Today’s Wall Street Journal looks at the future of local television news and says it’s far from rosy.
Station owners say even with these cuts, there are more local newscasts than the market can bear. “Over time, there will be fewer players,” says Dunia Shive, chief executive of Belo Corp., which owns 20 local stations covering 14% of the U.S. market. On Thursday, Belo reported that its TV-ad revenue declined 11% in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period, even with a windfall of spending on election-related ads.
I’ve been waiting for cuts at the local level. I wonder which station is most vulnerable. I’ve long thought that 90 minutes of evening news is way too much.