Your local broadcast TV stations get considerable money from local cable carriage fees. In my market, I've been told by corporate management of each operator that over half their revenues come from those fees. Their greatest fears are that, as folks cut cable, they will not have enough revenue to support their local news departments.
In that market, Palm Springs, CA, the local paper has gone from superior to dreadful in two decades. It is not even printed in the same state! But the two TV operators do lots of in depth and investigative reporting that is very well done, well produced and anything but superficial.