Lets face it: Local TV took a bit of a beating during the wild ride of 2016. Now that the year has come to a close, the industry in 2017 will confront a breadth of institutional challenges, as well as some serious soul-searching.
The media faces a confrontational climate like it has never seen before in recent times, says Mike Cavender, RTDNA/F executive director, who puts navigating the Trump presidency and restoring public confidence in the media at the top of broadcasters' 2017 priorities. Public opinion polls regarding our trustworthiness continue to go the wrong way-something that further impacts our believability with too much of our audience.
Station groups and their assets will change in 2017, a year which should, at long last, see both the Nexstar-Media General merger and results of the broadcast spectrum auction, both of which could bode well for participants.
But when you toss in some of the other challenges on tap for the larger industry, such as the encroachment and sway of social media, it looks like 2017 could be another rough one, with lots of navigating to do. Here's a look at the major issues facing local TV:
The Trump Presidency-and the Freedom' of Information
Although the candidate Donald Trump did battle with national news organizations, the negative ramifications of having a president who is openly critical of the media (and who well may circumvent it) could trickle down to local broadcast news outlets. Not only could local authorities follow Trump's lead, creating an adversarial relationship between local TV news operations and the people they cover, but his denunciation of the media has already eroded public trust.
The campaign gave rise to fake news, and consumers' growing penchant for getting their news from a range of sources, whether they're qualified to provide it or not. If the new administration enacts changes it has touted-reducing health care coverage and cracking down on immigration among them-there will be an enormous impact on communities, and the way local TV covers them.
In 2017, local broadcasters will also continue other battles with the government, most notably over their right to access public information, such as police body camera video. Advocates say it should be treated no differently than public records.
Dependence on Facebook
For all the energy local broadcasters have put into leveraging social media, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter still threaten the vitality of the industry. Recognize that Facebook is a competitor, says Steve Schwaid, VP of digital strategies at media research company CJ&N.
Local broadcasters' growing propensity for pushing stories and live broadcasts over Facebook's platform could come back to bite them in 2017 if they don't swap it out for teasers and clips that drive viewers back to their own sites. It only helps increase Facebook dependence, Schwaid said.
Also in 2017, local broadcast news operations have to end the enticing habit of letting social media sway what they cover. Monitoring social media trending for what resonates is important, and those stories should be leveraged on-air or online. But, as 2016 showed, it's incumbent on newsrooms to spend the time and resources to understanding viewers and report the kind of news they want to consume. Spending cash on research could pay off.
Having the Right-and Best-Staff
In keeping with off-year tradition, there won't be much political or Olympics money being pumped into local TV in 2017, meaning those budgets may again be tightened, calling staffing into question. Between the major cuts starting in 2008, and the elimination of industry vets through buyouts, there already is a dearth of institutional knowledge in local TV newsrooms. Further erosion of newsroom staff will only hurt the product, too. It all increases the danger of having too few news people holding officials accountable.
At the same time, though, it will become increasingly important in the year ahead to have newsrooms that are up for creating content that resonates across platforms. As putting more muscle into content creation rises, newsrooms will be faced with hard choices-such as, say, reducing the number of news managers to hire more digital content creators.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Lets face it: Local TV took a bit of a beating during the wild ride of 2016. Now that the year has come to a close, the industry in 2017 will confront a breadth of institutional challenges, as well as some serious soul-searching.
