Tech, millennials, sustainability: Data insights for public media

Perpetual Change or Critical Moment? Finding the audience, Sustaining Journalism

Jesse HolcombSenior Research, Journalism Project

@jesseholcomb

October 29, 2014 2www.pewproject.org

“Tell the truth and trust the people.”

–Joseph N. Pew Jr.

October 29, 2014 3www.pewresearch.org

Digital sources growing;

traditional not yet disappeared


Different sources for different topics

Source: Media Insight Project


Digital News Video on the Rise


Digital News Video more Popular w/the Young


The podcast audience is growing, too


Who’s listening?

• The young (33% of 18-29 year-olds)

• High-income (35% of &75,000-plus)

• The highly educated (37% of college-plus)


Social media is a pathway to news

http://www.journalism.org/files/2014/03/SocialMediaNews1.png

http://www.journalism.org/files/2014/03/SocialMediaNews1.png


Especially for the—you guessed it—young

October 29, 2014 11www.pewresearch.org/journalism

Getting “News” on Facebook Is

an Incidental Experience

• 78% of Facebook

news users mostly see

news when on

Facebook for other

reasons

• 34% of Facebook

news consumers “like”

a news organization or

individual journalist

Still listening & watching,

but participating, too


Social Media Allows Public to Participate


Mobile Devices Make are Facilitating This


News is a Top Activity on Mobile


Still in rapid transition, but what will we see

with generational shift?

• News experience will be social

• News experience will be mobile

• News experience will be participatory


Sustaining Journalism

• Same question: New era of revenue diversity, or just a moment of

transition?

Business Model Collapse Felt Locally


Local TV Consolidation =

Decline in Original News

• News stations producing

original reporting declined 8%since 2005

• A quarter of 952 stations

airing news do not produce their

own

• Impact on the consumer seems

to vary


Public is Taking Notice


Advertising still dominates

• Nearly two-thirds of total news revenue

• Mostly print ($25 billion from daily

newspapers)

• $13 billion from TV news

• 9 out of 10 hyperlocal news sites rely

very heavily on advertising (Michele

McLellan)


But things have changed

• Total news revenue in 2006:

$95 billion

• Today: $63-$65 billion

• Audience and non-traditional

revenue has grown as a

share of the total


New Money Is Coming To Digital News

• Personal wealth, capital

investment

• Venture capital - $300 million

over the past year to news orgs

• Foundation support for public

radio, as well as scores of digital

nonprofit outlets, added roughly

$150 million.


Growth in audience revenue

• Newspaper circulation revenue up 5% in 2012

- First growth since 2003

• Retransmission fees on the rise

- Now make up 2/3 of CNN U.S. revenue

• Public radio individual giving has grown

- 2012 was second-biggest year since tracking began


Nonprofit revenue streams:

Individual giving on the rise


Is it sustainable?

• Pay TV Industry – Reached a peak

- Shed 251k subscribers in 2013; first full-year loss

- Average expanded basic cable bill: $61 and rising

• Newspapers – Shrinking base of paying audience

- Total weekday newspaper subs are flat at 44 million

(down from 55 million in 2004)

- Newspapers raising rates; more paywalls (500 &

counting)


Who pays for news?

• About a quarter of US adults (Media Insight Project)

• People who enjoy following news and keep up with it often

• Older, white, highly educated


Public news values

- Communities of interest

- Daily information needs

- Civic and community

engagement


Explore our data at journalism.org

Perpetual Change or Critical Moment? Finding the audience, Sustaining Journalism

Jesse HolcombSenior Research, Journalism Project

@jesseholcomb

Tech, millennials, sustainability: Data insights for public media

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