2010 Year in Review

An old idea — centralcasting — became new again. Mobile DTV made strides on its way to becoming reality. Digital conversion growing pains for VHF stations continued as they scrambled to restore their previous coverage areas and the FCC began studying how to improve the band. More newscasts were upgraded to high-def and stations expanded newsrooms into 24/7 multiplatform operations. After years as a curiosity, BXF, the standard for integrating traffic and master control, finally looks as if it’s on the way to increasing TV station efficiency.

Throughout 2010, TVNewsCheck reported the deaths of outstanding men and women who shaped television as actors, lawmakers, producers, business people, journalists and on-air personalities. Here they are in chronological order of their passing.

Part II of TVNewsCheck‘s annual roundup of the big news of the year (complete with links to earlier stories) covers programming (the scramble to fill Oprah’s prime syndication slots), journalism (the rush to offer 4:30 a.m. newscasts), sales/advertising (the glut of political ads and automotive’s return) and new media (the expanding multiplatform presence of TV stations). In Part I, which appeared yesterday, you can review the year’s happenings in business, retrans, management, multicasting as well as regulatory and legal developments in Washington and elsewhere. At noon today, Part III will recap the year’s technology highlights.

 As TVNewsCheck looks back over this year, we find that station coffers rebounded nicely from the dismal 2009 thanks to a political ad revenue and a revitalized automotive sector. What follows is the first part of a three-part year-end summary (complete with links to earlier stories) that covers business, retrans, management, multicasting as well as regulatory and legal developments in Washington and elsewhere. Tomorrow morning in Part II we’ll reprise the major developments in programming, journalism, advertising/sales, new media and say final goodbyes to some who died. And tomorrow at noon, we’ll report on the year’s major moves in technology.