I wish I could tell you that I had a lot to do with that, but we have a great team that works with us, and the gentleman who was in charge of going out there and selling the show in syndication reached out to the folks that make those decisions, and we were very pleased that all 10 NBC O&Os took the show. Over the years, I’ve been very proud of the [interview subjects] I’ve been able to get, and the caliber of them and, most importantly, what they’ve talked to me about. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people who open up to me in ways that they don’t open up to most interviewers, and I hope that the people that made the decision that they were going to take the show saw some of that.

Gordon also offers advice for securing “exclusive” interviews, which he says is harder than it used to be: continued…

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Pittsburghers in the segment watched an average of nearly five-and-a-half hours of live TV a day. The figure was five hours and 23 minutes in St. Louis, while Baltimore, Philadelphia and Detroit all had averages of five hours and 15 minutes or higher.

In time-shifted viewing, Clevelanders in the demo watched an average of 52 minutes a day, with Sacramento residents at 49 minutes. Those in Charlotte and Dallas residents were both at 47 minutes each. Orlando residents watched an average of 45 minutes to finish out the top five.

San Francisco residents watched the least amount of live television, averaging 2 hours and 57 minutes daily. Minneapolis residents watched the least amount of time-shifted television.

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In a letter to shareholders this week, Hastings lays out the 10 reasons why Internet TV will continue to gain popularity, concluding that “over the coming decades and across the world, Internet TV will replace linear TV. Apps will replace channels, remote controls will disappear, and screens will proliferate”:

People love TV content, and we watch over a billion hours a day of linear TV. But people don’t love the linear TV experience where channels present programs at particular times on non-portable screens with complicated remote controls. Consumers click through a grid to choose something to watch. DVRs and VOD add an on-demand layer, at the cost of storage and increased complexity. Finding good things to watch isn’t easy or enjoyable. While hugely popular, the linear TV channel model is ripe for replacement.

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While viewed largely as saber-rattling, the idea that the networks could be converted into cable channels gained attention in the television world because such a move would have wide-reaching implications for viewers and station owners.

The possibility had not been publicly broached by a major broadcaster until Chase Carey, the chief operating officer of Fox’s parent, News Corporation, spoke at a conference of broadcasters on Monday morning.

Later in the day, Haim Saban, the chairman of Univision, lined up with Fox, calling Aereo a pirate and saying, “To serve our community, we need to protect our product and revenue streams and therefore we, too, are considering all of our options — including converting to pay TV.”

In an interview with The Washington Post‘s Cecilia Kang, Aereo chief executive Chet Kanojia said the company was “prepared for the controversy.” continued…

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A favorable outcome for Aereo and the Hopper in court would push TV operators to dramatically reshape themselves. It could even force them to trade in their broadcast towers and become cable channels alongside networks such as Bravo, AMC and ESPN, says Garth Ancier, who has been the top TV programmer at Fox, NBC and the WB networks.

“They won’t have a choice,” Ancier said. “When someone attacks your business, sometimes you do something radical.”

Some of the top four major networks have been considering just such a move for months, and the emergence of the two technology threats could accelerate their decisions, according to Ancier. continued…

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BIA/Kelsey projects total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $3.2 billion in 2012 to $16.8 billion in 2017. Local targeted mobile ads are expected to grow to 54 percent in 2017, from 38 percent in 2012. The report says the growth will be driven by increased usage of smartphones, which reach 56 percent of mobile subscribers.

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With the unfortunate weakening of local newspapers, television news has also taken the lead in “accountability journalism,” the investigative, political and consumer journalism that holds government, institutions and businesses accountable to the public.

Perhaps most important, the people who work at television stations live in and are part of their communities.

That sense of community is the reason … North Carolina’s television and radio stations, working together in our state association, the NCAB, [last year] decided to create the largest Vietnam veterans’ “welcome home” celebration ever held.

More than 70,000 people attended. Every television news station in North Carolina produced stories leading up to the event. Stations donated more than $1.5 million in public service announcements, and they jointly aired the event live, all at no charge and with no advertising. No other medium could have pulled it off.

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Instead of focusing on original reporting, the local stations are focused on cosmetics. Not a country for old men and women, the local television “news” landscape is populated by bubble-heads and glib, young, sometimes pretty know-nothings. The truth is, they wouldn’t know a news story if it slapped them in the face. When was the last time you saw an investigative piece about, let’s see, the Massey Mine disaster? Or, how about, God forbid, an exclusive story that penetrated the precincts where politicians hide their secrets from the public?

There are reasons you don’t get the news on local TV. Station owners and managers forbid their news departments from stepping on toes and ruffling feathers, out of fear that such stories might insult local advertisers or offend politicians on whose toes reporters might stomp.  continued…

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A parody of a local newscast is making the rounds online, taking a funny and frightening look at the state of local news (video above). The fictitious newscasters, Hugh Cares and Amy DuPleeze, anchor for a station called KYOU — “working for you, here for you, depending on you.” (Not to be confused with the actual KYOU, the Fox affiliate in Ottumwa, Iowa.)

“You do more than participate — you help us fill 11 hours a day,” the newscasters say while urging viewers to submit pictures of their cats or their dinner. “The more time you fill, the less staff we have to hire! Our GM thanks you, because let’s face it, that new Jeff Probst show isn’t going to pay for itself.”

What do you think? Is the parody just funny — or does it hit too close to home? Email us. Text us. Tweet us.

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You’ve identified a talent agent you want to work with and caught his or her attention. Now you’re on to the next step: meeting your prospective agent in person. Meeting anyone for the first time can be nerve-wracking, and meeting an agent who could have his or her hand in your professional life for years to come can be even more daunting. Read on for five tips that will help you prepare for that first meeting — and help you ensure your relationship with your agent is pleasant and productive for years to come. continued…

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• 57.95%: Yes. Newscasters shouldn’t shy away from personal topics here and there.
• 42.05%: No. Newscasters should just deliver the news.

Have more to say on the subject? Visit us on Facebook and let us know.

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From the report: continued…

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Last month, we dissected how to know if you need an agent and what to look for in an agency. But in order to give you a complete understanding of the relationship, this month we’re breaking it down from our side.

There’s no one answer to the question of what agents look for in prospective clients. It’s complicated and depends on many variables. After the jump, five tips that will help you find the agent that’s right for you — and help you stand out to potential agencies. continued…

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What important lessons did you glean from starting off in a smaller market before moving into the big time and how did it prepare you?
I think it was just a growth process. By the time I left Bryan, I’d had a chance to cover small town, local stories, so I had an opportunity to see how these stories impact someone’s life. On a national scale, obviously we’re playing to a broader audience, even though they say all stories are local. But there was something special about local news, especially in a smaller market where you got to know the individuals of that town. It’s a small town, so I could go to the gas station and everyone would have a story idea. Not that I go unrecognized now — people call all the time with story ideas — but if I look back at it in a nostalgic way, there was something special about covering news in a smaller community.

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Local TV stations captured over 80% of total television spending in the political category, including local and national cable and network broadcast. Of the local television total we believe that stations maintained their 85% share. And television is by far the largest segment of political media spending. On top of this continued dominance, TV stations’ total political revenue has been growing at an extremely high rate: $1.5 billion in 2008, $2.1 billion in 2010 (+35%) and $2.9 billion in 2012 (+38%).

Local broadcast TV station Presidential spending alone, just from the conventions to election day, grew dramatically 2008-2012 as well. It was up 65%, from just under $300 million in ’08 to nearly $500 million in 2012. Clearly local TV’s role as the campaign media workhorse has not changed.

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