Is ABC Killing the Brand Known as "Network News"? -- Part Two

The cuts at the network news divisions is going to have an impact on the brand, as I mentioned in yesterday's article. What I didn't mention then is the impact digital journalism may have on PR functions.

With fewer resources, journalists will need to rely more on PR functions (departments, agencies) to get information, B-roll, etc.

There will be two challenges

• Reaching these already too-busy reporters.
• Getting them to trust that the content you're providing is of a high quality and factual.

It will be more important than ever to create compelling and accurate content across different media. That's one area for growth for PR firms.

Is ABC Killing the Brand Known as "Network News"?

According to the New York Times, "ABC News to Cut Hundreds of Staff Members," ABC will cut about 25% of its news staff or roughly 300 to 400 jobs.

The Times' Brian Stetler reported, "The cuts at ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, are among the steepest ever conducted by a network news division, and are likely to be seen as a further erosion of the company’s news-gathering arm."

That's part of why I think ABC is killing the brand experience of Network News. I've seen Network News teams in operation. It's amazing what they can do, the resources they have access to, and the results they produce.

ABC is now saying it needs to rethink how it produces news. According to the Times, "The network will rely more heavily on 'digital journalists' who produce, record and edit much of their material."

That means fewer resources, more stressed reporters -- who are no longer just reporters because they will also be filming and editing their segments, too. News1 in New York has been doing that for years, and they do a good job -- but you can tell the difference between it and network segments.

Well, you used to be able to. Now, perhaps not. Now, citizen journalists may be able to produce segments that look as professional as the professionals.

Which may not be a bad thing.

Unless you're a network.

Interestingly, while ABC is rethinking how it produces its newscasts, the new executive in charge isn't planning many changes to the actual broadcasts themselves. That may be another problem.

For more, check out "At ABC News, A New Org Chart" and the actual memo available at Mediaite "ABC News Expected To Offer 'Hundreds' Of Buyouts Tomorrow."

Prediction #8: The Decline and Fall of TV Networks...Won't Happen in 2010...

But networks are definitely on the decline. Case in point: "The Jay Leno Show" vs. "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." In the end, NBC has been shedding viewers, and no change of hosts or programs may bring them back. It's not as though those viewers were sticking around for drama at 10 p.m. on other networks. Most likely they were turning to cable programs or on-demand offerings, TiVo, Hulu.com or the Internet.

Is Internet Killing the Radio Star?

In 1979, one-hit wonders the Boggles wrote "Video Killed the Radio Star," which became the first video shown on MTV.

People have been predicting the death of radio ever since.

Yet, radio continues to hold on.

The New York Times ran a brief article, "Radio’s Popularity Declining Unevenly," that looks at the radio listenership. Given all the competition from old media, new media and MP3 players, radio listnership has fallen only 14 percent over the past decade.

Meanwhile, while I don't have specific numbers in front of me, network TV viewership over that time period has declined at much more significant numbers.

Radio's not dead yet...especially while Americans drive in their cars.

And neither is network TV...though it may be hurt by the fact that real-time TV is not widely available in cars (not that drivers should be watching). (Disclosure, a former client makes satellite dishes for cars and boats.) Also, networks need to figure a way to aggregate numbers based on real-time viewership, time-delayed vewiership (like TiVo), and web-based downloads. I bet network TV's decline would not be as significant if looked at that way.