Local TV production
continues decline


Bill Virgin
SeattlePI.com
June 16, 2008

TIME ONCE AGAIN to play "spot the generational differences." Today's subject is programming produced by local television stations. See which of these statements you most closely identify with:

Local TV stations in my hometown each had their own children's program. They also had locally produced knockoffs of "American Bandstand," a version of "College Bowl" for high schools, local public affairs discussion programs, daytime chat shows and late-night horror movies with a local host in appropriately ghoulish costume.

Local TV stations actually do their own programs?

What's a local TV station?

The recent news that KOMO-TV is, quite literally, pulling the plug on its long-running daily show "Northwest Afternoon" has some cultural significance. It's one more indicator of the passing of an era in which towns were differentiated from one another not just by sports teams and beer brands but by the television shows their residents watched.

For Seattle, that meant a town defined by J.P. Patches, Wunda Wunda, Stan Boreson, "Nightmare Theater," "Almost Live" and "Town Meeting."

The disappearance of most locally produced programming is also a business story. Local programming was common when television choices in most cities consisted of three over-the-air network affiliates, and maybe an educational station thrown into the mix.

But that's not the television world of today. The local market alone is far more crowded, with affiliates of a fourth (and sometimes a fifth) broadcast network as well as local independents. Meanwhile, still more competition comes from hundreds of channels via cable and satellite services, on which a local channel is just one click of the remote-control button among many.

What gets drowned out in the cacophony of choices is local programming.

That might seem counterintuitive. Locally produced programming might be one way to stand out in a universe of programming from somewhere else, about somewhere else.

"Quite simply, it is a question of cost," says Richard Goedkoop, communication professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia, via e-mail. "Locally produced television shows require salaries for producers, talent and technical staff. In order for the program to be ongoing, these people would also need to be full-time. The economics of most locally produced programs are considerably higher than purchasing a syndicated program that has its cost shared by a hundred or more stations and a production house."

But that raises this question: Why wouldn't that be true of news, too? What with the cost of reporters, camera operators, technicians, editors, producers and other staffers, news isn't exactly a cheap proposition either.

"Local television news is still a staple for local stations since it creates an identity for the station and still generates positive income flow," Goedkoop says. "Few locally produced programs other than news do." More hours of news produced with an existing staff also means more hours of revenue-generating local programming over which costs can be amortized, adds Ray Heacox, president and general manager at KING 5 (which can also use that news programming on KONG TV and Northwest Cable News).

Local news is "what we build our reputation on," adds Jim Clayton, vice president and general manager for Fisher Communications' Seattle radio and TV stations; KOMO airs six hours of locally produced news a day. "It is the main difference between us and a cable channel. We use news to integrate our station into the psyche of a community."

But that's the model for now. It's already changing to something else.

Local stations build audiences through a combination of their own news and the network offerings of news, sports and prime-time programming. The inter-workings of those elements have been under attack ever since the introduction of the videocassette recorder, as people time-shifted programs to when they wanted to watch. But at least they were getting the shows from the local affiliate, and there was always the hope that they might slow the fast-forward to catch an ad or two.

Now, however, the networks increasingly offer shows and highlights via their own Web sites. Want David Letterman's latest Top 10 list? You can get that on the CBS Web site.

Downloading a low-resolution five-minute clip on a laptop or a hand-held device is a far cry from being able to watch a full show on your living-room big-screen. But that day is coming -- and when it does the connection between local viewer and local TV station will be further eroded -- especially if that station is merely the umpteenth source for reruns of "Friends" or "Seinfeld."

If viewers are getting programming from the networks or other services, and if younger viewers aren't in the habit of sitting down to watch a half-hour newscast anyway, what would compel them to think of the local TV station? If those viewers aren't there, what would compel local advertisers to spend their money on those stations?

Here's an idea: local programming.

"There probably will be a better economy for local programming in the future," says Heacox, whose station has a slate of local shows including "Evening Magazine," "Northwest Backroads," "Up Front" and "Gardening With Ciscoe."

While network programming is still hugely important -- not just for prime time but for such programs as "Today" -- "the importance of (the network) as a percentage of revenue has been shrinking," he says.

"We have that opportunity to be local," he adds. "We're going to pursue that as aggressively as we can. It's what keeps us relevant."

Television is hardly alone among traditional media in trying to figure out a new model to succeed the one that has been disrupted by technology. It may not be alone in finding some pieces of its history that are not only useful but reinvigorated as part of that new model -- even if that doesn't translate into a boom in employment opportunities for those who want to slap on clown makeup and host an afternoon kids show.

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P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com His column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/virgin/367226_virgin17.html

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no such thing as local TV except the news and thats it............ it's cheaper to buy then produce a local segment.more profit and in the world of Corp holdings the bottem line is all that matters.

I was told a long time ago by a broadcast executive (a lawyer) - "We're not in the business to make entertainment - we're in the business to make money".

It will take grass roots, small ventures, dedication for a back to basics, and the public need and want to stop eating corporate pablum, for that to change.

It'll be the interweb that brings us the next local entertainment phenom.