The Back of the Rack
"What Every Intern Needs to Learn"
by Tim Rutherford

Every summer my TV station is bombarded with interns. Truth is...I don't much like it.
Joke: "How do you extricate the newsvan stuck in the mud?"
"An intern under every wheel."

But honestly, I realize how important their internship is. It can lead to a real job in the business if they show the ability to perform assigned tasks and more importantly, show a desire to go a step further and find work to do on their own.
News managers, producers and reporters rarely have time for lengthy discussions with interns. They sometimes are treated like the least favorite puppy in the litter. You'll feed it and give it some place to sleep, but it's not going to be thrown any roast beef from the dinner table.

Interns have accompanied me dozens of times on news stories. They often seem undecided about the direction they want to go in, and seem to be just testing the waters. That's okay, but as we know, the more determined you are about a particular job, the more likely you will eventually find it. My reporters and I only have one rule for interns: "What's said in the car...stays in the car."

But I always make a point to give the interns this valuable lesson. I ask them: " Do you know what TV really is?" They say: "Of course, you old fart. What are you like a spaz or something." We're the new media generation. And as soon as you old geezers get out of the way, we're going to revolutionize TV with new and better concepts and ideas."

"Very good" I say. "Just make sure you understand what TV really is." And then I take them and show them real TV.

I take them to the back of the racks.

I show them how every piece of equipment in this place has a cable or two or three or four. How everything that makes TV work is in essense a electronic vehicle that has to be built and tuned before it can be driven.

How every thing about TV that seems as simple as point-and-click is really an incredible marvel of modern technology that allows you to see and hear the lousy singers on "American Idol". Behind all of TV is the "electronica". The underbelly. The guts.

"That's TV."

Before the pretty anchorman can read, before the investigative reporter can go live from the courthouse, before the weatherman with his myriad toys can still blow the forecast; there is this:
The back of the rack.

And a lot of really smart people worked long and hard to make everything work in this place. They are the unsung heroes of TV. The technicians who figure out how all of this sh*t works. And then they make it work.

"This is TV."

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

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This Week's Highlights

Scrap The 'Plumbing,' Share Master Control

"stations ought to think about sharing across company lines and outsourcing master control to third parties."

Do you have after-show meetings for your local news broadcasts?

If you do, this article says you probably have good ratings at your station. A survey found that there was a "significant relationship' between whether producers and directors held a show meeting and how they assessed each other’s competence."

And there's this: "the key finding is that not only do producers and directors not communicate well, they don’t even communicate minimally although, as she rightfully notes, “One cannot succeed without the other’s participation and involvement.”

Read the whole thing here.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Breaking in the new reporter in most TV newsrooms usually involves nothing more than handing them their assignment ( the crime de jour usually) and sending them to the garage in search of a van. But there's gotta be a better way than this sink or swim scenario.

As this report notes..."a newsroom that invests a little time early on to help new hires learn their way around will reap rewards more quickly in the form of better and more original stories."

Here's a how-to on breaking in the new guy
the RIGHT way.
MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

SMPTE Moves on 3D
"
m"...major milestone toward making 3D Home Theater delivery a reality."

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Sorry, There's No Way To Save The TV Business
"...most TV industry incumbents will no longer be able to support their existing cost structures."

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This Week's Highlights

Newspaper Battle Continues Over Who 'Owns' Scholastic Sports
"

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FCC: 35 Stations To Go Dark June 12

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Reprinted from poynter.org

Chicago. Philadelphia. Phoenix. Atlanta. Tampa. Detroit. Washington, D.C. Boston. TV stations across the country have set up pool agreements -- the sharing of video crews to cover routine, scheduled events. The driving force behind this cooperation among competitors isn't love, it's money.

As ad revenues drop., stations cut staff and salaries, mandate furloughs and impose hiring freezes. But if they cut the newsroom population too deeply, stations can't produce sufficient fresh material for newscasts and Web sites. So where's the next place to find relief? The pool -- a single crew that covers selected news and sports events and feeds the same TV dinner to everyone in the news family.

News directors are putting the best face on it. Veteran news director Budd McEntee of Atlanta's WAGA-TV told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "How many times have you seen a (press conference) where you've got six cameras lined up all with the same shot? In a thriving competitive environment it's really wasteful. This frees us up to really expand our coverage of the news with stories that are our own."

I've known (and liked) Budd for a long time. He's a hardcore newshound, and I trust he'll do his best to live up to that ideal of expanded coverage. But Budd -- and every other leader of a pool-ified newsroom -- must manage more than the mechanics of sharing. They need to wrestle with pooling's risks and unintended consequences.

So, consider this one of those "danger" signs you see posted at public pools, warning everyone to take precautions before they jump in.

Here are six hazards of pooling:

1. Stations may miss contacts and stories in the halls of power.
As pool crews flourish, individual journalists may spend even less time in places where governmental policy is made. Few stations have beat reporters routinely roaming Capitols, City Halls and Courthouses these days, and it's been news conferences that get them back into those buildings. While in the halls of power, smart journalists take the opportunity to make contacts, develop sources and find tomorrow's stories. Now a pool crew will be there instead. With its targeted story assignment and loyalty to all its member stations, the pool crew won't have the time or motivation to mine more deeply at the scene.

2. Pool video may become devalued.
It's a fact of newsroom culture and human nature: we like our own ideas best. We place a higher value on the stories that have our signature on them. It will be a challenge to keep staff from developing this logic: If a story's important, we cover it ourselves. If it's no big deal, the pool gets it. And if it's no big deal, hey, I'd rather work on something else.

3. Staged events can blossom.
Savvy self-promoters and media relations people may sense a real opportunity in the news-sharing environment. Pools are designed for coverage of scheduled events, so spinners may dream up more of them. Publicity stunts could increase because of the natural synergy between those wanting attention and pool operations needing to demonstrate productivity. Assignment editors, beware.

4. Pool coverage may become stenography.
If pool crews are doing drive-by coverage -- grabbing video, sound bites and news releases and rushing off to the next location -- viewers will get much more of the "who, what and where" than the more valuable "why and how." Who, what and where are the product of stenography -- recording the obvious. Why and how -- plus why not, what else, what more, and in what context -- are born of critical thinking. That takes talent and time and that's why it is valuable to viewers.

5. Pooling might save money, but not jobs.
It sounds so good: The time and effort saved by sending pool crews frees the rest of the station's staff to develop enterprise stories. And that can work -- as long as the news staff truly remains intact. But in these tight times, management may be tempted to see the pool arrangement as "outsourcing" and an excuse to cut positions. If that happens, the pool stations save money but lose key resources: human resources, editorial resources and trust.

6. The non-pool players may escape all these hazards at the pool station's expense.
In some cities, market leaders have said "no thanks" to joining a pool. Operating from positions of ratings strength, these stations are betting that branding themselves as independent, unique and better is more valuable than the potential cost-savings of pools. They could be wrong, especially if they do nothing more than scoff at the pools, send their own crews to the same stories in the same way, and assume viewers will see a difference. Or, they could end up celebrating the wisdom of going it alone -- if their competitors succumb to the pool hazards and deliver diluted coverage.

I'd like to think that the news directors who have launched news sharing agreements know and care about these risks. That they talk about values and vigilance with their staffs. That they exercise the kind of leadership necessary to prove that pool coverage can make sense -- economically and journalistically -- to stations and viewers. Change like this involves risk, and that's where strong leadership makes the difference.

by Jill Geisler www.poynter.org

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Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Now that it's weather for wearing shorts, I'm wearing shorts.
I know that photogs wearing shorts can often be pretty unsightly depending on the legs of said shorts-wearer.
And I've seen every type of photog leg from bulldozer brawny to vericose vein-ey.
Me...my legs are so skinny that one photog used to joke: "are those your legs or are you riding a chicken?".
Anyhow...

Since my knees are now available for inspection, the other day my daughter said: "Dad...what's that on your knee?"

I'm like: "What?"
She says: "that thing on your knee?".
So in checking this out and I come to realize something I had never noticed before.
I have callouses on my knees!
Worn, old scaley patches of roughed up knee-skin.
I'm thinking...jeez I've been shooting news so long, getting down on my knees for that oh-so artistic low-angle award-winning, god I am so good video, that I have developed callouses on my KNEES!

I'd like to know exactly when this happened so I can warn my fellow photogs at what point in their career they can expect to have knees like that of a strawberry farmer.
But I think this thing just kinda creeps up on you.
And now I have to live with not only bony kneecaps...but bony kneecaps covered in what looks like low-grade sandpaper.

So go ahead guys...check your knees right now.
You old-timers will discover you have well-worn callouses that no amount of skin lotion and vigorous rubbing will ever make smooth again.
And you young guys...if those patches of rubbed and scrubbed skin aren't there yet...just know that your time will come.

Just another visible reminder to one day show the grandkids.
"Yep...I worked so hard getting those hard-to-get angles that my knees will forever bear the scars of my dedication and desire to make my TV news stories great."

And at the old-photogs home we'll all sit around and compare our battle scars.
Kinda like a night at the VFW...
except we'll toast the glory days with bottles of Jergens.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Well I'm trying one more time with a messageboard forum for you. The last one was overwhelmed with spam so I've taken some more precautions to try to make this one work.
I know that the B-Roll forum is the favorite of most of you. I like it too. This is just another outlet for you.
I'll try to find some interesting, hopefully unique topics for you to chew on.
Please take a quick moment to register and have at it.
And thanks for sticking with PhotogsLounge. Still a labor of love for me

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Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Final Poll Results

The final numbers on this poll are actually quite encouraging in that the more positive answers gathered the largest numbers. It seems that desks are struggling but trying to make a decent attempt at gathering relevant news. We haven't all been forced to work with deskmonkeys. It seems the majority of desk personnel are still working hard to make the desk a successful focus for the newsroom.

T.R.

 

This Week's Highlights

Mavs Owner Cuban Shoves Photog
"
Almost goes out of his way...

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Hugh Van Es dies at 67; Dutch photojournalist took famous Saigon evacuation photo
...iconic photo captures American defeat

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Erie, Pa., TV station has transmitter failure

Every once in a while it's good to take a little refresher course on one or another of the many skill sets that news photogs are asked to master, so I thought I'd bring back a terrific essay written by Chris Ray on the basics of using the proper camera filters when shooting video.
In your everyday shooting, you don't NEED to know what the Kelvin scale measures.
But knowing it and how color temperature works will definitely make you a better shooter.
Read Filter Facts!

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Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

FileCaster

Here's the latest incarnation of a mobile video production truck from TVProGear.

I like the roll-on, roll-off production equipment aspect of this thing.
With portable monitors, switchers, and audio all in a box, it makes it very convenient to work either inside or outside the truck itself.

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Smallest HD Camera

Sony is winning the battle of smallest HD camera module.
Take a look at this thing.
There's a lotta bang going on in such a small package.

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Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

R.I.P. PLASMA TV
"
Pioneer and VIZIO -- the nation's No. 2 set maker -- say they're abandoning the plasma business.

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10 Most Common Things Said From Directors to Photogs:

Broadcast TV: Going Mobile

Broadcast TV is going mobile. It's only a matter of time before every TV station will be available on your handy mobile device.
Lots of ownership groups are jumping into this big time although there is still some early skepticism.
But in trying to reach a younger audience to remain viable, this may be a necessary route and early adopters could gather in a loyal following if the content is engaging.

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The "Big Camera" debate

Your camera is bigger than theirs so you must be more important right?
Sadly, the idea that you somehow carry more weight (not just on your shoulder) because of the size of your camera is dying fast.
I've said before that once the main players in town (mayors, business execs, etc.) get used to the fact that the cameras are now smaller and the guy behind it asking the questions is just as important, the idea that these big-ass cameras we throw around are a necessary evil will fade away.
Most of these smaller cameras produce quality video in the right lighting.
If they can just get those thorny bad audio problems solved, that big thing sitting on your tripod may go the way of every other camera that reached its techno-breaking point.
That old TK-76 is still gathering dust on the top of the maintenance racks isn't it?

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NAB 2009: Panasonic Pledges End-To-End 3D Technology

Panasonic is going full-tilt boogie into producing 3-D television from start to finish.
From cameras to full HD 3-D displays, Panasonic thinks it can grab an area of developing techology all to itself and run with it.
Yeah...you'll still need the funny glasses but this is an area of TV entertainment that is bound to be attractive to a lot of couch potatoes in the future.
Heck...3-D porn films are a no-brainer for the lonely technophile...right?

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TV-Newspaper Partnerships In Jeopardy

Local TV-newspaper partnerships are a big flop.
For a number of reasons including: resistance to sharing stories, too much planning time, the ability of newspapers to gather their own video and the overriding fact that the newspaper industry is in total meltdown, are all adding up to the fact that these local partnerships are going nowhere and will all probably fade away into the bowels of the great 21st century information paradigm shift.

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College Students Remain Hopeful at RTNDA Despite Dim Job Prospects

College students looking to land the first big TV job are remaining hopeful even in the face of some daunting realities in the world of TV news.
As TV stations around the country are dropping reporters, producers and really just about anybody with a heartbeat, the nation's newly graduated are still primed to land that first gig.
The key is that they are not pigeonholing themselves but rather offering their services as jack-of-all broadcast trades from shooting and editing to writing and tweeting.
Trade secret #1: if you're ugly, you can hang it up.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

It's probably the best-known engineering problem — and most stations do nothing about it: the limited life span of videotape.

Until recently, only major networks and studios could justify the time and expense of backing up old content or storing the originals off site. But the explosion of licensed video sites and the fast-growing market for documentary footage have created new opportunities for stations to monetize old footage. That is, for stations who can locate and transfer their footage on demand.

But when it comes to videotape, age both giveth and taketh away. By the time old footage achieves nostalgic and historic market value, it has probably suffered physical deterioration. Too often, potential profits have already evaporated. Or more accurately, flaked away.

Full story...

This Week's Highlights

ABC-7 reporter and photographer handcuffed, detained
"
The officer yells, "Sit down and shut up!"

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WristShot® Camcorder Support System

...eliminating wrist fatigue, increasing stability.

I usually give folks the option when I am delivering a good news/bad news scenario.
Which do you want to hear first?
Me?.....Always the bad news first.
Let's get the crap out of the way now so I can revel in the good stuff.
With that in mind...here is the bad news:

More layoffs.
Stations cutting back newscasts and/or news staff in San Diego, Tampa, Dallas, Scranton Pa., Columbus, Ga., and Raleigh, N.C.
One long-time anchor got the news of her firing through a manilla envelope stuck in her front door.

Geez...this stuff is getting really serious. It seems every ownership group is going to take their turn at paring down the size of their local TV news operations.
I know this flood of layoff news can be depressing for many of you readers. "Enough already. We get it. It's bad times for TV", you say.
And I hear you. But it's important for all of us to see who is doing what and how it may affect your future.

So now...the good news.
TV stations in Los Angeles and Detroit are adding newscasts.
In an uncertain revenue future, some stations are still taking chances and expanding their operations.
That's a positive in a hazy forecast

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So let's have a look at the future.

TV stations sharing resources has,in the past, been totally pooh-poohed by execs. "We're competitiors!"
Now in a time of declining viewers and revenue, sharing helicopters, pool cameras and the like, is starting to make a lot of sense.
A buddy of mine predicted this years ago. "Why do you need 10 cameras all shooting the same press conference?" he would ask. I would explain the competition factor, the need for isolation, etc. etc.
He said: "It's expensive overkill."
Now he looks like a prophet.
This sharing plan gained a big endorsement from a couple of big media groups who have joined forces.
Expect this trend to continue.

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Bad economic times means more local TV news viewers compared to other media outlets, so says a new study.
I guess those of us with less money in the pocket need to see that we are not alone. And TV seems to be the first place of refuge.

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What about journalism students still hoping to get into the field?
They must realize the industry is in turmoil and steer clear, right?
Nope. Journalism as a major is on the rise, not the decline.
And universities and colleges are trying to meet that demand with innovative coursework geared toward the multi-media platform outlets that abound.
It's not about just getting a resume tape with a good standup on it anymore.
It's about storytelling.

In fact, the reporter standup might become a thing of the past.
The growth of news on the web is demanding a re-thinking of past practices.

Specifically, how do traditional TV news stories translate to a web viewing audience?
Berkley professor Richard Koci Hernandez says that his research shows that the ever-present TV reporter standup does not work as well on the web as on the TV.

He says: "...on the web, you can put a two- or three-minute piece up and you can let the subject speak. You don’t even have to be in there if you don’t want to, and you can just let the cameras roll. So instead of telling you can show."
"Blasphemy!! No reporter standups! How will the audience know who I am and how objective and personable I can be if they don't see me" you say.
Truth is, that on the web, it's not as important.
Hernandez says: "Don’t adopt something; try something new. I really think that we do have an opportunity to create a new form of what we might call web journalism, or storytelling for the web."

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One newspaper journo for the Times in Scotland was suspended for not using a video camera on a story.
I guess some folks haven't gotten the memo about how the Times...they are a -changin'.

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Finally,a few tidbits:
There was a fight in a TV station studio in Savannah that sent one person to the hospital.
I'm guessing this was a blowup amongst some employees.
But if you're gonna come to blows with the bitchy audio-guy who has finally put you over the edge, at least save it for the weather segment when all the viewers are too mesmerized by the super-duper "world's most powerful" doppler radar to care that there is a slugfest going on just outside camera-range.
"I'll kill you Buzzy. I swear I'll kill you!"

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The governor of Alabama is threatening to sue the local TV stations over airing an ad that criticizes him.
Some of the stations have backed off and pulled the ad.
Others are calling it a "1st amendment issue".
One thing I know for sure...TV stations fear lawyers. Even their own.

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The Associated Press is pondering whether to lower the boom on the many websites out there who re-use their content or even link to it. They are threatening lawsuits or offering to strike deals with sites like Google. I guess the AP sees an opportunity to grab some big-time revenue from aggregator sites and the like.
Question: What would a morning TV news meeting look like without the local paper and the AP wire?

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Finally, a cat looking for a cozy spot to...nap, got caught in a TV trucks' sat dish as it rolled down the road.
The cat has now become a celebrity after being safely removed by dismantling a part of the dish.
For you cat-lovers out there...a happy ending.
For you cat-haters...a missed opportunity for some "fun with Mittens".

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

From the outside looking in, the job doesn’t seem that hard. “I remember as a producer looking into that news director’s office and wondering, ‘What the hell do they do all day?’” says Kathleen Choal, news director at KVOA-TV in Tucson, AZ. “All I see them doing is talking on the phone and watching TV!”

She knows better now. A news director’s job is part admiral, part accountant, and all consuming. It’s the kind of job you’re never really prepared for, but you’re still expected to step in and do it well from day one. Read the entire article.

Okay...first off, A disclaimer: If there is even the slightest chance you could be involved in an accident...DO NOT TRY THIS!

Okay...with that out of the way...TV news crews do so much driving around their respective cities and towns that it is often the case that we have to squeak by an intersection where the light is in the process of turning from yellow to red.

Since TV news crews are ALWAYS in a hurry, occasionally it is necessary that, in order to avoid missing the mayor's admission of guilt in his perjury case, or the finals of the county fair pig race, we need to scoot through those amber to red changing traffic lights and get our asses down the road.

Of course the natural tendency when approaching an intersection where the light is yellow and about to go red, is to pound that pedal to the floor and bust through that sucker. If you almost make the light by zooming through it...well...that counts right?

Wrong.
Especially if a police officer is in a position to see you do it. Speeding up to make the light is a no-no from a cop's point of view. And rightly so.

Here's my PhotogsLounge method for running the light and avoiding the cops: DO the exact opposite.

Take your foot off the gas...slow down...put both hands on the steering wheel, put a dumbfounded look on your face, and creep through the light looking like you wouldn't know a red light from a green, blue or purple light.

Yes my friends...slow and stupid makes the light.

This applies mostly to unmarked vehicles. A police officer's decision to pull over your marked news vehicle is directly related to how much he or she said officer hates your weatherman.

Look at it from a police officer's point of view. Who are you going to bother to stop? A knucklehead who busted through that light racing his engine in the process, OR...an idiot who looks as though he doesn't even know what day it is, let alone what color the light was?

A little acting is required here. Feel free to put on your stupidest looking expression and let a little spit drool down your chin. Might wanna take a split sec and muss your hair. We're going for the absent-minded professor look here. Or maybe the banjo-playing mutant in Deliverance.

Cop's gonna figure" "I'll be damned if I'm spending the next half hour explaining the traffic laws to a moron who should have "funny farm" permanently set in the GPS.

I've tested this method and it is guaranteed to work for you as it has for me.

Repeat after me: "Slow and stupid makes the light".

If your assignment desk is like mine however, they are alreading packing up the podium at the event anyway. No need to get a ticket to boot.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

KSL truck crushed in crash
"
"Some parts of the $100,000-plus truck may be salvageable, but the vehicle as a whole is undriveable."

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Is the recession making us cuss more? How would we even know in TV newsrooms?

The Vidiot's Glossary

...Pictures. Some pretty, some not -- It depends on how long the tape sat out of its case in the empty McDonald's French fry bag on the front seat of the Shooter's car. Without video television would be exactly like radio, except that on radio they sometimes stop talking during the music.

...Part of the television signal that no one cares about, but something has to accompany the video.

...Someone who owns a digital stopwatch, but can't count backwards.

DIRECTOR

...Someone who can count backwards from 3, but can't afford a digital stopwatch.

MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism at journalism.org is out with it's 2009 "State of the News Media" report and as always this highly researched and documented report is the most comprehensive and focused look at where the news media is sitting now and what may lie ahead.

If you want to know where the entire industry stands at the start of a troubling and certainly challenging time, I recommend reading the entire report.
But I've focused on the "Local TV News" segment and here now offer some highlights (lowlights?)

• Viewership
  "An analysis of data from Nielsen Media Research suggests that viewership of local news declined or was flat across all timeslots, during all sweeps periods during the year.2

  Evening newscasts, around the dinner hour, were hardest hit.

  The picture was less bleak for morning news, where ratings remained steady throughout the four sweeps months, although share declined. Evening news (around dinnertime) lost ratings in three out of four sweeps months, with declines as high as 11%. In share they lost every month save one, when they broke even.

  In late news, after prime time, the numbers fell in all four sweeps periods.The closest thing to a bright spot in local news was early morning, although here, too, the bloom appears to be off the rose somewhat.

  For early morning news (5 to 7 a.m.), the local programs that come on before the network morning shows at 7 a.m., audience figures for 2008 were flat or down.

  Noon broadcasts (noon to 1 p.m.) have become increasingly popular among audiences, and network affiliates continue to add these newscasts to their schedule. Ratings and share for the timeslot are somewhat more stable than others excluding morning news, which held steady from 2007."

• Revenue
  "According to 2008 projections by Veronis Suhler Stevenson published in August, advertising revenue is expected to decline 8.3% in 2009. In November, the Television Bureau of Advertising estimated even smaller revenues for 2009, which it estimated would be 7% to 11% lower than its newly reduced expectations for 2008.

  But now those may seem optimistic. In the first quarter, industry executives said local TV stations were seeing revenues down as much as 40%. And in an article foreshadowing many of the problems local television stations would face in planning their budgets for 2009, Deborah Potter, executive director of NewsLab, a journalism resource center, and a consultant to this project, suggests that profits margins have dwindled to new lows. “For publicly traded businesses accustomed to a 40 percent profit margin, 20 percent profit seems paltry — especially to Wall Street,” Potter wrote.6

  And 2009 looks worse. In November, the Television Bureau of Advertising projected that local spot revenue would fall 4% to 8% in 2009. National spot advertising was projected to fall even further, between 11.5% and 15.5% compared with 2008.

  Average station revenues are falling, when adjusted for inflation, and the impact is being felt most severely in smaller markets."

• Staffing
  "Salaries for news professionals did grow on average in 2007. But the gains were almost exclusively made by on-air employees. The behind-the-cameras staff barely kept up with inflation. And throughout 2008, there were signs of stations now beginning to jettison some of their most senior people, including top anchors, to save money. Cutbacks accelerated in the last few months of 2008, with all types of newsroom positions being shed.

  Moving ahead, 2009 is shaping up to be perhaps even more difficult. In the summer of 2008, a survey of news directors found that most expected staffing levels to be flat in the coming year, and a growing number feared that cuts were in the offing.

  And that survey was completed before the economy soured in the fourth quarter. Analysts now warn that the situation in 2009 could be even worse.
  
  While the money is small, stations are getting more serious with their online ventures, including hiring more people to sell online ads exclusively. The reason is simple. While small, the revenues from the Internet are growing and that makes them significant in the increasingly difficult world of local television."

• Looking Ahead
  "One other potentially worrisome development for local news operations is that networks are increasingly demanding money from their affiliates for programming, while in previous years the payments moved in the other direction.

  These include changes in financial arrangements between networks and their affiliates and a reduction in the numbers of hours of national programming from networks. And at least one network (CBS) envisions distributing its programs directly through cable and satellite systems within the next decade — thus circumventing or cutting ties completely with affiliates.

  Should the reverse-compensation model become the norm, many small-market stations fear they will have to cut back on local programming, including news, to make up for the higher costs.

  An end to the network-affiliate model would have more dire consequences for affiliates. With less or no national programming from the networks, stations would likely be at a disadvantage in negotiating fees for retransmission of their programming on cable and satellite systems.

  As 2009 began, the traditional network-affiliate model remained intact but unsteady. The changes foreshadowed in 2008 may prompt stations to expand beyond traditional local programming (mostly news) into more varied content as a protection against audience erosion.

  Still to be gauged is whether stations will take better advantage of the extra channels offered by the digital conversion to add such things as all-sports or all-weather channels, and whether cable providers will be compelled to carry them, and how audiences and advertisers will respond if they do. At the end of 2008, local all-weather channels were the most common at many stations, although few had yet to offer different types of content on their digital sub-channels.

  Papper suggested, however, that with newsrooms already stretched thin, many stations would have to reduce the amount of news programming if the industry experiences further significant cutbacks in 2009."

  Read the entire report here.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Now that those sub-channels are available with digital transmission, how will TV stations use them (besides 24 hour weather?) WNBC is going full-tilt 24 hour local news with "New York Non-Stop".
One potential problem: digital subchannels aren’t rated by Nielsen.
So how exactly will you know how many viewers you have

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Is the constant barrage of bad economic news causing viewer turnoff?

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More news on the layoff front in TV news. Bad news locally, nationally and now internationally.

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Be careful if your TV station has the idea of webcasting local high school sports. New battles are brewing between media outlets and local school athletic associations as to who owns the rights. And it's a cloudy picture.

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Those local "learn TV broadcasting" schools are in a big financial crunch given the poor prospects for future students. Some are closing their doors leaving students high and dry.

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Cheaper live shots! That's the prospect on using internet videoconferencing tool Skype to present live video.
Skype has its drawbacks but TV stations are going to explore this means of live coverage as budgets tighten.

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How does the local magistrate stick it to the TV stations?
With parking tickets on news vehicles of course.

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In the "don't do this" department:
Man Arrested for Shining Laser Pointer at News Helicopter

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

You know how everybody that knows anything about computers always tells you to backup your data so you don't lose it when the inevitable hard drive crash comes-a-callin'?
Well...
It's not that I disregarded that dictum entirely, I was just lax in my attitude about it.
And so, when my hard drive did indeed crash a couple of weeks ago, I was left holding my d**k in my hand.
Dumbstruck, befuddled.

I guess I should have taken more care with the fact that I ran an actual website that some people really did pop in to check out.
But no...I was cocky. I was indifferent. "My computer is working fine"...there was no reason to fear a crash.
So when it did crash, and I mean crash like a freakin' semi jack-knifing on a slick two lane road full of vegetable carts and pane-glass windows, I just stood there like the slack-jawed dummy I had become.

The burning plastic/metallic smell wafting over me was my first sign. I knew I was in trouble but I figured if I just pleaded "please mommy, make it all go away", the great lord of computing would take mercy on me and ease my predicament.
No.
I lost it all.
Everything. The entire drive.
I literally lost my website. It was out there in cyberspace waiting for me. But I couldn't get to it. The programs I use to work on the site were lost with it. And since I got those programs on the cheap, I didn't have backup for them either.

So I was left basically at square one. And that's an ugly square.
It's the most hated square of all the squares. Square one is a bitch.
No one ever returns to square two ya know...but I figure it ain't a whole lot better.

So right now, after messing with this predicament for a few weeks, I'd say I'm on square....uh...I don't know...maybe seven.
I'm back up and running, but it took a lotta time, head-scratching, and oh yeah...money.
Just like me to have to reconfigure the whole shebang.
But I'd like to thank all of you who continue to check out my site.
It really is a labor of love and I'm glad to be able to work on it again.
I'm just a TV photog with a website. But I'm going on 12 years with this thing and my goal is still to keep you guys interested with some news, some stories and some giggles.
Again...thanks for sticking with me.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

WASHINGTON -
A midair collision involving two news helicopters over Phoenix 18 months ago occurred because the two pilots lost track of each other while broadcasting live coverage of a police chase on the ground, federal officials said Wednesday.

The pilots were trying to do too much at once - fly, report and monitor multiple radio channels - before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

"The probable cause of this accident was both pilots' failure to see and avoid each other," the board concluded in a report on the collision. "Contributing to this failure was the pilots' responsibility to perform reporting and visual-tracking duties." (More)

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Denver TV stations KMGH, KUSA to share chopper
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"agreed to share a news helicopter as a cost-saving measure."

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Now that we're back to a peanut butter and cup 'o noodles economy on the eve of the new year, it seems like a good time to put on our Carnak the Magnificent's turban and take a guess at what's inside the hermetically sealed envelopes.

What lies ahead for the TV business and specifically the TV news business in 2009?

Here are some predictions from around the media spectrum.

TVPredictions.com prognosticator Phillip Swann sees big trouble ahead for TV broadcasters with the upcoming digital switchover. He sees many viewers giving up on TV entirely with network viewers down drastically. Local TV may lose 5-7% of viewers just with the transition.

Beet.tv sees almost all the major media entities making deals with YouTube.

Many forecasters are seeing 2009 as the year when mobile video really takes off. Videonuze says: "The mobile experience is going to seem more and more like the one you have sitting at your computer, with the added benefit of portability. To throw a blue-sky variable into the mix, one wonders if at some point you'll simply plug your phone into your TV and watch streamed or downloaded video that way."

In fact says seekingalpha.com, you will soon be treating your internet as if it were just another TV. Many of you are already there.

Branding will become even more important in a world of media excess says tilzy.tv. "Just because videos can’t be appropriately monetized in the near term, developing lasting brands (or reputations) associated with quality, innovative content will build value that can be monetized down the road. Experimentation and innovation are key."

Local broadcasters will begin to monetize their content in 2009 according to mediapost.com. But internet media will continue to impact TV on the time spent watching video.

But all is not gloom and doom for the lowly little local TV station. Although some are predicting the demise of at least one network (CBS seems to be the favorite), TV viewing will continue to be the first choice because "viewership in aggregate is actually going up, so continuing to understand how social media extends and enhances that experience (and sources content in reverse) will be mission critical."

As for the growth of one-man-band journalists and downsized newsrooms, the pinch will continue at least until the automakers sense a rebound and get comfortable again doing more advertising.
Local TV ownership groups are definitely hunkering down for the new year. Layoffs and job-consolidation will surely continue at least for the beginning of 2009.
If you are affected by this, my hope is that you can find new avenues to travel that lead to new opportunities. For those still hanging on to a TV job and crossing your fingers...ahh.. try not to make eye contact with the boss.
Maybe they'll forget you work there.

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Safety Vests Required by News Crews Reporting near Federal Highways
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Chambliss Turns Election Frustration on Cameraman
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Suspect Curses At News 5 Cameraman

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The future of live ENG transmissions continues to evolve and the latest entry in the "doing away with 40-ft. masts" category is WiMax, the 4th-generation wireless broadband access service.
They're experimenting with it in Idaho of all places, and the reviews are pretty good. ("Most viewers probably couldn't tell you we're doing anything different.").

Lots of big-name players are entering the field, but their are still some major drawbacks that may slow the pace of this technology.

Still, many folks believe that this lower-cost wireless application will replace the likes of microwave truck transmissions.
MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

Cop Suspended For Chokehold On CBS 2 Cameraman
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Dash cam captures man shooting at police
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Now that the weather is turning colder, it's time to consider the effects of freezing temperatures on video equipment and offer a few tips that will keep you shooting when both you and your camera would rather be indoors.

You don't have to be working in arctic conditions to have a problem with condensation. Exposing a camera and lens that have been chilling outdoors to a warmer environment, especially if it is also humid, causes the air next to the camera to cool below its dew point; moisture given up by the warm air condenses on the camera's cooler surfaces the same way that frost forms on the inside of a window on a really cold day. Most of this moisture will evaporate as the camera warms up, but sometimes moisture condenses inside the viewfinder and between the elements of the lens.The results are images that look like they've been shot through a fog filter.

Sometimes condensation makes its way into the recorder, where moisture sensors will detect it and shut down the tape mechanism. The best way to avoid condensation problems is to place the camera in an airtight plastic bag before bringing it indoors.

Condensation will form on the outside of the bag instead of on (or within) the camera and lens. After a brief wait of perhaps 10 or 15 minutes, the camera should be close enough to room temperature to make it safe to unseal the bag. Leaving the camera on while it is bagged will generate a little extra heat and speed the process.

If the condensation gremlin has already struck, a gentle stream of air from a hair dryer set to low heat will help chase the humidity away. Just remember, the goal is to dry out the camera, not cook it. To avoid damage, the air directed at the camera and lens should be no warmer than you can tolerate on the back of your hand.

Posted by Brian Smith at tvtechnology.com

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

If you've been waiting for just the right time to buy that new HDTV, your time has come. This holiday season the prices for new LCD and plasma HDTV's will be significantly lower.

The economic downturn may spell doomsday for a lot of financial institutions, but it is just the ticket for the person holding enough cash to steal away with a bargain TV.

Excerpt:
"To save cash, customers will most likely go for the stripped-down models, Mr. Gagnon said, devoid of the bells and whistles but still delivering good picture quality. And those sales should disproportionately go to the big box discount stores, like Costco and Wal-Mart, where consumers are now spending more of their money."
MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

NBC executives have been gathering employees in town hall-like meetings to explain the new paradigm shift that is affecting the world of TV news.

What does this mean for you?

This article sheds light on the process that may be coming to your station soon.

Excerpt:
"According to one current staffer, the number of cameramen on staff has dropped in recent months from roughly 25 to roughly 10. “If you don’t have people to take pictures and you don’t have people to edit pictures, then you’re not delivering visual news,” said the source."
MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Okay...you can see it coming. The company is downsizing and you are in their line of fire.

Are you prepared if that pink slip is attached to your last paycheck. Here's a guide put together by photojournalist Brad Ingram of WGHP-TV to help you deal with...the LAYOFF!

Excerpt:
"If you have any personal belongings or equipment stored at work make sure it’s in one area if possible. Make a list of all of the personal equipment that is yours and supply that list to your department head. That way you and your equipment are protected.
MORE...

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

Here's video and media reports of the Houston TV copter crash.

Reports from:

• The TV station involved...KTRK
• The Houston Chronicle

Tim Rutherford
PhotogsLounge.net

This Week's Highlights

How Bad Will It Get in Local Markets?
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“Will anchors be worth what they were worth? No. You cut back on salaries. The people who had the ability to get higher pay won’t have it. It doesn’t mean they won’t be valuable. It doesn’t mean they’ll lose their jobs. They might, but what it probably means is they probably won’t make as much money."…”

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Supermarket Tab 'Weekly World News,' Home Of Bat Boy, Sold To -- Bat Boy!
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#10. The Felix Restaurant
Hong Kong

After the Shoot

Photogs in Cities Around the World Tell You Where to Go and What to Do!
Example: "...When in New Orleans many people automatically head for Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. That's fine if you like overpriced drinks, obnoxious tourists and the smells of vomit and urine. For something different, try Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny, just downriver from the Quarter."
More...