[opendtv] Re: News: Should viewers pay for local TV news?
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:07:26 -0800
I think that is fairer to state that scheduled tv news wasn't a constraint
mandated by technology (what technology? Tv cameras? Film developing
systems? Telco TV lines?) but was done as 1) a convenience for the
producer/distributor, 2) lip service by the producer/distributor [see: CNN
for whom news isn't lip service and note the plethora of talk shows on Fox
News Channel and MSNBC] and 3) to induce regular viewing habits in an era of
tv news scarcity.
Those living on the convenience argument are seeing the biggest declines
(ABC, CBS in this context) and the latter two conditions simply apply no
longer. The "lifestyle" argument is actually blaming the customers for the
condition of television news.
Also, note the importance of network "lead-in" shows to the relative ratings
of local late-evening newscasts.
So, why is local tv news in your market scheduled to air at the times when
the largest number of prospects are caught in traffic?
And, isn't it true that weekend local newscasts tend to have higher ratings
than weekday newscasts? Just why are the most expensive anchors (weekday
ones) not fronting the newscasts with the highest ratings on that station?
Come to think of it, does anybody really think that imposing "conditional
access" (mpeg-2 technology) or "service protection" (ATSC m/h technology) on
newscasts will improve the financial viability of newscasts?
I realize that I'm attacking news shibboleths in all but the last paragraph.
Now is the time to address these issues, or end up like GM, Chrysler and to
a lesser extent, Ford.
John Willkie
-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Albert Manfredi
Enviado el: Saturday, December 13, 2008 3:13 PM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: News: Should viewers pay for local TV news?
Craig Birkmaier posted:
http://broadcastengineering.com/newsrooms/should-viewers-pay-local-news-1212
/
Should viewers pay for local TV news?
Dec 12, 2008 8:35 AM
Speaking at a National Press Club forum on the future of journalism Dec. 8,
Darrell Adams, news editor for Waterman Broadcasting, said TV broadcasters
are feeling the same economic pressures confronting newspapers and must
engage viewers in a conversation about what they are willing to pay for
news.
[ ... ]
Phil Jones, a former CBS News correspondent, said people are turning away
from TV news because it has lost its punch. In the past, he said, people
felt they had to sit down and watch Walter Cronkite on CBS or
Huntley-Brinkley on NBC.
"The reason there is no longer an appointment with nightly television news,
the reason people are not sitting down or hanging around for the morning
show, is they feel they have been stung," Jones said. "They have seen the
news shows go soft after the first story. They are looking at themselves and
saying, 'I don't need to know that.'"
But Matt Bernaldo, managing editor for Waterman Broadcasting's online
service, said the change in viewing habits has more to do with changes in
lifestyle and changes in technology. People don't come to watch a TV
newscast, he said, because they can get news elsewhere, even on cell phones.
---------------------------------------
I have to believe that Matt Bernaldo is closer to the truth.
It may be that those involved in any profession overestimate the importance
of their contribution to society. Things were done differently in the past
simply because they were fewer options. TV shows "by apointment" were very
simply a constraint mandated by technology, not something the average joe
preferred over the alternatives that followed.
Bert
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