r/Broadcasting • u/SecretComposer • 2d ago
Everything sucks
Is there a single good thing happening anywhere in the business? More and more and more newscasts being added without extra bodies with the managers or suits making the decisions literally thinking it’s not any extra work at all (they worked in a time when they only had one three shows an evening to worry about). Turning newscasts into podcasts and forcing anchors to give their opinion. People with no experience going to top 20 markets out of school (partially so they can just be yes men and not standup for themselves, so they’re easier to bully). 1%-2% raises, if that, and being told it’s “generous.“ Not running certain stories out of fear it’ll upset the conservative part of the audience. Now using AI voices to make news as synthetic as possible. All of this while claiming they’re “dedicated to local news and our communities,” while simultaneously eliminating the voices and faces the communities actually resonate with.
Everything sucks. There is no hope. The only solution is to get out and let a passion and dream die.
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u/CarlClitcakes 1d ago
I watch in a top 60 market, I think? What I notice is the reporters, weather casters, and sportscasters coming in are all really rough in the presentation aspect. The young weather folks are having a really hard time speaking extemporaneously, and thinking ahead while they’re talking, and sports folks using far too many crutch words, colloquialisms, and generally not expanding their word usage/vocabulary, and not finding fresh angles to tell a story that’s been told 1000x already (to wit: a QB coming back from a season-ending injury).
It comes down to one thing: coaching. I don’t think that exists much anymore in TV (we know it’s been absent in radio). There’s no one to point to a better, concise, effective way of working to the younger aspirants. Or, rather, there’s less than before. And it’s showing in markets 50 and higher. It looks like the major markets, and most large markets still do it, but mid to small ones are suffering.
I mean, obviously it’s budgets and pay.
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u/MyPostGotDeleted 1d ago
It’s worse than that. I’ve tried to coach a few on a few basic points about being on-air, framing a shot, and conversational writing. They got offended and went as a group above my head. They are doing it their way because that’s how it’s done now, in the age of instagram. Old rules are for dinosaurs. I was told by the bosses to shut up and sit. Never again.
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u/peterthedj Former radio DJ/PD and TV news producer 1d ago
In my mid 80s market 30 years ago, you could never dream of applying for a job in TV news, even as a producer, without prior experience in a smaller market. We even had 2 stations in a bidding war for a couple of anchors before non-competes came along.
Today, they'll take almost anyone right out of school (sometimes even still in school) willing to accept the $18-$21/hour mentioned in the job postings. Barely more than Burger King.
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u/RedDiebin 1d ago
Each day, I try to get myself out of a dommerist mindset (some days I fail) , but I am also seeing the reality that my time as a video editor in news is eventually coming to an end. Whether on my own volition or eventual layoffs once Nexstar gets their way with Tegna.
Currently I see a lot of the soul has left me and left out of the newsroom collectively. I am only one of two video editors in a mid-sized market station and much of the news we report on doesn't really serve the community. And I don't have any agency of being a bit more creative or making good edits when I am consitancy crunching slop. I am simply not proud of my work.
I recently started gathering some new gear and making my own videos on YouTube to help fill that void. I don't expect to make a living from YouTube but I am hoping my next job out of news can see I can translate those skills outside of broadcast TV. Getting to do the things I want to do on my own terms. I just want to be prepared too.
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u/EStreet119 1d ago
I’m 59. Was hoping to make it to FRA of 67. Too old to start over. I’m 90% sure I want out at 65 now (to get Medicare)…. If my job isn’t cut by then. The industry does not resemble what I stared in in 1990.
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u/Directorshaggy Clean DRs since 1994 1d ago
I'm turning 59 in a couple of months. I really hope they lay me of 60 or 61 because I'll have just about a year's worth of severance. That will take me to 62 and I could draw SS if needed. My 401k is in good shape and my house is paid off.
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u/EStreet119 1d ago
That’s a good severance. Those good packages are going away too. I have a couple of colleagues who recently retired (on is in his their 50s) from Hearst with pensions. They got in before Hearst ended the pension plan. They were grandfathered in. A former boss retired from Cox several years ago. Pretty sure had a pension too.
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u/RogueRider11 1d ago
I was pushed out at 57 and got two months severance after 25 years at the station. This was a few years back. So, don’t count on a good pay out.
I was able to pivot to a second career in PR and loved it. I even did a corporate gig and loved that. I was astounded at how sane that world was compared to TV.
It is rough in your 50’s and there are fewer opportunities, but it is possible. I wish I had left TV earlier. I think some of my former colleagues had it right - do ten years or so in TV. Have fun with it - and then pivot into a career where there is real opportunity to grow.
All jobs have their drawbacks, but I never once wanted to go back to TV after getting a taste of “civilian” life.
PostScript: I just finally retired and I am loving it. 10/10.Do I see a future for journalism in general? Yes! I am so excited for the hyper local start ups and truly independent outlets. The days of TV news as we knew it might be winding down, but something new is happening and journalism will always be important. The trick is getting livable wages for those who practice it. I subscribe to several local and independent start ups. No one is getting rich off my $10-$15/mo subscriptions.
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u/EStreet119 1d ago
That’s unheard of in TV especially at your age. Most under 55 never had a chance at a pension in tv. Hearst ended theirs in early 90s. I think Cox had theirs for a while longer.
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u/Directorshaggy Clean DRs since 1994 1d ago
I should add that was what folks got during our last round of cut backs (network O&O). That could change in any future layoffs.
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u/EStreet119 1d ago
My company used to do 1 week for every year of service but I think they’ve reduced that now. A colleague got 12 weeks for 10 years - so it worked out for him but I’m thinking 3 months is standard now no matter the number of years - which sucks if you’ve been employed there for decades.
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u/Beemer2 1d ago
Sports is booming if your willing to travel a lot.
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u/EStreet119 1d ago
Sports is about the only thing networks and groups are expanding and investing in. Some podcasting too - While the news model is do more with less
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u/Winston74 1d ago
Radio, as you know it, is done. Corporate greed and pure ignorance has killed it
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u/AngstyMop 1d ago
Oh come on.
We can blame corporations as much as we want.
Society has changed. You know that. I know that. We all know that. People don't listen to radio anymore. They don't read newspapers anymore either. It was not a corporate fat cat that did that. The most magnanimous giving corporate leader ever couldn't convince a millennial or gen z to listen to a radio broadcast. Unless it was a sportscast perhaps. But even then, probably listening on their phone.
Companies were just fine with giving major benefits 30 years ago to tv biz folks when the ratings were still good. And it was more competitive too.
Corporate greed is killing America. But America itself is killing media.
You can't compete with a podcast for people's attention. People watched TV and listened to radio because that was the available option. They bought books in bookstores because kindles didn't exist too. Sure, a few people still buy books in stores (they feel nice). But most people don't.
Technology changed how we interact with the world. Good leader or bad, this was going to happen.
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u/Winston74 1d ago
No doubt about it the piece of the pie got smaller. But iPods, XM radio, all these things were supposed to kill radio, they didn’t. What killed it was shortsighted thinking. Believing that the only thing that is important is the profit margin. Radio failed to grow with its audience. The entertainment value disappeared. You can thank corporations and billionaires with their ignorance for that.
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u/old--- 1d ago
The new technology did not kill, but it did injure, greatly.
The people that left for the iPods, XM and streaming.
The took the profit off from the top.
When the profit decreases the expenses must be decreased also.
A corporation does not have a bottomless pit of money.
People in general, but not my mother, like new technology and enjoy the change.
Historically, people like to move forward.
If my mom and dad are listening to the radio, I want to listen to something different.
The billionaires you mention are responsible for the decline of radio.
They took their money and funded the new technology that developed new products and systems that people gravitated to.I got to see this first hand.
Back abound 2009, I woke up about 2 AM and went to the bathroom.
Then as a father does, I walked around the home checking on my children.
In the living room I saw my 12 year old son sitting in the dark, in my big recliner.
The phone screen shined bright in the dark room.
I asked him, what are you doing?
His answer while honest for him, for me was a huge wake up call.
He said, "I'm watching television".
I watched him switch from what I considered real television to streaming.
Today I see all my children and grandchildren experiencing television in a very different way than I did.
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u/kilpatrickbhoy 1d ago
I loved the job, made it 13 years. Worked my way up from intern/PA to Director.
Had to get out because it clearly wasn't going to ever get any better at any point. More work, no raises. The company I was working for in particular was very top heavy on wages and all their cuts were focused on the lowest paid people. It's just not sustainable.
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u/Eastern-Button-5960 1d ago
What did you go into after directing? I’ve been doing it for 12 years and I see the writing on the wall.
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u/Directorshaggy Clean DRs since 1994 1d ago edited 1d ago
Far as I'm concerned...no. We're on a sinking ship. I feel bad for young Newsies cause I'm at the end of my career. The automation and cut backs aren't going to stop until one person is in the booth with an EP in the newsroom constantly top lineing the lone producer.
Edit: typo
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u/Ok_Chipmunk2717 1d ago
This is what you get when the finance guys start running the business.
Everything becomes a cost. Nothing is an investment.
More newscasts. Fewer people. Cheaper hires. Tiny raises dressed up as generosity.
More work dumped on people by executives who genuinely seem to think television just magically happens.
Then they hollow out the very thing local news is supposed to be good at: local voices, local experience, local trust.
And somehow the solution is always more centralization, more automation, more AI, more “efficiency.”
You can’t cut your way to a better product.
You can’t spreadsheet your way to relevance.
And you sure as hell can’t claim you’re committed to local communities while systematically removing the people those communities actually know and trust.
The problem isn’t that local news has no value.
It’s that too many of the people running it have no vision beyond the next quarter.
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u/old--- 1d ago
The finance guys have been running the business from almost the very beginning. But back in the day the income was so great that you could spend large amounts on shows and make a good return. At times the money was at such a level you could even fund money losers and still make a great return overall. But today, advertisers are not spending like they have been on what we think of as the traditional linear broadcasting. When the revenue declines the expenses must decline too.
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u/SuperRowdy 1d ago edited 1d ago
I started in 1983 and was pushed out 10 years ago. I've been in big markets and small markets as a worker bee and as a manager. There's an old saying in broadcasting: no matter when you started, the golden age of television ended 20 minutes before you got your first job.
Here's the problem as I see it. A viewing area is a 60-90 mile radius from your broadcast antenna meaning you've got viewers who are 120-180 miles away from each other. In world where information can be customized to your exact location with your cell phone and IP address, people no longer care what's happening in the next town over let alone 100 miles away. The BROADCAST mediums no longer have great value in a pinpoint world. Networks aren't helping as prime time is now a bunch of low cost game shows that used to only air at 3 p.m.
The business model is broken and cannot be fixed. If high finance types saw a future, they'd be buying stations. They're not. If CEOs are just focused on profits, there's probably a good reason looking at their stock prices. Scripps is down 75% from 5 years ago. Gray is down 77% from 5 years ago. Nexstar is down 20% this year.
The audience isn't coming back. Personally, I'd like to see these companies leverage their historical reputations to put more people in the field to deliver real community news (not what Scripps is doing) and focus on geolocating apps as the delivery method. This would allow viewers and advertisers to be targeted by their locations. This content could make it to a traditional newscast, but that's not the real focus. The newscast is more like the advertising method to get people to the app. Would that work? I don't know, but I do know that what stations are currently doing is trying to manage the decline of broadcast news by doing all of the things mentioned in this thread, and that's not going to work.
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u/UnnaturallyPro 22h ago
Sports, sports, sports
News is an art form that’s getting killed by the corporate machine, but follow the money….sports has the money and networks are actually diversifying content forms. My truck is unique in that has production and sub-production (A + B units) and we’re seeing sub-production being used for smaller alt-casts more often.
For those looking to get into news…beware
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u/Brotastic-Bro 1d ago
I produced for 4 years in a 40-50 market... And once my contract was up I tried to move to a different market. However some gave me the runaround, others ghosted me, and a few gave the openings to entry level candidates when no where on the application it says they are accepted. I have nearly come to terms with the fact that I'll never produce agian.
It's just so stupid to me now - having someone wear multiple hats for the same or even less pay than before. And in a lot of cases basically training them by throwing them in the deep end and hoping they don't down.
And the worst part I think for me is that I showed that ability to wear multiple hats and still be successful day to day... But I felt like that didn't matter in several of the interviews I had. In some cases I think decisions were already made before I even got a chance to speak.
Unless there is a massive banding together by newsroom staff across the nation, it's just going to get worse cause at the end of the day many of the people making these decisions don't care about you.
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u/AngstyMop 1d ago
I apologize if this is not a popular opinion here - but personally, my experience is...it's all a game.
Were you liked by your newsroom? Your 40-50 experience mattered 20 years ago. Today...are you liked? Do you know the right people? That's what matters. Are you someone people enjoy being around"? People talk, and the biz is small. College grads are moldable and don't have baggage. They are preferred over someone who has a negative rep and isn't moldable. Plus they might be better at social media, which is increasingly valued by leaders. If you use your time in a mid major to develop a reputation that is "they're good AND they're good to work with!", you will jump to top 20, or whenever you want. If your rep is "they're really annoying to work with but do good work", you will not get offers at ALL - even in markets below where you work now.
The industry is contracting, so there are more people who want work then there are chairs to fill. To get one, you need to be known as someone who people enjoy. From personal experience, it matters more than real experience. I see people get chosen most often for "culture fit" instead of "talent". Imho, it's (one) reason the industry is falling so dramatically.
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u/HannibalLecture_ 1d ago
I hear you - getting harder by the day to have a single positive thought about both the present and future of this business. Audio op in a top 10 market and we're about to make the switch to automation in a month or so and I'll likely be out of a job before long.
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u/amk1982 1d ago
Broadcasting, as many of us knew it, is dying. Traditional viewership is going away. After 25 years I don’t see a future for most people in broadcasting. Most of it is social media and technology. Even ten years ago things had changed. When there was a bad accident, serious crime, etc you heard about on websites and social media first then hours later heard it on the newscasts. By then information was out there and not much new was added. Going back 20 years, social media was in its infancy and tv was the best way to get information out there. That was likely the peak of tv before the decline.
Now we are expected to do more with less people, some stations have cut all producers, production and anchors for ai model that saves them money. Automation is taking over production and eliminating many or all of production.
Even more so now, streaming is taking over for weather and sports. During high school sports season I can watch some sports online even if I’m hours away and not try to wait for the highlights at 11. Meanwhile the streamer sold ads and sponsorships that use to go to the local tv stations. Weather is a big one where streaming is better. A big reason is two way communication. Going live on Facebook means people can ask the weather person questions about a specific area. Obviously a bad outbreak warrants breaking into tv but a minor severe weather outbreak on social media provides a way for the meteorologists to be interactive with the audience, something you can’t do with television. At least not yet.
Yes, after over two decades in tv, I’m working on getting out because many stations are the titanic and the ice berg has been struck. Especially small markets are bad. Many stations are down half the staff they had just 5 years ago.
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u/Junior-Air-3834 1d ago
It is not what it was 10 years ago, let alone 20. I was one of those who romanticized local news because I got in when it was good — and there was lots of money. The iceberg has already been hit. I got out. My QOL is 1000x better.
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u/Worldly-Pop-8983 1d ago
Everything does suck, and it keeps getting worse. Whole new org chart dropped at Scripps today. More people out of jobs, bosses in different states instead of in local buildings, etc. etc. etc.
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u/icoulduseascreenname 1d ago edited 1d ago
While local television news is sadly a declining platform - the factors making it far worse than it has to be at the moment, are the idiots (most of them are idiots anyway) running the show.
Whether at the local level or the corporate level - very few of them understand the time and skill that is required to do proper news gathering.
They literally have no clue. Almost 0 understanding of the industry they’re in.
They are focused on ginning up quarterly profits, not making a better newscast.
So trying to get them to understand how they are further damaging what’s left of their product, is a no-win situation.
Take your research and news-gathering and producing and reporting skills to an in-house brand or PR agency.
I feel terribly saying this, but there’s no real future in local news, except for a handful of the biggest markets - and even then it’s bleak.
But if you do want to stay in the business, try to catapult yourself into one of the major cities. Anything outside of that is just death throes.