For government access programmers, as we work hard to put on hours of live public meeting coverage, get those shows on the air and keep that equipment working, we may sometimes stop and wonder if anyone is out there watching? The answer overwhelmingly is yes! And, overall, viewers believe that government access channels provide good quality programming and provide a useful, informational service. 

This article makes conclusions about government access channels based upon evaluating the statistically valid results of over fifteen random sample telephone surveys from channels around the country. Although size, budget and other factors vary from channel to channel, and not every survey asked the same questions, there are some conclusions that can be made. 

The lower the channel number, the higher the awareness of the channel. This may seem obvious and the channel surveys bear it out. Those channels on channel number 13 and lower have significantly more channel awareness by viewers. Tucson, AZ tops it on Channel 12 with 97% awareness. The lowest awareness percentage for a channel under channel number 13 was 61%. It also makes sense that those who have channels under channel number 13 and are next to broadcast channels have a better chance of being surfed and viewed. It would also appear that channels that have been around longer tend to have greater awareness than newer channels. And that channels more fully programmed have greater awareness as well. 

Channels in the channel number 14 to 26 have an awareness range from a low of 34% with the top number, 66%, going to KOCT in Oceanside, CA on channel 19. This points out the importance of channel location to gaining viewers as evidenced by the next conclusion below. 

Viewers find programming on government channels mainly by channel surfing. In Denver, CO, and San Francisco, CA, 67% of the viewers find programs by channel surfing. The numbers go up to 82% in Tucson, AZ. Channel surfing outshines any other method for viewers to find our shows to watch. This should not be a surprise to us. Many of us lack the resources to do massive amounts of promos, advertising and marketing to promote our channels.  

What does this tell us? We need to be utilizing newspaper listings, Internet listings, program guides, and on-screen guides as much as possible so our viewers can know what programs are on when. And, make good use of your channel time, don’t have dead air time and consider doing lots of on-air promotion of your shows. Make sure your logo and channel name is prominent on your channel so people know who they’re watching. Ask yourself the question, if a viewer casually surfed by, how long would it be before they knew the name of the channel they were watching?  

If anything, negotiating and keeping a good channel location is essential to the long term success of a government cable channel and is worth fighting for in a franchise renewal. And, it may be more productive to have fewer channels with better channel locations than more channels with high channel numbers.  

Government channels appear to have lots of regular viewers. In Tacoma, WA, 81% of cable subscribers watch Tacoma Television once a week or more. Glendale, CA has 58% watching once a week or more, Tampa, FL has 32%, Oak Park Village, IL has 22%, and Redondo Beach, CA and Santa Monica, CA have 17%. When you take into account how many channels we are competing with for viewers, this is impressive. Hey, I never watch ESPN Classic so even having 17% weekly viewers in Santa Monica says something! 

City Council Meetings are number one! Yes, Council meetings rule! Without exception, they are the most watched program on government access channels. Approximately seven out of eight view them in Tampa, FL with Richmond, CA with 73% and Cerritos, CA with 71% following the closest behind. Even with channels that have lower percentages, City Council meetings are still the top program mentioned by viewers in a survey.  So, keep your public meeting coverage looking good, sounding good and playing back reliably. It is the program that your channel is most identified with even if you like doing the news show, sports or magazine show more!! 

Viewers value government access channels. In Fullerton, CA, 69% and in Denver, CO, 68% felt that the channel was important to have available. 64% in Tampa, FL feel the channel is a valuable service. 56% in Redondo Beach, CA and 50% in Tacoma, WA think the channel is a useful source of information.  

Prime time is the right time to get viewers. Most viewing of government access channels happens during prime time hours from roughly 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the evening. San Francisco, CA found that Tuesday and Thursday night prime time was when they had the most viewers. In Tucson, AZ it is Monday and Tuesday nights prime time that has the highest viewership. In Tampa, FL, 51.8% of their viewership is in prime time and in Richmond, CA 50.9% watch during prime time. Las Vegas, NV found that 52% of their viewership came during prime time and weekends. So, even if NBC boasts that it owns Thursday nights, you may own it too for your viewers!!! 

People like bulletin boards. Ever wonder if people are watching your bulletin board? They appear to be watching and wanting even more! In Glendale, CA, 37% wanted to see more of their bulletin board service. And, in San Francisco, CA, 60% rated the bulletin board as useful. So, keep those text and graphic messages coming! 

Government Access program quality is perceived as high quality. In two cities that asked the question, the quality ratings for programs came back high! In Santa Monica, CA, 70% rated the program quality as good or excellent, and in Tucson, AZ, 65% gave that same rating to their programming.  In Moreno Valley, CA, 59% are satisfied with the channel.

Government access channels are viewed as “informational”. In surveys that asked, the top word that viewers described government channels as was “informative” or “informational”. This is our niche and what people know us for, possibly we could build our brand or identity more on this. We may never be known as entertainment, but it’s important to know what our identity is.  

What viewers want more of varies from community to community. There is no clear answer to what kinds of shows viewers want to see on our channel. It varies with the community. In San Diego County, CA, viewers want more health, environmental and outdoor recreational programs. In Las Vegas, NV, they want more special event coverage, arts, culture, nutrition and health programming. Denver, CO viewers would like to see more dining, nightlife, outdoor life, parks, activities and culture programming.  

Thoughts for the Future 

Based on a review of these surveys, it would clearly be helpful if government access channels would adopt several standardized questions for their viewership surveys. A suggested sample survey can be found on scannatoa.org. that give questions that have been developed for everyone to use. Such collaboration would allow NATOA to gather survey information that can be compared more easily, have more data to work with and allow us to make stronger conclusions. Over time, the surveys could be gathered and compared with more comprehensive results that can be used by everyone. 

While each channel that conducted their own survey got benefits for themselves, the collective survey results are encouraging to all of us. We are providing a valuable service to the community that is well used. The results, however, do point to several strategies we can be using to increase viewership and develop long term audiences for government access channels. 

Thanks to the following channels for providing survey data: 

Cerritos, CA, Denver, CO, Glendale, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Moreno Valley, CA,

Oak Park, IL, Oceanside, CA, Redondo Beach, CA, Richmond, CA, San Diego County, CA, San Francisco, CA, Santa Monica, CA, Tacoma, WA, Tampa, FL, Tucson, AZ

And Communications Support Group, Inc. and ETROK Research.

LINKS:
CCTV in Tampa, FL did a viewership survey in Fall 2001.

Here’s the survey from Oak Park, IL

Here’s some of Tacoma, WA’s data 

CTN in San Diego County, CA does an on-line viewer survey. 

Here’s the City and County of Denver, CO viewer survey 

Here is a summary of the results from KCLV, City of Las Vegas, NV survey

Murfreesboro, Tennessee recently conducted a viewership survey with very positive results!

Here’s a sample survey that we’d like to suggest that everyone use as many of these questions as is for their surveys. This way we can more easily compare results with each other in the future. Thanks to David Korte at Etrok for putting this together. 

Here’s an article on how to conduct telephone surveys courtesy of David Korte at Etrok.

	back to NATOA Journal
	1. Why Government Access? by Sue Buske and Bunnie Riedel
	2. I didn't know you did that: services to make your operation indispensable by Brad Clark
	3. Is anyone watching? by Robin Gee with David Korte
	4. Generating Revenue for your government access channel by Nancy Johnson
	5. Is Commercial Speech Permitted on Government Access Channels? by Neil Lehto
	6. Implementing Captioning on your government access channel by Darren Doerschel
	7. Spanish language programming for PEG channels by Ramon Torres
	8. DC's VOD by Darryl Anderson and Dan Westman
	9. Civic Media Build Social Capital: The Ethics of Government Access in the Marketplace of Ideas by Sean McLaughlin