TV news is a quaint "long past due" tradition -- like dinosaurs, dodo birds, overtly child-friendly Catholic priests, proud George W. Bush-supporting Republicans, fans of "Lost", etc.

Seems TV news departments are getting their asses handed to them by both viewers and advertisers -- The big three TV network newscasts lost about 1.2 million viewers last year, and advertising on their three big morning news shows fell to an estimated $1.03 billion.

The average age of the TV news viewer is 60 (so you can assume all the viewers that they are losing -- well they are losing them six-feet under -- heart disease, cancer, sheer boredom, etc.)

It doesn't play well with advertisers who are looking for that ever-elusive 18-35 demographic (who, of course are more than likely living up to their "MTV generation short attention span" ways and getting their news online -- when & how they want it.)

Ad Age has an extensive article about how the news world is changing -- due to "the internets" and other factors.

Apparently, like all things in life, the internet makes things cheaper & faster -- and now TV news departments are adjusting for the change (and only 10+ years late) with using the "cheaper than regular TV" production formats of the web.

One wonders if they'll ever learn...I wouldn't hold your breath or bet the farm on it.