Media Will Miss This Election

As we approach the presidential election tomorrow, public interest in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — and subsequently news coverage of the two candidates as well as advertising rates — is at an all-time high for most media companies.

But, reports CNBC, though the 2016 election has led to record-breaking viewership and traffic numbers for most media companies, that gravy train won't last. Experts are skeptical that people are permanently interested in politics.

The top news websites saw a 13 percent increase in traffic this September compared to the year prior, according to Adobe Analytics. Compared to September 2012, the sites saw a 59 percent lift in traffic, Adobe said. The Washington Post's website in particular had its highest trafficked month ever in October, with 66.9 million visitors, according to ComScore. It also recorded 770 million page views, a 95 percent increase year over year.

And, it's not just websites that are benefiting. In October, Fox News led the three major cable news networks with an audience of 3.1 million during prime time according to Nielsen, a 72 percent increase from last year. October was CNN's most watched month since 2008 in total daytime programming among adults 25 to 54. CNN also finished first among the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic, up 131 percent since last October.

Last week's release of Nielsen’s portable people meter (PPM) ratings for October revealed that News/Talk stations are continuing to grow their audience, as has been the case over much of the past year. This month’s 9.9% share of audience among all listeners 6 and older is a sharp uptick from a year ago (9.1% in October 2015), and represents significant growth for the format from the summer months of June and July, when News/Talk was a full share point lower (8.9% in June).

These results show a rising tide for News/Talk, with audience growth happening across the board. And while this growth is expected during a presidential election year, it’s worth noting that the 25-54 audience to the format reached its highest point this month (7.3%) in more than three years. News/Talk ranked second in the PPM markets in October, vaulting ahead of Country, Hot Adult Contemporary and Adult Contemporary.

Higher-than-usual numbers for news media are expected for election years, said Merrill Brown, director of the Montclair State University School of Communication and Media. The 2000 and 2008 elections especially saw ratings bumps, though not quite as high as this year.