When it comes to TV news, it’s important to win the trust of your audience and get them hooked on what they’re watching.
The media consulting firm that helped create the format that eventually became “Good Morning America” is warning TV news organizations that they need to disrupt the old model as soon as possible or risk saying “good night” to viewers and ratings.
Majid, a media consultant who has worked with television networks and stations for decades, believes local and national television news organizations need to start providing viewers with more context, depth and emotional comfort, rather than relying on breaking news and dozens of star anchors and correspondents.
“We are fully in the era of ‘context’ and completely out of the ‘breaking news’ era,” Magid Chief Operating Officer Jamie Spencer said in a recent interview. “That doesn’t mean breaking news isn’t important. It’s an expectation. It’s just become a completely perfunctory attribute that doesn’t drive brand loyalty or consumption.”
Instead, instead of trying to reach as many people as possible, news stations need to think about how to keep the viewers they already have for longer periods of time, the executive said. It means focusing more intensively on new kinds of attributes.
“Successful and emerging brands align around attributes such as insightful, thoughtful, reassuring, timely, calming, and innovative,” he says. Words that are less relevant to audiences include “‘balanced,’ ‘explanatory,’ ‘authoritative,’ ‘substantive,’ ‘substantive,’ ‘reliable,’ ‘confident,’ ‘accurate,’ and ‘clear.’ So these are real tenets of journalism,” Spencer says. “That’s not to say they aren’t fundamentally important, but it’s highly unlikely that brands built around them will break through in the future.”
As TV news grapples with some serious challenges, Magid offers recommendations. Advertisers remain wary of the format, worried that appearing alongside loud anchors and scenes related to news about war and climate change will drive away potential customers. Meanwhile, younger audiences are more readily using digital venues like TikTok and YouTube and spending more time with influencers who don’t necessarily have formal journalism backgrounds or understand the ethics of reporting and reporting.
Some say TV news remains influential. A new report from VAB, a trade group representing television networks in consultation with Madison Avenue, says people in key consumer categories – people ages 35 to 54, people making more than $100,000 a year, and adults employed full-time – are watching more TV news than last year. The report is based on a December 2025 survey of 2,319 U.S. adults. The report suggests that these niche audiences are more likely to turn to TV news first than social media for breaking news.
In fact, TV news is ready to be picked up. Significant elections, such as the 2026 midterm elections, typically lead to wider viewing of news programs.
But in the long run, Spencer says, news organizations need to promote themselves not just as supporters of trusted and authoritative information, but as places where people can find more understanding and reassurance. “If you just want to monetize and grow your audience, authenticity is no longer part of it. In fact, anything that supports my personal beliefs more is more likely to garner attention to gain consumption and association with your brand.”
More and more major news organizations are working to build communities out of their current audiences. Fox Nation, the Fox News-backed streaming service, spotlights lifestyle shows, documentaries and even stand-up comedy in addition to the flagship cable station’s news programming. Versant’s MS NOW has announced plans to launch a new streaming service aimed at playing to fans of its personalities and shows.
At times like these, Spencer says, viewers trust individual anchors, influencers and creators more than news brands, and the polarized perspectives make viewers even more passionate. He cited examples such as progressive political hosts Brian Tyler Cohen and MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow, as well as conservative hosts Dan Bongino and Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Just as digital influencers can build large audiences without a fully equipped studio or great visuals, Majid suggests that news organizations can do the same. “There is no correlation between overhead costs and perceived quality,” he says, and traditional broadcasters can benefit by emulating that model. Majid began encouraging local news organizations to bet on one primary “quarterback” rather than developing dozens of different news stars.
And news organizations need to think about capturing the most engaged audiences, not the largest. “The goal is to get one more thing, right? One more commercial break, one more minute spent, one more pageview, one more episode for this series,” Spencer says. “Building an emotional connection and trying to stay with that one thing longer can be a better way to monetize than trying to get more.” Times change, but the idea was “If you offer something to everyone, everyone will come, right?” he asks. Today he says: “I just don’t stand up.”
