There is absolutely a direct correlation between the collapse of the newspaper industry, the consolidation of the radio business, and the current trajectory of broadcast television.
In fact, if you zoom out far enough, the pattern is almost impossible to ignore.
First came newspapers. Then radio. Now television.
Different platforms. Same economic story.
The uncomfortable truth is that local media industries tend to follow the same cycle when leadership teams respond to disruption primarily through contraction instead of reinvention.
And right now, broadcast television is standing at a very familiar crossroads.
The Newspaper Industry Was the First Domino
The newspaper business once believed it was untouchable.
It owned local advertising.
It owned classified revenue.
It owned community influence.
It owned local information.
Then digital platforms changed consumer behavior faster than newspaper companies adapted.
The initial response across much of the industry was not aggressive innovation. It was consolidation, layoffs, centralization, and cost cutting.
Newsrooms shrank.
Coverage areas widened.
Veteran journalists disappeared.
Institutional knowledge evaporated.
Communities lost local reporting.
Eventually, “doing more with less” became the entire business model.
The result? Thousands of communities became “news deserts,” where local journalism either barely exists or disappeared altogether.
What started as strategic cost management slowly became structural decline.
That distinction matters.
Radio Followed a Similar Script
Radio consolidation accelerated after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 loosened ownership restrictions.
Large groups rapidly acquired stations across the country.
Corporate efficiencies became the obsession.
Programming became centralized.
Voice tracking replaced local talent.
Local identities weakened.
Wall Street loved the efficiencies initially.
But over time, many stations became interchangeable products.
The business lost portions of its local connection while audiences fragmented toward streaming audio, podcasts, satellite radio, and digital platforms.
Today, many radio operators continue to survive through aggressive expense management and lean staffing models rather than meaningful growth. Industry staffing reductions have become so severe that some local radio newsrooms reportedly operate with only one full-time employee.
Again, the pattern is familiar:
Consolidate. Cut. Centralize. Reduce labor. Protect margins. Lose differentiation.
Broadcast Television Is Now Entering the Same Phase
Local television still has advantages newspapers and radio no longer possess at scale.
Television remains highly trusted.
Live news still matters.
Weather still matters.
Sports still matter.
Political advertising still matters.
Broadcast brands still carry local influence.
But the economic pressure points are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Local TV’s share of total media spending reportedly dropped from 13% in 2017 to just 6% by mid-2025 as digital video platforms exploded.
Meanwhile:
- Retransmission revenue growth is slowing due to cord-cutting
- Core advertising continues shifting toward digital and streaming
- Debt pressure is increasing for heavily leveraged station groups
- Investors continue demanding margin performance
- AI and automation are accelerating operational restructuring
- Consolidation conversations are intensifying again
S&P Global has warned that the industry’s two largest revenue drivers — retransmission fees and core advertising — are expected to decline modestly over the next several years.
And perhaps most importantly:
Many station groups increasingly appear dependent on political advertising cycles to stabilize revenue.
That is not a long-term growth strategy.
That is financial oxygen.
The Industry Is Quietly Moving Toward “Lean Local”
Across the country, many broadcast groups are already reshaping operations around a leaner philosophy.
Fewer people.
More platforms.
More responsibilities.
Less specialization.
In many stations today, one employee may:
- Shoot
- Edit
- Write
- Publish digitally
- Go live
- Post to social media
- Create OTT content
- Track analytics
- Produce sponsored content
- Update apps
- And still hit a traditional linear deadline
That workload expansion has become normalized.
From a business perspective, executives often view this as operational necessity.
From an employee perspective, many view it as burnout disguised as innovation.
That tension is becoming one of the defining issues in local television.
The Recruiting Side of This Story Is Even More Important
This is where things become especially dangerous for the future of television.
Because recruiting is often the first place where industry instability becomes visible. Remember…I am the “canary in the coalmine” along with my profession.
And right now, the candidate market is speaking loudly.
Many experienced television professionals are exhausted.
Some are leaving the industry entirely. I.E. – “The Great Resignation”
Others are becoming extremely selective about opportunities.
The younger generation entering media also sees the instability.
They see layoffs.
They see mergers.
They see shrinking staffs.
They see veteran broadcasters exiting.
They see workload expansion without corresponding compensation growth.
And increasingly, they are asking a difficult question:
“Why build a long-term career in an industry that appears to be contracting?”
That question should concern every broadcast executive in America.
The Industry Also Has a Leadership Pipeline Problem
One of the hidden dangers of prolonged contraction is succession erosion.
When companies consistently cut middle management layers, eliminate mentorship opportunities, and overload existing leaders, future leadership pipelines weaken.
That creates a dangerous long-term scenario:
- Fewer trained newsroom leaders
- Fewer experienced sales managers
- Fewer operational executives
- Fewer future general managers
- Less institutional knowledge transfer
You cannot continuously remove developmental layers from organizations and expect leadership quality to remain unaffected.
At some point, the bench disappears. And, trust me…Your broadcast engineering departments are feeling this today.
Consolidation Is Not Automatically Evil — But It Has Consequences
To be fair, consolidation itself is not inherently bad.
Scale can create advantages:
- Shared technology
- Better digital investment
- Centralized resources
- Negotiating leverage
- Expanded data capabilities
- Cross-platform monetization
Some groups are genuinely trying to modernize operations intelligently.
But consolidation becomes dangerous when cost reduction becomes the primary strategy instead of audience growth, product innovation, and talent investment.
Because eventually, the cuts begin impacting the product itself.
And in media, the product is people.
Viewers connect with personalities.
Communities trust familiar journalists.
Advertisers buy audience relationships.
Culture drives retention.
Once local connection weakens enough, rebuilding it becomes incredibly difficult.
The Next Five Years Will Define Local Television
The television industry is not dead.
Far from it.
But it is absolutely being forced into reinvention.
The stations and companies that survive long term likely will not be the ones that simply cut fastest.
They will be the ones that:
- Retain strong talent
- Develop future leaders
- Invest in local connection
- Modernize without hollowing out culture
- Build real digital revenue strategies
- Create sustainable workloads
- Treat recruiting as a strategic function instead of an administrative one
Because eventually, every media company reaches the same realization:
You cannot cost-cut your way into long-term relevance.
Newspapers learned this painfully.
Radio continues wrestling with it.
Now television is approaching its own defining moment.
And the industry still has time to choose whether it wants to repeat history — or learn from it.
Ty Carver has over 30+ years of recruiting, HR management, sales, and leadership experience…including the last 15 specific to the broadcast media industry. He is the Founder/CEO of Carver Talent, a local broadcast media management recruiting firm. As the former Head of Recruiting for Raycom Media, he has deep industry relationships. Have a media corporate executive/management or television station management recruiting need? Contact ty@carvertalent.com for more information.