[opendtv] Re: NBC turning flagship O&O into 24/7 news channel
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:43:33 -0400
At 10:26 PM -0400 5/12/08, Jim Albro wrote:
Where does it say that the entertainment programing will be affected?
According to Broadcasting & Cable the 24/7 news channel will be a
DTV subchannel and available on cable digital tiers, just like
WeatherPLUS. I imagine it will replace the current WNBC-DT channel
4.3, which currently carries endless reruns of "wine country"
travelogues from KNTV.
You're right Jim. It does not say that the entertainment programming
will be affected and it is logical that they would carry the News
Channel as a sub-channel on the digital broadcasts. But the story
also suggests that the entire broadcast operation could go away, as
the real play here is to get more content onto cable.
I would not be surprised if within 5 years NBC pulled the plug on
broadcast operations and goes direct with cable and DBS across the
country, possibly opening up more regional content centers to feed a
national 24/7 news operation.
The article notes the declining profitability of local stations. Much
of this has to do with the local news audience, but it is also
rippling into all of the programming outside of prime time - and
prime time ratings are down substantially as well.
If NBC were to move to cable distribution, they would pick up all of
the non-prime time inventory that is now filled with syndicated
programming. They could easily fill up that time with shows that
would develop talent for higher profile shows...
We could even see the networks get back into the game show business.
Funny how the old saw - "what goes around comes around" seems to apply.
Looks like broadcasting is returning to the heady days of the '50s,
only this time on the way down instead of the way up.
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
