"More Local Programming" - Lelan Statom, News Channel 5.

 

I believe the biggest trends will continue to be content for OTT and social platforms and more local programming on broadcast TV. The latter was a major trend this year across the country. In my market, Nashville, 3 of the 4 news stations replaced syndicated shows with local news or infotainment shows. While stations and talent seem to have a good handle on the major social media platforms, how we provide content will evolve as we continue to get a better understanding of what works best but also to adapt to the ever-changing algorithms, and we can only guess what Twitter will look like in the year ahead. Our station group, along with others, is now providing more content to OTT apps like Roku and Apple. Our station's streaming channel was recently added to Samsung's TV app. To keep the news consumer coming back for more, it will involve providing more unique content in addition to simulcasting live newscasts. There could be more opportunities with weather, and I do think The Weather Company has a focus on this. Many in leadership positions may want to look to see how the CBS local streaming channels are performing with more live and local content to see what can be adapted in their own markets. Internally, our company, E.W. Scripps, launched Florida 24 last year with our 5 Florida stations. It too, can provide lessons on how stations can expand their OTT offerings as consumers continue to buy more smart TVs whether or not they're cutting the cord.”