The Future of Local TV

[Audacity]

NPR had a story on this past hour about the future of local TV stations now that the political cash cow goes dry tomorrow. I forget the name of the expert they interviewed but there were a few things he said that made me listen closely.

1. Car dealers represent between 25-38% of total ad revenue for most stations and car dealers are not/will not advertise during this economic downturn.

2. The age of tv news on an actual tv is coming to an end. This guy said that if stations don't start using broadband as their means of putting content out there, they will fold. He said that selling advertising on the internet will never rival tv ad sales but it is the new replacement for tv ad revenue. Newscasts (those stations that will still produce newscasts) will be streamed while stations will reduce the quantity of local content they produce for TV airing.

My question to you all - how secure do you feel in your tv news job?

[interloper]

The age of tv news on an actual tv is coming to an end. This guy said that if stations don't start using broadband as their means of putting content out there, they will fold. He said that selling advertising on the internet will never rival tv ad sales but it is the new replacement for tv ad revenue. Newscasts (those stations that will still produce newscasts) will be streamed while stations will reduce the quantity of local content they produce for TV airing.

My question to you all - how secure do you feel in your tv news job?

Very secure since we do BOTH at my network owned station. Broadcast AND internet where we produce product for both outlets, maximizing the earnings potential of what we do. It's a combination of the two that will survive over the long haul. Not one or the other as stand alone business models.

[newz2me]

Actually from what I've seen stations are actually increasing locally produced news content. It's a cheap, in-house way to fill airtime. Whether they think people will watch all that is another story. That also part of the problem. News whiplash. I've seen some stations produce 7 hours of news a day. People get sick of hearing the same stuff over and over.
I do think the way news is delivered will have to change. With HD coming on-line, I could see stations having a 24 hour news channel where prople could watch news at their leisure instead of the throw it against the wall and see what sticks mentality we have now. Kinda like how Headline News used to be before it became Nancy Grace TV. A looped taped newscast that's updated every few hours with fresh content.
I think we also have to start producing more content for the internet and adapt to the changing times.
The one thing that will kill local tv though is cheapness. The VJ concept is an example of that. Anybody can produce crap. You have to put out a quality product that sets you apart and spend money to make money.

[Bureau Chief]

This is EXACTLY what Ive been preaching here for months. No one would listen. So heres my thoughts on the situtation.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a206/mainstreetmarshall/321310053_a574b005bf.jpg

[Sigonfile]

TV stations will be taken over by the "New Change" Government and will only broadcast the news that the Government wants us to know. They will give out information on where to go for your vaccine shots and where to go to get your milk and cheese rations. Stations will also offer information tip lines for reporting those who are against the "new Change" Government. They will be rewarded with two stars on their red armbands.

[WOS]

I've thought for many months that following these elections there will be some big time layoffs. Of course, there are plenty of stations which do both air and internet and will continue to do so, however, they'll be using a lot fewer people to do it. The ad revenues simply won't support the current payrolls. I hope I'm wrong, but that's what I've been hearing from lots of friends who are still in the biz. Lots of them are looking for new work already, or moving out of the business.

[adam & doctor drew]

there will always be an audience of people who think the news lady is their "friend" and want to see what she's wearing.
but there's really no reason for anyone with a brain to watch.

and previous poster is correct----if you're putting the same crap on the web that you now put on TV, no one will watch that either.
which is the problem with the current trend of hiring young and cheap, while ditching anyone with experience/a decent salary.
yes, the bottom lilne looks better.
but the product definitely does NOT.

[Gil]

NPR had a story on this past hour about the future of local TV stations now that the political cash cow goes dry tomorrow. I forget the name of the expert they interviewed but there were a few things he said that made me listen closely.



They interviewed Roger Ogden, a former news director, general manager, and former President/CEO of Gannett Broadcasting.

Most stations are putting content on the Web and most are making some money at it. The real issue is that broadcasters did a poor job transitioning to internet business and sort of missed the boat. Now we are trying to catch up and we are still not very good at it.

Starting tomorrow, we will have a lot of unsold inventory and like the NPR story said, auto dealers are cutting way back on advertising and retailers are hurting as well. So traditional revenue will be hard to find, and we are not yet very good at getting nontraditional revenue.

Fasten your seat belts. We don't know if the cuts we have already made will be enough to get us through the tough times to a better economy.

[Sigonfile]

If they advertised like this dealer in the Midwest, they would sell more cars. This guy is great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOeuBeqGWXQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfiu7soG8u8&feature=related

[ISTHISTHINGON?]

I could see, as far as 'local news' on TV goes: shedding the double Anchor to solo(save 2 or 3 jobs with that salary cut), keeping the Reporters(with Photogs to keep quality up), Producers working shows without AP's(Anchor can AP to save money)...and unfortunately with all this automated crap....I'm not sure what about HUMAN studio staff. I don't know enough about what can and can't be run with it. Bottomline....the 'traditional' way of doing news(on TV)is too expensive for the BigBoys.....trim the fat and we can still(maybe)eat turkey....just not at the Christmas Party cus' that one is now an afterthought it seems.

[Fake Post]

Say Hello To The Anchor of the Future.

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/9078/max/headroom11.jpg

[Roy Hobbs]

"Useless live shots, numbskull news directors and airhead anchors...
http://homepage.mac.com/m5comp/trekbits/trekpics/brain/brain005.jpeg

...it's dead, Jim!"

[Sparky]

Ok, election's over.

Anybody get laid-off yet?

[FrontierMan]

No post-election layoffs yet, but just wait.

My ass got laid off back in June. I've had several offers in pretty large markets since, but they are offering less and less. If I repeated what NDs tried to offer (or not offer), you would probably laugh.

[Roy Hobbs]

No post-election layoffs yet, but just wait.

My ass got laid off back in June. I've had several offers in pretty large markets since, but they are offering less and less. If I repeated what NDs tried to offer (or not offer), you would probably laugh.

Actually, we'd be very interested. Any way you can give us a hint?

[interloper]

Word is, as of Nov,5th, NBC is cutting one third of their staff. Both network and local O&O's. Final decisions about who will or won't get a buy out is due November 27th.

I don't think NBC is going to be the only local or network broadcaster who will be laying off employees before the end of the year. But they did start the process the very day after the elections.

[FrontierMan]

Actually, we'd be very interested. Any way you can give us a hint?

Absolutely. I decided to leave the business, so I've got nothing to lose.

1. Moving expenses are a thing of the past...even in a 30+ market.
3. 30+ market trying to pay me the same thing I got paid in a 80's market, and a little more than half of what I got paid in that same 30+ market.

News directors are just straight trippin'. I may be desperate, but I still have the balls to say hell no and switch careers.

To me, the business just isn't worth it. Especially in such an uncertain time. I always thought I'd cling onto the rope and ride the TV wave as long as I could. But once the wave wiped me out, I said screw it. Easier said than done, but I think I made the right decision.

[WOS]

And everyone better believe, the loss of more and more folks like Frontier Man in local TV news is showing up in the quality of the broadcasts. All the while, management keeps cutting good, experienced producers and reporters, and replacing them with newbies for a fraction of those salaries, while screaming for those left to increase ratings and viewers with compelling reports. That's something fewer and fewer of them are capable of. Why SHOULD more viewers watch? Stations have squeezed the cash cow so hard they've pulled the teats off her, and that's why the milk is running out. If the trend is to diversify and produce quality work with less, replace these "old school" managers and news directors with new ones, who have a clue how the "new media" works.

[TVMattNYC]

1. Car dealers represent between 25-38% of total ad revenue for most stations and car dealers are not/will not advertise during this economic downturn.


I suppose television sales people are going to have to start actually doing some WORK for a change -- SELLING their stations -- rather than simply sitting back as glorified order-takers as they have been for the big "easy" clients.

[TAFKA wacowx]

We were having this discussion on the weather board....

We (I speak for most on this board, but not myself...been out since last year) generally say we work in TV or at a TV station. That is no longer true. We work at 'multimedia stations' that pump out product to multiple platforms and try to be successful at all of them. Local TV viewership continues to drop at alarming rates and stations are attempting to rush into the internet as the last bastion of profitability. If successful, this can all be well and good, but look at the track records of companies whose main product is no longer in demand: Xerox, Polaroid, RCA...three I can think of that were HUGE in copying, film and cameras and radios, now just a shell of their former glory. Some made the transition better than others, but most companies which see the market for their main product don't do very well in the transition. Companies need to branch out and be that multimedia platform, or else collapse. Given that there are at least dozens of companies out there that have local stations, my guess is that there will be at least one station in your market that isn't doing news anymore in 5-10 years. A few groups will 'get it' and do it well and profitably, but many will not and be swept away. The result will be fewer jobs. This economic downturn will start to show all of us just which companies have the 'moxie' to make it and which will not.

The future for local multimedia looks good...local TV...not so much.

[FrontierMan]

Brace yourselves. Word around the TV news biz is layoffs are coming to a Raycom station near you.

[Roy Hobbs]

Starting tomorrow, we will have a lot of unsold inventory .

So come on down to Texas Gil's Big Deal Auto Sales...where if they don't make you the lowest price deal on a clean used car, he'll eat his hat, serve you chili, double your ad runs and give you the difference in COLD HARD CA$H!

http://www.connectedcustomers.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/car_dealer_marketing.jpg

[Sparky]

I wonder if Thanksgiving will be a day of giving thanks or a real turkey in TV News Land? My guess is that stations will wait until the first of the new year so they can get all their holiday shifts covered and then lay-off the people who just worked those holiday shifts.

[Diggin' Bear]

We work at 'multimedia stations' that pump out product to multiple platforms and try to be successful at all of them. Local TV viewership continues to drop at alarming rates and stations are attempting to rush into the internet as the last bastion of profitability. If successful, this can all be well and good, but look at the track records of companies whose main product is no longer in demand: Xerox, Polaroid, RCA...three I can think of that were HUGE in copying, film and cameras and radios, now just a shell of their former glory. Some made the transition better than others, but most companies which see the market for their main product don't do very well in the transition. Companies need to branch out and be that multimedia platform, or else collapse. Given that there are at least dozens of companies out there that have local stations, my guess is that there will be at least one station in your market that isn't doing news anymore in 5-10 years.

All of which screams for one thing: instead of 'content,' which more and more nowadays takes the form of glorified media release 'reporting,' we need real journalism practiced.

REAL journalism that will drive eyes to the tube, to the cable and then to the web at the same time.

Serious 'content producers' will figure out that each 'outlet' is seperate and different even though you're working with the same basic story.

Your TV news story for the 6:00 or 10:00 will provide the bare bones, typical TV story. The cable version, in which viewers have more time to watch, should run a little longer and include more depth. The Web version of the same story should contain even MORE detail, more photos, and look like an old-fashioned newspaper report.

So...how do we get to that point while CUTTING budget? We don't. It's going to take an entire revamping of how we produce news to get the workflow right. Reporters will have to learn to write/produce the most complete coverage FIRST, then pare away what they need to for the successive versions along the way.

That means you'll either have to hire content editors after the newsgatherers get done with that piece, OR, you'll have to give reporters more time to craft a well-done story.

The alternative: TV stations will do as they are right now, which is basically posting the TV news script on the web....and expecting to drive viewers there simply because it's on the web. That will work for awhile - and it has - but unless they get something more, then the model will eventually fail.

And here's the interesting part: newspapers who are trying to do TV on the web will have to learn that they need to do newspaper FIRST, then put the most emotional aspects on their website, as if it were a TV/cable station. If they can't master that idea, then their newspaper story on the web...also won't work.

[TAFKA wacowx]

Diggin,

Interesting and extremely accurate observations. In a strange sort of way, it may be the newspapers, who already have the in-depth versions of the story, who will end up the winners in the future of multi-platform broadcasting.

Perhaps the true solution is a true working partnership between local TV and newspaper...not just sharing story ideas, but a TRUE cross-flow of information, with extensive reporting of some stories behind the scenes which will be the meat of the extra content that needs to be available on the website while shorter, summarizations of the story can appear on a 'traditional' TV news broadcast.

With the absolute certainty that TV will NOT be throwing more money at this problem to hire more journalists and 'do it right', the only hope of success is to join forces with those who know how to do the in-depth research and in turn, help them provide the video content...something that TV stations have perfected over the decades.