Commentary
Real-Time Content May Hold Key To TV's Future
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, September 14, 2017
The future for TV stations may not be entertainment programming -- only real-time TV programming, news content or other similar programming.
Why? Because such choices create growing value for local TV viewers — the gift of immediacy. Other content — judge-hosted shows, sitcoms, crazy talk shows — may hold less value.
Speaking to Variety, Frank Cicha, senior vice president of programming for Fox TV Stations, says: “The only way these stations exist in the future is to be live day and date, to be immediate.”
Cicha was referring to a specific area: Fox-owned TV stations' efforts to slowly replace late-night sitcoms at 11:30 p.m. with local TV news programming. The risk: late-night high-rated sitcoms have typically brought in local advertising dollars for decades.
Fox would be following what the other big three network affiliate stations have been doing for some time — ending sitcoms at 11 p.m.
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One key factor is network late-night talk-show competition, which typically starts at 11:30 p.m. Fox has tried and failed in this arena. And late night offers a bigger TV advertising platform. It holds NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” CBS” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live."
While Fox doesn’t seem to have another plan for a network show in that time slot, some local TV stations executives are looking at how they can monetize the time by shifting to different TV programming.
Overall, traditional, linear TV ratings — network, cable, and local TV and in syndication — have seen a decline in ratings. Big license fees for nationally distributed syndicated programming may not have as much value as in the past, especially in key dayparts. Cicha did not provide details.
TV stations need to be increasingly competitive with seemingly immediate real-time content from new digital platforms — social media, online news media and other services.
Is that what is at work here — especially with growing older audiences on traditional TV platforms? Younger TV consumers continue to look for a change. Can local TV find the right formula?
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
Wayne, very few if any ABC, CBS or NBC affiliates use syndicated sitcom reruns in the late evening hours or, for that matter, in the early evenings either. The Fox situation is quite different. Most Fox affiliates are independents who program 10-11PM newscasts when the network signs off each evening and follow up with syndicated sitcoms which they ofen use in the early fringe timkeslots as well. So, if the Fox O&Os believe that they can't afford to pay the relatively high license fees for the sitcoms when the contracts need to be renewed, that's mainly a financial decision----- or the Fox stations may be using this threat as a ploy to intimidate the syndicated show sellers from upping their prices and, perhaps, trying to obtain lower rights fees. In any event, extending their 10PM late news efforts into the late night hours with "real time" content may cost less but it will probably draw many fewer viewers and older ones, mainly, not the younger viewers who prefer the sitcom reruns.
Broadcast stations gave been gradually increasing their local news time for many years now, simply because News programming generates high ad revenue and they don't have to give away time to the network). Clearly, live local programming is the single unique selling proposition they have, But in most markets it's difficult to generate fresh stories throughout a day or evening. Off-network sitcoms generate repeat viewing--perhaps not as much as they did in the past, but again, they're a revenue generator.