Coda Study: Viewers Trust, Believe Local TV News

While national news outlets continue to debate the “fake news” controversy, new evidence confirms that consumers are not questioning the veracity of their local television newscasts, sports reports, weather forecasts and traffic updates.

This is according to research released today from Coda that reports the opinions of more than 2,400 television viewers that have watched local news programming across all platforms in the past week. According to the research, viewers believe — and enjoy watching — local news anchors and reporters on television. In addition, Coda says, “local news viewers are tuning in to their most trusted stations for accurate weather forecasts, dependable traffic updates, local sports coverage, breaking news, and even to learn about new products and services.” The Coda data reveal that many viewers watching local broadcast news are also accessing local TV stations’ digital platforms for information about their cities, towns and communities. Almost seven out of ten local news viewers (65%) also access one or more digital platforms for local news, which include local TV station websites, social media, mobile apps, blogs or targeted emails. Local TV station websites top the list, with 40% of viewers consuming local news through this digital platform, followed by social media sites (25%) and local TV station apps (23%).