The FCC voted along party lines 3-2 in October to no longer require television stations keep studios in the market in which they operate. That deregulation goes into effect this week. This likely does not mean cuts for larger stations. If anything, staff could be beefed up as they handle broadcast duties for smaller markets.
It will likely cause cuts at smaller news operations as broadcasts are outsourced to hubs or larger stations. Reporters and some camera people could be left in the smaller market with directing, anchoring and management duties handled remotely. Many smaller station already have thread-bare operations. Does it make a difference if they send a signal from the field over a microwave or TVU or LiveView if the signal goes 10 miles or 100 miles? Gannett went to hubs for newspage layout. It's a mixed collection, but the actual graphical design of the Reno newspaper increased. It could mean that a reporter works reporting 7 hours a day in a larger market and then spends an hour anchoring for a remote smaller market. The smaller market newscasts could be taped and run later. Or there might be more 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local newscasts in smaller markets as the larger markets shift around staff and resources. It was broadcasters themselves who asked for the change. The Mother Jones story notes the conservative CEO of Newsmax even opposed the change. The Mother Jones story has embedded videos of flubs by remotely anchored Sinclair stations. Bloomberg story <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-24/broadcasters-no-longer-need-a-local-studio-as-fcc-changes-rule> Mother Jones story <http://www.motherjones.com/media/2017/10/sinclair-fcc-main-studio-rule/> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
