NBCUniversal is winding down LX, a three-year-old network with the stated mission of delivering viewers “the stories you need with more sass and less suits.” People familiar with the decision said the nearly 40 workers affected by the move are being actively considered for new positions within NBCU.
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Larger multicast networks are retaining their viewers while newer players have successfully rolled out distribution.
The new show will air live Monday to Friday at 8-10 a.m. and 8-10 p.m. ET via over-the-air TV, cable and OTT/streaming, offering “context” to its targeted audience of millennials and Gen Z-ers.
Innovative journalists are attracted to gadgets. With the chaos that became of the Iowa Caucuses, do you want to see a totally different view? Last fall, NBCUniversal’s TV station division announced the launch of LX as a “digital news brand and soon-to-launch over-the-air and streaming network.” Since then, LX’s team, including “visual storytellers” embedded at NBC stations in select markets are creating content that you won’t find beyond YouTube, LX.com and social media.
Meagan Harris, news director at NBC’s owned stations LX: “The millennial and the younger-generation audience is really different from the traditional audience that’s been watching the news for a long time. So LX is an avenue where we can throw any rule out the window and innovate without the risk of losing our core [local TV] audience.”
It’s an ongoing quest whose outcome may determine the future of video journalism: the hunt for those elusive younger viewers. The latest venture comes from NBC’s owned stations. LX launched on Monday with a modest amount of content but ambitious plans to grow into a new linear channel for young people. It’s a dramatic example of how local TV stations are using digital platforms for experiments that might not sit well with traditional broadcast viewers but could point the way to the next generation of news reporting.
Exclusives
Its new digital news brand and soon-to-launch over-the-air and streaming network is targeted to adults 18-45. LX stands for ‘Local X’ the ‘X’ signifying the “exponential abilities that LX has in telling our communities unique stories,” according to the company. LX offers opportunities for local and national advertising through its dedicated digital site and social channels, and through its over-the-air linear TV and streaming network.
