TVB 2015

One way programmatic selling platforms may benefit broadcasters is by giving them a means a targeting certain audiences for advertising, says Seth Haberman of Visible World at TVB. “That kind of targeting, I believe is valuable, and will become more and more of the television ecosystem.”

Among other things, use of programmatic selling will give broadcasters another selling point — the ability to better target certain groups of viewers, according to experts at the TVB conference. “That kind of targeting, I believe is valuable, and will become more and more of the television ecosystem,” says Seth Haberman of Visible World, a sell-side programmatic platform provider.

Despite the decision to postpone the roll out of the controversial new diary replacement system for local TV until Jan. 1, Nielsen’s Matt O’Grady tells the TVB crowd it is the way to go. “I know there are plenty of questions about this remodel. However, I also know that remodeling is the future for us to assign demos to big-data sets. I know we can get it right.”

Political candidates and advocacy groups will be spending $3.3 billion on local TV next year, but it will not be evenly distributed across the industry, forecasts Steve Passwaiter of Kantar Media, which tracks ad spending of all kinds. It goes to the states and markets where the hot races are, he said. What’s more, digital media will be stepping up efforts to take more of the political dollars, he said. “They smell the opportunity.”

Since hitting record low sales in 2008, the auto industry has surged. That’s good news for local TV says Jason Stein of Automotive News. Local dealers are spending up to six times what they did in 2009 on TV advertising, he said. And with the market so “red hot,” car manufacturers, which usually spend on national ads, are also buying more local TV.

Wall Street analysts say cable and satellite operators will be hurt more by OTT offerings than will stations because the skinny bundles are going to need stations’ local programming as well as their network lineups.

Station broker Larry Patrick says FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is “tilting the field dramatically on the side of the cable and satellite people.” Others claim the big threat to local television is local advertisers and ad agencies in confusion” about new media. And another sees opportunity in local TV’s ability to serve the interests of their communities, they just need to do so more intensively than they are now.

Author/media critic Michael Wolff says TV is prevailing because it refused to change when confronted with the digital challenge, he said. “Not bending is exactly the thing that has kept the industry in place, strong and in a competitive position.” Digital companies like Netflix and Facebook pose a threat, but not as digital media outlets, but as producers and distributors of TV, he says.

The EMMA awards recognize broadcast television stations and advertising agencies for outstanding collaborative multiplatform marketing campaigns.

While the growth of digital may be disrupting broadcasters, many are finding ways to compete by leverage their scale and  boosting their relevance with original offerings.

Jeffrey Marks, president-GM of WDBJ Roanoke, Va., says that while representing the station to the world after two of his journalists were gunned down was tough, “I think 99% of reporters on stories like these do show compassion.” But, he added, holding up a mike to one side of the story and then the other side of the story doesn’t suffice. “We have to work diligently to provide history and perspective.”