War Fatigue Hits 24 Hour News Channels
The prospect of a long, drawn out conflict in Iraq appears to be prompting viewers to turn away from the extensive coverage of events on 24 hour TV news channels.
The latest live overnight figures from BARB show that audiences for Sky News, BBC News 24 and the ITV News Channel have steadily declined over the last week, as viewer apathy towards the conflict gradually takes hold.
On the 21 March, the day of the “shock and awe” bombing of Baghdad, Sky News attracted a record audience, with its average daily reach exceeding 6 million. However, by Monday 31 March this figure had fallen to just over 4 million as demand for up-to-the-minute information appeared to dwindle.
Analysis of share of viewing across Sky News, BBC News 24 and the ITV News Channel between the 28 and 31 March reveals a similar picture, with each of the 24 hour news providers seeing audiences suffer in the face of what has been described as “war fatigue” (see below).
This increasing viewer apathy has been attributed to the fact that audiences had initially been led to expect a short, sharp war that would be over in a matter of days. However, the conflict now looks set to last a lot longer and there has already been intense media scrutiny of the tragic friendly fire incidents and coalition casualties.
David Peters, broadcasting planning director at Carat, said: “It is a sad reflection of the audience, but the level of interest was very high at the start of the war. However, many people now expect the conflict to drag on for months and interest is tailing off.”
The declining viewing figures for extended news bulletins has prompted speculation that news coverage of events from the frontline maybe reduced across all media platforms as the conflict continues. However, it is unlikely that nervous advertisers will reinstate any postponed campaigns until there is a definite conclusion to the crisis.
According to Peters: “Certain categories of advertisers such as tourist boards and travel operators will not return their campaigns until the conflict is over due to the negative effects of the war has on their brand image.”
The majority of marketers are still exercising caution during this time of uncertainty and commentators have stressed the importance of being in tune with the public mood. Opinion is extremely divided over the war and according to Peters: “Making any commercial connections either for or against the war is a very dangerous strategy, which risks alienating consumers.”
Internet news sites have experienced a huge surge in traffic as consumers appear to be turning away from TV to follow the unfolding conflict (see Surge In Traffic To News Sites On Outbreak Of War). The latest research from Hitwise suggest that this trend shows no signs of slowing, with traffic to news sites rising by 6% in the past two weeks.
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk BSkyB: 0207 705 3000 www.sky.com ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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