t wasn’t that long ago that TV stations were pushing “digital first” and were “all in” when it came to digital.

How times have changed.

Hearst Television just whacked dozens of staffers who work for Hearst’s streaming service Very Local.

“Hearst’s Very Local initiative will streamline its production to focus primarily on documentary and news-adjacent programming, formats we have seen resonate with streaming viewers,” Hearst said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this impacts the roles of some of our very talented colleagues, who have produced an impressive slate of award-winning programming. We are grateful for their service and contributions to this project. Hearst Television will continue to innovate in the streaming landscape, and we believe that this strategy is the right path forward for Very Local.”

Here’s FTVLive’s take.

Streaming and digital could be the thing that saves local TV stations and media companies.

The problem is that none of these companies have a clue how to do it.

Look at the Hearst station websites across the country. They look exactly the same, with just different call letters at the top of the page. The same for Gray, Nexstar, Tegna and the others.

The streaming service is also a generic model that is rolled out to all the stations.

This one-size-fits-all approach was never going to work. Also, TV stations have no clue how to package and sell digital. They try to do what they have done with TV for years, and it is a completely different animal.

There is a way to do digital and streaming and make it work. More people watch YouTube than watch TV.

It’s sad when these TV suits hire people in digital, and when their method fails, those people get kicked to the curb, while the people who don’t have a clue about digital keep their jobs.

Believe me, digital is what can save your company, but you guys need to do it so much better.