I feel your pain.
Opportunities abound and as the Romans said, Fortes fortuna adiuvat or the modern translation of “Fortune favors the bold.” As I wrote last quarter, deregulation is upon us and that’s good for broadcasting. Bold moves are grabbing headlines as multiple organizations seek to acquire, divest, trade, maneuver, expand, align, consolidate…etc. Stuff is happening. Good stuff, but a lot of it.
Beyond that, our business has changed dramatically. We must embrace change as it is both inevitable and necessary. In addition to our broadcast responsibilities, we are engaged in core and targeted digital, streaming, CTV apps abound and require creative content. AI is impacting our business in ways that we could not have imagined just a few years ago and it presents both concerns and possibilities.
We live in interesting times. Outside of the beginning of broadcasting, I’m not sure anyone has seen this much change-seemingly all at once. As we all balance broadcast, digital, streaming, AI, content, industry change, increased competition and more, it’s a hell of a juggling act. It can be stressful.
I do feel your pain. But I also share your excitement.
We are seeing compelling opportunities that will help strengthen local broadcasters to challenge the dominances of legacy mainstream media and Big Tech. It will help us all better serve local communities. Local stations and local news are under enormous pressure from social media giants, like Facebook and of course Netflix, Google, and Amazon. Big Tech reaches literally every phone, TV, and computer in the country, with unlimited reach and financial resources and no limits on their size, growth, or influence.
These changes to regulations and new opportunities for local broadcasters are vital to providing alternatives to Big Tech and to preserving local journalism that is unbiased and accurate, presented by folks you know who are committed to delivering the full range of perspectives and opinions reflected in our community. Big Tech isn’t interested in any of those things. Big Tech is interested only in views, scrolls, and clicks-they thrive on engagement, not accuracy.
Overcome the pain and remember that Americans cite local broadcast news as their most trusted source of information. We’ve got a job to do and it’s a great and important job.
Thank you, local broadcasters.
Judson Beck
WBA Board Chair
