I couldn’t pay my 17-year-old to watch local TV. It’s not that he wouldn’t be interested; he just wouldn’t know how to find it.
Linear TV is going the way of the CD — even the eight-track — for video: dated, difficult to use and low-quality compared to on-demand options available on personal devices. As one snarky source quipped: “Execs shocked to learn teens aren’t adapting 1950s technology.”
But our challenge runs deeper than antenna marketing or how to select the “TV” source on our sets. My hyper-connected teen has no relationship with his local TV stations. News reaches him through the social media feeds and friend networks where he chooses to spend time. Brand does not follow. The social posts and text chains are crediting information to this legacy news or that. Only the information matters.
The excellent “Next Generation News” report by FT Strategies and Knight Lab hits at this nuanced relationship to news. One quote from 23-year-old Olivia in Birmingham, Ala., sticks with me: “Whatever news makes it to Instagram is what I’m going to get.”
Relevance is the challenge facing local TV brands. Linear audiences are loyal, engaged and profitable, but they’re in decline. TV newsrooms serve millions of people every day with high-quality local journalism that builds community, but fewer people are paying attention. The industry is running out of time to build on a sturdy foundation.
We’ve seen what doesn’t work. Moons ago, when I was a young newspaper editor, optimistic executives assured us young adults would “age into” the news. Never mind the decades of declining newspaper subscriptions with the introduction of TV news, or the emerging internet gobbling attention, people would start subscribing again as soon as they settled down with families.
This was magical thinking. Newspapers spiraled into fractions of themselves chasing eight-tracks when everyone was buying iPods. Only recently, after years of decline, have print newsrooms started to rebound with audience-centered strategies driving digital subscriptions and reader contributions. Local TV can learn here by meeting its next generation of audiences on their terms.
Replacing linear TV dollars isn’t simple but consider the music industry thriving today after being disrupted by digital media. Bands shifted to touring and merchandise, labels licensed out their catalogs and hardly anyone can remember “paying” for music — as they paid a record $33 billion on live music alone in 2023, according to a Goldman Sachs report.
Journalism’s Value
Habits change, but newsrooms run deeper than formats. They inform us in a confusing world. They trade in facts as disinformation surges. They reliably tell the community story. They care. These are valuable, essential services, but locked to linear they’re losing credit for the work needed for a sustainable future.
You know the long-term Nielsen ratings and revenue lines. You know your own habits. Many of you have cut the cable, and even if you haven’t, did you watch the Olympics via your local NBC affiliate, or did you use the Peacock app? Are you watching any linear TV tonight, or are you scrolling?
Are any of us much different from Olivia in Birmingham?
Innovation In Action
Across the industry, we’re seeing great examples of adaptation, both from local broadcasters and other news organizations.
Tegna’s Verify continues to fact check claims across social media, injecting their work into social networks to counter mis- and disinformation.
WDIV Local 4 in Detroit created an eight-minute mini-documentary about the sole survivor of a plane crash and drew 503,000 views on YouTube in a week.
News4JAX (WJXT Jacksonville, Fla.) is racking up millions of views and thousands of comments posting news videos to TikTok. Clear branding and a newsin.bio link help move these audiences to its website.
For newsrooms seeking more inspiration, national organizations are leading the way on storytelling across the platforms. The Guardian and Financial Times excel on Instagram. Vox remains excellent on YouTube. The Washington Post has famously built a sizeable audience on TikTok, reaching 1.7 million followers.
I took special interest in NPR this week after listening to my younger son with his friend in the car. NPR was playing and they noticed. “I love NPR,” one said. “Yeah, me too,” answered the other. I asked what they liked about NPR. “The stories,” said one. “The calm voices,” said the other. “It’s relaxing.”
We can reach new audiences today. Everyone has information needs, and few are better than broadcast newsrooms at meeting them. But we need to set aside our magical thinking and actively work to meet the future where it chooses to be.
I’d love to share more examples of successful strategies on social media and YouTube. Send your examples, and the story behind them, to [email protected]
the only thing hurting local TV is the groups are being run by CEO’s who have no interest or experience in developing or protecting their franchise. The Graham CEO is a excellent example. She actually told a room full of staff at her largest station that all they did back in the day was stand by the fax machine and wait on orders to come through. And you wonder why she cant recruit. Those of us who stayed in sales longer than 24 months knew that those clients had to be serviced and we were also responsible for continuously expanding the advertising roster. That meant going out in the community and hearing no a lot more than yes. The programming has not changed. The viewing devices have changed. 95% of all streamed programming is reruns from 2 to 50 years ago. As a percentage of total hours available, a very small percentage streamed content is new or original. How is that any different from cable TV 30 years ago ?
When TV guys ran TV groups, you would have never heard a CEO refer to one of their stations as a sinking ship.
Catherine Badalamente is an excellent example of a CEO who is leading through the industry’s transformation. She’s been way ahead of the industry in work to counter the risks and threats to local broadcasters, and a true industry innovator on digital-first strategies. It’s not easy work and not everyone wants to come along for the ride. I don’t think the “TV guys” helped much as younger audiences moved to new platforms.