2004 Annual Report on the State of the News Media

Cable News Topline

Sample Dates:          
June - 16          
July - 15          
August - 21          
September - 19, 24          
 
BY STORY          
TOTAL N = 5,570 NEWS STORIES          
  Total Morning Daytime Early Evening Prime Time
  N=5,570 N=963 N=2,253 N=1,374 N=980
           
PLACEMENT % % % % %
First Story 24 18 23 25 30
News Block 28 40 24 26 24
Middle Story 16 12 18 16 15
Wrap Story 22 22 23 21 22
Last Story 10 7 12 11 10
 
STORY LENGTH % % % % %
Up to 40 Seconds 46 46 45 48 50
41 seconds to 1.5 Minutes 14 21 13 12 11
91 Seconds to 3 Minutes 21 17 25 23 14
Longer Than 3 Minutes 18 15 16 17 25
           
STORY ORIGINATION % % % % %
Staff Package w/ Editing 8 4 8 12 8
Staff External Interview (No Editing) 13 13 9 14 22
Staff In-House Interview 5 5 4 6 5
Staff Live/Live-to-Tape/Not Tell Story 17 13 25 14 6
External 1 0 1 * *
Anchor Voice Over (w/ Video) 38 28 39 37 47
Tell Story/No Source (No Moving Video) 14 21 11 14 11
Anchor/Correspondent Banter 4 15 1 2 0
Live Events 1 1 2 1 1
 
BIG STORY/RECURRING LEAD % % % % %
All Big Stories 49 54 52 47 43
All Iraq-Related Big Stories 20 26 21 16 14
All Other Intl. Big Stories 7 9 7 6 7
All U.S. Based Big Stories 23 19 23 24 22
Not A Big Story 51 46 48 53 57
 
PROTAGONIST % % % % %
All Individual Protagonist 34 30 31 36 43
President Bush (Singled Out As an Individual) 1 1 1 1 1
Other Individual Protagonist (non-Bush) 32 29 30 36 42
No Individual Protagonist 66 71 69 65 56
           
 
STORY TOPIC % % % % %
ALL GOVERNMENT 21 13 20 30 22
Exec. Branch/Admin 6 5 6 7 6
Nat'l/State/Local (Legislation or Institution) 1 1 1 1 1
Government Agencies 1 * 1 1 *
Law/Courts 4 2 4 5 3
Campaigns/Elections 10 5 9 14 12
DEFENSE 3 3 3 2 2
ALL DOMESTIC AFFAIRS 8 9 8 7 8
Disease/Public Health 1 1 1 1 *
Education * * * * 1
Environment * * * * *
Health Care System * * * * *
Transportation 1 1 1 1 1
Terrorist Acts 2 3 3 2 2
Terrorism – Prevention Efforts 2 1 2 2 2
Domestic Affairs Other 2 1 2 2 2
BUSINESS / COMMERCE 6 4 5 9 4
CRIME 11 7 11 11 14
ALL FOREIGN AFFAIRS 19 24 21 16 14
Foreign Affairs-Diplomacy 9 11 10 8 6
Foreign Affairs-Military Activities 10 13 11 8 8
ALL ACCIDENTS / DISASTERS 12 13 16 9 7
Accidents (no intent) 3 2 4 2 2
Unusual Weather 6 9 8 5 3
Catastrophes/Disasters (no intent) 3 3 5 3 2
SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY 1 1 1 1 2
Science * * * 1 1
Medical Research * * * 0 *
Technology 1 1 * 1 *
CELEBRITY/ENTERTAINMENT 6 7 4 6 12
Entertainment/Celeb 5 6 4 5 9
Celeb. Crime/Scandal 1 1 1 1 3
LIFESTYLE 9 13 8 7 10
Human Interest/Popular Behavior 1 2 1 1 1
Pop Culture * * 1 * 1
Health Trends * 1 * * 0
Religion 2 2 3 2 3
Travel * * * 0 *
Cooking/Food * * * 0 *
Family/Parenting 1 1 1 * 2
Civilization/Culture/High Arts * * * 1 1
Sports 2 6 2 1 2
Other * 1 * * 1
OTHER 4 6 2 2 6
Consumer News * 1 * * *
News Media 1 1 * 1 3
Oddball News 1 1 1 1 2
Weather (non-disaster) 1 3 1 * 0
Other * 1 * * *
 
STORY TOPIC BY REGION % % % % %
All Local/Metro * 0 0 0 *
All Regional 37 33 41 33 38
All National 30 28 24 36 36
All U.S.-Related International 19 23 21 17 14
All Non-U.S. Related International 14 16 14 14 12
 
SOURCING: NAME/TITLE WITH RELATIONSHIP % % % % %
None 46 57 45 43 39
Any 55 43 54 57 60
Total 101 100 99 100 99
           
Zero to One 77 84 77 72 71
Two or More 24 16 22 28 28
Total 101 100 99 100 99
           
Zero to Three 96 97 96 93 91
Four or More 5 3 3 7 8
Total 101 100 99 100 99
 
SOURCING: UNNAMED/UNTITLED          
WITH RELATIONSHIP EXPLAINED % % % % %
None 78 82 75 80 78
Any 21 18 25 19 22
Total 99 100 100 99 100
           
Zero to One 87 89 85 87 90
Two or More 12 11 15 12 10
Total 99 100 100 99 100
 
SOURCING: UNNAMED/NO EXPLANATION          
OF RELATIONSHIP % % % % %
None 96 94 96 96 96
Any 4 6 4 4 4
Total 100 100 100 100 100
           
Zero to One 98 97 98 98 98
Two or More 2 3 2 2 2
Total 100 100 100 100 100
           
STORY FRESHNESS % % % % %
Package/Story/Interview - Exact Replay 3 2 4 3 3
Repeat Story - No Substantive, New Information 40 31 46 42 33
Repeat Story - New Angle Added, Without New Information 25 23 23 27 30
Repeat storyline - With Substantive, New Information   5 2 7 4 4
New Story, First Appearance 26 42 20 23 30
 
           
           
BY VOLUME          
TOTAL N=9449 minutes          
  Total Morning Daytime Early Evening Prime Time
  N=9,449 minutes N=1,385 minutes N=3,753 minutes N=2,194 minutes N=2,117 minutes
           
STORY ORIGINATION % % % % %
Staff Package w/ Editing 11 6 11 18 9
Staff External Interview (No Editing) 32 32 21 36 49
Staff In-House Interview 9 11 8 10 8
Staff Live/Live-to-Tape/Not Tell Story 21 17 34 18 6
External 1 0 1 * *
Anchor Voice Over (w/ Video) 11 11 11 10 11
Tell Story/No Source (No Moving Video) 4 8 4 4 3
Anchor/Correspondent Banter 3 14 1 2 0
Live Events 8 2 10 1 13
 
BIG STORY/RECURRING LEAD % % % % %
All Big Stories 59 54 61 56 59
All Iraq-Related Big Stories 22 27 26 20 14
All Other Intl. Big Stories 8 10 8 8 6
All U.S. Based Big Stories 29 17 28 28 40
Not a Big Story 41 46 39 44 41
           
STORY TOPIC % % % % %
ALL GOVERNMENT 27 15 22 32 38
Exec. Branch/Admin 7 5 6 9 7
Nat'l/State/Local (Legislation or Institution) 1 2 * 1 1
Government Agencies * * * 1 *
Law/Courts 4 2 4 5 3
Campaigns/Elections 15 5 11 17 26
DEFENSE 2 1 3 3 1
ALL DOMESTIC AFFAIRS 6 9 7 6 6
Disease/Public Health 1 2 1 1 *
Education * * * * 1
Environment * * * * *
Health Care System * 1 * * *
Transportation 1 * * 1 1
Terrorist Acts 2 2 2 1 1
Terrorism – Prevention Efforts 2 2 2 1 2
Domestic Affairs Other 1 1 1 1 2
BUSINESS / COMMERCE 3 3 2 6 1
CRIME 11 5 10 9 14
ALL FOREIGN AFFAIRS 22 27 27 19 13
Foreign Affairs-Diplomacy 11 13 12 11 7
Foreign Affairs-Military Activities 11 14 15 8 6
ALL ACCIDENTS / DISASTERS 10 12 15 7 3
Accidents (no intent) 1 1 2 1 1
Unusual Weather 6 8 8 4 2
Catastrophes/Disasters (no intent) 3 3 4 2 1
SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY 1 1 1 1 1
Science * * * 1 *
Medical Research * * * 0 *
Technology * * * 1 *
CELEBRITY/ENTERTAINMENT 7 9 4 5 10
Entertainment/Celeb 5 8 4 5 7
Celeb. Crime/Scandal 1 2 1 1 2
LIFESTYLE 9 12 8 8 10
Human Interest/Popular Behavior 2 2 2 2 1
Pop Culture * 1 1 * *
Health Trends * 1 * * 0
Religion 3 1 3 4 4
Travel * * 1 0 *
Cooking/Food * * * 0 *
Family/Parenting 1 1 1 * 2
Civilization/Culture/High Arts 1 2 * * *
Sports 1 3 1 1 2
Other * * * * *
OTHER 3 7 1 2 4
Consumer News 1 1 1 * *
News Media 2 3 * 1 3
Oddball News * * * * 1
Weather (non-disaster) * 1 * * 0
Other * 1 * * *
         
STORY TOPIC BY REGION % % % % %
All Local/Metro * 0 0 0 *
All Regional 39 28 41 32 48
All National 29 33 20 36 33
All U.S.-Related International 22 25 26 22 13
All Non-U.S. Related International 10 13 13 10 6
           
*Due to rounding, totals may not equal 100.
*Due to sample date selection, cable data is not comparable to other media in the study.