The DTV Test & The Crawl as a Bargaining Tool

I was watching the local Fox news as they were hyping their DTV test last night and then I heard recaps of similar tests done earlier on KWCH and KSN. I assume KAKE might have done the same thing last night. Apparently if your TV was not equipped you would have seen static and if it was fine you saw bars in some tests like on KWCH and on the Fox one I saw "Everybody Loves Raymond" promos, signaling I guess, all was good with my cable and I was ready for the switchover. Plus the stations had special lines people could call to have their questions answered. It appeared as if they were local numbers and answered by local people. What a concept or was it just cheaper that way? I am curious how the tests went at the various stations.

The Crawl as a Bargaining Tool?
It has also been interesting to watch the crawls lately through the tests. Back in the day you only saw crawls for severe weather. Lately you started seeing them warning people about the switch to DTV. Last night I saw a crawl on one of the stations using it as an apparent leverage tactic in bargaining agreements with various cable operators in the area. The crawl basically stated that if you had one of the cable companies listed as a cable provider to contact that provider because if they don't reach an agreement with the TV station, the viewer wouldn't see programming from the station after a certain date. Because of all the crawls, I haven't been reading them lately and the one last night lumped in with the rest so I cannot remember which station did this. Maybe more than one is doing this and I simply have missed it in growing tired of the crawls. The airwaves are the public's in one sense, but the programming and content is owned and controlled by the stations so they do what they think they need to like running bargaining crawls. I really don't have any views one way or another about it, but I am curious if anyone else has seen the crawls aimed specifically on the cable agreements and if any of them has interrupted your viewing of key programs. Of course when the crawls are aimed at weather info and maybe saving people's lives, angry viewers call in for that, so I am curious what happens on something like this. -Hal

Gallup: Local TV News Leads But Declining

A new Gallup survey shows that although a majority of Americans still get their news from local TV stations, it has declined from the previous year along with many other daily news sources, except cable TV news and of course the internet. Local TV news declined 3 percentage points. Sorry to say, but declining only 3 points in a year I think is a mini victory for local TV news. Digging deeper into the results, a higher percentage of viewers say they watch cable TV news than they do nightly network newscasts for the first time since Gallup started the survey in 1995. I think another one of the problematic issues for local TV news is if viewers don't watch the nightly network newscasts. I feel many local stations put more effort into a 6PM newscast than a 10PM and I really don't understand that. However, local TV stations should still be happy that a majority in the survey say they still get their news from them.

Moonves Foreshadows Network TV's Future? - CBS Chief Exec. Les Moonves said in a Marketwatch article that in 10 years the traditional model of airing new network programing on local affiliates may not exist in favor of offering a feed directly to satellite or cable operators and bypassing those local stations. This doesn't come as a surprise in premise, but it does surprise me that Moonves said it publicly. It definitely shows that local stations must look to diversify and expand its product on other platforms in order to continue to remain viable. -Hal

The Local TV News Business Game

Upon reading news today of NBC Universal slashing 500 jobs and Viacom cutting about 850 jobs, I began wondering how are things evolving locally. I think some of the cuts at NBC, Viacom and other networks were going to happen whether the economy took a turn or not, because of changes in technology and media consumption. However, the economic downturn stirs the pot even more and accelerates change in the media world. I have found it interesting in reading articles and watching stories about the economic problems how the example of local car dealers' slumps across the country have forced them to cut back on advertising in newspapers, radio and television. Not only are these stories appearing in trade publications, but also on shows and publications watched and read by the mainstream population. Its been awhile since I have heard of any large layoffs happening in Wichita at TV stations. There have been comments made to the posts that one station isn't replacing people when they leave and making 1 person do the job of a couple. Is it just a matter of time before we hear of big cuts in this market? Or are Wichita stations already dealing with minimum staffs and there are no cuts to make? With technology and the economy influencing the business at identical times, it will be interesting to see what happens. I am curious to hear your opinions.
KPTS Larry Hatteberg Special - KPTS airs a special called, "Larry Hatteberg's Kansas People," Tonight at 7PM on the local PBS station. It re airs Sunday, December 14 at 6PM. The website describes it as "collection of some of his favorite stories from the television series on KAKE TV." The special happens to run during one of the station's fundraising drives. -Hal