Local News in E. WA is in a sad state

[crainbebo]

While Tri-Cities continues to grow and grow, the average-aged family probably isn't watching local news at 5 or 6pm anymore. They watch TV shows on streaming, look at the news on social media, and if they have a couple of little athletes in their family...forget about watching news whatsoever with the practices and games. Tri-Cities has tons of youth sports leagues ranging from lacrosse to soccer to baseball.
There are still car dealers that sponsor on local TV - McCurley, Trucks Plus USA, Valley Ford, but not as many electronic/furniture retailers. Furniture Row sells a lot of advertising, however. But there's been entire breaks on KIMA newscasts lately that are just promo after promo. Promos patting themselves on the back for their mediocre news department; promos for Inside Edition; promos for CW programs, and promos for the STIRR app.

Local news skews 55+ in this age. Tri-Cities is not like Phoenix whatsoever. It's not full of retirees.

 

[seatownmedia]

I think 55 plus is the biggest tv traditional local news audience. But don’t think it is quite dead yet. There may be some additional revenue opportunities. And those who go after this will win.

Further, if these can super contact the 50 plus demo they will do well. The days of 25-49 are dying. Today reaching 49-65 is important. This is a simple equation. This is where current wealth is.

 

[davideduardo]

Local news skews 55+ in this age. Tri-Cities is not like Phoenix whatsoever. It's not full of retirees.

In the 50's, Phoenix was where you went if you had tuberculosis. The dry air and all.

In the 60's and 70's, Phoenix was where you retired. The warm air was good for arthritis.

Starting about 40 or so years ago, Phoenix was where you went for new tech jobs, fabs, distribution centers, construction, call centers and lots of other jobs. The median age in the metro is 36 years. It's not full of retirees.

 

[davideduardo]

Most TV groups in California are able to sell to agencies based on geographic reach of multiple stations across several smaller markets.

Not in Palm Springs. The leading group has nothing else in CA, and, coincidentally, is the farm team for LA, SD and Phoenix reporters, producers and anchors.

Where there is synergy is in that great big valley to the north... Bakersfield to Fresno. The markets overlap, and agency buys try to cover the whole set of markets.

 

[Kelly A]

I think 55 plus is the biggest TV traditional local news audience. But don’t think it is quite dead yet. There may be some additional revenue opportunities.

What's that old saying; 'maybe isn't a strategy'? I could bang on and on about how advertisers aren't interested in reaching the 55+ crowd, but you've heard it before.
If you're doing local TV, and the local ad base is no longer interesting-in, or unable to afford TV, then you have no (or a diminishing) base. Doesn't matter whether you're number one in local 55+ viewers. If advertising can't support it, it won't survive at the level you expect.

And those who go after this will win.

Further, if these can super contact the 50 plus demo they will do well. The days of 25-49 are dying. Today reaching 49-65 is important.

Other than national medication ads, Medicare supplemental insurances plans, or for mobility devices like Hurrycane(tm), how is reaching the elderly important for a business supported by advertising?

This is a simple equation. This is where current wealth is.

But unless they're giving you money directly, your business isn't seeing that wealth.

 

[Kelly A]

Not in Palm Spring. The leading group has nothing else in CA, and, coincidentally, is the farm team for LA, SD and Phoenix reporters, producers and anchors.

Where there is synergy is in that great big valley to the north... Bakersfield to Fresno. The markets overlap, and agency buys try to cover the whole set of markets.

The company I worked at prior, owned TV in Salinas and Monterey (two separate stations), Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, and (gawd awful) Fresno. We also got stuck with a station in depressing Eureka. Beyond Eureka, idea was to own the local news up that ag corridor with stations that were branded and formatted all the same, but sharing local stories where applicable. Other groups did/were doing the same.
Palm Springs is a different animal, certainly different than Yakima, WA. Palm Springs has a fairly dense population with equally densely located businesses. At least during my tenure in California, Palm Springs had long standing local station ownership who was well connected in the area and with other business interests, or wealth that were able to prop-up the broadcast properties when the going got tough.
Yakima, Tri-Cities, on the other hand, is no Palm Springs. Sure, there are smatterings of wealth spread out over many miles, but there's much more of a middle, to lower middle class population than Palm Springs.

 

[davideduardo]

Palm Springs is a different animal, certainly different than Yakima, WA. Palm Springs has a fairly dense population with equally densely located businesses. At least during my tenure in California, Palm Springs had long standing local station ownership who was well connected in the area and with other business interests, or wealth that were able to prop-up the broadcast properties when the going got tough.
Yakima, Tri-Cities, on the other hand, is no Palm Springs. Sure, there are smatterings of wealth spread out over many miles, but there's much more of a middle, to lower middle class population than Palm Springs.

Shows you how post-consolidation has worked out: markets that had local ownership have ended up with secondary consolidation with either smaller groups or new ones forming. Stand-alone stations just can't make it.

Where we have local ownership is with the increasingly more successful gay radio company that has bought several AMs with nice translators and will soon cover the entire valley. They can obviously thrive with the many LGBTQ owned businesses and the tourist economy.

Otherwise, it's a terrible radio market. TV, though, does very well due to extreme consolidation and out-of-market ownership.

 

[davideduardo]

...and (gawd awful) Fresno.

Fresno is Bessemer, AL, but with palm trees.

 

[seatownmedia]

Shows you how post-consolidation has worked out: markets that had local ownership have ended up with secondary consolidation with either smaller groups or new ones forming. Stand-alone stations just can't make it.

Where we have local ownership is with the increasingly more successful gay radio company that has bought several AMs with nice translators and will soon cover the entire valley. They can obviously thrive with the many LGBTQ owned businesses and the tourist economy.

Otherwise, it's a terrible radio market. TV, though, does very well due to extreme consolidation and out-of-market ownership.

The company I worked at prior, owned TV in Salinas and Monterey (two separate stations), Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, and (gawd awful) Fresno. We also got stuck with a station in depressing Eureka. Beyond Eureka, idea was to own the local news up that ag corridor with stations that were branded and formatted all the same, but sharing local stories where applicable. Other groups did/were doing the same.
Palm Springs is a different animal, certainly different than Yakima, WA. Palm Springs has a fairly dense population with equally densely located businesses. At least during my tenure in California, Palm Springs had long standing local station ownership who was well connected in the area and with other business interests, or wealth that were able to prop-up the broadcast properties when the going got tough.
Yakima, Tri-Cities, on the other hand, is no Palm Springs. Sure, there are smatterings of wealth spread out over many miles, but there's much more of a middle, to lower middle class population than Palm Springs.

But don’t forget Yakima is the Palm Springs of Washington. Don’t know if that I-82 freeway sign still stands. Always good for a quick chuckle driving by.

 

[Kelly A]

Fresno is Bessemer, AL, but with palm trees.

Had a long time Fresno resident once tell me: "If God wanted to give the earth an enema, he'd put the hose in Fresno."
I totally agree with that statement.

 

[Kelly A]

But don’t forget Yakima is the Palm Springs of Washington. Don’t know if that I-82 freeway sign still stands. Always good for a quick chuckle driving by.

I'd say Yakima is closer to being the Fresno of Washington.

 

[davideduardo]

Had a long time Fresno resident once tell me: "If God wanted to give the earth an enema, he'd put the hose in Fresno."

I was going to say that, but refrained. But now that you did, I second your emotion.

I totally agree with that statement.

We have a consensus building.

 

[davideduardo]

But don’t forget Yakima is the Palm Springs of Washington. Don’t know if that I-82 freeway sign still stands. Always good for a quick chuckle driving by.

Palm Springs (a metro area locally called the Coachella Valley and including Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Bermuda Dunes, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs) is one of the richest and most affluent metros in the country. If you take just Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes and Rancho Mirage, you have some of the wealthiest single cities in America, up there with Beverly Hills, Shaker Heights and similar communities.

Yakima is Flint, MI, but with more vegetables.

 

[seatownmedia]

Palm Springs (a metro area locally called the Coachella Valley and including Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Bermuda Dunes, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs) is one of the richest and most affluent metros in the country. If you take just Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes and Rancho Mirage, you have some of the wealthiest single cities in America, up there with Beverly Hills, Shaker Heights and similar communities.

Yakima is Flint, MI, but with more vegetables.

Yes, I worked in Palm Springs years ago. My brother lives there today. It once was somewhat affordable (‘80’s).

Yakima is not even close to Flint. Industries and population makeup is completely different. While I understand Flint is making a comeback, Yakima never went through a depression like Flint suffered. Apples and Oranges comparison.

Prices have exploded in Palm Springs in just the past decade. I considered a nice condo there in 2015 listed at 130k. That condo recently sold for 400k. Woulda shoulda coulda!

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, I worked in Palm Springs years ago. My brother lives there today. It once was somewhat affordable (‘80’s).

It was still affordable in the 90's. We bought here as a weekend and vacation getaway because we got something really nice for a very reasonable price

Yakima is not even close to Flint. Industries and population makeup is completely different. While I understand Flint is making a comeback, Yakima never went through a depression like Flint suffered. Apples and Oranges comparison.

Then Yakima is like Grand Rapids or Muskegon.

Prices have exploded in Palm Springs in just the past decade. I considered a nice condo there in 2015 listed at 130k. That condo recently sold for 400k. Woulda shoulda coulda!

Our first townhouse bought 25 years ago was just about $225k. An identical one was sold in the summer of this year for over $800k. The home we upgraded to when we fled from LA in 2015 is now worth more than double what we paid. I could get a comparable home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, for less than 25% of its current value... and get free freezing weather and icy roads in the winter and 80% humidity in the summer.

Of course, this seems to have nothing to do with radio but it actually does: more economically "vibrant" metros have better media because there are lots of independent locally owned stores, services and restaurants that do buy local media. Several of the biggest advertisers on local TV are in the fields of high end jewelers, art dealers, interior design, luxury flooring and the like.

 

[seatownmedia]

Yakima is not really like Grand Rapids where my grandparents lived. We visited almost every summer from the 60’s to 80’s. I understand posters on here to like to make broad declarations but they sometimes are far from the truth. Grand Rapids metro is about 8 times larger than the Yakima metro.

Grand Rapids is actually a gem of a city, unlike Detroit or Flint. People think the whole State is depressed but Grand Rapids avoided that. Just avoid from November to March! Very snowy due to being east of Lake Michigan. Sorry, but I respect where my grandparents lived and where my father was born. Please visit Grand Rapids and you will be impressed.

 

[davideduardo]

Yakima is not really like Grand Rapids where my grandparents lived. We visited almost every summer from the 60’s to 80’s. I understand posters on here to like to make broad declarations but they sometimes are far from the truth. Grand Rapids metro is about 8 times larger than the Yakima metro.

This is not about the size of the market, but, rather, metrics like CSI per household, ethnic composition, etc.

In any case, we could compare Grand Rapids with Spokane if you want.

Grand Rapids is actually a gem of a city, unlike Detroit or Flint. People think the whole State is depressed but Grand Rapids avoided that.

I studied journalism just to the north as a temporary Spartan and the family has had a home a bit farther north since 1902 (yes, 120 years). I'm familiar with everything from Ludington and Coldwater to Lansing and Saginaw and even Detroit.

 

[seatownmedia]

That’s cool. I guess my main point is there are many cities in Michigan that are doing fine, and Grand Rapids is one of them. Ludington is great. As a kid we even took the ferry to Wisconsin to get back to Seattle a bit quicker. My dad was willing to pay more for speed!

 

[Kelly A]

Then Yakima is like Grand Rapids or Muskegon.

I frequently bash on Yakima, because there are a lot of similarities between it and Fresno: Much like Fresno, Yakima was a teaming agricultural community geographically in the shadow of a much larger metropolitan area. Most of the residents were established family owned farms, who "hire/hired" migrant workers on a regular basis. Just like Fresno; the gangs and drug dealers from the large metro started infiltrating the agricultural migrant worker population, recruiting youth into gangs or selling drugs to local schools. Just like Fresno, illegal drug abuse, illegal weapons, and crime rose significantly over a ten year span. The local Sheriffs department just wasn't equipped to handle the influx of gang influence, and the local retail and service economy struggled because of it. Then along came the 2008 Recession. Several farmers sold out and left the area because they were concerned about the ability to continue getting reliable labor during harvest season. Established local businesses closed down, either because of the increase in crime, and because the big box stores started squeezing them out. What's left is a somewhat stagnant Ag community with little hope for growth, and too many gang influences lying under the surface.

 

[davideduardo]

That’s cool. I guess my main point is there are many cities in Michigan that are doing fine, and Grand Rapids is one of them. Ludington is great. As a kid we even took the ferry to Wisconsin to get back to Seattle a bit quicker. My dad was willing to pay more for speed!

The C&O ferry was a thrill to a young MW DXer around 1958. I took my Zenith Trans-Oceanic and explored the AM band in the middle of Lake Michigan with no local anywhere around. My mother took me on the trip so I could see the Storer TV station in Milwaukee (Whitefish Bay) because I was a shareholder in Store with something like 3 whole shares and had decided I needed to visit my investment!