Inescapable technology changes and a migrating audience have local broadcast news in trouble
The scenario is familiar to any journalist who has worked at a newspaper in the last 15 years. The audience is moving away from the profitable old platform to a hot, new one. The outlet must adapt or at least try to.
Now the dynamic is roiling regional broadcast outlets with their bread-and-butter content: local newscasts. Revenue from a very successful business model has stalled as the viewing action moves to streaming apps.
The challenge has been brewing for a while but is picking up pace fast in 2025. Political advertising is no longer growing, and retransmission fees (what cable companies pay to carry the stations) are in peril. When and how to respond? It’s some of what you might expect if you accept the print-to-digital analogy, but also with some twists.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Local media
The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.