Only 10% of U.S. adults ages 18–24 watched local TV news in the past week, compared with 64% of adults 65 and older — a 54-point generational gap, according to a survey released Thursday.
The Future Of TV Live Report from Ring Digital, is based on a September poll of 1,376 U.S. adults weighted to Census age and gender data, also found daily television viewing at 31% among 18- to 24-year-olds versus 81% among those 65 and older. Founder Brian Ring said the problem for local broadcasters is not only pay-TV decline but that younger viewers are forming a different relationship with news and television.
The report estimates 108 million U.S. adults watch news video on phones daily. Among mobile news-video viewers, Facebook and YouTube Shorts each reached 46%, TikTok 37%, and Instagram Reels 33%.
The finding echoes a long-running claim in radio: that Generation Z and Generation Alpha rarely use FM and may barely know AM exists. That radio argument remains debated.
The new video data is sharper on one point — young people who do consume local news video are largely not doing it on a television set during a traditional newscast. Among those who did watch a local newscast, 35% last saw it on pay TV, 18% on social media or YouTube, 13% on a free streaming app, and 7% on a station’s own app.
A separate Medill Local News Initiative survey of Chicago-area consumers showed a similar pattern: 29% of 18- to 29-year-olds used television for local news often or always in 2026, versus 67% of those 60 and older. Television use for local news overall fell from 52% in 2024 to 47% in 2026; radio dropped from 34% to 25%. Smartphone use rose to 67%. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 44% said they get local news daily from content creators, and daily local-news consumption in that age group rose to 43% from 32% a year earlier.
Younger audiences have not abandoned local information. They have moved it to phones, social video, station apps, and creators. Local TV still inherits older viewers who treat the 6 p.m. broadcast as habit. Building the next generation requires meeting them where they already watch — short-form and on-demand video — rather than assuming they will eventually sit down in front of a television.