I am puzzled-classical economics says that vendors in a competitive market strive constantly to differentiate their products from the competition. In the caseof local TV (network) news, it doesn’t seem that this is true. In my town (Boston) we have NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX. All of them use the same format for the evening news-they even run the same format (sports and weather are delivered at the same time, by all 4 network affiliates.)Instead of differentiating their products, they seem to do everything they can to produce the sa,me boring product.
So the question is: why? Wouldn’t they want to experiment with new was of presenting the news?
I can’t tell the difference between any of the four.
Format does not equal content. One stations may lead with “exclusive” stories while another may lead with “big” stories. One station may focus on investigative stories while another emphasizes breaking news, while another focuses on lifestyle.
As for why the formats are similar, it’s because that’s what viewers look for. First the news, then the weather, then the sports, then a recap or some happy/quirky story to end with. It’s not completely etched in stone – in rural areas there are stations that lead off with the weather because it’s the one thing that all their viewers are equally interested in. One station here completely eliminated sports from their 5:00 news because almost no one watching that newscast showed any interest in sports.
However, the industry has pretty much settled on 50% news, 25% weather and 25% sports, just as the soft drink industry has pretty much settled on 12 oz. cans, 1/2 liter and 2 liter bottles, and the auto industry has pretty much settled on four wheels. Not to say that it will never change, only that there will have to be a compelling reason to change.