In Times of Emergency, Radio-TV Dominate

The National Association of Broadcasters revealed new research Wednesday from Morning Consult confirming the critical role that radio and TV broadcasters play in times of emergency. Indeed, the polling shows that in emergency situations, Americans turn to broadcast TV and radio above all other media by a factor of nearly four to one.

In an online survey of 2,251 adults 18+ conducted from March 16 – March 19, 2017, Morning Consult found that nearly six in 10 adults are most likely to use local radio and TV stations and/or broadcast networks for updates in the event of an emergency. While 57 percent of respondents selected local radio, TV and/or broadcast networks as the media of choice during dangerous weather or emergency conditions, other sources of media rated much lower: text messages (15 percent), online news sources (14 percent) and cable news (12 percent).

Morning Consult’s polling comes as NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny testified Wednesday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on emergency alerting capabilities. Matheny’s testimony will highlight the broadcast TV industry’s planned voluntary transition to Next Generation Television, which will include dramatic improvements in local TV public safety capabilities.