New findings from international research and strategy firm SmithGeiger show a resurgence of linear TV over SVOD viewing during the pandemic with Americans flocking to local news.

It’s a significant bump that local TV stations can convert to a longer-term, multiplatform trend says Dr. Seth Geiger, the firm’s co-founder.

In the March 2020 survey of more than 1,300 U.S. news consumers aged 18-64, SmithGeiger found that 85% of Americans have seen their lives affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.