Hofstra University in New York probably has the most credible University program for TV and Radio if you think you need to pay to learn the business. They do an annual survey of how many TV and Radio stations carry “local” News.
Well, some data is probably better than no data. There are around 13,500 licensed radio stations if you ignore simulcasts and add in LPFM
They randomly sent out 3,704 survey forms, but only got back 313 responses from people covering covering 868 stations, reflecting “clustering” where one person manages a group of stations. It’s a safe bet stations with no local news don’t have a local news director and are very unlikely to respond to the survey. The author points out that means the data might be misleading.
The hierarchy of what stations do for “local news” from best to worst goes something like this:
– Carries no network news, at least during drive time. Has a staff of reporters who actually find news (perhaps working for a related TV station or newspaper). WSB, WGN and WBT come to mind
– carries a minute or two of network news and bails out early doing a live local newscast (and commercials) for the rest of the break (usually six minutes on talk stations)
– carries network news, followed by a recorded newscast made around 6 AM by reading and paraphrasing the local newspaper – no audio of newsmakers, few details, no independent news gathering. Sometimes the news might be a week or two old. Nobody cares
– regional news sharing – several states (North Carolina, Texas and Michigan for sure) have broadcasts covering the news of the entire state. Not local, but much more useful than Fox News talking about Box Office revenue
– 2 minutes of network news and 4 minutes of commercials running unattended with no news staff
– no news at all
The old school “full service” AM stations mostly fit the first category. They don’t have to join the network at :06 which gives time to make it worthwhile to do real local news. Since they are selling to local sponsors like funeral homes, they don’t need 26 minutes of PSAs and colon spackle flushing ads an hour. The local news often blends in with the topic that the local host will be talking about… “the dog pound reports they are going to have to start killing puppies if you don’t adopt one…”