WASHINGTON — The panel “The Growth of Local Programming” happened at The Business of TV News, with Bill Hague, Magid executive VP, moderating. The panel discussed the extraordinary growth of local content at TV stations and the challenges behind making it compelling enough for viewers to consume.
Ozzie Martinez, Telemundo Station Group and NBCUniversal Local executive VP of multiplatform news, original programming and standards, spoke of his camp transforming itself a few years back to “more of a multiplatform bilingual organization.”
He spoke about regional newscasts from neighboring Telemundo stations and streaming content finding fresh viewers.
Read More: Coverage From the Business of TV News Event
“It’s a completely new avenue for us,” he said. “We’re finding opportunities as much as we can to leverage our bilingualism.”
B+C, Multichannel News and NextTV are hosting The Business of TV News event at the Hotel Washington May 2.
Sean McLaughlin, who recently shifted from Scripps to a VP of news role at Graham Media Group, spoke of a “disconnect” between viewer and product and the challenge of a new approach to producing unique content. “The idea of transforming a local newsroom sounds really easy,” he said. “The habits that are ingrained for so long are really impossible to change.”
The panel touched on new ways to find producing talent. The younger generation dreams of creating content on YouTube, it was said, much more than doing so on a 5 p.m. newscast.
Scott Livingston, senior VP of news at Sinclair, mentioned how a producer job listing didn’t get much response. The same listing with a content creator header elicited far more applicants.
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“They’re getting the opportunity to create something on a social platform, and the 5 p.m. news and an investigative piece,” he said. “Suddenly we are getting folks that want to be there and are excited about what we do.”
Sue Diviney, senior VP and general manager, WTTG-WDCA Washington, said younger staffers like the idea of working on programming that moves beyond news. She mentioned a behind-the-scenes program on streaming. “Streaming gets everybody involved–producers, writers, people in the newsroom,” she said. “They’re more excited about what they’re doing.”
Livingston spoke of a Sinclair task force that brainstormed non-traditional content. The group’s ARC approach, touching on Authentic, Relevant Community content, came out of that.
“It’s a nontraditional way of telling stories, and our newsrooms are loving it,” he said. “Our biggest challenge is staying relevant.” A show from it recently launched on Sinclair's KSNV in Las Vegas, he said. "Obviously, one week isn't a good barometer of how well it's working, but two days we beat the ABC affiliate and we beat a network show with this concept."
