We’re three thousand miles away, but the times they are a-changin’ in the nation’s largest media market. WNBC, the NBC O&O in New York City is dropping its 5pm newscast and replacing it with a chatty lifestyle-based show. While it’s new and different, it really doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Channel 4’s five […]
Digital dipsticks
June 12, 2009 by
There were days at TV stations when the phones just rang off the hook: When the end of a football game got clipped, when a show got preempted, or when a distressed animal was the lead story on a newscast. Other calls from a reliable collection of local dipsticks just made you crazy: Asking to […]
Product placement secrets revealed
June 2, 2009 by
The bloodletting taking place in local TV news operations around the United States is shocking. Newscasts are being cancelled, established talent fired, staffs cut. Frankly, a good chunk of the value proposition in local TV news died a long time ago, but the Great Recession and the demise of auto-related advertising has sped the process […]
KING with fingers crossed
May 29, 2009 by
Anchor tenure, quality content, powerful marketing and lead-in programming are all parts of any TV stationís success in news. A strong element can compensate for a weak one. For instance, a station may have given itself a truly mediocre and constantly revolving anchor team with no promotions, but have Oprah for the lead in. They […]
A slow death
May 27, 2009 by
Presstime, the magazine about newspapers published by the Newspaper Association of America is going out of print. I think the irony speaks for itself. Losing the print version of the publication will save the association about $500,000 according to president and CEO John Sturm as quoted in the New York Times. The other big newspaper […]
Chopping choppers
May 20, 2009 by
My dreams of working in television were formed back in the “good old days” By the time I got into the business the good old days were starting to wane. By the time I got out, the industry was on the precipice of what is happening to it currently – a paradigm-shifting retrenchment. All the […]
MTV highly responsible?
May 19, 2009 by
It’s the most responsible thing I’ve seen on television. What is it? An MTV show called “Scarred.” Ask my kids: For years, I’ve been yelling at the television set as it promotes all manner of dimwitted “extreme” activities that only show the glory – and none of the pain. While the “Jackass” genre is huge […]
Warning: Rapid change ahead
May 12, 2009 by
I was in a conversation the other day about making the switch over to HD video production. I could tell I was starting to hyperventilate, and that my audience’s eyes were starting to glaze over with my indecision and feeble explanations about the complexities associated with making any real commitments to a particular technology right […]
Seattle Schools Yipes!
May 11, 2009 by
It’s about effective communications, not the protocol. The imbroglio with the teacher’s union in the Seattle school district is the latest in a series of communications snafus – several of which star local school districts. The days of communicating with stakeholders first, as a matter of “courtesy” or “respect” and then filling in the gaps […]
Kiss your Mom with that mouth?
May 7, 2009 by
I don’t think Iím an old fuddy-duddy. I’m hip to technology and am really pretty easy-going about a lot of the social issues that seem to work-up so many. My “who cares?” thing probably comes from a pretty strong Libertarian streak, and dose of cynicism about the nature of people. I watch what people do […]
Too many Twits
May 6, 2009 by
Apple is now apparently thinking about buying Twitter and its collection of twits – er, uh, users. There are many problems associated with the deal – like what is Twitter really worth? What are tweets really worth? Is everybody going to get burned-out on social networking tools? Those are big questions I’ll leave to the […]
Swine flu mania
May 1, 2009 by
Communications professionals are in full crisis mode over the swine flu. Long hours, endless meetings, balking supervisors, obnoxious attention seekers and a feeling that every word you write or speak might be your last is all part of the fun in a crisis communications environment. School districts, health departments, law enforcement, transportation providers, municipalities and […]
What. Me worry?
April 28, 2009 by
I just got off the air with CBS radio in Chicago talking about media issues on the afternoon business report. One of the things we discussed was MAD magazine’s move to publish once a quarter. This was intended to be a sort of the “kicker” element of the show, designed to give us a chuckle […]
It’s the content silly!
April 24, 2009 by
I have been attending a lot of small business building seminars lately, and a lot of the advice is the same when it comes to social media: Build a Facebook site. That’s all well and good, and I agree wholeheartedly that building a Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace page is important. But as is the case […]
The News Tribune & Stimson Bullitt passes
April 21, 2009 by
The News Tribune unveiled another new look today and I think it’s just dandy. Karen Peterson previewed the change in her column on Monday, and nowhere in her writing did I detect a hint that the paper considers the re-design a “solution” to the issues surrounding the survival of newspapers. This deserves some kudos. Why? […]
Making bad, worse
April 16, 2009 by
Upon returning back from a spring break getaway, I was greeted with an article in The News Tribune about Edgerton Elementary School principal Guy Kovacs’ reprimand for going outside the Puyallup School District’s chain of command in expressing concern about axing 13 of the 28 librarians in the district. He did nothing more than communicate […]
