TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 - MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

 TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 - MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Growing up, there were about four television stations in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  We didn’t have cable (I’m not sure it even existed), there were no streaming channels like Netflix - to today - with hundreds of channels and options.  I went from about three local radio stations (then) to thousands (now - including a plethora online).  And, almost all of them need money to pay staff, to pay for broadcasting facilities.  Some (like public radio) do use more public buildings.  KUT is the local National Public Radio station for central Texas - and has facilities at the University of Texas (UT).  If I believe in what I hear on Public Radio there are fund-raisers for patrons to support the station - and advertising that isn’t quite the same as regular radio advertising.  

My son (our son) is a television reporter for KHGI in Grand Island Nebraska.  Recent ratings show this:

KETV - Omaha - 1,855,582

KOLN - Lincoln - 1,596,566

WOWT- Omaha - 1,304,613

KLKN - Lincoln - 437,554

KHGI - Kearney - 323,090 ←--

KMTV - Omaha - 236731

KSNB - Hastings - 197,916 ←--

https://muckrack.com/rankings/top-15-TV-stations-nebraska

In his Central Nebraska region, his station (KHGI)  is rated about 1.5 as much as the Hastings station, so therefore, advertising costs will be higher on KHGI as compared to KSNB.  

I don’t know this (and have not even discussed it), I have no idea how much my son gets paid, but, in theory, for his market, it could be (maybe) 1.5 as much as a comparable reporter for the competitive station.  

Now, my son works a lot more than Joe Buck (sports announcer who makes about $6 million a year), but my son gets a lot less.  That’s just the way the market works.  And, my son loves his work and loves his location.  In his market, he is a “big fish in a small pond”.  (Note, “Love what you do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” - Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens)

There is also an expression “Follow the money”.  Obviously, some people make a lot of money - and others not so much.  And, we shouldn’t work just for the money.  

In the Media work, generally the bigger the market, the better the salary.  Of course, this might not always be true.  A janitor at ABC in New York and a janitor at KHGI in Grand Island Nebraska might not have a large difference in salary - although the cost of living is probably higher in New York City.  

With a larger location, the pressure might be more in terms of media.  The Governor of New York and a Senator from Texas were recently in the news for some decisions they made.  But, if you will, if the Governor of North Dakota and a Senator from North Dakota made similar decisions, they probably wouldn’t get the same scrutiny.

My local stations have 5 to 15-second promo for their news programs - they have just enough to pique my interest.  I might have “We get to the bottom of the energy crisis in Texas”; “Tune in tonight as we expose why Texans are being cheated out of their vaccines”.  

I note the language - “exposed” “cheated”, “crisis”.  To get higher rations you need to get more viewers and to get more viewers you need to CAPTURE their attention.

Television is entertainment.  

While you might not accept “entertainment” for some of the topics.  Are soap operas “entertainment”? Is “The Bachelor” entertainment?  Who will he select, who will be kicked off?  A friend loves “The Voice” - and likes the tension between the celebrities who select who goes on to the next round - and regularly calls in her ‘vote’ when the audience can vote.

IT IS ENTERTAINMENT - it keeps people’s interest.   

Let’s look at entertainment.  At the end of most televised sporting events, there is a statement “for the entertainment value of our viewers.”  Television is primarily for entertainment.  People watch football games for “entertainment” - it isn’t work-related - nobody is making you watch the Super Bowl - but you watch it (until it got so out-of-hand this year) because you want to watch it - because it is entertaining.

One of the definitions of entertainment is:

the action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment. If you will: "everyone just sits in front of the TV for entertainment"

Television is a business - a BIG business.  Businesses have to make money - they have to pay staff, pay for airtime.  So sports programs have advertisements for things that appeal to sports fans - beer, cars (especially trucks), and similar ads.  

Televised sports are a business.  The University of Nebraska left the Big Twelve Athletic Conference for the Big Ten Conference - for MONEY.  (In the Big Twelve, the University of Texas created their own network - the Longhorn Network - and didn’t share revenue from their programs (mostly football), but in the Big Ten the schools share the television revenue.  If Ohio State goes to the National Championship Football game, Northwestern University in the Chicago area gets a cut.  And, if Northwestern University goes to the Sun Bowl in El Paso Texas, Ohio State gets a cut.  

So, college sports (and especially football) bring revenue into the sports programs.  A friend used to be the cross-country coach at Nebraska.  Cross Country does not generate revenue.  It has expenses - coaches, travel to events, and more.  BUT - Nebraska football brings in the revenue to pay for those minor sports.  

ENTERTAINMENT - and frequently - TELEVISED ENTERTAINMENT attracts viewers, and affects the ratings - and ratings mean more revenue.

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

More tomorrow and Thursday!!!

LOVE WINS (even though Love might not get the best ratings!!!)

HUGS!!

Karen