C-Ya 2021 and Hello 2022

I don’t know about you, but this year seemed to fly by…

I know many of you were looking forward to 2020 ending and getting to 2021, but the year provided much of the same.

The COVID Pandemic continues to stick around and likely will well into 2022.

The country continues to be divided on political sides and you can pretty much thank cable news for that.

When you have people on prime time TV each night just tearing down and ripping into the other side, it continues to drive a wedge into this country.

Fox News and others on the right, CNN and MSNBC on the left, seem to care little about their role in dividing us as long as they can make money off it.

Do you know why you see so many opinion shows and talking heads on cable news? Because it is literally some of the cheapest television to produce.

Having Tucker Carlson sit in the studio and stare into a single camera is costing Fox News next to nothing. And yet, 3 million people are watching him do just that, as he preaches all-out hate against the left.

So, if you are expecting the talking heads to go away, we have some bad news for you.

It’s dirt-cheap TV that is simple to produce and as long as people tune in, the cable companies will continue to put those shows on.

Now, let’s look at some of our predictions for the coming year.

Prediction 1 - Tegna will be sold, yet it is still up in the air as to who will buy them. Hopefully, it will be a group that tries to bring Tegna back to producing real news.

Let’s put the comedians back in the comedy clubs and away from TV news.

Prediction 2 - 2022 will be Jeff Zucker’s last year at CNN. We predict that Zucker will be gone by the end of 2022 and that is nothing but good news for CNN. Look for CNN to try and move back to doing straight news and get back to their roots.

The problem is, has Jeff Zucker ruined the brand so much that it is basically dead in the water?

Prediction 3 - TV Talent will continue to post selfies and all about me content in 2022. The egos is this business really believe that the viewers want to see more of them.

Prediction 4 - I hope that this one doesn’t come true, but as the hatred for the media continues to boil in this country, I think someone in local TV news will become a target and be killed.

Stations continue to send single MMJ’s into dangerous areas and with the hate of the media at a boiling point, it is going to lead to a tragedy.

As I said, I really hope that I’m wrong. I also hope that TV stations will take crew safety more seriously.

Prediction 5 - You will see an Anchor change on the network evening news. It likely won’t be ABC, but I think a change at either NBC, CBS or both will happen in 2022.

Those are my 5 predictions for 2022.

I hope that the new year will be the year that we get back to normal, or at least what many of us think “normal” is.

I can tell you that what this country and your market need now more than ever is good solid news reporting. Try and make 2022 the year that you take your job seriously and really focus on stories that can make a difference.

FTVLive wants to wish you a very Happy New Year!

I really hope that this is your best year yet!