Why TVNewsCheck Matters

When I first learned TVNewsCheck was about to become yet another victim of the terrible national advertising market, I was taken aback.

For more than two decades I’ve been relying on TVN to jumpstart my day. Not seeing it in my mailbox would mean giving up a body of work that is unavailable anyplace else. Take my coffee, take my breakfast, but don’t take my TVNewsCheck!

Sure, I could pour though a dozen websites every day; not just the media sites, but every other kind of publication that writes about media, from The Hollywood Reporter to The New York Times. I could also spend a lot more time with technology sites. Add Google searches and getting the day’s industry news would no longer be fun. It would be a job.

Just as importantly, I’d also lose the unique content that is only available on TVN such as Michael Depp’s recent deep dive into the long-term effects of new streaming sports consortiums on local television. Name almost any major issue affecting our industry and you will find exclusive coverage. Stories are thoroughly researched, always indepth and always showing the effects on broadcasters.

TVNewsCheck stories have become such a staple in our industry that many are forwarded and shared with colleagues at all levels. In the five years I’ve been tweaking noses through The Price Point column, I’ve regularly heard from both ends of the totem pole. One minute I’ll be getting an email from a small-market reporter thanking me for caring about how poorly some employees are paid, followed by one from a CEO who may or may not be thanking me.

Speaking of columns, those of us who regularly share opinions are never told what we can or cannot write. We are never censored or pressured to take a particular angle. The same is true for reader comments. If you’ve ever made a comment, you know it appeared exactly as you wrote it. And let’s not forget the Open Mike space, which is available to anyone with something important to say.

Kathy Haley, TVNewsCheck’s publisher, has been moving mountains to keep the publication alive, but she can’t do it without your help. If the content TVNewsCheck offers is valuable to you, then please consider subscribing to TVN Plus. For a $199 annual subscription you will get all the things TVN is known for, plus expanded coverage.

If you decide to play a part in getting TVNewsCheck back up and running, you will not be disappointed. The proof will be in your inbox every weekday morning.

Hank Price spent 30 years leading television stations for Hearst, CBS and Gannett while concurrently building a career in executive education. He is the author of Leading Local Television and two other books.