NewsTECHForum 2015

“Don’t be overly cautious,” says Steve Hsu, director of product development for ABC News, referring to trying new platforms. The data that comes back from those platforms is one way to immediately start improving, say NewsTECHForum panelists, adding that the risks of not experimenting on those platforms outweigh any failed tries news organizations make on them.

Execs from three news organizations — a network O&O, a cable news channel and a network — explain the logistics and tactics of their coverage of September’s eight days of “popemania.”

Panelists all agreed that, as adjuncts to their broadcast coverage, digital platforms will be used next November in more strategic and more precise ways than ever before. They’re finding that their digital platforms are shaping up as media they can use to report on very local races, while their broadcast coverage deals with statewide and, of course, national results.

Digital leaders at CNN, Tegna and the BBC said Tuesday at the NewsTECHForum that the shift was necessary, and pointed to their own incremental improvements toward story-centricity as evidence of its attainability.

Virtual sets or augmented reality  represents a totally new way of producing news, and whether — or how — to tap the technology can be market-dependent. While viewers in some markets may be able to handle bold moves like virtual sets, others may be better suited for a more conservative approach.

The IP foundation of next-gen transmission standard ATSC 3.0 means the new standard will make it easier for broadcasters to distribute content across multiple devices, according to Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. She says it will also allow targeted advertising, improved emergency warning capabilities and other advantages.

The key to legacy news organizations reaching the coveted digital demo is to put their content where young people will find it, primarily social media. Even then, however, they must create content that resonates on particular platforms within social media.

Panelist discussed a range of cutting-edge newsgathering technology, including file-based systems and archiving. An overarching theme was the transformative effect of IP newsgathering, primarily cellular bonded mobile backpack units, have had on TV news.

Contrary to assurances the FCC gave Congress and the broadcast industry since first proposing the TV spectrum auction and repack, wireless mic advocates say, the agency has told parties lobbying to protect wireless mic spectrum that it will likely conduct a future auction to recover more TV spectrum.

CBS News President David Rhodes says there is a great deal of affiliate interest in its CBSN platform. “And we’re hoping that some of the things we learn about it on a national or even on an international scale are lessons that could be applied locally.” Not surprisingly, Rhodes is just as bullish on traditional broadcast news as he is on his news division’s forays into digital. He noted that The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley had its largest November audience in nine years last month. And Rhodes also expressed satisfaction in the steady audience growth of CBS This Morning in recent years too. (Photo by Wendy Moger-Bross)

TV station group news leaders say while their products are growing both online as well as on-air, what they’d really like is workflow systems that “let them be better reporters, and storytellers and question askers.” The panel (l-r): moderator Harry A. Jessell of TVNewsCheck,  Barb Maushard of Hearst Television, Sharri Berg of Fox Television Stations, Bart Feder of Tribune Broadcasting, David Friend of CBS Television Stations and Scott Livingston of Sinclair Broadcast Group. (Photo by Wendy Moger-Bross)

The third annual NewsTECHForum, which gets underway today, Dec. 14, has a more digital flavor than in the past, with sessions on Targeting Millennials, Story-Centric Workflow and News Everywhere. The 2016 elections will play a big role, in a keynote interview with CBS News President David Rhodes and sessions on Augmented Reality and Covering the Races and Election Night.

The third annual NewsTECHForum has a more digital flavor than in the past, with sessions on Targeting Millennials, Story-Centric Workflow and News Everywhere. The 2016 elections will play a big role, in a keynote interview with CBS News President David Rhodes and sessions on Augmented Reality and Covering the Races and Election Night.

The third annual conference from TVNewsCheck and Sports Video Group will open Dec. 14 with an interview featuring the president of CBS News. Other sessions over the two-day event will address ENG, white spaces/wireless mics, targeting millennials, virtual sets/augmented reality, covering the 2016 political races and election night, story-centric workflow, covering the pope, news everywhere and more.

The annual NewsTECHForum from TVNewsCheck and Sports Video Group will begin Dec. 14. A gathering of leading TV station group news executives will address operational and technical challenges that news pros face in covering stories, particularly big breaking stories, as well as how local TV news can compete with — and take advantage of — digital media. The TV Station Group Perspective panel features Scott Livingston, VP of news, Sinclair; Barbara Maushard, VP of news, Hearst; Bart Feder, VP of news, Tribune Broadcasting; and David Friend, SVP, news, CBS TV Stations. For more information on NewsTECHForum and to register, click here.