A trade column this week listed the local TV jobs most exposed as stations get hubbed and automated. Mine's on it.
Directors are on it. Here's what the list misses.
NewscastStudio: layoffs, hubbing and AI newscast tools, taken together, point to a station that needs very few people.
Doing the math on your chair?
Run a board, build a rundown, cut the six o'clock, this one's for you.
We've seen this movie
Newspapers: design hubs, merged copy desks, printing moved out. Each move defensible. The sum: far less local reporting.
The exposed list
Producers. Directors. Technical operators. Graphics. Editing. Some engineering. Routine weather. Some anchors.
It's not about you
“Not that any individual is replaceable.” The job exists to perform one assembly step, the exact step automation is built for.
Harder to hub
The reporter at the council meeting. The meteorologist in a tornado warning. Sports built on relationships.
It starts at 3PM
Not the 6 or 11. The cheap dayparts first: 2pm, 3pm, overnight, streaming. If it works at 3, they'll ask about noon.
Write the sentence, not the title
Not “director.” “I run a live show on a hard clock, no second take.” Titles get line items. Skills get buyers.
What's your sentence?
Source: NewscastStudio (Sept 10), TheWrap (Sept 10).