With budget cuts, job consolidations, and transitions to streaming, there’s no denying that the traditional broadcast news industry is changing. But that doesn’t mean the market for news, talk, and interview content is shrinking.
If anything, it’s increasing.
And that means there is definitely a future for TV news talent. It’s just not going to be in following the linear broadcast model that has prevailed for the past fifty years. Folks entering the industry now will need to be amphibious multimedia creators.
The Drawn-Out Death of TV
TV news talent across the spectrum has been managing the drawn-out death of TV in a myriad of ways. While some have simply resigned to lower paychecks in an attempt to hang on to their lucrative deals, others have pursued better time slots paired with digital extensions to net themselves bigger contracts. Particularly from networks eager to break from diminishing pay TV revenue.
Over the next few years, there will likely be hybrid deals that will allow for TV news talent to keep one foot in each bucket. And as mentioned above, the marketplace for news, talk, and interview content is actually expanding. This is good news for seasoned TV news vets who are willing to take advantage of platforms like YouTube, SiriusXM, and even Netflix, where much of this content has shifted.
Breaking Off on One’s Own
Of course, there are anchors, reporters, and sports reporters who are looking completely beyond the world of television to find success on the other side. But it isn’t easy.
First of all, an established TV news anchor can net a 6-, 7-, or even 8-figure salary. And that doesn’t even include all of the benefits and perks. One of those perks is an entire staff of producers and crew members who make everything possible.
What some of these folks are discovering is that the costs to hire a modest production team and build a video podcast setup that meets the current standard can run up to $1 million. So not only is the move a risky one. It’s expensive. And those who make the shift quickly realize that they have to work much harder than they did before.
Some Additional Not-Always-Obvious Pitfalls
The reality is, TV news talent who have found success in digital almost always have a strong point of view. And this runs counter to the idea of staying even keel as a news personality. So an anchor who is uncomfortable with this may have a tougher time succeeding in the digital environment. They need to go in with the expectation that a straight news creator economy show is going to present differently than a point-of-view or interview-type of creator economy show.
In addition, there’s now the presence of “clipping.” This is when unscrupulous content creators clip, slice, and dice cable news segments and podcasts and publish them to platforms such as TikTok and YouTube shorts, where they reach a wide audience, but require no context. It’s an ugly practice that leaves many not knowing what’s real and what’s not.
Required Skills for the Future for TV News Talent
For future TV news talent to thrive, they’ll need to master several key areas.
First, they’ll need to establish a personal brand. The most successful journalists view themselves as a standalone business that needs to build a loyal audience. They do this through newsletters, social media, and independent video channels. Which leads us to the second key area.
Future TV news talent will need to know how to seamlessly pivot from reading a teleprompter to conducting interviews, hosting podcasts, and writing engaging digital copy. This is the aforementioned amphibious multimedia creator.
And finally, with the increasing dominance of AI, they will need to possess notable human empathy and judgment. This is an area where AI fails and cannot establish trust. It doesn’t know how to make split-second ethical decisions during breaking news, build deep community relationships, or empathize in sensitive situations. These are all required for powerful TV news broadcast journalism.
Is It Time to Get an Agent?
If you’re in the TV news industry, you know firsthand about all the changes that are happening. It can be daunting.
With a highly experienced TV news talent agent like Mort Meisner to guide you, you’ve got nothing to fear. He’s got his thumb on the pulse of this ever-changing industry at all times.
So contact Mort today to see what he can do to forward your career. He has the skills, the connections, and the know-how to make it happen.
