• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 2, 2025

Can TV stations benefit from growing use of influencer-based short-form videos on their airwaves? Perhaps.

But who is willing to step up -- at least from the legacy TV side or things? And will the intended audience of young viewers find this content?

Quick video-editing techniques and causally delivered content can appeal to younger social media-focused users -- especially video on rising platforms like YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Facebook Reels.

Short-form video may be just a minute in length -- or even shorter, perhaps 30 seconds -- when it comes to almost any genre.

But there may be a long and rocky road to reach that goal.

In a TVNewsCheck article, the journalist interviewed a group of influencers and was taken aback when asked a question about possible future collaboration with a local TV news station.

The response from a young participant was: “[Can you give me an] example of a local TV news station?”

Well, that could be a problem right now. Viewers need to turn on their TV set, navigate their smart TV OD to find their DirecTV or other legacy pay TV channel tab, and then go to an over-the-air channel lineup -- identified by generally small numbers -- like "2" to "12."

Just the nuts and bolts of old technology may not be the only hurdle -- explaining why might be.

It's better to initially suggest to creators that a short video segment will appear on YouTube, Instagram, Snap, or other social media platforms.

In addition, and perhaps as a side benefit, it will also air on a “local TV station’s newscast” -- kind of a backward way of helping a traditional over-the-air longform platform.

This is not to say that name-checking “NBC” or “Warner Bros” doesn’t mean something to Gen Z-ers.

Even my daughter senses those companies are kind of a big deal, although she doesn’t know all the specific channels/platforms where stuff airs. That said, she does know how to access NBCU’s Peacock for any and all “Love Island” episodes.

Still, influencers know about what it’s like to have their content seen by a wider audience to have greater impact.

TV stations' bread and butter TV newscasts have seen declining usage and ever older audiences coming for a while.

Can they adapt? And better yet, how can they pull in new viewers, translating short form content into the bigger screen in Gen-Zers' parents' living room, specifically via a TV station’s local TV news show -- not just YouTube?

Young creators have no problem making more videos.

But convincing young audience members to watch on a specific over the air TV station? Hmm.. Good luck.