For newspapers, 2010 was comparatively calm after the hair-raising revenue dips of 2008 and 2009. That was cold comfort, however, to an industry still laboring to find a sustainable business model for the future.
As the economy improved in 2010, network broadcast news quietly went through an arduous period of change. The news division of one network, ABC, instituted sharp personnel cuts designed to accomplish a “fundamental transformation” in the way network news is produced.1 Another, CBS News, worked its way from financial losses back to break-even, while management continued to strengthen a depleted bench of correspondents and news producers. NBC prepared for new owners, the third such transition since NBC was founded in 1926, and if history is a guide, the change will alter the network more than most pre-sale analyses predicted.
Two paths diverging would be one way of putting it. A glance at the finances of cable news in 2010 would leave one feeling outright bullish. All three major news channels were projected to have increases in operating profits — Fox News by 27%, CNN (and HLN) by 7% and MSNBC by 8%, according to the market research firm SNL Kagan.1
Traditional AM and FM radio still dominates the audio landscape, and for the last decade it has been among the most stable traditional media. But heading into 2011 there are growing signals that raise questions about its future.
The latest biennial survey on news consumption from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reveals signs of a new era in the acquisition and consumption of news—and there is reason to expect the shift will accelerate. What is the nature of this new era, and why is it happening? A commentary on the findings by PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel.
A new Pew Research Center survey finds people using various traditional media at historically low levels. But the more telling findings here are not where people get news but how. In a commentary, PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel sees the outlines of a new “On Demand” Media Culture.