Jack Myers says that local TV news will change because Roger Ailes is now in charge of Fox stations. Wish I’d thought of that.
With access to local stations, Ailes will have a testing ground for new personalities and new formats. Local newscasts have been declining in ratings for years and formats are stagnant. Switch from one station to the other and both newscasters and formats are virtually interchangeable. Rupert Murdoch’s decision to give Ailes additional authority will prove to be just the spark local television news, programming and promotion needs to rejuvenate the business.
Imagine a local news operation that actually says something. You may or may not agree with what it says but it sure would be new for local news to break out of the tapioca haze it’s in.
Also never forget that Ailes real brilliant stroke at FoxNews was the one-two punch of enlivening the shows and saving bucketloads of money by deemphasizing produced reports in favor of in-studio interviews and talk.
Do we really need that on-camera twit out in front of the fire … or worse yet, out in front of the black soot the next morning, says, “Firefighters this morning are…” — when, in fact, the firefighters are long gone?
What if, instead, a station tore into local issues and got some juices flowing? You might actually watch.
Love him or not, Ailes changed the business and grammar of national TV news. So I agree that it’s a good bet he could do the same to local.
