Local News Modernization Stalled by Extended Media Acquisition Delay of over 300 Days

Even if consumers have mostly been responsible for the trend, many media professionals regret the decrease of local news in recent years. However, news and media entrepreneurs see an economic opportunity where others see a rising issue. The technology is also prepared. The key question is whether authorities will allow the market to address the issue or put obstacles in its path. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has delayed the approval for a year, the longest review process in recent memory, despite investors at Standard General being prepared to inject $8.6 billion into TV affiliates throughout the nation, reviving local news markets.

The TV Transition to Digital

The nation's leading media policy experts were gathered by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism to discuss how to handle local TV news. The Local News Initiative, as it is known, aims to promote businesses that empower people by reimagining the connection between news organizations and viewers. Media analysts generally agree that conventional broadcast actors are not adjusting quickly enough to a digital environment, rather than that all TV will eventually become digital. As heritage media firms and new digital start-ups like have started connecting with readers via print, online, and even through phone text messaging, a renaissance is taking place in some urban, suburban, and rural communities.

With shifting technologies and audience preferences, local news is evolving. News is not consumed in the same way by persons under 30 and those over 60. "Local TV stations should use today's favorable revenue flows to actively invest in serving the diversity of the marketplaces in which they're based, delivering thoughtfully targeted content to audiences through a multitude of social and digital channels," says Rachel Davis Mersey, dean at the University of Texas at Austin and professor of journalism, media, and communications However, as more individuals drop their cable subscriptions, they frequently opt for a la carte streaming entertainment instead of bundles that contain local news.

"Too few local television stations are taking advantage of the opportunity provided by digital platforms to target specialized populations in their markets," Mersey says. Even the best of that material might be challenging to access on their congested social media feeds, which mix breaking news with more specialized and evergreen content, or on their websites, which are sometimes not user-friendly.

Simply put, if local broadcast news is to remain relevant, it must change. News organizations may update their processes for the digital era if they can use the correct technology, produce the engaging material that consumers want, and provide it to them in the manners in which they already consume it. "Quality news journalism is making its way into the digital realm," commented Annika Bergstrom, professor of journalism at the University of Gothenburg, in an email. The number of digital subscriptions may rise along with people's willingness to pay for high-quality reporting.

Crisis meets opportunity

Not the only sector affected by digital technology is local news. However, the industry's significant physical and human capital assets as well as the underlying demand for knowledge remain. Standard General is one company that is now well-positioned to take advantage of this chance since it has a solid track record of investing in and revitalizing troubled media networks. They now seek to apply the same principles to TEGNA, a provider of broadcast, digital media, and marketing services with 64 television stations spread over 51 areas. They believe that investing in local talent and utilizing digital channels will produce interesting local news.

Politically diverse stakeholders have offered their support to the FCC. The deal would establish the largest minority-owned broadcast media network in the United States. It appears that the FCC would easily approve the transaction.

The cost rent-seeking and unnecessary delay

Even if you have the finest offer on paper, today's rent-seeking world of transaction approval doesn't care. Whether regulators can get a pound of flesh to give their constituents typically determines whether an approval will be granted. In reality, people unrelated to your transaction will queue up at the FCC to claim their rights. For instance, it has been alleged that media magnate Byron Allen, who had sought to buy TEGNA himself, has attempted to thwart the purchase.

Regulators don't seem to bat an eye when deals between digital news media are made on a daily basis, but approval of the SG-TEGNA deal has dragged on for almost a year due to what seems to be an endless cycle of comments and responses, despite the fact that the company has agreed to many of the demands made by rivals in the market, including the cable industry.

The modernization of newsrooms as well as the expansion and upskilling of personnel are Standard General's stated priorities. In order to achieve this, it has made important commitments like recognizing and upholding current collective bargaining agreements with unions, promising not to lay off employees for two years after the transaction is approved (instead, the intention is to hire more people), and allowing the status quo retransmission consent agreements to remain in place. Additionally, Standard General agrees to certify these commitments to the Commission on a quarterly basis. Regulators doing due diligence on this deal should be more than satisfied by these guarantees.

Waiting a year to start working to improve the news in your town is a long time. Some compare the local news issue to a democratic crisis. For the sake of the importance of local reporting, let's hope that the FCC approves the agreement quickly.

Notably, the author neither owns any assets involved in the transaction nor has any financial relationships with the parties mentioned in the article.