AI

When Local News Removes the Anchor, What Else Does It Remove?

There is a new format taking hold in local television, and it should make every broadcaster stop and think. WMAR-2 in Baltimore has eliminated live anchors from its 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts. The broadcasts now begin with weather, then move into prerecorded local stories, national content, and graphics. No familiar anchor at the desk. […]

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When an Outside Hire Becomes a Leadership Signal

The BBC recently hired a 26-year-old entrepreneur, Brandon Relph, to help shape strategy around younger audiences. He did not come up through a traditional newsroom. He built businesses, worked in technology and youth-focused media, and understands audience behavior from a different side of the business. Before we go any further, let’s meet the “kid.” Relph

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Everybody Wants Consolidation. Nobody Wants to Talk About the Hangover.

The FCC voted to eliminate the national television ownership cap. Broadcasters celebrated. Wall Street started doing math. And now Newsmax says it is preparing to sue. Welcome to the next chapter of local television. The FCC’s vote removed the long-standing 39% national audience-reach cap and replaced it with case-by-case review of broadcast transactions. Newsmax CEO

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The Most Valuable Person in Local Television May Soon Be the One Who Knows What NOT to Automate

There’s a question being asked inside television companies everywhere right now: What can we automate? Fair question. AI is moving incredibly fast, and local television would be foolish to ignore it. Broadcasters are already using AI and automation to streamline workflows, repurpose content, create clips, generate captions, analyze information and distribute content across multiple platforms.

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Scripps Just Said the Quiet Part Out Loud

The layoffs at Scripps are not just another corporate restructuring story. They are a signal. A blunt one. And if you work in local television, you should pay attention. For years, local broadcast executives have comforted themselves with the idea that their business is different. And in some ways, it is. But that argument starts

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AI Is Coming for Local TV. The Question Is: Who Survives It?

For years, local television executives talked about AI like it was some distant Silicon Valley experiment — something for tech conferences, something for the digital team to “look into.” That phase is over. Artificial Intelligence is no longer coming to local television. It’s already sitting in the newsroom, writing web stories, clipping highlights, generating graphics,

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