News Director Mock Interview
Master 30 News Director interview questions covering editorial leadership, breaking news decisions, and team management.
Question 7 of 30
How do you plan to improve our viewership and ratings?
How to Answer
Example Answer
Community Answers
Christina Erne is a meteorologist and a journalist at News 10, Albany's ABC/FOX affiliate.
Managers in the news industry are constantly concerned with increasing viewership and ratings within the community. They often track ratings each day, or even each show, and based on those numbers, they figure out how to improve the shows and news department. A good response makes the interviewer aware that the candidate knows how important it is to keep up with monitoring viewership and is constantly finding ways to get more loyal fans.
The candidate should present a few examples of how they plan on improving ratings, such as adding fresh and new content and ideas to the shows, or switching up the personalities that appear to see if viewers prefer different reporters and anchors at different times of the day.
Christina Erne is a meteorologist and a journalist at News 10, Albany's ABC/FOX affiliate.
"I understand how important ratings are, and I have experience tracking viewership each ratings period. I plan on keeping track of this often, and making adjustments in the news department accordingly. For instance, I would make sure that each month, at least two reporters have a special report to run that we can advertise, or there is at least two deep investigative pieces of the utmost importance to the locals."
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Anonymous Answer
By being more reflective of Metro Vancouver, more people will connect with our brand, not just in storytelling, but participation and relationship building in various communities we will actually do.
The reputation of the station wanes amongst diverse communities, especially after a very high-profile fallout on issues of racism.
Rachelle's Feedback
This reply is a good start, and I encourage you to dive into more detail. Also, rather than ending the reply on a critical point, try to wrap up your response on a note of hope. I have provided a starter for you below.
"I have many helpful ideas for improving viewership and ratings. First, I understand that the reputation of the station wanes amongst diverse communities, primarily after a very high-profile fallout on racism issues. I believe that we can work toward repairing this reputation by being more reflective of the issues impacting Metro Vancouver. This approach will help people to connect with our brand, not just in storytelling, but in participation and relationship building in various communities...."
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