Television News On The Way Out

Michael Hedges December 10, 2009 Follow on Twitter

News has an almost sacred place on television channels. Games shows and comedies may rake in the ratings but news programs have been essential to television channel branding. That may be ending.

Speaking before the UK House of Commons Culture and Media committee (December 8), ITV Chairman Michael Grade gave a vote of no confidence to television news. The X Factor would be better. “These shows attract 8, 10, 12 million viewers. That’s what viewers really want. Yes, it’s nice to have regional news but it’s not viable for us.”

He also said ITV won’t be joining any consortium to publicly fund news programming. “The object of putting public money into regional news plurality is to create serious competition for the BBC so they do not have a monopoly. That means regional TV provision has to be of a quality that is competitive. Our major concern as a broadcaster is to have as much influence as possible to ensure what appears on screen is at least competitive with the BBC.” Grade won’t be having any more these meetings. He’s leaving for the no-TV zone after then first of the year.

Two years ago a Bulgarian millionaire, a publisher and a journalist formed a not-for-profit foundation to operate television channel Re:TV. Two weeks ago they announced it was shutting down.  “We failed,” said the owners.

Re:TV wasn’t operated by a bunch of amateurs. Ivo Prolopiev, publisher of the well-regarded daily Capital, with Svetoslav Bozhilov and Ivan Krastev put up BGN 9 million (about €4.6 million) to set up Citizen Media Foundation to fund the channel, which focused on news programming.

“For almost two years we have invested money and effort in creating citizen television, led by the understanding that the public debate needs a place where important news is communicated and where qualitative discussions on the problems of society and state can take place. With the creation of the channel, we wanted to show several things; one was that transparent ownership and financing of media in Bulgaria is possible and that there is a place in Bulgarian society for serious and independent television journalism,” said the open letter to employees (November 27).  “We failed.”

Media watchers in Bulgaria and the region expressed little surprise. Ratings and, therefore, ad revenues were not kind to Re:TV. Bigger channels – bTV, owned by News Corporation, TV 7, owned by a politically well-connected consortium and public broadcaster BNT siphoned off the revenue. Re:TV’s news programming was well regarded, it’s staff enthusiastic.

“We have made the harsh decision to shut down the TV,” said the owners. “We believe that it is better than letting a successful team and TV product with a good reputation become dependent on a potentially suspicious funding in the future.”

The same week, ProSiebenSat.1 Group CEO Thomas Ebeling raised the possibility of spinning off German news channel N24, reported in Sueddeutsche Zeitung (November 27). News, he said is “a loss making business,” though the company was not considering shutting down the news operation.

Attempting to clarify a week later, Ebeling said news is “important for the image of politicians, but not necessarily for all viewers.” That angered German politicians, among them Culture Minister Bernd Neumann who said (in Der Spiegel December 6) Ebeling’s statement was a “complete misunderstanding of the dual broadcasting system in which private broadcasters have a clear responsibility. Broadcast news, said Neumann, was “not the private pleasure of politicians. It is a prerequisite in established law for a private (broadcast) concession.”  

The waters being sufficiently muddied, a ProSiebenSat.1 Media spokesperson (December 9) reiterated that the company has “no plans to abandon” N24 or cut off news programs.

For private sector broadcasters, news programming is often a license requirement, sometimes good for brand image and almost never a profit center. With the ad revenue screws tightening, promises made during license tenders and negotiations look like eternal misery. ITV has been trying to get out from under news commitments altogether and continues to reject a little slice from the public broadcasting license fee, often suggested, to be pursuaded otherwise. Some German media watchers believe ProSiebenSat’s Ebeling wants to move German politicians in the direction of license fee funding, the German license fee bringing in about €7 billion a year.

None of this gets around that fact that news programming – particularly effective news programming – is expensive. And quite often – in Germany and the UK, for example – advertising in or sponsorship of broadcast news is forbidden. Funding a good news department means dipping into general revenues and profits. Like newspaper publishers, broadcasters are not finding extra revenues from online components.

Public sector broadcasters always hang their hats on news programming. Whether they push all sides of the four walls for independent reporting – like the BBC or Germany’s ARD – or cozy up to politicians and the powerful to insure funding – oft suggested in other corners – public broadcasters are mandated to provide news programming and lots of it. Because of that mandate and often generous funding for news and public affairs programming public broadcasters get – and take – credit for setting a news agenda.

But news and public affairs mandates for public broadcasters often carry expensive – and politically explosive – consequences. Bulgarian National Television (BNT) may be stripped of its news programs for the Turkish-speaking minority. There is the appearance of a political decision excused for financial reasons.

That Re:TV had to fold its tent and ProSiebenSat might want to move on to something else more profitable is part of the unfolding dilemma of providing a system that facilitates competing voices in broadcast news while recognizing the economic reality. Nobody (almost) questions that healthy competition in news programming between public and private sector broadcasters yields a more vibrant civil discourse. If, as Bulgarian media watchers noted, a true ‘fourth estate’ is to flourish the private sector must have sufficient incentive to join rather than retreat from the fray. Otherwise, there is failure.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Television News - Bright Lights, Big Coverage

The global reach of television news has never been greater. The digital age has expanded that reach to satellite channels and the Web but it has also forced television news to mature. This ftm Knowledge file shows the gains and the pains. 74 pages PDF (December 2010)

Order here