‘NBC Nightly News’ anchor Tom Llamas on why the evening news still matters
On ‘The Poynter Report Podcast,’ Llamas talks about news as coffee — familiar, habitual and deeply personal
Once upon a time, the evening network news — with legendary anchors such as Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw — attracted a combined 60 or 70 million viewers.
These days, that number is significantly smaller. But it remains meaningful.
Today’s combined audience for the evening news on ABC, CBS and NBC is in the 15 to 20 million range. And in a world of cable and streaming, that many people sitting down to watch the evening news still makes it appointment television for news consumers.
That was among the many topics I discussed with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas in the latest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast.”
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem