Are Your Local News Anchors Losing Their Appeal?

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From CJ&N Vice President of Research Dr. Mary Beth Marks:

If the research on your anchors is trending downward, don't panic. There may be a reason that has nothing to do with them.

While talent research provides vital guidance to your talent decisions, we're seeing trends that make the interpretation of that research vital. You can easily be misled by traditional research results. 

On-air talent is trending down in viewers’ evaluations. It’s a trend we’ve been seeing for some time now. You may have seen it in your market, for your newscasts. Does it really mean that your on-air people are truly losing their luster? Or, is it an artifact of measurement?

 Some types of questions might lead to the conclusion that your on-air talent are a lesser part of the mix, and losing their influence on your ratings. 

Au contraire: It may be the question(s) – not the people – that are past their prime! There is little doubt news viewers continue to make choices based on the on-air people when we approach talent evaluations from different angles within a project. To be sure, viewers still tell us they watch – or avoid watching a newscast – because of particular people. Getting those answers is in the asking.  Like anything else, research questions need to be monitored for effectiveness against changing times.

Now, this doesn't mean an anchor change may not be needed. This isn't an automatic excuse to NOT make a change. Sometimes anchors really aren't very well liked, and you need to ask the right questions to determine that, too. You want to be sure you’re getting more than a superficial look at viewers’ responses – from the way the issues are approached, questions asked and the context (both within and outside of your market) placed upon interpretation. Talent decisions are way too important to make decisions based on a single, outdated question.

CJ&N Clients:  Watch your email box!  Coming soon -  A CJ&N Hot Topic advisory with more information about researching talent, CJ&N's approach, and why it provides a better measure of your on-air talent.