When Warren Buffett says the network TV affiliation model doesn’t work anymore, people pay attention. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, recently dropped ABC after 69 years at WPLG-10 in Miami — the only TV station Buffett owns in Miami.
What does this mean for the BH Media station, and perhaps for Sunbeam Television, now the operator of “ABC Miami”? RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson sits in with Life After News host Jason Ball, a veteran of local TV news, for a 30-minute on-demand audio conversation.
In a “bonus” episode of Life After News, Jason talks with Jacobson about the history behind Miami’s TV station shake-ups and why the WPLG/ABC split is so significant.
He also discusses with Ball why Buffett may be right—and wrong—about network affiliations in today’s streaming-first world; what it takes to survive as a news-heavy, independent station in a multilingual, multicultural market; parallels and differences in Atlanta’s CBS affiliation change and lessons from stations that have gone fully local; and “the fine art of differentiating newscasts in a crowded market—drawing on KTLA’s approach.”
Says Ball, “It’s a conversation about identity, adaptation, and the future of local TV news in an age when audiences can get prime-time programming anywhere.”
Watch the podcast by clicking here!
