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To the two co-owned local tv news stations in Lubbock, with Love...

G

Garrett

Apologies to the late Craig Kilborn but,
I have this message for the two TV news stations in Lubbock, which seem to not understand how local news works:
"WE DON'T NEED YOU TO SPEND 90 MINUTES A DAY REPEATING THE NEWS WE ALREADY SAW ON THE NATIONAL NEWS, CNN, FOX NEWS AND ON THE INTERNET FROM AP"

There's two, actually 3 stations in this town that are chornically low rated taht nobody watches. You know why? Because they spend their entire newscast reading national news stories, and acting like they are the first to report it. And the local "talent" (overpaid, aging teleprompter readers) act like this is cutting edge news that they themselves just hear for the first time!

Here's a suggestion: If you're only going to spend the first 3 mintues of the newscast on local news, call it quits. There's no need for a TV broadcast corporation to spend any money in smaller TV markets like Lubbock so that they can repeat a bunch of news storeis that we've all heard.

And spare me the arguement about "it is a business, they are selling air-time." Well if thats the case, run a half hour of CNN, Fox news and the network, then throw in a 3 minute local news break. Otherwise, its a waste of time, and breath.

Bottom line: Stop treating your viewers like they are morons. Some of us have an actual education.
 
Personally, local newscasts should cover national news only at 10PM / 11PM (when there are no network newscasts following them), and only in digest form. To have them right before or after a national newscast or before a network breakfast show is criminal -- could people wait another half-hour or show until the network news comes on?
 
If, as Garrett said, they're routinely running 3 minutes of local news in their half-hour show, that's not good. I can't speak directly to the Lubbock stations, but in so many stations around the country, you're seeing less and less local news at a time when their should be more and more local news.

It's usually not the local staff's fault. They do what they can with what they have. I blame companies that tried to operate so cheaply even in the good times. They should have invested in their product over the years, making it more valuable to viewers and advertisers. Instead, they cut and cut and cut, making their product practically unwatchable. Now when times really are tough, they've got a bad product, little left to cut, and no way to make the product better anytime soon.

It's sad.
 
azumanga said:
Personally, local newscasts should cover national news only at 10PM / 11PM (when there are no network newscasts following them), and only in digest form. To have them right before or after a national newscast or before a network breakfast show is criminal -- could people wait another half-hour or show until the network news comes on?
Click to expand...

Soon, we'll be going back to the days of 15-minute newscasts, voiced-over newsfeed footage and stills of local stuff.
Ironically, news is one of the cheapest things to produce locally.
It's all about keeping the stockholders happy. Screw the viewers.
 
I've never understood how in a small market like Lubbock, which I am proudly from, one company could own two competiting television stations. Really sad. I remember when they all competed against one another.

I think the 6:00 p.m. newscast should be all about the local news, since the 5.30 national broadcast told the viewer everything that was going on in the nation and the world.

Plus, spend more time with local sports, as well. In Lubbock, you've got Texas Tech, Go Red Raiders!!, surely you can spend at least one sports story a day with some team from Texas Tech, Lubbock Christian Univeristy or South Plains College in Levelland, or Wayland Baptist up in Plainview.
 
In many cases, the two stations are technically owned by different companies, so they comply with the letter of the law if not the spirit.

As far as local coverage, you're absolutely right. Why would I watch the local station for, say, Cubs highlights or the latest on Brett Favre when ESPN is doing it all day long?

Same goes with news. Between cable and the web, there are dozens if not hundreds of places to get national/international news anytime. But there are only a few places to get local news. Unfortunately most small market TV stations don't have the resources (people or equipment) to cover a lot of stories on any given day.

Owners need to wake up and realize it's a new world and they can't just put a minimal investment into the station and expect to make money like they did in the 70s. It doesn't even have to be extremely expensive. But a few more people and the proper equipment could turn a weak station into a news powerhouse.
 
Plus, I'm sure you've got TONS of local talent "trying" to get their feet wet from Texas Tech University who would LOVE to get some "real" experience in the local market. So what if some of them want to move to bigger markets down the road, I'm sure some of them would be happy as could be just to stay and work in Lubbock after college.

Not everyone is interested in the "bright lights-big city". It does tend to lose its luster after a while, trust me, I know that for a fact.
 
JayDavis said:
Plus, I'm sure you've got TONS of local talent "trying" to get their feet wet from Texas Tech University who would LOVE to get some "real" experience in the local market. So what if some of them want to move to bigger markets down the road, I'm sure some of them would be happy as could be just to stay and work in Lubbock after college.

Not everyone is interested in the "bright lights-big city". It does tend to lose its luster after a while, trust me, I know that for a fact.
Click to expand...

All true. Unfortunately it's usually hard for news people (and production and technical people, for that matter) to make a good living in such a small market. And those who are good get frustrated by the product after a few years.
 
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