#NEWS ANCHOR BACKGROUND TINY HOME IN NEWYORK TV#

#NEWS ANCHOR BACKGROUND TINY HOME IN NEWYORK TV#

Gone are the days of the TV anchor whose only job was to read a script now, they need to be active in the community, and they need to be involved in gathering and evaluating the news.On a recent morning, I found myself in my usual position-on my couch, planted in front of the TV, watching the news, something I have done every single day for hours at a time since the coronavirus pandemic came to New York. That speaks to the changing role of the news anchor, industry followers say. 'People are watching people, not letters,' he said, referring to the stations' call signs. On-air personalities, he said, are an increasingly important factor in attracting viewers, even more than a news station's legacy. So, Wilson doubts the local news will ever have anchors that carry the star power and gravitas that industry veterans like his dad did, but he thinks the stations need to try to develop them. Growing up, he remembers his father, John, shooting for double-digit ratings. But Paul Wilson, president of the media strategy firm WilsonMedia, said newscasts these days aim for a rating of 1 or 2, meaning that 1 to 2 percent of all the televisions in the area tuned in. The ratings agency Nielsen declined to provide figures that show how local stations are performing. The new management at those stations will face the challenge of cultivating new stars amid dropping viewership. Tampa Bay's four primary news stations - WFLA, WFTS, WTSP and WTVT - did not return requests for comment. Since summer 2013, three stations have named new general managers, and since summer 2014, three have named new news directors, according to an industry newsletter compiled by Rick Gevers & Associates.īy comparison, the average news director nationwide has been in the job for five years, said Papper, who tracks turnover in TV management. Scripps Co., the owner of WFTS, and Journal Communications merged and spun off their newspapers and Media General, the owner of WFLA, has been the target of a takeover bid by Nexstar Broadcasting Group.Īnd while analysts say Tampa-area stations have been mostly insulated from movement higher up, they haven't been immune from changing management. In the past two years, Gannett moved to separate its TV and newspaper businesses, owning WTSP-Ch.

Nationwide, fewer people are watching the local news as the industry tries to regain its footing, and TV stations and their corporate owners have changed hands and restructured in recent years. The turnover on Tampa's airwaves comes amid uncertainty across the local TV business.

But, he added, 'Inevitably, it's going to happen.' 'Having a lot of anchor turnover in a market like Tampa is really unusual,' Papper said. The baby boomer generation has put in its time, and personalities like Wilson are getting ready to retire if they haven't already. Stations here tend to be destinations, not stepping stones, said Bob Papper, who has studied the local TV business as emeritus professor of journalism at Hofstra University in New York.īut the local market may be at the leading edge of a broader phenomenon in the TV business: Longtime anchors across the country are set to leave the airwaves soon. In a big market like Tampa Bay - the 11th largest TV market in the country - lots of turnover is uncommon. If you've got a story that affects a long-standing mayor or a long-standing police chief or something like that that's been in the news for a while, they can help the audience understand why this means anything, why is this important,' said Forrest Carr, a former news director at WFLA-Ch.

'They are more likely to understand what that news development actually means to the audience. They help make editorial decisions, contribute their news judgment and occasionally work as reporters that's where years of institutional knowledge come into play. It can take years for anchors to hit their stride, and these days, they play a bigger role behind the scenes than just reading words on a teleprompter. That affects the news viewers get, industry followers say. Each had been in the Tampa market more than two decades. They include longtime personalities like Wilson, Gayle Sierens, Denise White and Brendan McLaughlin, who left WFTS-Ch. Between them, they represent more than 140 years on the air in Tampa Bay. Since October 2014, six anchors across the market have left TV news behind.

News anchor background tiny home in newyork