Upside Of Consolidation

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  NY Times Media & Advertising:

  http://dangerousmeta.com/site/ny_times_media_advertising_anc...
  38 days ago in dangerousmeta! · Authority: 21

  A Generation of Local TV Anchors Is Signing Off. Yes, but come on now, be honest. Some election coverage looked and sounded like bingo night at the old folks home. Hand down the traditions, but let some new blood cut their teeth on todays issues.

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    An '09 prediction: The end of gravitas?

    http://setxbayou.blogspot.com/2009/01/09-prediction-end-of-g...
    6 days ago in The Bayou · Authority: 15

    Beaumont/Port Arthur is listed as the 141st largest media market. Among industry folk, it is considered an entry-level or small mid-sized market. What we've been seeing for the past few months -- station affiliation consolidation and personnel changes -- are typical of a market this size. Now, the new year brings SE Texas new homes for both FOX and NBC. Many budding journalists come to an area like ours to kick start a career, alums -- like Leeza Gibbons, New York TV personality Roseanne Colletti and sportscasters Van Earl Wright and Bill Macatee -- have moved to bigger markets to make larger names for themselves.But there is another trend that we're also seeing in markets all across the country: the disappearance of the long tenured news anchor. You know, the news personality that you grew up with. The one that appeared night in, night out on the evening news. The familiar face at all local events. The face that made the station more than just a place to watch your favorite programs, but a trusted friend as well.These people are beginning to go the way of cheap airfare. In an age when media downsizing and consolidation are taking grip, news organizations are finding they can no longer afford to pay the often bloated salaries of the guys with the "gravitas."Slightly more than half of the population watches local news regularly, according to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, while only 34 percent read a newspaper each day and 29 percent watch a network evening newscast. But the ratings for the broadcasts have gradually eroded over the years. The typical late newscast now reaches 12 percent of viewers watching TV in a given market, down from 21 percent 10 years ago. The news departments are not alone in feeling the squeeze. Advertising is falling sharply, partly because of cutbacks in spending by automakers and car dealerships, which represent the single largest category of advertiser for broadcasters. We've got a few of these here in Beaumont -- kind of. Is all of this media trimming the wave of the future? In areas like ours, the new year see the coming of a "national" news anchor -- complete with "non-regional" dialect -- who reads the news for a number of small-ish markets, eliminating that local connection? Who knows. What looks certain is that money talks, and the days of the established "talking head" appear to be numbered.

    • Author unknown

      As the FCC Transition Progresses, The Broadcast Industry Shows Economic Strains - Tribune and Equity Declare Bankruptcy and NBC Cuts Programming Costs By Putting Leno on at 10 PM, Five Days A Week

      http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/archives/general-fcc-as-the-...
      31 days ago in Broadcast Lawyer & Attorney : Davis Wright Tremaine Law Firm : Broadcast Law Blog : Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Portland, and Anchorage Law Firm · Authority: 51

      As the Obama administration fills its top level government posts, all eyes are now turning to the next levels of government appointments which, at some point, will include a new Chair of the FCC and potentially other new FCC Commissioners. We wrote about our hopes for an Obama administration at the FCC immediately after the election, and now other voices in Washington are weighing in. And, as one might expect, with so many different perspectives, the advice is far from consistent. As we wrote in our analysis, the appointment of the FCC Chair is crucial as it is the FCC Chair, far more than the President or the White House, who sets the tone for Communications policy. This is made clear by the extensive regulations either adopted or proposed for broadcasters by the current Republican FCC, seemingly at the direction of the current chairman, regulations that would not have been expected from a Republican administration. In light of the economic challenges facing broadcasters, as evidenced by today's news that two television companies - Tribune and Equity - declared bankruptcy, and another, NBC, has announced a cut back in prime time programming, replacing it with a prime time, 5 day a week Jay Leno program. So what should the transition team look to accomplish at the FCC? In one of the most perceptive articles that I’ve seen recently, Harry Jessell in TV Newsday has urged the new Commission to simply do nothing on broadcast regulation for the next year. The current state of the economy and its ramifications for the advertising that is the lifeblood of the broadcast industry simply leaves no room for broadcasters to have to bear new costs for new regulations. Broadcasting and Cable magazine has echoed that sentiment last week. Recently, not only have we seen the economy and the state of the broadcast industry been reflected by the actions announced by Tribune, Equity and NBC today, but we’ve seen numerous mainstream press articles about the economic peril in which the entire broadcast industry finds itself. In one recent article, radio’s dramatic decline in revenues was highlighted, even as the industry's listenership remains high (as confirmed by BIA’s recent prediction that radio revenues will decline by 7% in the coming year, coming after declines this year – perhaps the first two year decline in revenues in radio history). I recently attended the Radio Ink Forecast 2009 conference in New York. While the conference is off the record, I don’t think that I’d be betraying any confidences to state that there was much concern about the short term health of the radio industry. In a New York Times article last Monday, the focus was on TV, where the cost cutting caused by declining revenue has led to the termination of the contracts of many long-serving, high priced television anchors. With the digital transition upon us in just over two months, and the likely disruptions that will cause, along with the slowdown of the economy and the loss of revenue in a non-political, non-Olympic year, TV is in no better position than radio to weather the addition of new regulations. And there are potentially many regulatory issues that could hit television – from the already adopted but never implemented FCC Form 355 (see our summary here and our speculation as to the reasons for the implementation delays here), to potential new rules on violent programs and ads for unhealthy food and prescription drugs, to the potential adoption of rules prohibiting embedded advertising and product placement, the potential for mischief is great. For more, see my discussion of these concerns in my keynote at the Future of Television Conference held in New York last month, video of which is available here. But citizens groups are also pushing their agendas for the new FCC. Free Press, an advocacy group opposed to media consolidation, has published an ad calling for more citizen participation in the FCC’s agenda, and called for the appointment of FCC Commissioners who share these views. Other public interest groups have made similar comments. Certainly citizens should have a voice in any decision of their government. But the new FCC must remember that those in the industry are citizens too, and they are usually the best informed citizens as to the economics of their businesses. The transition team needs to take those voices into account, as well as the real struggles of the companies that operate the stations, and take a light touch to broadcast regulation that could further damage the already precarious health of this industry.

      • Author unknown

        Finding Opportunity In a Tough Market

        http://mediacareers.about.com/b/2008/12/05/finding-opportuni...
        31 days ago in Rachel's Media Careers Blog · No authority yet

        It's been a tough week in the book industry as layoffs hit Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Thomas Nelson. Glum news, for sure, but, as I...

        • Author unknown

          Anchors, and News Coverage, Away

          http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2008/12/anchors-and-news...
          34 days ago in Karl Kurtz · Authority: 56

          by Gene Rose “Basically, you replace someone who knows City Hall with someone who can’t find it.” An article in The New York Times on Sunday ("A Generation of Local TV Anchors is Signing Off") revealed a growing trend in the country of long-time news anchors losing their jobs. The above quote was attributed to John Beard, a Los Angeles news anchor who lost his job after 26 years. As our nation of legislative junkies have already guessed where I am heading with this, you could replace the words "City Hall" with "The Capitol," when talking about veteran reporters. Many would add the caveat that television stations long left the Capitol and don't remember it's there until a controversy erupts. There are several good exceptions to the rule, but the sightings of news crews in the Capitol have dramatically decreased over the last decade. We also hear anecdotal reports about fewer print reporters walking the statehouse hallways. With the economy, that's likely to only get worse. Those of us based here in Denver were saddened -- but not surprised -- when word came out that Rocky Mountain News is on life-support and Denver very likely could become a one-newspaper town. And we don't suspect our friends at the Denver Post will be able to double their statehouse staff if the Rocky does fold. Studies indicate that most people still get their main source of news from local television and the loss of long-time anchors will, one way or another, have an impact on viewers. Ernie Bjorkman, a 36-year anchor for a Denver TV station told The New York Times, “I don’t think we’re going to see the anchor people grow old with the audience anymore.”

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