• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, August 24, 2023

Cox Media Group, a TV/radio station group, is now taking a chance at this, starting up “Neighborhood TV,” which targets zones around a six-to eight mile radius in Georgia and North Carolina with niche neighborhood focused news. 

This effort looks to stem all that cord-cutting from traditional cable TV wired program operators, resulting in lower local over-the-air TV usage -- some of which is also putting dozens of live, linear TV channels at risk.

But can these local TV connected streaming efforts find stable financial footing in a world increasingly dominated by social media, which can offer quick, easy, short, and easily digestible local news information as well as video?

This effort follows a move in May where Fox TV stations started local news streaming platforms for its 17 stations -- Fox Local. 

Making things even easier for those streaming-heavy users, Fox announced a deal with Amazon to have those TV stations offered free under the so-called now industry-wide umbrella name of FAST (free-ad supported TV).

The good news for TV stations is they still have decent -- although significantly declining -- viewership among U.S. viewers. Around 75% of viewers still claim to be regular local TV station viewers.

All this means a chance for TV stations to expand to new distribution TV services for their local TV content-- all with hope pulling in advertisers who are desperate to secure more linear TV reach.

Allen Media Group is another free ad-supported hyper-local streamer, Local Now, that has been in operation since 2021-- a service that mixes news and premium content. 

At best these are long-term projects -- partly to give local TV advertisers' proponents a vision for the future of where local TV could evolve. What do advertisers think about it -- and what are their financial situation at the moment? We haven't, as yet, a clue from any financial disclosures. 

One reading would seem to suggest that it has been slow going. 

Although overall connected TV/OTT advertising revenue has been estimated to be one of fastest growing channels of all local digital media -- projected to be 19% higher this year to $2.4 billion -- broadcast TV’s piece of this is still relatively small -- as well as that compared to the larger $20 billion or so in annual local TV advertising revenue.

Many of these CTV results are also from local TV ad-sales businesses owned by TV stations groups that sell other non-owned regional/local streaming apps.

Transitioning to all things streaming -- from live, linear and over-the-air TV -- continues to be a tough road. National TV linear networks moving content to their premium streaming platform has been a bumpy path. 

TV stations have little choice but to try. The question is how fast should all this take place-- without jeopardizing still m0ney making legacy TV platforms?