Tag: Local TV News Stations

How Local TV News Stations Harness Social Media for Their Own Advantage

Careen Jodie

Local television stations are faced with the grim prospect that their aging audience will eventually disappear through the passing of years. Reports have it that only 18 percent of the younger-adult population, ranging in ages between 18 to 29, rely on local TV stations for information.

The small group still holds the belief that the news content they get from TV news broadcasters are more accurate and comprehensive than the snippets of news appearing in their social media accounts.

One thing about social media news content is that no one is actually in charge of curating news being posted and shared; making it possible for fake news to spread rapidly and wildly across the Internet. Yet that is one advantage that local TV news channels can exploit in order to draw more audience from the younger adult sector.

Local TV stations need to build their own network of social media users who will organize and sort genuine news that stations can insert and deliver as “breaking news”during non-news programs. That way, local TV news can break away from the general impression that they deliver contents already stale, by social media standards.

Local TV News Stations Make Their Content Up-to-Date and Relevant via Social Media Users

Rather than send off reporters to different locations as a means of establishing the veracity of a social media feed, local TV stations can simply build a team of on-location social media users who will live stream events as they happen in their geo-location. After all, there are now live action cameras that come in compact and mountable forms, which enable users to capture real time events even while on the go.

These are the kind of cameras popularized by extreme sports enthusiasts who are into filming their death-defying sport activities as they happen.

Although live action cameras are not as high tech as the Digital Single Lens Reflex or DSLR video cameras used by professionals, they cost less and are easier to carry around at all times. When taking videos for news reporting purposes, social media users will find live action cameras as a better tool than a smartphone camera, since they can take shots at different angles.

When looking to equip themselves with this kind of camera, searchers must add the best action cameras in the market in order to land search results optimized with buying guides.

Speaking of optimization, news accessed from social media users can be optimized by giving participating contributors with proper online training. Providing them with basic news reporting guidelines is also important as they will serve as bases for accepting contributions regarded as reliable and newsworthy materials.

On their part, local TV stations must upgrade their newsroom tools in ways that will enable them to receive and disseminate information to the younger adults populating their areas. Live videos streamed in real time and occurring as social media feeds in their respective TV station website, should have equal importance as the news gathering process.

Local TV News Channels and Their Struggle to Stay Above the Social Media Hype

Careen Jodie

Broadcasting TV news as a business, has been placed in a precarious position during the past years. The media environment is not getting any better with the rise of social media platforms.

Many of the news-hungry younger adults prefer to stay ahead by obtaining information from Twitter or Facebook, since social media feeds can deliver news at a faster pace regardless of the veracity or accuracy of the news.

https://youtu.be/qL-OU38GeSY

What’s the point of watching TV news if it is going to broadcast something that had trended hours earlier?

Still, the not-so-tech-gadget-savvy members of the older generations are there to keep local TV news stations still relevant. Older people ages 65 and above. are the ones who find it satisfying to sit comfortably on their couch to watch comprehensive versions of news stories already hyped up by social media sites hours before.

It is imperative for local TV news stations therefore, to prevent younger adults from cutting the cord. Once they do so and later become the new members of the older generation, only a few will likely go back to getting news information from local TV broadcasts.

What happens next if future viewers belonging to the older generation are all astute social media users?

Local TV News Perform Strongly During Election Periods

Currently though, local TV news stations are experiencing an upswing in sponsorships and viewership, in light of campaigns related to the forthcoming U.S. presidential elections; starting with the primaries by as early as February 03, 2020 up to the general election on November 03, 2020. In between those dates, there are rallies, debates and conventions that local tv news cover for the benefit of their respective region’s voting public.

Once the elections are over, it would bring the status quo to normal, which means sliding back to a stagnating, if not failing condition. Presumably, local TV news stations will wait two years for the midterm elections and for four years for the next round of presidential elections.

https://youtu.be/mdMoLPXZrpI

In the meantime, the waiting period will put them back in the same precarious position of having to struggle against the growing power of social media. Not unless the industry strategizes with what, when and how they deliver news content.

Planners and strategists though, must make it a point to work hand in hand with financial experts, preferably those connected with a reputable tax firm. That way, they can coordinate their strategic plans with any tax cuts or tax credits that they can leverage in easing their tax burden.