There is a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes in the news and weather video business and it’s not just about what I’m doing but what is happening in general and to the whole economy.
While at the Chaser Convention last week in Denver, which I drove my own truck out to save money, a lot of people were asking me about getting into the video business and I just had one word for them, RUN! Yes RUN, stay as far away from the news video business as you can. No it is not just from a stand point of I don’t want anymore competition in the industry because the viewer video has already taken care of that aspect of making just about anyone a chaser, but it is the media business in general.
I’m a member to several news groups and one of the sites today, news blues, reported this as their top story.
Now before you read this, consider this, why would anyone want to get into this business if it is failing all over the place for the most part?
One week after declaring bankruptcy but assuring employees that it would “continue to operate (the) business in the ordinary course as we reorganize,” Young Broadcasting informed its stations Friday that, beginning today, it would no longer pay vendor accounts. News departments were advised to gas up vehicles over the weekend, because the use of Mobil gas cards would cease. Payments to Sony and other suppliers would be suspended.
“Maybe we can car pool to the local breaking news,” suggested one perplexed news photog.
In the letter to staff on Friday the 13th, Vincent Young, CEO of Young Broadcasting, assured employees that “We have 20 million dollars of cash on hand and plan to continue to operate our business in the ordinary course as we reorganize. Our television stations will continue broadcasting without interruption, our employees will be paid as usual, and our vendors and suppliers will be paid for all post-petition goods and services.”
In fact, Young had cash on hand because it had defaulted, in recent weeks, on $10,638,000 in interest payments to senior lenders. At least one television executive scoffed that: “20 million in the bank won’t last long when most of your stations are operating at a deficit.”
Apparently, the cash lasted a week.
Station Group:
KRON 4 MyTV – San Francisco, CA – (# 6)
WKRN 2 ABC – Nashville, TN – (# 29)
WTEN 10 ABC – Albany, NY – (# 57)
WCDC 19 ABC – Albany, NY – (# 57)
WRIC 8 ABC – Richmond, VA – (# 58)
WATE 6 ABC – Knoxville, TN – (# 59)
WBAY 2 ABC – Green Bay, WI – (# 70)
KWQC 6 NBC – Davenport, IA – (# 97)
KELO 3/6/11/15 CBS – Sioux Falls, SD – (# 113)
WLNS 6 CBS – Lansing, MI – (# 114)
KLFY 10 CBS – Lafayette, LA – (# 123)
And if that was not bad enough, the headlines today go on with the following.
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Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday in an effort to restructure its debt load.
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The Journal Register Company, publisher of 20 daily and 159 community newspapers, serving parts of Philadelphia, Michigan, Connecticut, Cleveland, and New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Saturday.
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Rupert Murdoch’s love of newspapers and his decision to buy The Wall Street Journal may have placed parent company News Corp. at risk, reports today’s New York Times….which is struggling for its own life.
Now with the news industry in the slums for the lack of a better description, now another group is trying to get into the business of live chaser video for local TV stations. From what I heard, they tried to get all their stuff up and running over the last month and then merge with another chaser video company doing the same thing but they ended up telling them to get screwed.
For those in the chaser community the whole thing is pretty entertaining to watch people with no media experience what so ever, other then providing chaser viewer video for on screen name recognition and then try to get into the media market with a new company as the industry is dying.
People wonder why I never got into dealing with the local TV markets and I’m now planning on going back to film school in the fall if I can afford it and focus more on other projects outside of news while working with the core BNVN crew. NEWS is dying and for the most part, journalism is dead. Get out while you can because here is another quote from NB today.
Appearing on CNN’s Reliable Sources to promote his new book, the increasingly irritating Bernard Goldberg explained that the news media thought it was on a “noble mission” to help elect Barack Obama because the Illinois senator was young, cool, and black.
“I’m saying they crossed the line from media bias to media activism,” Goldberg told Howard Kurtz. “And they did it because they felt the cause was worth it. What Chris Matthews talked about, a ‘thrill running up his leg,’ that’s not commentary. That’s a man-crush.”
When is it the “media’s mission” to do anything other than report THE NEWS. When you start to craft and create the news, it is not the news, it is now entertainment.
