TVB, the not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry, today released a proprietary “Bomb Cyclone Media Usage in Boston” survey conducted by Research Now, a global expert in online market research data. The proprietary analysis revealed that Boston communities overwhelmingly chose local broadcast television as their preferred news source for storm coverage over all other media. Importantly, the new survey findings mirror results from two other proprietary Research Now surveys, including “Hurricane Irma Media Usage” (September 12, 2017) and “Hurricane Harvey Media Usage” (August 30, 2017).

TVB President and CEO Steve Lanzano said, “Local broadcast television stations remain the leading and most trusted source for local communities to access real-time reporting and critical information during severe weather events and for daily life. As Boston faced the Bomb Cyclone, residents overwhelmingly chose their local broadcast TV stations’ online news platforms over all other media for storm coverage. In fact, a full 97% of survey respondents reported using local TV news for information about 2018’s first major winter storm. Bostonians spent the most time with local TV news during the weather emergency, with over three-and-a-half hours of daily viewing from early morning to midnight. These local TV news viewers also skewed younger, with 58% of viewers being between ages 18 to 54, compared to 46% of cable network news viewers.

Hadassa Gerber, TVB Chief Research Officer added, “Broadcasters’ websites and mobile apps play an increasingly important role during the severe weather events and commanded the highest levels of trust among all other digital media platforms during the Bomb Cycle at 67%, while social media was the least trusted digital source at 36%. The “Bomb Cyclone Media Usage in Boston” survey results once again confirm the important role broadcasters’ television and digital platforms serve in keeping local communities safe and informed.”

Research Now surveyed 796 respondents about their media consumption habits related to the Bomb Cyclone. Interviews began the morning of Friday, January 5th and ended the morning of Saturday, January 6th in the Boston (Manchester) DMA. Key insights from the study include:

  • News Source – 97% of respondents used local broadcast TV news as their preferred source for information during the Bomb Cyclone
  • Time Spent – At 3 hours and 37 minutes, respondents spent more time on local television for Bomb Cyclone coverage than any other news source on average per day
  • Trust – 84% of respondents cited local broadcast TV news as the most trusted news source. 67% of respondents cited local TV digital assets (online/apps) as the most trusted digital news source, while social media was the least trusted at 36%
  • Information – Respondents’ top reason for watching local TV news was that they wanted “information that pertained to their area” and respondents’ top reason for using local TV websites/apps during storms was “the constant updates and latest information”