NewsMcNabb

Broadcast news, what news?: An Austin newscast analysis

You’re watching the 6 o’clock news. The weather is over. It’s still going to be hot. Shocking. Now, you’re waiting to watch the sports story teased earlier in the newscast.

Sports should start right after the next commercial. Nope. Another commercial. Then, another, and another. Only the strong, motivated or stubborn survive to see a smattering of sports.

Let’s get things straight. First of all, you’re not watching the 6 o'clock news. You are watching the 5:59 p.m. news. All Austin stations with news at that hour cut away from network promotional spots somewhere around 5:59 p.m. when the network anchor says, “Goodbye.”

Next, you’re not really watching the news, weather and sports. You’re watching lots of commercials or promotional spots, most of them after the weather report. All this is according to a content analysis of KEYE TV (CBS), KVUE (ABC), and KXAN TV (NBC) I conducted earlier this month.

KXAN had the most commercials during the newscast averaging around 22. KEYE came in second with 19 or more. KVUE had the fewest with around 18. The majority of the commercials run after the weather.

Speaking of weather, weather is the driver. All three of the stations, know that weather is what is driving the audience forward in the newscast. Even singer/songwriter Paul Simon knew that when he penned the lyric, “I can get the news I need from the weather report” in the song “Only Living Boy in New York” in 1969 or so (“Bridge Over Troubled Water” album).

Why are there at least two weather teases (or promotions) before the weathercast even starts about 16 minutes past the hour? It's because the stations want to keep you watching past the quarter-hour mark. If they can hold on to viewers after the next quarter hour at 6:15 p.m., Nielsen gives the station credit for the second quarter hour in the ratings.

So, before 6:15 p.m. or so, you’re only going to see something like four to seven commercials. After the weather, commercials explode: KXAN with 14 or more, KEYE with a dozen, and KVUE with around ten. Another question: Why do they cram these commercials in this 31-minute period? Easy. Commercials running inside the newscasts cost more.

The news ends at 6:30 p.m. right? Wrong. KXAN and KVUE end their news at 6:27, KEYE at 6:28. What fills up the time between 6:27 and 6:30? One guess — you got it, commercials!

Other than the weather, weather teases, and the commercials what are you watching?

You do get news for 10 - 12 minutes. Most of the content is reactive. Certainly, the effects of the scorching weather were the dominate stories on this day. Otherwise, there was little originality — precious little. Quita Culpepper, David Scott, and Rhonda Lee caught my eye during the period. KXAN does have a different take from the Hill Country. Every station covered the drowning, plane crash, news conference, police stories, grass fires, and the latest on Rick Perry. You’re only seeing eight to 14 stories. That’s it. Count them. It’s true.

KEYE had the most stories with 14 one night, but that was an anomaly. It was more like ten on KEYE other nights. Story count can depend on the producer who put the newscast together and of course the length of the stories. Weather is the driver, but due to our predictable summer weather, all are giving the weathercasters only about three and a half minutes. KVUE’s Mark Murray seems to get 30 seconds more.

That sports story you were waiting for could be the only story in the sportscast since sports happens last in the newscast. Poor Roger Wallace only got 40-seconds one night due to the amount of time devoted to a good cause, the Eldercare Fan Drive. Most of the time, sportscasters get only two to two-and-a-half minutes.

KEYE’s Texas Sports Nation is tricky. Texas Sports Nation starts around 20 minutes past the hour. Is it a full 10 minutes of sports? Not hardly. KEYE scatters commercials throughout the sports. The final score? About three minutes. Two and a half minutes most of the time. It’s still more than the other stations.

So, which station is doing the best job? Here are the facts. You be the judge.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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