TV News Remains A Center Of Attention, Influence And Taste

Michael Hedges July 18, 2022 - Follow on Twitter

Television news is just as popular as ever, despite grieving publishers and underage streamers, just a bit different. The state of the news business has been equated with state of TV news since Ted Turner announced the death of newspapers in the 1970s. The printed word has not faded away. But across the globe TV news, in its maturity, holds sway.

US media watchers had a “gottcha moment” when the May Nielsen audience estimates showed a sharp drop-off for CNN, the cable news channel founded by the aforementioned Mr. Turner. It came just weeks after the WarnerBros Discovery takeover closed, effectively changing the CNN ownership once again. Shortly after the ink was dry, chief executive David Zaslav disposed of the CNN+ streaming brand extension. He need not explain the decision: it was a terrible idea that emanated from previous owner AT&T, the telephone company.

When asked about a new strategy for CNN, Mr. Zaslav said “more journalism” and “less opinion.” The only noticeable evidence, so far, has been fewer “breaking news” chyrons dotting each and every news bulletin on the US version of CNN News. “New management is not freaking out, but everyone else at CNN is,” said one alleged inside source, quoted by the New York Post (July 6). That right-wing tabloid is published by News Corporation, which owns right-wing conspiracy theory monger cable TV channel Fox News, both principally owned by the Murdoch family. Having been around the TV news business for decades, Mr. Zaslav is known for being rather rational and concentrating on cost control; hence, CNN+ had to go.

Cost cutting is one official reason behind the merger of UK domestic channel BBC News and BBC Global News, which is available in the rest of the world. The combination, to be called BBC News, is to be realized next spring from London, Singapore and Washington DC centers. Some London staff will be shed, some added in Washington DC. BBC director general Tim Davie telegraphed the changes earlier this year in response to continued political grumbling over “impartiality,” which Conservative Party MPs take as less than robust support for Brexit, punishment being a freeze on household license fee revenues.

The more concrete rationale is recognizing that TV news isn’t TV news any more. “The way audiences consume news is changing,” said BBC News digital director Naja Nielsen, quoted by Press Gazette (July 14). “In recent years we’ve seen a huge surge in audiences coming to our live coverage, with tens of millions following live pages when big stories and events unfold.” The daily schedule will be peppered with cost-effective talk-shows.

Partisan news channels in France and Germany as well as the UK have popped up in recent months, often bolstered by the Covid-19 surge in news interest. Several have just flopped around. News channels outside the mainstream in France - BFMTV, LCI and CNews - have been on offer for several years. Right-wing CNews is part of the Canal+ bouquet, gains notoriety periodically and generally languishes. Bild TV, owned by publisher Axel Springer, has been on the air almost a year. GBNews and TalkTV are even more recent entries; June last year and April this year, respectively. Competition may well expand the category but it is tough to overcome.

Those seeking to enter the TV news realm often call in the experts. United Media Services, principally owned by Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS), has revived a project to launch three news channels that languished for a lack of funding. That problem was fixed by a grant-in-aid from Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), reported news portal Mada Masr, quoted by Middle East Eye (July 13), following a visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. SRMG is the public relations arm of the Saudi government. First to launch in November will be the al-Qahera el-Ekhbariya channel, coincident with the UN climate change conference, COP27. Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently complained that state TV news channels were “saturated” with food and cooking shows.

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