In response to last week's commentary by Ed Rabel critical of local TV news, the president-GM of WXII Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C., rebuts: "We live in a new golden age of over-the-air television. Leading stations with strong newscasts find themselves offering more services to more people than ever before."
OPEN MIKE BY HANK PRICE
Making The Strong Case For Local TV News
I read with both interest and dismay Ed Rabel’s op-ed in The Charleston Gazette that was picked up by TVNewsCheck. I offer the following dissenting opinion.
It is a fascinating fact that in this age of iPads, iPhones and Android devices, the overwhelming first choice for news and information is local television. As for those new devices, how are people using them? In many cases, it is to watch video and read news stories produced by their television stations. If you find that fact startling, you might also be surprised to learn that when considering the total audience, including digital devices, local television news is growing. In the case of smartphones, it is exploding.
We live in a new golden age of over-the-air television. Leading stations with strong newscasts find themselves offering more services to more people than ever before. In the case of WXII [Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C.], we produce high-definition news over-the-air, on cable, satellite and even the local phone company. We also offer a second channel with completely different programming, as well as live local news. Our website has a larger audience than any area newspaper and is completely free ,as is our mobile phone news site.
Our competitors are other strong stations offering their versions of those same services. That competition benefits the consumer by offering choice. As new services come on line, such as free mobile television, the stations in our community will be first to serve local consumers, just as we always have.
And who are these consumers? The resurgence of over-the-air viewing, combined with an Internet device, is led by young men. The biggest smartphone users are young women.
Why in this age of choice do consumers still make local television news their first choice? The answer is threefold.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
- First, television news is unique. No other medium offers anything close.
- Second, during emergencies, local television serves a singular role warning and protecting citizens.
- Third, stations are heavily involved in their communities, making a difference in real and tangible ways.
With the unfortunate weakening of local newspapers, television news has also taken the lead in “accountability journalism,” the investigative, political and consumer journalism that holds government, institutions and businesses accountable to the public.
Perhaps most important, the people who work at television stations live in and are part of their communities.
That sense of community is the reason … North Carolina’s television and radio stations, working together in our state association, the NCAB, [last year] decided to create the largest Vietnam veterans’ “welcome home” celebration ever held.
More than 70,000 people attended. Every television news station in North Carolina produced stories leading up to the event. Stations donated more than $1.5 million in public service announcements, and they jointly aired the event live, all at no charge and with no advertising. No other medium could have pulled it off.
As a broadcaster who has spent his life in local television, I am glad and thankful that the success of local television news continues to depend on service to our viewers. That’s a role we are proud to play. While not every news organization sets and meets high standards for local news — in what endeavor does everyone shine — as I see it there are plenty of local news organizations and local newscasts that are relevant, substantive in content and valuable to local communities.
They are worth watching and they are watched by millions of Americans everyday here in Winston-Salem and in cities and towns across the country. Waste of time? Heck no.
Hank Price is president and general manager of WXII Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C.
Comments (19)
Brett Zongker says:
April 1, 2013 at 7:51 am
Great response, Hank. I wonder if the folks in the path of Superstorm Sandy were complaining about local TV news when Internet connections were down and cellphone networks were crashing. There is great journalism and great public service being done by local TV stations every day, in every city across America.
kendra campbell says:
April 1, 2013 at 8:17 am
There is no denying local TV news’ importance during events like Sandy. It’s the other 98% of the time that’s the big problem. Local TV newscasts are losing key demos at a constant and alarming rate. Viewers are rejecting the cheap and easy formula of crime, car wrecks, mayhem and constant weather hype. They are also turned off by the mind-numbing commercial glut. Are there exceptions? You bet, and WXII in Greensboro is probably one of them.
Susan Vancel says:
April 1, 2013 at 8:47 am
For every Gannett station there are 10 Nexstar and Sinclair stations. This is the problem!
Bill Greep says:
April 1, 2013 at 8:52 am
Local news is relevant, prevalent, and a critical medium for local markets. Ed Rabel was wrong… Great headline… But wrong. Whether it is hurricanes or local market snowstorms, tornado warnings, school closings, or breaking news, the 1st place people turn to is local news. Are some days more content driven than others ? Yes, but the majority of content (on air or digital) include the very things that you can’t find on Google. Where are the high school sports highlights on Yahoo ? Local elections, spot news, sports and daily weather are the core elements of local broadcast news and they are alive and well. And unlike print or terrestrial radio, tv is n the digital game and many station sites are now more popular than their markets’ print competitors.
Cecilia Quintero says:
April 1, 2013 at 9:10 am
Bravo, Hank! Local television news may not be perfect, and as with everything in life, there are good and bad stations, but there’s no news organizations more connected to their communities than local television stations. In an emergency, there’s no better place to get needed information. And day to day, there’s no other news media outlet that’s out more often in the community talking face to face with people–television reporters can’t do their jobs over the phone or via email! For 20 years I worked proudly in local television, engaged in 7 different communities, and now I teach students to do the same. The new platforms provide wonderful opportunities for all news media, including and especially local television, to distribute information in new ways, but no one’s giving up their big screen TVs anytime soon. At home–television rules! And local television news is still THE source for information about people’s communities.
Daniel Aguilar says:
April 1, 2013 at 9:36 am
My take was Rabel commented on the content of today’s news not the relevance of local television news.
Daniel Aguilar says:
April 1, 2013 at 9:44 am
Actually he did comment on the relevance of local television news as well since he believes the content is shallow and not reflective of the definition of journalism. Television news can be relevant yet I agree with Rabel, to few tv stations these days have content that is compelling and informative. He is questioning if today’s content is servicing viewers not whether television news can be relevant or that tv stations are not a critical medium. We are a critical medium and we should get back to doing news that is journalism a its best.
Sean Lubens says:
April 1, 2013 at 10:26 am
Local news is an essential element as long as it remains relevant and that’s not based on story count. News relevance is how many stories that count are included in your 22 minutes of local newscast (less weather and sports).
We do some truly marvelous reporting but that has become less and less, as resources are reduced, experienced news gatherers are either not replaced or someone with little or no knowledge is inserted (the headcount remains the same). News is a profit center and in today’s local TV broadcast environment, relevance is needed otherwise the HUT’s go down, the demo’s don’t justify the CPP’s. et al. There are more dayparts than ever that have the”newscast” branding: early morning, midday, early afternoon, early fringe, etc., recycling of material is inevitable with this “quantity” of time to fill, so it’s quantity that rules and not the quality / relevance. All this “fill time” is a product of return on investment, it costs x to produce y # of news fill, it costs “a” to buy comparable syndicated fill product=bottom line return. It’s the business side of this equation, each of us have choices to make, I refuse to accept that local news must accept being less relevant to survive.
alicia farmer says:
April 1, 2013 at 11:09 am
“…22 minutes of local newscast – less weather and sports”. Oh really?
1) The majority of stations run around 10 minutes of commercials and 2 minutes of promos in every half hour newscast.
2) There are multiple weather hype segments in most newscasts = around 5 minutes total.
3) Teases and drivel like “on your side” = around 2 minutes total.
4) Crime, car wrecks, traffic, and other easy fill = around 6 minutes total.
Let’s count sports as news – since many newscasts don’t have a dedicated sports segment.
Total relevant news = 5 minutes.
Hans Schoonover says:
April 1, 2013 at 10:59 am
The age of the Internet has certainly changed the world of broadcasting!
There are ways to aggregate feature film and TV series content to subscription VOD, free and low cost time saving applications, search, news, messaging, content that is smart phone friendly, wow — where did it all come from? Our TV sets are getting smart too, is it really becoming a two or three screen universe or is it all really already just one versatile screen in a variety of sizes? Are you keeping up, staying relevant and addressing your advertisers evolving needs or are you dazed and confused? The numbers tell a sad yet clear story, we are losing the hearts and minds of youth, they are reinventing how content is consumed and how sponsored branding and messaging is delivered.
The New Media industry calls this a natural end-of-growth cycle behavior, the result of fragmentation, exorbitant pricing and a generation gap disconnect. They see you as the dinosaurs, themselves as the emerging mammals. It has been attributed to Darwin that “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” Old school cozy business relationships grew fat, happy and slept through the changes all around. Advertisers, content providers and audiences see cost cutting, down-sizing, a creeping lack of professionalism, as a sign of acquiescence to the predictions of broadcasting’s decline and fall.
Good Luck
Rich Lyons
818 516 0544
Kevin Lilly says:
April 1, 2013 at 11:33 am
Thanks, Hank. As always a great response. I think that Ed Rabel has retired to West Virginia and probably has experienced real local news for the first time in his life. I would suggest that even Ed will probably turn to his local station for information the next time a major weather event is headed his way. Who knows? He might even get interested in his own local community, which is the basis for all well-produced local newscasts where sometimes fires, auto accidents and even the change in the weather is important information that our local viewers tell us they want and need to know. Like your station in North Carolina, our operation in Peoria, IL now provides local news on the Internet, mobile as well as more than 11 hours of daily local news across three over-the-air channels. We remain the strongest local news entity in Central Illinois. Local news is alive, well and thriving for our viewers, our advertisers and for our employees. Hank, you hit the nail on the head!
Mark Featherston says:
April 1, 2013 at 12:50 pm
I couldn’t agree more. #TheGoldenAgeOfTelevision
Ellen Samrock says:
April 1, 2013 at 1:31 pm
So the upshot is this; local news is necessary for disaster information. Agreed. For the rest of the time it’s primarily fender-benders and foolishness. This is what needs to change.
kendra campbell says:
April 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm
Correct.
darren shapiro says:
April 1, 2013 at 2:29 pm
In your long and expected answer, you have not addressed Rabel’s point.
Chisaki Watanabe says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:27 pm
Kudos to my colleague and friend Hank Price for his thoughtful response to the ramblings of a network correspondent who obviously has no sense of the mission or purpose of local news. Perhaps Rabel’s local affiliates have “let him down” but he conveys the outdated perspective of a network correspondent who feels the only source for TV news is a network newscast. I wouldn’t call his Christmas tree example reflective of our profession…or even the station that covered that particular story. Fortunately, many of our contemporary network colleagues were trained in local news and have a sense of appreciation for the content and video and information that are provided daily by local affiliates that allow network newscasts to develop their content. Ed does not acknowledge local coverage of politics, organized crime, government, the economy, culture and other aspects of life in virtually every city across America. Yes, local TV and radio is the first informer for our citizens in times of developing severe weather and other crises, but these stations are also the prime source of news and information. We are not ashamed of our skill at covering weather and other natural disasters – and oh, by the way, have you seen the network emphasis on weather coverage these past few years? I wonder what convinced them to ramp up the radar?
andy lobred says:
April 1, 2013 at 3:31 pm
If this is the “new golden age”… why are most local TV newscasts’ demo ratings tanking?
darren shapiro says:
April 2, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Can any of Hank’s friends, colleagues, class mates, employees, neighbours, or even Hank himself respond to the points made by Rabel?
Dear Executives, here you can comment all you want, no small or big advertiser will pull the ad budget already allocated and currently running in your station.
loretta mahoney says:
April 2, 2013 at 3:16 pm
You can’t put all TV newscasts in the same bucket. It just doesn’t work. Some stations are great. Some are terrible. The great stations know how to do things right and they don’t just cover the news, they tell compelling stories about things going on in their markets. That’s what sets the great stations apart from the mediocre and terrible ones!