This past week the Pew Research Center released an analysis that shows that local broadcast TV continues to be a “most-turned-to” source for news and information for consumers.  Given the overall popularity of broadcast TV this is not surprising, but what’s most interesting is that local TV stations are adjusting to a dynamically changing market by airing newscasts in nontraditional time slots – 4:30 am and 7:00 pm – to get viewers to tune in. And, it’s working.

In their analysis, Pew found that in 2014 more than 11.1 million American’s watched their local news at 7:00 pm, representing an 11 percent increase from the year before. Overall viewership for broadcast TV newscasts at 4:30 am was also up six percent last year.

What makes local broadcast TV so important to Americans? For an important part of the answer, one only has to look to the recent on-the-ground emergency lifeline reporting local broadcasters provided to viewers as a powerful tornado ripped through Cameron, IL and severe flooding overwhelmed communities along the Arkansas-Missouri border.  It is this kind of commitment to local communities that makes TV broadcasters the most trusted and reliable source for news and emergency information in America.

In addition to the lifeline emergency reporting by local TV stations, it’s clear that primetime network programming shows and live sports only add to broadcast TV’s appeal among consumers.

In today’s fast-paced, broadband and broadcast world, it’s clear that emerging opportunities for U.S. consumers to access local broadcast TV content, including popular primetime network shows, live sporting events, and local news and weather updates, on multiple digital platforms are major contributing factors to consumers’ insatiable appetite for video consumption everywhere, all the time.  But that certainly does not mean that traditional television viewing is going away anytime soon.

Recent data shows that Broadcast TV content is still king, with 77 percent (or tens of millions) of U.S. consumers regularly watching scheduled broadcast TV programming and nightly newscasts. Moreover, 75 percent of consumers watch streamed on-demand video, including broadcast TV shows, several times a week.  The continuing emergence of over-the-top services will only increase the amount of time consumers are watching broadcast TV content because of its convenience and easy-to-use capabilities that afford consumers cross-platform access to the content of their choice.

Ultimately, consumers’ sheer access to free, local broadcast TV, and its lifeline to emergency information and America’s most-watched programming, creates a positive disruptive competitive force in the marketplace that industry must account for in their delivery of video services to customers on all digital platforms.  Simply put, video services are much more appealing to consumers when they include access to broadcast TV content.

It’s clear that federal policymakers and lawmakers must factor in consumers’ undeniable preference for broadcast TV on multiple platforms when reshaping the future regulatory regime for the delivery of video services in America.

What’s the best path forward to ensure that consumers have access to broadcast TV in a 21st Century broadband and broadcast world?  It may be one of the single most important questions the federal government must address in the coming months.

Kenny is director of public affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and others advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC

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On Friday, July 3, TVfreedom, Antennas Direct, the National Association of Broadcasters, KTSF-TV and KRON-TV joined forces to distribute over 300 antennas for free to residents in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The people receiving the antennas were excited to gain immediate access to up to 70 local broadcast TV channels in the San Francisco Bay Area at no charge to them, including digital broadcast streams in their native language. The giveaway, timed with last week’s 2015 OCA National Convention in San Francisco, represents the latest stop in the Coalition’s nationwide “TV Liberation Tour,” which began in Washington, DC in 2014 and will include multiple tour stops in cities across America in 2015.

With skyrocketing monthly prices preventing many low-income residents from subscribing to cable or satellite TV, the digital broadcast TV antenna is a way to help ensure that they can stay connected to their communities, enjoy popular network entertainment programming, access local news coverage and programming, and receive real-time emergency alerts and warnings when disaster strikes. The digital television transition created the opportunity for local TV stations to send multiple broadcast streams to viewers, including diverse programming tailored to niche audiences in languages other than English. This has made a tremendous difference in the lives of Asian and Pacific Island Americans in San Francisco’s Chinatown and other communities throughout the U.S. who value broadcast localism to help them stay informed.

– See KRON-TV coverage the San Francisco tour stop here.

– See KPOP-TV coverage of the San Francisco tour stop here.

– See pre-event, in-studio interview with NAB’s Dennis Wharton and Antennas Direct Richard Schneider here.
(Complements of KRON-TV)

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Washington, DC – TVFreedom.org and Antennas Direct will give away over 300 indoor digital broadcast TV antennas in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Friday, July 3, 2015 at 9:00 AM. The giveaway will be held in conjunction with this week’s 2015 OCA National Convention. This is the latest stop in the TVfreedom.org/Antennas Direct joint TV Liberation Tour that was launched last year and will include several new, yet-to-be-announced, tour stops in 2015.

The event will feature a tour bus with big picture screen HD TV’s, information on the local broadcast TV channels available to San Franciscans and other promotional giveaway items such as t-shirts and discount coupons to purchase additional antennas online.

The ClearStream Eclipse TV antennas, once installed, will enable viewers to watch dozens of local broadcast TV channels in the San Francisco Bay area for free. This will ensure their access to local news and programming, public safety information and most-watched primetime network programming.

WHERE: Clayton Hotel, 667 Clay Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94111 (on the street outside the hotel)

WHEN: Friday, July 3, 2015, 9:00 AM (one antenna per household | first come, first serve)

Event Media Availability:

• Richard Schneider, President and Owner of Antennas Direct
• Dennis Wharton, Executive Vice President, Communications, National Association of Broadcasters
• Ken Lee, National Chief Executive Officer and National Past President, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocate

Media Contacts:

Robert C. Kenny                                           Jeremy Nulik

Director of Public Affairs                                   Director of Public Affairs

rkenny@tvfreedom.org                                      jeremy@kolbeco.net

(202) 412-0976                                                    (314) 288-8089

@RkennyTVfreedom                                           @jeremynulik

 

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TVfreedom.org member ZGS Communications, one of the leading minority broadcasters and the largest independent broadcast TV affiliate of the Telemundo network, has filed public comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to highlight the fact that, for years, DirecTV has systematically denied the Hispanic community access to its local stations (letter filed as part of the proceeding on the proposed AT&T/DirecTV merger (MB Docket No. 14-90)).  By withholding carriage to ZGS stations, DirecTV is denying local TV service to millions of Latino subscribers in major television markets.

ZGS is requesting that the FCC look closely at this issue and encourage more flexibility on DirecTV’s part and, if necessary, take affirmative steps to facilitate further talks between ZGS and DirecTV regarding this outstanding matter.  

Ronald Gordon, CEO, ZGS Communications, said, “It’s only fair and right that DirecTV offer the Latino community the same level of commitment and service that it offers to all of its other subscribers.  Therefore, the commission should broker a mutually-acceptable settlement between DirecTV and DirecTV’s successor (AT&T) and ZGS, contemplating retransmission of ZGS’ (local broadcast TV) stations in every market prior to federal approval of the proposed merger.

“AT&T ought to take cognizance of the needs and interests of the Latino community it will serve and the significance of the local programming our stations offer should the merger be approved.”

You may review the full letter here.

 

 

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Cherry Picking Local-into-Local TV Service is Discriminatory

DirecTV recently launched a new satellite that enables the pay-TV giant to deliver expanded 4K digital TV services to its customers who can afford to pay for premium service. Yet, DirecTV has never made good on a promise it made to the Federal Communications Commission in 2003 as part of a previous merger approval.

Today, DirecTV inexplicably denies tens of thousands of its subscribers access to local broadcast TV service in the following 11 local markets operating across 10 states: Alpena, MI; Bowling Green, KY; Casper and Riverton, WY; Cheyenne, WY and Scottsbluff; NE; Glendive, MT; Grand Junction and Montrose, CO; Helena, MT; North Platte, NE; Ottumwa, IA and Kirksville, MO; Presque Isle, ME; and Victoria, TX.

In addition to sitting on massive profits and facing no technological barriers preventing it from addressing this glaring service gap, DirectTV simply failed to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver local into local TV service to rural customers in these local TV markets.

As a result, it could be argued that DirecTV’s behavior is a form of redlining.

Why would DirecTV cherry pick only markets in urban America to deliver local into local TV service? Why deny access to emergency alerts and warnings, local news and political debate coverage to rural America?

Interestingly, its competitor, Dish Network, made the necessary investments years ago and, today, delivers local-into-local broadcast TV service to all of its customers in every local TV market in the country.

For decades, local TV stations have served as a primary source of entertainment, local news and lifesaving weather alerts in communities large and small.  Nowhere has that been more evident than in the nation’s heartland, where broadcasters serve as first-informers in times of disaster.  Often, it’s the local TV station that is the only reliable and trusted source for news and information when cellphone networks crash and Internet service proves unreliable.

As FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said in April, “From a historical perspective, over-the-air broadcasting has contributed immeasurably to providing our uniquely diverse society with a sense of community, with a sense of shared experience.”  The Chairman went on to acknowledge the major contributions that broadcasters make each day serving as first informers, putting themselves in harm’s way to provide viewers with an invaluable and vital “information lifeline” during emergencies.

DirecTV customers in Cheyenne and Scottsbluff want to receive local news and programming from their local TV stations, not from another station whose distant broadcast signal is imported by the company into local markets from hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away.

Investment in rural America matters.  Surely the tens of thousands of DirecTV customers impacted by this situation would embrace the company’s investment in localism.  Such a commitment would ultimately expand their customers’ access to the trusted and reliable broadcast TV reporting that local stations deliver to viewers year round.

It’s time for DirecTV to end this discriminatory practice and make good on this broken promise.

The pay-TV giant needs to make good on its promise of 12 years ago to federal regulators and not allow it to fall victim to its anticipated merger with AT&T in the coming weeks.

It will certainly be disheartening if a promise made by DirecTV to secure an earlier merger is dismissed by the FCC as part of its approval of the company’s new merger with AT&T.  What would that say about DirecTV’s view of Rural America?

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

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The work of broadcasters creates a viable lifeline to emergency information for Americans

By Robert C. Kenny | June 10, 2015

If you have taken a look at the national news over the past few weeks, you likely saw some disturbing images from Texas and Oklahoma, where record rainfall created extreme flooding that resulted in loss of life and devastation to communities large and small.

But if you looked closer at the images you saw on national news networks, you noticed that the footage being shown on CNN and elsewhere came mostly from local news stations in Texas and Oklahoma. While residents in the storm-impacted communities rightfully tried to protect themselves and safeguard their homes and businesses, local broadcasters took to the flooded roads and stormy skies to provide the most up-to-the-minute, relevant information for residents searching for news, road closure information and future forecasts.

It’s times like these, when entire communities count on the reliable and trusted storm coverage of local broadcasters.  The work of broadcasters creates a viable lifeline to emergency information and is critically important to the lifesaving actions of another set of hometown heroes: first responders.

First responders – such as firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical service professionals – often rely on local broadcasters as “first informers,” who are truly the eyes on the ground and in the air for local communities.  No one is better equipped than local news stations to provide this vital information to emergency personnel in times of crisis.

For example, KHOU in Houston deployed its helicopter for a birds-eye view of the flooding, which in turn allowed emergency response personnel to more clearly locate trapped residents and identify the best ways to rescue them.

Local TV stations also serve an important role by providing government and public safety officials with a public megaphone to share real-time updates in emergencies, share guidance and safety precautions and help the public cope with the circumstances as they unfold.

This type of around-the-clock devotion to a community helps save lives, with the commitment of local TV stations to keep viewers informed going well beyond news coverage.  For example, KPRC in Houston not only aired continuous coverage of the floods, but created a phone bank staffed by station personnel.  They answered calls from storm survivors and provided them with invaluable information about Houston’s emergency response activities and available services.

“We had a Red Cross phone bank here at the station,” Mike Guerrieri, the creative services director of the station said.  “So my staff has been involved in that, answering phones, giving out information, talking to the community, that kind of thing.”

During these types of events, Guerrieri says, “It’s not about being the best station or the first station, it’s about letting people know they can count on us to receive the information they need on all platforms.”

It’s this level of community leadership and commitment that makes local broadcasters indispensable when tragedy strikes and it’s the dedicated news coverage of local TV stations that all Americans have come to trust and rely on in the most difficult times.

Kenny is director of public affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and others advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

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The FCC Chairman Recognizing the Critical Role of Local Broadcasting in Our Nation’s Media Landscape

By Robert C. Kenny | April 20, 2015

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s keynote address at the NAB Show in Las Vegas last week explained how broadcasting advances the public interest and represents an “important part of our future.” He acknowledged that local broadcasters are “the most important source of breaking news” and the first place the American public turns to for accurate and timely updates during emergencies.

Traditional TV remains the most widely accessible platform that a majority of the nation’s consumers use to access network and local broadcast TV news and programming. In fact, a recent study illustrates that Americans prefer traditional TV as a means to access video content, led by the highly-popular network primetime shows and sports, as well as local TV content produced by broadcasters.

Today, American consumers generally watch 149 hours per month of broadcast and cable programming on traditional television. This reveals an often overlooked fact, that even in the face of seismic and irreversible changes in video viewership patterns and use resulting from Internet-based video, Americans continue to choose home TV viewing as their most popular way to access video programming. Even millennials, whose abandoning of traditional pay-TV has been well-documented, still watch on average two-and-a-half hours per day of television in the home.

Of course, the video marketplace continues to evolve as we witness a migration to web-based, over-the-top (OTT) services away from pay-TV. Despite this evolution, traditional TV, with its unique and local content is still thriving. The latest data shows that television viewers value their access to network and local broadcast TV, whether over-the-air or through a paid TV subscription (if they can afford it).

Policies governing the video marketplace of the future must both advance and reflect the growing role of internet-based OTT services and consumers’ continuing demand for access to broadcast TV through both traditional in-home means and an ever-expanding broadband world. Most importantly, it is essential that the FCC ensures that technology shifts enhance, but do not undermine, local TV stations in their efforts to serve their communities.

Chairman Wheeler said it best: “The expansion of OTT programming and broadcasting’s place in this new world is a matter of mutual interest (for broadcasters and federal regulators).” The FCC and TV broadcasters should continue to work together to realize the benefits of the “new world” the Chairman speaks of so that a vibrant over-the-air broadcasting industry will be able to fulfill its historic localism mission and continue to provide tremendous value to the American public.

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

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