As I suspected, the partnership between two local Sioux Falls TV stations is turning out to be a cost saving factor in staff – all of their staff. I have seen several personalities toggle back and forth between stations including anchors and reporters, and this week both stations have been running the same stories, unedited in content.
Wasn’t the promise to the FCC and our DC delegation this;
“Gray Television has expressed that the merger will increase local news coverage and programming,†Rounds wrote.Â
Quite the opposite. While I understand combining production staff, office and studio space and sales staff (that all makes business sense) using the same news footage and on-air personalities just seems a little ‘Trailer Parkish’.*
Bring on the Food Truck Pumpkin Bar Weiner Dog races!
*Somebody recently asked me what I thought of Donita Noem Trump’s latest Meth awareness campaign, and I answered, “There are two kinds of people in South Dakota. Those who have done Meth, and those who eventually will.”
Local media has become supermarket tabloid without the sensationalism. It’s just something you glance at but blog or stream separately. How do they get advertisers?
The Noem Meth campaign is disgusting. She contracted an out of state firm to advertise nationally. Our state funds are not meant for mass exodus expenditure. She was a state senator, not a United Nations Representative. Worse, the ads seem to promote meth use rather than discourage.
Whether we have one, two, or three local stations, I am confident we will still be adequately informed about any new brew pubs or boutiques in town, however.
( – and Woodstock adds: “I miss the ‘Big News at 10,’ that was catchy and compelling.”)
the more disturbing trend is to have something that is an actual news story, and then tell viewers to watch it online instead of running it during the news, when people would actually see it. i’ve never gone to the kelo website to watch one of those “stories”.
In the past Gray had no prob trading some of its stations to Sinclair. I expect that to happen here.
Eventually, all of the stations will be gone, and then “all” of the sirens will finally be put to use as speakers informing us on what “They” want us to know.
( – and Woodstock adds: “Well, at least ‘all’ of the sirens will be working.”)