The announcement by CBS cancelling the Late Show* – its signature late night talk show, and number one in its category – likely marks a major tipping point in media generally and broadcast specifically. This development seems removed from professional services, but there are looming ramifications that need to be wrestled with.
The Continuing Evolution of Broadcast TV and Streaming
When was the last time, excluding sports, that you watched broadcast TV live? For many, this is a hard question to answer. Streaming is ascendent, overtaking broadcast recently and even making significant inroads with seniors – an entire generation who will gladly tell you about the three networks they endured and how they needed to walk across the room to change the channel.
Broadcast TV – a given show at a given time on a given network – worked really, really well in a world where content choices were limited, ads were de rigueur, and phones plugged into the wall. It still works (for now) for sports, elections (sort of) and for emergency broadcasts. Prime-time ratings have plunged, however, and the “big four” (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) have all embraced a streaming-first strategy – with Fox the last to do so.
This past year, the NFL Super Bowl (Go Birds!) was streamed on Tubi in addition to broadcasting on Fox. This was a major shift that also meant streaming households didn’t see local Fox TV ads alongside the national ones.
Late night TV may feel disposable as the “hit rate” of positive PR success in the genre is nil for professional services thought leadership. (Jimmy Fallon is never going to care about ERISA, no matter how super a lawyer you are.) But its demise foretells another category’s struggles – local TV news.
Local TV news historically was well-protected by the popularity of serving as a lead-in to prime-time TV, as well as a bridge to late-night talk shows. It also became, and somewhat remains, a generational force of habit: local news at 6/6:30 p.m. and national news at 7 p.m. – followed by Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (both of which are now, finally, starting to migrate to streaming). Huge blocks of local news, sometimes starting at 4 p.m., still dominate. But how many people are really watching?
There are a lot of broadcast dominoes that may fall. Local TV news, often seasonally and artificially propped up by election spending, is at high risk of diminution (including syndicated, national inserts) and consolidation, with one local affiliate’s newscast being simulcast on another’s (think CBS news on CW channel). This environment means fewer truly local stories and opportunities for professional services companies to be highlighted – particularly in “softer” features, such as consumer watchdog segments, real estate project milestones or charity events.
What Do Changes in Broadcast TV Mean for Media Plans?
Professional service companies, especially given that they don’t sell a physical “product,” need to continue to both expand and revise their media plans. This is a crowded media environment and one in which the old pathways are starting to disappear – fast.
This narrowing of broadcast and local news opportunities means: a) some stories are just not newsworthy anymore or are now purely pay-for-play; b) firms need to update, promote and populate their owned channels – particularly for human-interest stories aimed at workplace culture and recruiting; c) industry-specific or trade visibility – talking directly to potential clients – is all that much more important; and d) nascent hyper local outlets should be added to media lists.
Good stories and impactful news still have a place, but it may not be the same outlet that would have covered it even five years back.