• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 7, 2010

There is indeed continuing interest in local TV news -- but you may have a hard time identifying where that local news originates.

Time Warner Cable has rebranded all its upstate cable TV news outlets with the moniker "Your News Now." That means its outlet in Rochester now gets rid of its "R News" name.

Some marketing executives still believe broadcast station call letters are the key for future growth, especially in the digital space. The theory is that the brand equity built into these multi-decades-aged names could go even further.

Yet other executives believe giving a new name to local digital TV news operations lets consumers gravitate to a "new" product and let go of any preconceived notions about the old TV station.

Some stations are looking for a total separation: According to one recent report, there are now some TV stations that have only run news on their Web sites -- no longer on their own airwaves. Other broadcast stations demand their staffers work both on their traditional newscast and the Web at the same time.

Local cable TV outlets have been working on shoestring budgets for some time, paving the way for network news organizations to adopt the locals' cost-saving ideas. For example, there's the one-man band, where a reporter is also his own producer and cameraperson.

Time Warner wants to go further. Branding many of its newscasts under the "Your News Now" name means a sharing of resources, specifically for the core of a TV station's effort, its video packages.

But interestingly, Time Warner is not tampering with NY1, its 20-year-old New York City news outlet, because it's a well-known brand.

So that makes for another identity crisis: one that broadcast stations can surely identify with.