Here are more observations and musings from my many days jetting around this great country.

Your Viewers Are A Bit Surly.   Just like the rest of us, your local TV news viewers are a much more surly lot than they were a year or so ago.   Vanishing jobs and 401K’s will do that to you.   I’ve seen them in focus groups the past few weeks – and they have shorter attention spans, are much less tolerant when you waste their time, and just want you to get to the point.   It’s a message to keep in mind as you produce newscasts.  They want the facts, they want to know more than ever how the news affects them, and they want you to move on to the next story.    We’ve been preaching that message for years – but right now – viewers have no tolerance for anything else from you.

Mix In Some Positive News.   I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about mixing some positive news with the daily litany of doom and gloom in your newscasts.   There is evidence of that viewer desire in every market I have visited the past few months.  In fact, many viewers are telling reporters and anchors that very thing when they rub shoulders in public.   They don’t want fluff.  They do want hope.

Multi-Taskers Are Valuable.    I saw first hand this week evidence that the most valued newspersons of the future (the future being today!) – are the ones who have embraced putting their reports on multiple platforms.   I was in a station while a group head addressed the troops and that was the crux of his message.   Local TV news is embracing many platforms to deliver the news – and anyone in the newsroom who doesn’t share that vision will not be valuable to their employers.

Dr. Phil Zooming Downhill?   When Dr. Phil’s syndicated program first hit the air, I was a naysayer.  “There is no way,” I said at the time,  “that his abrasive style will wear well with viewers.”  Well – I may have been right – although the irritation took a few years longer than I imagined at the time.   In some large markets – Dr. Phil’s ratings have slipped 70% this year.

How Valuable Is Oprah?   And, the biggest syndicated program of all-time is also in a bit of a pickle.  With the continued proliferation of easy-to-use video recorders – at least 40% of Oprah’s viewing in many markets is time-shifted.   So, is the program still valuable as a loss-leader because it delivers big numbers to your local newscast?  Apparently not, if you have to reduce whatever that rating is by 40% because viewers watch Oprah later in the day – or the next day.  It means they certainly are not watching the program as a lead-in to your newscast.

Your Government At Work!   With all the anger over wasted tax dollars, I was wishing the TV cameras could have been at the security checkpoint at the airport in Tampa last week.   As I headed through, I noticed that only one lane was open (very unusual for this airport, and a testament of the slow air travel at the moment, even during spring break).   I also noticed that 5 TSA agents were actually working, while 9 more were standing around doing nothing.    Ah yes, another sterling example of your tax dollars at work!

Jim

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Willi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.