In radio, it’s pretty clear that not all stations are going to run local news. But do these stations really know how valuable it is to them? And to their community?

A listener who loves a radio station may know exactly when to tune in for their hit of news, weather and traffic, then turn the station off, or they will stay with them their entire drive (or day, for sure during breakfast or dinner time).

I will wear earbuds and tune in to my favorite station, TV or radio, or even a podcast while doing stuff around my house. And a new survey by the Radio Television, Digital News Association (RTNDA), says listening to local radio news is actually up this year.

As a matter of fact the majority of stations surveyed were running local news. And here we thought it was a dying industry. But no! In fact, the same survey one year ago had found 10% less stations were running local news. (Not only is it a benefit to the station management/owners, it was more of a benefit for their community. In other words, you can make money off of running local news, and you can be a local rockstar at the same time.)

Overall in this year’s RTNDA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey they found a whopping 75% of locally owned stations ran local news; and just under 72% of non-local owners also run local news.

So whether you have folks in house, or serving up local content from outside the station, local content wins, every time!