Content area
Full text
KNOWN AS HAMPTON ROADS, THE NORFOLK-PORTSIVlOUTH-NEWPORT NEWS REGION of Virginia includes many culturally and economically diverse areas, including the historically significant communities of Williamsburg and Yorktown. The popular shoreline town of Virginia Beach continues to be a major tourist attraction, providing a solid boost to the local economy.
In addition to tourism, the military is a major contributor in terms of employment and revenue, and its presence has a direct impact on the local media. Manufacturing is also a significant component of the market's economic vitality. Newport News is the largest shipbuilding city in the world. Every branch of the U.S. armed forces has a base in the area, including Naval Station Norfolk, die largest naval base in the country. Five of die six Navy aircraft carriers based on the East Coast are located in the Norfolk DMA. And because members of the military tend to be younger, the average age of the market's residents is just 32.
Although area media outlets have grown accustomed to regular deployments of troops from the various bases here, the war in Iraq did hurt the market in the second quarter, even though fewer troops were deployed from the area than were sent to the Gulf War in 1991. When troops ship out, their families often pack up and leave the market as well. The loss of the troops and their families means fewer people consuming media in Norfolk, which leads advertisers to generally scale back their spending.
"In the past, when that happened, the local economy just crashed and burned," says Mario Hewitt, vp and general manager of WVECTV; Belo Corp.'s ABC affiliate. "This time around, it held steady." While the second quarter felt the brunt of the pullback, local media executives say, die brevity of the war and speedy return of many of the troops and their families has resulted in a solid rebound in the third quarter so far. In addition, the Navy recently granted 5 percent pay increases, giving sailors based in the area a little extra disposable income and again spurring spending in local media.
The Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News television market ranks No. 41 in the nation, with 677,610 TV households. LIN Television's NBC affiliate WAVY-TV and WVEC are the top news outlets in the...