Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 13, 2008 at 14:34:04:
Fox, NBC stations to start local news services; Chicago may launch in '09
Fox Television Stations and NBC Local Media are partnering to form a local news service in Philadelphia that is expected to become a template for similar joint operations in markets such as Chicago, where both groups own and operate local TV stations.
In Chicago, such a resource-sharing service would draw upon Fox-owned WFLD-Ch. 32 and NBC Universal-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5 and, according to a source, could be up and running as soon as mid-2009.
The service's content also would be available to other interested local media outlets, including other TV stations, radio stations, print publications and digital media.
The financial squeeze on all media outlets has heightened interest in such pooling of resources where possible and practical. The Chicago Tribune last year began delivering copies of the rival Chicago Sun-Times, for instance.
Frank Whittaker, Channel 5 station manager and vice president of news, said by e-mail that there have been discussions between WMAQ and WFLD about whether there can be a more efficient use of resources than each sending crews to cover the same event.
"We've already had discussions about sharing helicopter video," Whittaker said. "With this announcement today, we'll be looking at other things too. But we both want to make sure we preserve the editorial integrity of both stations, while at the same time using our resources more efficiently."
The service is designed to gather and distribute general video from within the market to the participating stations, enabling them to devote resources elsewhere.
"By allowing us to save on duplicate expenditures we can be even more competitive with NBC and other stations through signature pieces and investigative reporting," Jack Abernethy, chief executive of Fox Television Stations, said in a statement.
"By pooling resources to provide video coverage of general market events, we can ensure our stations are covering the news of the day, and at the same time, focus our efforts on the type of specialized reporting that defines our brands and differentiates our stations within their communities," NBC Local Media President John Wallace said in the announcement.
The partnership calls for NBC Local Media and the Fox Television Stations to provide newsgathering and transmission resources to the local service. This would include a helicopter, personnel and equipment.
Each station would maintain its own independent newsgathering capabilities, while management of the news service would determine which stories it covers and arranging for distribution. How the resulting material would be integrated into participating TV stations' newscasts will be determined by those stations.
The new business is set to formally make its debut in January in Philadelphia, where NBC's WCAU-TV and Fox's WTXF-TV have been experimenting with the concept since the summer. Plans to extend the idea to other markets will follow. Besides Chicago, the companies both own and operate TV stations in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)