The Argument of Multiple TV Stations in the Same Market under the Same Ownership Group

DirecTV has sent comments to the Federal Communications Commission and released a new study that questions whether lifting ownership limits on station groups would actually improve local news.

For years, the NAB and broadcast owners have said that the total hours of local broadcast news coverage have gone up over the past decade. A study by the NAB found that newscasts have increased by 35% of the schedule since 2011.

The DirecTV study takes a different approach. It focuses on the diversity of local news content by looking at how local news is affected in markets where a station group owns more than one TV station.

There was no mention of the loss of heritage and higher paid talent at many stations to save money. Many positions in each studio have been eliminated through major labor cutbacks or automated studio operations. Many news photographers have been replaced by one-person crews, with reporters setting up cameras, lights, and live shots by themselves in situations that could threaten their safety.

Many reporters and anchors are inexperienced and now fill positions that, in previous years, only the most seasoned people would have held. On-air staff work many hours each day on multiple stations and other non-broadcast platforms, far beyond what was required just a few years ago. Actual newsgathering is often replaced by paraphrasing press releases or following a corporate mandate that repeats a specific point of view across multiple stations in a group.

Even with more local newscasts, what you see and hear on air may look more appealing thanks to modern technology. However, the overall quality of information is likely less fair or balanced for the average viewer.