Friday, November 14, 2008

NBC and Fox Affiliates Will Share News Helicopters

 NBC and Fox have agreed to combine resources into one helicopter for their respective Philadelphia affiliates. The plan may spread to other major stations in Chicago, D.C. , Dallas, New York and Los Angeles. An article in today's Wall Street Journal explained the details of the agreement between the rival networks.

The newly formed local news service will start operating in Philadelphia in January, after a trial period that began this summer. The service will provide video footage of top news stories to the city's NBC and Fox affiliates, which will then make separate decisions about how to present the material. Each station will produce its own enterprise reporting.

Philly isn't the only market struggling in local news ratings. The problem stretches industry-wide, as ad revenues disappear due to car dealerships suffering from the same sluggish economy. Jack Abernethy, chief executive of Fox Television Stations Inc, told the WSJ that the agreement was a result of six months of declining ad sales.

 Consider all of the mid-size markets, (I.E. Orlando) that probably have even tighter budgets for coverage. If saving money isn't enough incentive , there's also the safety hazards that arise when several teams arrive in one area. Remember the terrifying footage in July 2007, when helicopters from  KTVK 3 and KNXV ABC 15 of Phoenix collided and four were killed as a result. With those factors in mind, I expect this trend to continue across the industry.

Posted By Matt O'Hern at 10:35 AM
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