http://broadcasters/internet/usage study: Texas Broadcasters’ Use of the Internet

Kelly Bostrom and Dave Mayes Department of Agricultural Communications Texas A&M University, College Station

Introduction

Hundreds of radio and television stations all over the world are using the internet to provide information and communicate with the public. Their use of such elements as e-mail and the World Wide Web (WWW) is changing how university communicators interact with their broadcast contacts. Stations may query for interview experts, e-mail communications specialists seeking broadcast footage, or check university web pages seeking story ideas. Even so, relatively little information exists concerning how broadcasters are using the internet now or how they think they might use it in the future.

Methodology: Phone Survey

Stations were selected according to whether they fit geographically within certain designated market areas (DMAs) in the 1995 edition of Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook. The survey was limited to Texas’ top four television markets: Dallas, DMA No. 8; Houston, No. 11: San Antonio, No. 39; and Austin, No. 65. The four DMAs included 48 stations, and of these 26 had news departments.

The survey focused on the stations that had news components; they were considered the most likely to be interested in the information-gathering techniques available through the internet. They also were the stations believed most likely to be receptive to news and information provided by university communicators. In November 1995, staff members with the Department of Agricultural Communications (DAC) at Texas A&M conducted a telephone survey of the 26 stations with news departments to gauge their use of internet elements. Surveys were successfully completed with 18 stations; at eight others, people were unavailable or chose not to respond.

The surveyors asked for the person at each station who would be most knowledgeable about internet use as it related to their news departments. Respondents included reporters, engineers, news directors, producers and operations managers. The survey instrument consisted of 10 questions, some with multiple parts. Those who did not subscribe to an online service such as America Online or Prodigy were asked five questions.

Results: Phone Survey

Seventy percent of the 18 responding stations subscribe to an online service, with most selecting America Online. Access to these services apparently is shared, although not all stations gave access to all personnel. Most could request information through someone designated to search for it, or use a computer specifically designated to this purpose. However, 36 percent responded that all reporters at their own computers did have online access. One Houston station added, however, that its online access was limited to e-mail, not the use of the World Wide Web. Three more stations indicated that they plan to subscribe to an online service to access the internet within the next two years.

Stations estimated they generate 14 percent of their stories using “at least partial, electronic assistance.” On an average day, they search for or retrieve information 6.6 times each. Stations were asked a series of questions about what aspects of their online service they found most useful. A litmus scale from 1 to 5 was used, with 1 being “least useful” and 5 being “most useful.” “Statistics and background searches” received the highest rating with 3.5. “Data-base manipulation” ranked second with an even 3. These and other responses are included in the chart below:

Online Services Rated According to their Usefulness

Respondents were given the opportunity to offer comments about other services they use. One cited travel scheduling.

Stations were then asked to tell whether they preferred to receive certain kinds of news materials electronically via the computer, or by traditional methods such as regular mail or hand delivery. Responses are included in the chart below:

One respondent said that he would prefer to receive, “everything I can by computer, because it saves time.” Another expressed the opposite opinion, citing the large volume of information already received via computer, and his station’s inability to put someone on the job of reviewing it full time.

Station representatives also were asked to react to a list of reasons why they may not have full, electronic capabilities in the newsroom and indicate how important those reasons were. Again, a litmus scale of 1 to 5 was used, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree.” The highest rated response was “cost,” averaging at 3.46. “Too much information to process” followed with a rating of 3.06. Other responses are included in the chart below:

(Rating is an average based on responses on scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5, “strongly agree”)

Station respondents were given the opportunity to offer other reasons why they may not have the full range of online capabilities in their newsrooms. Two cited security concerns, and one said the station is not set up technically to use an online system. Two cited differences in training needs between those raised in the “computer generation” and those who are uncomfortable with using the devices. One station’s representative commented, “We have enough trouble training people to use the inhouse system, but I think that’s going to change as more young people come in.”

Those surveyed were asked to respond “yes” or “no” to a list of computer uses that applied to their stations. The highest number of positive responses related to using electronic mail. All who answered the question claimed they use either internal or external e-mail. “Online information research” and “provide a World Wide Web page” received the next highest “yes” responses with 81 percent each. High numbers of positive answers also were given for these uses: “database manipulation,” 77 percent; “to receive information about newsfeeds,” 75 percent; and “to correspond with other stations about industry issues,” 50 percent. Less than half (44 percent), however, said they used station computers to “receive news releases.” One Houston station reported plans to receive news releases in this manner in the near future.

Although not all stations use online technology, most agreed that use of this technology will increase in the next five years. On a litmus scale ranging from 1, “greatly decrease,” to 5, “greatly increase,” stations rated this answer as 4.31.

Methodology: Web Page Study

As noted earlier, 81 percent of the 18 stations responding to the telephone survey reported offering at least one page to the World Wide Web. To determine their current use of the “web,” an informal survey was conducted via the internet. The web browser software Netscape was used, and InfoSeek and WebCrawler were the search mechanisms applied. The search was conducted using both call letters and network names as keywords. Once again, only stations included in the top four Texas markets were surveyed.

Results: Web Page Study

Of these 48 stations, 16 (33 percent) have a web page available as of this writing. The breakdown is as follows:

TV Station Websites in the State’s Top Four Markets

Most home pages appeared to have been created by the stations themselves or by a service that created similarly designed pages for sister stations. Most offer links to various information about their programming, personnel, job opportunities, and links to sites of potential interest to viewers. Stations that did not have individual websites but merely provided text information created by the service “TV Net” were not included in this count.

According to the stations’ pages, at least two Texas stations claim rights to “firsts” with regard to the internet: KUHT, the public television station in Houston, boasts that it is the first broadcasting station in the world to have a page on the World Wide Web. In Dallas/Fort Worth, KXAS’s pages state that it is the first commercial television station in Texas to have a page on the World Wide Web, and that the station first got involved with interactive television when it invited viewers to send in e-mail on election night, Nov. 8, 1994. Viewers were given the chance to ask questions of candidates, anchors, reporters, and a political analyst.

But stations apparently see the WWW primarily as an opportunity to reach their viewers with programming information and as a means for viewers to reach their staffs directly. Of the 16 stations with web pages available, 88 percent included programming information. Some stations offered complete program schedules with links to each day and date, others simply linked themselves to their network program pages. A few stations offered summaries of program listings, similar to those found in TV Guide.

Seventy-five percent of stations provided links to send viewer feedback directly to the station regarding programming. Perhaps the best developed viewer feedback page is currently that of KEYE in Austin, which allows viewers to select to send comments to “news,” “sales,” or “stories.”

Fifty percent also offered either personnel directories or files with biographies of on-camera staff members. Thirteen percent have such a link available, with no data available yet. At least two stations provide direct e-mail links for viewers to write to their news anchors. The most elaborate staff directory was that of the Houston public television station, which included its entire staff, including direct e-mail links where available.

As far as news content is concerned, 25 percent of the stations with web pages offer summaries of their top stories of the day. All of these stations are under the same ownership. The only other station to offer information on news program content provides a brief summary of its regular news features.

At least five stations offered weather pages. Three were linked directly with National Weather Service forecast pages, and one is linked to The Weather Channel.

Many stations offer links to additional non-television related sites. The most popular is the page providing updates on winning Texas lottery numbers, although a few stations also included the Dallas Cowboys’ home page and the Dallas Police Department home page. Other sites include the 1996 Summer Olympics, television network links, a station promotion/contest, USA Today Online, and “O.J. Simpson Central.”

These pages, as stations develop them further, may have greater use to public information specialists seeking background on station personnel, news programming, and public service offerings. If the information currently available is indicative of the future, the need to purchase expensive directories or make frequent calls for personnel updates may diminish. And public information officers looking to pitch material may easily search out the station’s programming niche in which the story might fit. One station’s website already includes its policy on running preproduced public service announcements.

Methodology: Mail Survey

DAC teamed with the Texas Association of Broadcasters to mail a three-page questionnaire to over 700 Texas radio and television stations in the spring of 1995. The survey was addressed to the general managers or news directors of these stations.

Respondents were asked 15 questions about how they are using the internet, who has access to this medium in their newsrooms, and how they anticipate using the internet in the future.

Questionnaires were sent to the 712 members of the Texas Association of Broadcasters in mid-April 1995. A cover letter explained that the survey was intended to gauge their present and future use of the internet for news and information gathering, among other uses. Few stations responded, perhaps because the survey was sent out at a time when station managers were busy planning their programming for a ratings measurement. A second mailing and
followup phone calls were made only to the television stations in late May, since the initial survey response from radio stations was so limited, possibly indicating that the level of activity or interest among radio broadcasters in this field was not as high as first thought.

Results: Mail Survey

Seventy-five of 712 broadcasters responded to the survey, for a return rate of 10.1 percent. Thirty-one represented television stations and accounted for 22 percent of the 144 television stations in Texas. The other 44 responses were from radio stations, which represented 6 percent of the 729 radio stations in Texas.

The limited response to this mail survey makes it difficult to draw general conclusions about either segment of the broadcast industry in Texas. Even so, given the paucity of information that exists on this topic, the findings reported here should offer some useful clues and insights about the attitudes of some Texas broadcasters concerning this new technology.

Of the 30 television executives responding to the question, nine (or 29 percent) say their stations subscribe to an online service, the most common way to gain access to the internet. (Five reported their provider as America Online, and four reported using Compuserve.)

Nine more are making plans to go online: four will sign up within six months, three within a year and two within two years. Another 10, however, reported having no plans to subscribe.

Among the 43 respondents from radio stations, 10 (or 23 percent) already subscribe to an online service. Thirteen more radio stations plan to subscribe to a service within the next two years, but 15 others (44 percent) have no plans to go online.

This result generally tracks a finding in a similar survey of Texas daily and weekly newspapers conducted by DAC in 1994. Generally, the largest dailies were the ones most likely to be already using or planning to use online services, and the ones least likely were the small dailies and small weeklies, those with the least resources.

Even among broadcasters with online services, access tends to be quite limited, indicating perhaps that many news operations are moving gingerly into this area. Of the nine television stations that are online, for example, six indicated that only one person has access to online information in their newsrooms, two said that clusters of reporters can access online data, and one reported having online access to reporters at their individual computers.

It comes as no surprise, then, that both groups surveyed rated the newsroom usefulness of online services low. Respondents were asked to rate the usefulness of four sources of information: newspapers, satellites, wire services and online services. They were asked to choose a number on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing “least useful” and 5, “most useful.”

Based on rating averages, television executives gave the highest usefulness ratings to wire services (at 4.30) and satellite sources (3.91), while online services rated lowest at 2.44. Radio broadcasters saw things much the same way, giving highest ratings to satellites (3.97) and wire services (3.67), and lowest to online services (2.35).

(Ratings are averages based on responses ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 as “least useful” and 5, “most useful.”)

Both groups of broadcasters, however, see the use of online technology greatly increasing in their newsrooms over the next five years. Choosing from a list of possibilities, both agreed most strongly that on a scale of 1 to 5, their news staffs’ capabilities would greatly increase in the use of electronic mail and in the gathering of background for stories through online information searches.

Television executives surveyed gave the same high rating (3.90) to increased staff capabilities to retrieve and manipulate databases over the next five years. Radio respondents meanwhile, with a high rating of 3.88, thought the capabilities of their staffs to receive direct electronic transfers from news sources would increase greatly by the year 2000.

Responding to a list of possible advantages of computer-assisted reporting, both groups gave highest ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 to “speed in gathering information.” Television stations surveyed also gave high ratings to the advantages of electronic reporting in tracking story developments (4.05) and conducting investigative news projects (4.05). Radio executives most liked the advantages of storing scripts from previous telecasts (4.00) and staying current with the news industry (3.90).

Even now, both groups say they want more information delivered to the newsrooms electronically instead of by such traditional methods as mail or hand delivery. Among broadcasters responding, the preferences expressed for electronic delivery were these: news items from local sources, 76 percent; releases from government information offices, 66 percent; releases from public relations offices, 60 percent; and death notices from funeral homes, 58 percent.

Why aren’t more broadcasters already online? The reasons that received the most emphasis from respondents to the mail survey were two: cost and lack of training. This result was identical to the findings in the DAC survey of Texas newspapers in 1994. It also showed up in the telephone survey of the 26 news-oriented television stations in the state’s four largest markets.

Conclusion

All three of these surveys offer evidence that broadcasters in Texas are moving rapidly to explore the opportunities offered by new computer-based information and news-gathering capabilities. The telephone survey of television stations with news capabilities in the state’s four largest markets indicates a majority already have internet access. A handful of these stations already make it possible for all of their reporters to go online from individual computer terminals. Certainly many television stations in the largest Texas markets are moving quickly to build their own websites. At least 16 exist now, where very few had a presence two years ago. The survey of those sites indicated that most of the webs are being used to communicate directly with the public by offering program listing information and in some cases news updates. The mail survey of both television and radio executives, while limited by a low response rate, also suggested that these managers see real advantages in the electronic gathering and transmission of news and information. Although cost and lack of training seem to be mitigating factors, most respondents agreed that use of this technology will greatly increase over the next five years.

Public information officers seeking to keep their products in sync with the needs of the broadcast industry can find ample evidence from these studies that the use of the information superhighway by Texas broadcast professionals will only increase. Broadcasters do not have high use of this technology now, but they anticipate heading that direction in the future, and many will be rapidly doing so. During this transition period, agricultural communicators would be wise to look to more electronic approaches to serving these clients -- linkages to web pages and increased use of e-mail to convey information about stories and news feeds, to cite but a couple of examples. By understanding how rapidly broadcasters are gearing up for the information superhighway, communications specialists will be able to better judge how to best deliver their products to them.

Reference

Mayes, Dave and Davis, Kathleen. “Texas Newspapers Gearing Up to Move onto Information Superhighway: Results of a Survey,” Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, January 1995.