Honey, I Shrunk the TV Market

The Hartford/New Haven market remains the 30th largest television market in the country in the latest A.C. Nielsen television viewership ratings, but as reported on WFSB-TV news anchor Dennis House’s blog, the market lost nearly 10,000 TV households in the past year. For the 2011-12 season Nielsen listed 1,006,280 households, and 996,550 for the 2012-13 season for the Hartford/New Haven market.    The rankings of the top 38 markets by size remained unchanged from a year ago, even as some gained and others lost household viewership.  The markets just behind Hartford/New Haven - Kansas City, Columbus,  Salt Lake City and Milwaukee - also lost viewers.

The local broadcast market, which does not include Fairfield County (Nielsen includes it with New York) was not alone in the Northeast in diminishing viewer numbers:  #1 New York,  #7 Boston, #53 Providence,  # 113 Springfield, # 80 Portland,  and # 95 Burlington, VT also suffered losses, but not as dramatic as the drop in Hartford/New Haven.

House reports that in 1986 the Hartford/New Haven market was #21 in the nation by viewing households.   By 1992 it had slipped to #23, and #27 a few years later, then #30.

Moving in the opposite direction, markets including  #2 Los Angeles (gained 50,000 homes,)  #9 Atlanta, # 10 Houston,  #71 Honolulu, even #11 Detroit.    In addition, markets 12-17 all grew:  Seattle, Phoenix, Tampa, Minneapolis, Miami and Denver.

Local News Buffeted by Technology, Ownership, Regulators & Courts

The way in which people get their news information continues to evolve rapidly, as reflected in data highlighted by the National Conference on Citizenship, reporting that 23% of adults nationwide get the latest news on at least two mobile devices – and noting that 44% have smart phones and 18% own a tablet – numbers that will surely continue to grow. Of those with digital devices, 70% get their news from a desktop or laptop, 51% from a smartphone and 56% from a tablet device.  The increasing impact of mobile devices and social media in the dissemination of news is outlined at the organization’s – you guessed it – website.

LED BY WFSB

Among those tuning to local television in the region recently, Hartford’s WFSB Channel 3 had a strong Nielsen ratings period for the month of July, according to The Laurel.  Eyewitness News was ranked #1 in the market for each of the station’s newscasts beginning at 4:30 AM and holding top stops from 5-6 AM and 6-7 AM and then at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 PM.

COURANT?

Over at FOX Connecticut, which physically relocated to a joint operation with The Hartford Courant on Broad Street in Hartford when CT1 Media was formed by Tribune Co., owner of both media outlets, the future continues to unfold more outside than in Connecticut.  News reports regarding the long-running Tribune Co. bankruptcy case reached a key milestone last month when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey in Delaware said he would approve a plan that will transfer ownership of the media company to a group of hedge funds and banks.

If and when that occurs, new owners would like move to get the company out of Chapter 11, and seek approval from the Federal Communications Commission in Washington to transfer Tribune's TV licenses to them. Because Tribune Co. owns newspapers and broadcast stations in several markets, including Hartford, the FCC must grant waivers from its restrictions on ownership of multiple media outlets in the same city.

Before Tribune Co., which owns 23 TV stations, went private in 2007, the FCC granted a permanent waiver to the company for its Chicago media holdings. The FCC also granted temporary waivers in Los Angeles, New York, South Florida and Hartford.  But new waivers are required with a change in ownership, and some are urging filed the FCC to deny Tribune Co.'s waiver requests, according to media reports.

Stricter Laws For Teen Driving Bringing Life-saving Results

Connecticut is observing the four-year anniversary of the state’s adoption of tougher teen driving laws, and the  Department of Motor Vehicles is reporting that the laws are having the intended effect. A series of high-profile crashes in 2007 triggered a campaign that a year later brought new laws with longer periods of passenger restrictions, an 11 p.m. curfew time, stiffer penalties for violations, extended training requirements and a mandated parent-teen information session about safe driving.

According to state officials, the new laws that in 2008 brought increased restrictions, tougher training requirements and expensive penalties for violations, are credited for a steady reduction in 16- and 17-year-old drivers’ deaths.  The number of teen drivers killed in crashes fell from a high of seven in 2007 — the year before the new laws started — to one for last year.

Transportation study researchers in Trumbull, Preusser Research Group, found that Connecticut has seen a strong reduction- more than the national average - for teen driver crashes. Comparing crashes before and after the passage of new laws, Preusser found a 34 percent reduction in 16 and 17-year-olds’ crashes in Connecticut compared to a 26-percent national average.

Among the leaders of the effort to improve Connecticut's teen driving laws was Hartford attorney Tim Hollister, whose sone Reid died in a one-car accident on I-84 in December 2006.  Hollister served on a gubernatorial task force whose recommendations led to the new, stricter laws.

Under Connecticut law, 16-and 17-year-olds, for the first 6 months after obtaining a driver license, may only drive with:

• Parents or legal guardian at least one of whom holds a valid driver license
• Licensed driving instructor or
• Person providing instruction who is at least 20 years old, has held a license for at least 4 years with no suspensions during the last 4 years

For the second 6 months, may drive with the above people and may also drive with immediate family (e.g., brothers, and sisters).  And until 18 ^th birthday, may not drive between hours of 11 p.m. – 5 a.m. unless it is for:

• employment
• school
• religious activities
• medical necessity

Unaffiliated Can't Vote on Primary Day, But Numbers Grow

Primary day 2012 in Connecticut is now history (not including the recount in House District 5 in Hartford/Windsor) but it is worth a look at not only the winners and losers, but the changes in the voting rolls that may have ramifications in November.  According to the office of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, since January 1, 2012, there have been 60,146 new voters registered in towns and cities across Connecticut. The breakdown:  26,758 registered as unaffiliated (and as such they could not vote in the party primaries), 19,827 Democratic and 12,256 Republican.  The statewide registration totals:  818,545 unaffiliated, 724,110 Democratic and 413,470 Republican.

Data Visualization Images Seek to Define Political Season

For an interesting look-back at the 2012 session of the Connecticut state legislature, there is the data visualization designed by Readily Apparent, a Connecticut-based company founded by Brendan Hanrahan and David Smith as a means of visually conveying insights that can be gained with the use of relational data designs and dynamic graphics. Their areas of focus include Data Visualization - compelling visuals, tables, animations to reveal the meaning of information – as well as data design and management, legislative tracking and analysis and opposition research for candidates.

Their clickable tree-map gives a “30,000-foot view” of activity by policy area for the 2012 Connecticut General Assembly session--with click-thru drill-downs to related bills and details.  For legislative researchers – not to mention candidates – gathering basic data has never been this easy.  Additional data visualizations are on the company’s website.

Audience for EPSN morning simulcast larger with TV, radio

An Arbitron-ESPN study of the audience of the ESPN RADIO-ESPN2 morning show "Mike and Mike in the Morning" showed most fans listening to the show on radio or watching on TV, but those using both spending "much more time" with the show. Among the study's findings were that the show reached4.7 million weekly in November 2011 through April2012, with radio delivering 2.3 million exclusive weekly listeners, cable adding 1.6 million exclusive viewers, and 800,000 using both radio and TV.  Dual media users were 17% of the audience but responsible for 28% of weekly usage, according to the results of the cross-platform study by ESPN and Arbitron Inc.

The cross-platform study detailed how fans in markets measured by the Arbitron Portable People Meter™(PPM^®) service listened to the ESPN sport talk duo on radio and watched the simulcast on ESPN2 cable television.

Also among the findings:

• Radio remains the quintessential out of home medium. 59 percent of the Persons 6+ average quarter hour audience for radio listens outside of the home.
• Only 5 percent of the average audience delivered by cable TV came from out from home locations.

Young Entrepreneurs Confident Their Businesses Will Thrive; New Competition Starts

Expectations for the U.S. economy declined overall, but there is a significant optimism gap between older entrepreneurs and those between the ages of 18 and 40, according to the third-quarter Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index, compiled by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom.  Specifically,  98 percent of the 18- to 30-year-olds and 83 percent of the 31- to 40-year-olds are confident or very confident that their businesses will realize greater profitability in the next 12 months. Overall, almost 40 percent of startup owners now believe the economy will deteriorate over the next 12 months, an increase from 36 percent in the second-quarter survey and 31 percent in the first-quarter survey. Entrepreneurs who were somewhat confident in future profitability fell from 43 percent in second quarter to 40 percent in the third-quarter survey, and those who lacked confidence in improved profitability edged up from 18 percent to 21 percent.

However, 30 percent of startup owners said they plan to hire additional staff in 2012, a slight decrease from 33 percent in the March survey.  Representatives of Kauffman said that state-by-state breakdowns of the data were not available because the sample size would be too small to be statistically significant.

A week ago, Connecticut headquartered Pitney Bowes Inc. launched the Pitney Bowes Entrepreneurial Competition, an innovation-focused contest targeting startup and entrepreneurial organizations. The Company also announced its participation in the sponsorship program conducted by the Stamford Innovation Center, which provides startup-centric programs to accelerate entrepreneurial efforts.

The Pitney Bowes Entrepreneurial Competition is designed to identify and drive the development of growth businesses that can leverage three of the Company's technology areas: Spectrum(R) Spatial analytics and location intelligence; the secure evidencing platform; and the Connect+(R) web-enabled digital envelope and mail printing system.

Winners of the Entrepreneurial Competition will receive one year free utilization of office space and internet access in Pitney Bowes's world headquarters, located in Stamford, Conn.;  access to the three aforementioned Pitney Bowes technology platforms corresponding to their submission, including Pitney Bowes' technical and business expertise; and an introduction and access to the Stamford Innovation Center, and their mentoring and coaching services.

The Pitney Bowes Entrepreneurial Competition runs through September 7, 2012. Information is available at www.pb.com/competition .

More Young Adults Living With Parents in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Than Anywhere in USA

Battered by the economics of the Great Recession, an increasing number of young adults are taking longer to leave home or are returning to life with mom and dad after having previously moved out.  Those are the findings of a new national study, by the US2010 Project.  In reviewing the 100 largest municipal regions in the nation, the study found that Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk was home to the highest percentage of young people living with parents (34 percent).  The region also had one of the lowest percent married (only 29 percent) and one of the highest percent unemployed (8 percent) among 25-29-year-olds.  Its median income was not among the lowest but the cost of living is relatively high because of its proximity to New York City, the report said.  Also making the top ten in the percentage of young adults living back at their parents home, with similar demographics, were New York, Los Angeles, El Paso, Wilkes Barre/Scranton and Miami.

The examination of the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest percentage living with parents revealed several common factors:  high unemployment rates, low marriage rates, low median income and more young adults with a high school education or less and fewer with a college education or more, and a larger share who are either Latino or Asian.

Nationally, the number of young adults ages 20 to 34 who lived with their parents jumped from 17 percent in 1980 to 24percent in 2007-09, the period of the study (and the Great Recession).  As reported in USA Today, the study found that the rise was sharpest among those under 25 – a new high of 43 percent vs. 32 percent in 1980.  The only segment not affected:  young adults with graduate degrees.

The report noted that delays in marriage were a contributing factor in the findings, but the economic impact of the recession was the central driving force behind the numbers.

Fewer New Voters Than in 2008; Young Voters Lead Way

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has reported that 45,191 new voters have registered to vote in Connecticut since the beginning of 2012, bringing the total number of Connecticut registered voters to 1,962,905, just a month before statewide and local primaries.   The number of newly registered voters this year trails 2008 figures at the same time;  in 2008 more than 100,000 new voters had registered.  Similar to 2008, however, young voters are the largest group of new voters to register so far in 2012 with 18,952 voters between the ages of 18-29 registering in the last seven months. There is one month to register with either the Democratic or Republican party if individuals wish to vote in the upcoming statewide primary on Aug. 14, when there will be at least 24 primaries for federal and state elections. Primaries will be held for Republican and Democratic voters for the offices of United States Senator, Congress, General Assembly, Registrar of Voters and Probate Judge.

According to the Secretary of the State’s Office, there are 720,161 registered Democrats, 411,062 Republicans, and 817,432 registered as unaffiliated. Among the 45,191 newly registered voters since Jan. 1, 13,851 registered as Democrats, 9,256 registered as Republicans and 21,091, registered as unaffiliated.

CT Ranks #12 in USA in Foreign Born Residents

California, at 27.2 percent, New York, at 22.2 percent, and New Jersey, at 21 percent, are the only states with more than 20 percent of their residents having been born in foreign nations.  According to data from the Pew Hispanic Center 2010 American Community Survey, rounding out the top 10 states in percentage of foreign born citizens is Nevada (18.8 percent), Hawaii (17.9 percent), Texas (16.4 percent), Massachusetts (14.9 percent), Maryland (13.9 percent) Illinois (13.7 percent), and Arizona (13.4 percent).  Connecticut comes in at #12 with 13.2 percent of its residents being foreign-born, just behind Washington State’s 13.3 percent and tied with the District of Columbia.

The Migration Policy Institute notes that the largest share of the foreign-born population in Connecticut were from Latin America.  Of the total foreign-born population in Connecticut in 2010, 3.6 percent were from Africa, 22.0 percent from Asia, 28.5 percent from Europe, 42.1 percent from Latin America (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean), 3.4 percent from Northern America (Canada, Bermuda, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon).  The top three countries of birth of the foreign born in Connecticut were Poland, Jamaica, and India.

The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide.