Ratings Slip At Channel 2 Isn't Big News

Alan Pergament's story about local news ratings wasn't really big news to me. Channel 2's confrontational journalistic style and overuse of the "Holding People In Power Accountable" has given Channel 2 more of a sensationalistic feel than that of a credible news outlet.



I watched YNN for awhile when it first launched, and although I was intrigued by it, the production values were not as slick as the established local guys. The graphics are busy and amatuerish and sometimes the b-roll doesn't match the story. I am sure that in its early stages, there is not as sizable a crew to be collecting footage for each story. I think the YNN Channel is a great foundation on which to build, however, after watching for awhile I realized that not enough stuff happens in Buffalo Niagara to support a 24 hour news only format. If used as the foundation of something bigger, YNN would be a great platform for 24 hour local programming, with regular news breaks. It would be great to have a station that featured local arts programming, political programming, sports programming, etc. and still left a healthy sized hole for news. There is so much going on in this region that it could support weeklies that offered analysis and commentary in each of those areas. Certainly, a whole host of 30 minute to 1 hour features could be developed.



My favorite part of Pergament's article is the part where it points out that TV News is quick to cover the industry wide slip in newspaper readership, but doesn't at all cover it's own side of the downturn. Shocking really.