Something like that...
Posted on 12/01/2008 4:32:44 AM PST by abb
One of the most familiar voices in Denver is about to sign off for the last time.
In October, three weeks after Ernie Bjorkman, an institution in Colorado television, signed a new annual contract worth close to a quarter of a million dollars, he was told he was being let go by KWGN, the CW affiliate in Denver, a victim of consolidation with another station.
snip
Across the country, longtime local TV anchors are a dying breed. Facing an economic slump and a severe advertising downturn, many stations have cut costs drastically in the last year, and veteran anchors, with their expensive contracts, seem to be shouldering a disproportionate share of the cutbacks.
snip
But the ratings for the broadcasts have gradually eroded over the years. The typical late newscast now reaches 12 percent of viewers watching TV in a given market, down from 21 percent 10 years ago.
The news departments are not alone in feeling the squeeze. Advertising is falling sharply, partly because of cutbacks in spending by automakers and car dealerships, which represent the single largest category of advertiser for broadcasters.
Until mid-November, a trade association for stations, the Television Bureau of Advertising, had expected total commercial revenue to be flat compared with 2007. It revised the forecast, however, and predicted a 7.1 percent decline. The group expects a 7 to 11 percent decrease in revenue next year. Already, the financial pressures are trickling down to newsrooms.
snip
On the Web, users can assemble their own newscast from an around-the-clock buffet of options, making anchors seem somewhat superfluous, especially to younger viewers. Perhaps as a result, station layoffs are in the news almost every day now, said Tom Petner, who edits the television industry newsletter ShopTalk.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"Network evening newscasts will go dark after the '08 elections and their news divisions disbanded."
Walter Abbott, (b. 1950), Media observer and commentator
ping
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01cnn.html?ref=business
CNN Pitches a Cheaper Wire Service to Newspapers
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/11/newspapers-eye-extreme-cuts-as-crisis.html
Newspapers eye extreme cuts as crisis grows
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-channel1-2008dec01,0,6695191.story
A SAG strike won’t cripple TV
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122810340075068473.html
Redstone Sells Control of Midway to Ease Debt
The sale of the Midway stake marks the end of a tumultuous investment for Mr. Redstone. He poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the company, only to see his investment fizzle as the company failed to create new hit games and its stock collapsed. Mr. Redstone’s stake had a market value of just $30 million Friday, but he sold it for a huge discount to even that — a condition of finding a buyer quickly and completing a deal this year.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122791725753065615.html?mg=com-wsj
Cable Operators Present Enticing Wager
And they’ll probably all run for the U.S. Senate (Democrats of course) as is little Chrissy Mathews.
Do you have a better estimate of the time than "after the elections"?
That includes a lot of territory.
The word ANCHORS has taken on its more significant seaworthy meaning to me now.
I gagged my way through a few minutes of MSNBC this morning to yet again watch Miss Mika deep six Joe.... wonder how long that guy will be given sanctuary - they must owe him one big favor.
It has become the Mika Morning.... (gagging again).
http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/
Alt.AP
http://newsafternewspapers.blogspot.com/
The ever-dwinding newspaper share of ad dollars
Apparently big layoffs at Gannett nationwide this week. See blog for details.
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20081128-9999-1mc28borrego.html
With paper up for sale, some fear loss of unity
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=95689
Judge Ruling Protects IP Address Identities
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
Hollywood CEOS To SAG: We Tell You What The Deal Is, Not Other Way Around
Indeed, that's why most cable companies (and both DirecTV and Dish Network) offer the ESPNews channel, since sports news can update frequently throughout the day.
I think it might happen within the next year. Revenues are really beginning to pinch at the networks, and the news divisions have always been loss leaders. Often rumored, a CBS/CNN wedding could easily take place. Sumner Redstone is still in a jam, despite his sale of Midway noted upthread. NBC and MSNBC will become one. Don't know what Disney will do with ABC news.
Regardless, it will be exciting to watch.
The regional news networks are already happening. A month or two ago, IIRC, the Philly area stations announced a joint agreement to co-operate on news.
Does that mean the CBS Evening news goes dark? Or just that they spew the same stories?
NBC and MSNBC will become one.
Same question.
Regardless, it will be exciting to watch.
I don't know. It seems to me to be akin to watching cars rust.
“By the end of this decade or shortly thereafter, television networks as we know them today will cease to exist....”
Don’t let the door hit you in the....
Well, I’m enjoying the he!! out of it!
To specifically answer your question - I think the “big 3” evening newscasts will go dark and it might well happen this year. The time will be returned to the local affiliates - if such a thing as affiliates are still around. Why bother with expensive local studios and transmitters when it will all go online?
In a couple more years there will no longer be ‘broadcast networks’ as we have known them all our lives. Computers and television will meld into one entity. Everything will be digital and will be available online to watch on demand. ‘Appointment viewing’ is pretty much over with.
I think you're overly optimistic on that timeline. None of the ABCBSNBC wants to go first. That would be admitting defeat.
Still, I'll be here Jan. 1, and see if you're right.
In the south/central NC area we have News Channel 14, a 24 hour news station.
Best thing is it’s “Weather On The Ones” weather coverage - every 10 minutes.
Mostly local coverage, a little cheesy sometimes but it covers just about everything.
Great news to start off a Monday morning! What’s local news anyway? Isn’t that the show they have where some clown dresses like an Eskimo and stands out in a snowstorm to tell us not to go out?
If you look closely, you'll see I have answered your question in true Clintonian fashion. I said "might well." LOL!! Anyway, I still say it's fun to watch them suffer!
Ad revenues revised down for local television in 2008. I thought all the political ads would help keep them afloat for this year at least.
Not even Obama’s millions could save local TV revenues.
Something like that...
Ernie Bjorkman, of KWGN in Denver, with co-anchor Kellie MacMullan. The station told Mr. Bjorkman that he
would be laid off in a consolidation.
From the Article: Mr. Bjorkman, 57, started taking veterinary technician classes two years ago, acting on a decades-old dream of working with animals. While Mr. Bjorkman has been performing his veterinary internships, some residents have recognized him, and a few have wondered whether he was working undercover on an investigative reporting assignment.
He has explained to them, this will be his new full-time assignment. He finished his course work in September, two weeks before he found out he would lose his anchor job. “I’m ready to reinvent myself,” he said.
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