A lesson for TV
Most of the time I write about newspapers and online journalism. This time, it's TV and online.
I was watching Fox8 news at 6 p.m. as I was getting ready for a party. I was waiting for the Dudley state championship score. At about 6:15, the sports guy came on and told me the Western Alamance score, which was great. And then he started flirting with the anchor and teased the audience by telling us that Mt. Tabor and Dudley scores were in and one won and the other lost. We'll need to stick around for the sports report 6:40 to find out, he said.
Here's what viewers do, TV: Annoyed, I immediately switched over to WFMY, which was just starting its newscast because a basketball game ran long. Then I walked to the computer and got the results. (Dudley won.) Of course, I didn't go to the Fox8 site.
They had the information. They did the lead-in with the Western Alamance score. But they wouldn't tell me the results of the other two games because they thought I would keep watching for another 25 minutes. Wrong. Pardon me for being cynical about their motives. I suppose they are in touch with their viewers. They just lost one.
And I should have gone online in the first place.
By the way, I went back to the television and WFMY told me the results of the Dudley game before 6:25.
Comments (4)
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The fact that you could have gotten the score from the Internet (did you think about Time Warner News 14?), is one of the reasons the the television business is in greater danger of going out of business than local newspapers.
When analog television is turned of in 2009, almost everyone will be watching television via cable or satellite. Therefore, the local broadcaster is no longer an essential part in the delivery chain. The content generators will eliminate the broadcaster-middleman and offer direct to home services.
The people who produce news content will survive. Those who don't won't. How it gets to the home is still under review.
Posted on December 8, 2007 7:52 PM
I remember a story (I think WFMY was the culprit) about a food store selling tainted food. They used that as a promo for several days, and I believe a letter was written to your paper decrying the promo vs. consumer safety. Back then, TV could do that. Your story proves that they can't anymore.
We just recycled phone books and aren't replacing them. If I need a phone number, it's online (and the phone is next to the computer). Information comes to me very quickly online (although I enjoy the morning paper, especially the second section, which isn't available as readily to me online) but I get my comics in my RSS feed. Times, they have changed.
Posted on December 8, 2007 9:08 PM
I understand your frustration with TV's devotion to "the tease." I feel exactly the same way, and it's one of the reasons I don't really watch TV news. But don't make the mistake of thinking Fox 8 is simply a TV station.
I'm the senior Web producer for myfoxwghp.com (Fox 8), and we deliberately DON'T tease things. If we have the information, we publish it.
In this case, we had the scores for the high school football finals, and we published them as soon as we got them. So although the newscast teased the scores, Fox 8 didn't withhold the information completely. It was published online.
Posted on December 8, 2007 11:08 PM
Don, I'm afraid I didn't tune to 14. Sorry 'bout that. It's not yet a first or second thought.
Jason, thanks. I don't doubt you guys got it right. The online folks get it when those of us who grew up in broadcast (or print) don't.
Posted on December 9, 2007 6:01 PM