Some good takes from you guys in our Inbox…

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I just want to thank you for your coverage of the happenings at Scripps.  My station was purchased a few years back and I've watched good talent get shoved out, a good GM canned, and our station go from excellent live TV to a place that can't think for itself populated by either the very young still learning or people who'd facilitate anything no matter how bad the idea is.

As a traditional number 1 we've hung on but lost 20% or more of our viewers.  As you've said, a lot of folks have their eyes on the door.  The number 1 thing keeping folks at my station are the bills folks have in their lives.

They act like neighborhood news is some incredible idea.  We used to just call that covering the news.  Now we spend a third of our time saying, "I called this person" "I looked into it".  Again, we used to do it and not waste time telling folks we made calls, I think they kinda expect us to do that.

What metrics should we use?  Debt?  Stock? Ratings? Morale?  What IS working?  Our soda machine is broken, everything is warm.  If we can't fix the rest, let's fix that.

Talking about the Hearst cuts.

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Hi Scott. 

You are absolutely right re: Broadcasters clueless to using streaming and digital to save local TV. The issue is local. Local people cost money. Differences between TV markets cost money. As it was explained to me, “why should “we” create 20 different versions of the same story when we create it once and send it to everyone”? This is why all the graphics, all the websites, and in some cases all the news sets on commonly owned stations look the same. It's why we have hubbed Master Controls, where the product often sits in black, color bars, commercials are clipped, or the station is off the air for minutes and no one locally knows because no one locally is there. The same can be said of local radio. Why have 20 on-air talents when you can have 1 voice-track 20 stations?

Part of the problem is investors and Wall Street. I was told consolidation was necessary because investors believe that just like banks, when Broadcasters merge or grow, they must consolidate or they look wasteful. Angry Stockholders however don’t understand that Broadcasting is a local business and that consolidation and sameness is killing it. I tune in to watch local news in a local newscast and not prepackaged, must carry “news” stories from everywhere a TV owner has a station in order to fill time and save money.

Part of the problem lies with the FCC which allowed ownership caps to become meaningless and turned the local Public airwaves into national “footprints” of coverage owned by a few large, homogenized  corporations.

Being Local is the only way to save local TV and Radio. That means local people serving the viewing and advertising needs of a local community. It also means more investment in people (investment is the proper word, since most companies look at people as nothing but “cost-centers”). That may and probably will mean less profits while rebuilding and employing a professional marketing staff that works with local businesses to develop local revenue streams. Its work (instead of waiting for an email order coming from a centralized sales force), but if current Broadcasters don’t want to do it, maybe its time they get out.

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I think one reason Hearst is having trouble with their Very Local app is because they do not stream live newscasts in the app.  All the other stations out there (except Nexstar but I'm not watching them anyway) has the ability to stream live newscasts in the app.  I sent an email about this to a local Hearst GM a little while back and their response was that it is a "strategic" decision for them to not include live newscasts.  Why would you withhold that feature from the app but also make it available on the news website.  Doesn't make much sense to me and probably a reason why nobody is downloading the app.  Another example of how the once-great Hearst has fallen mightily.  I hope that you'll publish these comments to hopefully light a fire under Hearst's ass to include live streaming in their Very Local app.

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Hey Scott,

You hit the nail on the head when it comes to digital first. Station groups are trying to make it where these channels are set it and forget it when that’s NOT what people want to watch. 

Gray did it right when they first launched Local News Live. Going to live events and always live. Now it’s all basically recorded crap that no one wants to watch.  People in our newsroom used to watch it all the time but now it’s awful. 

Corps don’t get it anymore and don’t notice what viewers want.  It’s sad. 

Thanks.