,100 minutes for the Gulf War in 1991.
According to Initiative, by the coming week most viewers will be back to their normal TV habits, two weeks being about the limit of time that people are willing to be away from their regular viewing.
One telling sign that people have already resumed regular TV habits was the 7.5 rating the broadcast networks got on the first day of the delayed fall season this past Monday. That number was virtually unchanged from last season’s 7.6.
And while the terrorist attacks differ from other events, the long-term impact on viewing will probably be similar to that for other big news stories.
Initiative Media found that viewing in most TV dayparts went up following major events but the residual impact was brief.
"We saw that in the Gulf War coverage," says Koerner.
"After a peak when the war first began, everything went back to normal. When the war ended, there was another peak in viewing, but then again it went right back to normal."
The biggest impact that historic events have had on viewing was on the early morning news shows.
During the Gulf War, for example, the audience for those programs increased for about five weeks. That compares to only one or two weeks for other dayparts.
Early morning viewing went up for four weeks following the Oklahoma City bombing and for three weeks after Princess Diana’s death.
But outside of early morning news, TV viewing was largely unchanged for any duration once the initial bursts of coverage subsided.
The uncertainty of upcoming retaliatory actions by the U.S. government, of course, makes guessing how viewing will be affected in the next few weeks and months dicey at best.
Perhaps the only thing that can be said with certainty is that the news coverage of the attacks hit a previously unimaginable level.
The networks aired sustained coverage of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s death two years ago. Yet that coverage totaled just over 2,300 minutes.
The death of Princess Diana earned 1,600 minutes of coverage in 1997 and the Oklahoma City bombing more than six years ago generated nearly 1,150 minutes of sustained coverage on the broadcast networks.
Initiative also found that viewers will be unlikely to shy away from shows because of content that in some way might remind them of the attacks, or seem inappropriate in their light.
Initiative found that people were looking forward to a number of series premieres, including those for action/adventure and investigation/spy dramas, in an internet survey of 500 adults it conducted last weekend.
"The overarching idea is that, yes, viewers feel differently, but by and large their viewing is going to return to normal sooner rather than later," says Koerner.
Of all programs cited as favorites by respondents, only 8 percent were action/adventure dramas, for example. But 13 percent of responses for the most anticipated premieres were for those types of programs.
The CBS show, "The Agency," which is about the CIA and has had at least one episode scrapped because of inappropriate content, was the most anticipated new series, in fact, next to UPN’s "Enterprise."
|
HISTORICAL
TELEVISED NEWS EVENTS |
|||||||
| Daypart |
Gulf War |
World Trade Center Bomb |
Okla- |
TWA Flight 800 |
Princess Diana's Death |
Columbine High School |
JFK Jr.'s Death |
|
(Jan.-Feb. 1991) |
(Feb. 1993) |
(April 1995) |
(July 1996) |
(Sept. 1997) |
(April 1999) |
(July 1999) |
|
|
Early AM |
|||||||
|
% Chg |
10-35 |
2 |
8-10 |
4 |
3-10 |
4-5 |
10-17 |
|
# of Weeks |
5 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Daytime |
|||||||
|
% Chg |
7-8 |
8 |
2 |
4-6 |
1 |
2-3 |
8-13 |
|
# of Weeks |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Evening News |
|||||||
|
% Chg |
7 |
No chg |
2-9 |
6-8 |
1-4 |
No chg |
5-8 |
|
# of Weeks |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
|
Prime- |
|||||||
|
% Chg |
6 |
No chg |
No chg |
10-13 |
2 |
No chg |
1-3 |
|
# of Weeks |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Late Night |
|||||||
|
% Chg |
15 |
No chg |
1 |
15 |
1 |
No chg |
1 |
|
# of Weeks |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Source: Initiative Media North America - Understanding the Impact of Tragic Events, Sept. 2001 |
|||||||
|
WORLD TRADE
CENTER SURVEY |
||
|
Genre |
Favorite Type |
Most Anticipated |
|
Sitcom |
25 |
24 |
|
Law/Medical Drama |
11 |
15 |
|
General Drama |
11 |
14 |
|
Action/Adventure |
8 |
13 |
|
Police Drama |
20 |
13 |
|
Reality Show |
4 |
4 |
|
Family Drama |
4 |
4 |
|
Investigation/Spy |
1 |
4 |
|
Other |
1 |
4 |
|
Newsmagazine |
10 |
2 |
|
Game Show |
4 |
1 |
|
Official Police Show |
1 |
1 |
|
Source: Initiative Media North America - World Trade Center Survey, Sept 21-23, 2001 |
||
September 2
-
Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
Printer-Friendly
Version | Send
to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact
Us
