Study: TV News Tops for Hurricane Dorian Information

As of September 1st, the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane season yielded four named storms.

The fourth storm, Dorian, turned out to be the biggest and most powerful of them all, wreaking havoc on the Northern Bahamas and threatening the east coast of the United States from Miami to Norfolk. Proving to be slow-moving and unpredictable, states along the east coast made preparations for a potential catastrophe brought on by Hurricane Dorian.

TVB engaged Dynata to survey media usage related to Hurricane Dorian as it progressed northeastward, threatening the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. The analysis revealed that local broadcast TV news was overwhelmingly preferred as the go-to source for hurricane coverage over all other news sources.

Among the highlights:

• News Sources: 84% of respondents used local TV news for information about Hurricane Dorian.
• Time Spent: At 3 hours and 24 minutes, respondents spent more time with local television than any other source, more than twice than the time spent with the 2nd highest platform.
• Information Source for Hurricane preparation: 75% of respondents chose local TV for information when preparing to face severe weather.
• Trust: Local TV news assets were the most trusted source for coverage and information. 94% of respondents agreed that local TV news was the most trusted, while local TV news websites and apps were the second most trusted source at 88%. Social media was the lowest at 57%.
• The top reason cited for watching local TV news: respondents wanted information that pertained to their area.
• The top reason cited for using local TV news websites and app: respondents trust the news from their station’s website/app.

Source: Dynata Hurricane Dorian Weather Survey. 9/3/19-9/6/19 Adults 18+. Time Spent between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m.