Much of what you will read in this book may startle you. If you are a news professional, it may counter what you have been taught in school or learned on the job. It may even seem to contradict what you assume from watching local TV news yourself. Why are our conclusions so dramatically different from the accepted truths about local TV news? It is important to consider from where the received wisdom of local TV news comes. Much of it is supported by anecdotes or practices handed down from bosses. Some of the conventions that are accepted truisms may be correct, but some may just be the way things “always” have been done. So from this point on, take all those things you “know” about TV news and put them aside. What you are reading uses hard data to reach an entirely new set of conclusions about news production and audience response. Among them:

• Local stations that take the trouble to produce higher-quality newscasts attract more viewers than other stations, even taking into account other factors that increase ratings, such as the lead-in program, time slot, station size, and network affiliation.

• Higher-quality news also attracts the demographic groups that advertisers seek.

• Many newsroom decisions that are made in the name of efficiency actually drive viewers away.

• Story topic, on which most audience research is based, is a poor indicator of ratings success.

• Newscasts that run longer, more detailed lead stories attract larger audiences.

• Flashing lights, yellow police tape, and so-called eyeball-grabbing visuals do not by themselves attract viewers.