Survey: Local TV newscasts devalue sports

Sports directors, anchors and reporters at local television stations in the top 50 markets in the United States believe their segment on the local television newscast could become extinct, according to a new survey.

The telephone survey, conducted by the Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State, was completed by 216 sports directors, anchors and reporters. Many respondents believe their role is diminishing and that someday sports may not be part of the local television newscast.

Although most respondents said they did not see ESPN or regional sports networks as diminishing the relevance of local sports, almost half said the Internet is chipping away at the importance of sports as part of the local television newscast.

Another factor could be news directors, who oversee local newscast content. Forty-three percent of respondents said news directors at their stations did not value sports enough.

"A lot of pressures are squeezing sports operations at local stations," said Marie Hardin, assistant professor of communications and the center's associate director for research. "Ratings for local newscasts continue their decline, and that's increasing the pressure to find a program mix that draws the most viewers. Sports can be seen as a niche interest by news directors."

The increased need to stand out from competitors is forcing some local sports operations to change from the old highlights-and-scores formula and to focus more on local high school sports.

Examples include WMAQ-TV in Chicago, an NBC affiliate that announced early this year it was changing to a "storytelling" format to differentiate its coverage from other stations in its market.

Meanwhile, Hardin said, other stations will likely continue to cut both time for sports and staffs.

"These survey results indicate that those who work in sports see the handwriting on the wall," she said. "The demise of the local sports segment is part of the evolution toward an increasingly fragmented media mix for coverage."

The Center for Sports Journalism, founded in 2003, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, programming and research. The center conducts regular studies and surveys about trends in sports journalism.