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Like much of the world, the media landscape is grappling with significant challenges amid ongoing uncertainty. Publishers today must navigate a range of disruptions—from AI-generated search overviews that divert traffic to evolving user behavior shaped by platform changes and a growing creator economy. At the same time, revenue pressures, budget constraints, and broader economic concerns are adding another layer of complexity for sustainable growth and audience engagement.
In order to offer solutions for a path forward amid these shifting dynamics, CivicScience President and Chief Operating Officer Gretchen Tibbits shared timely insights during a recent webinar, including how audience intelligence can turn uncertainty into opportunity.
Here’s a quick recap of the webinar—and how to access an exclusive recording.
1. Forty percent of Americans spend 2+ hours daily on social media platforms, aligning with rising “second-screen” usage.
Although online traffic challenges persist, CivicScience data highlights a notable bright spot: sports and entertainment content continue to attract strong reader interest, possibly as a reprieve from fatigue surrounding economic and political news. This surge appears to be partly driven by second-screen behaviors, where individuals use a second device while watching TV. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults report consuming content on another screen while watching TV. This behavior also aligns with increased social media usage, as a growing share of Americans now spend at least two hours per day on social platforms, a sharp rise since 2021 that has held steady over the past year.
Answer our Poll: Which of the following screens do you typically spend the most time looking at in your spare time?
2. Despite the rise of AI usage by search engines, consumers largely distrust it as a source of information and content.
As publishers face declining traffic—driven in part by evolving search behaviors and, more recently, the introduction of AI-generated overviews—new data from CivicScience point to a meaningful insight: nearly 60% of U.S. adults say they distrust AI “quick answers” to news-related queries. This indicates that despite the growing presence of AI, a significant portion of consumers continue to rely on more trusted, human-centered sources for their content. For publishers, this presents a key opportunity to reinforce the value of credible, editorially-driven content in an era of increasing automation.
Use this Data: CivicScience media partners gain access to real-time audience insights like these to inform smarter strategies for engaging readers—especially in an environment of declining traffic and shifting content consumption habits.
3. Here’s how CivicScience can help.
Having a real-time pulse on your audience is critical for retaining loyal readers, attracting new ones, and delivering content that resonates. CivicScience helps publishers achieve this by:
- Optimizing Advertising: Support pre-sale efforts with audience and brand differentiators, discover new advertiser opportunities, and create highly performing ad campaigns using custom audience segments/insights and brand lift studies
- Saving Costs: Reduce and/or eliminate costs for custom research studies and/or paid panels
- Informing Editorial Strategies: Inform content creation and programming strategies with audience insights and trends
- Captivating Your Readers: Attract and retain users with “sticky” poll experiences
- Deploying Proven Audience Growth Vehicles: Lean into poll-centric newsletter and syndication strategies – improve engagement and acquire new users
As the media landscape continues to shift, understanding your audience in real time has never been more important. Whether it’s adapting to traffic challenges, adjusting editorial strategies, or identifying new revenue opportunities, CivicScience helps publishers respond with speed and clarity, allowing you to turn uncertainty into opportunity.
