Private-Public Pact Spurs Localism in NYC

PRIVATE-PUBLIC PACT SPURS LOCALISM IN NYC
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Steve Passwaiter, BIA Financial Network]
[Commentary] Many station owners and GMs truly want to do more locally-focused programming, but lament that it is time consuming and expensive. With most bottom lines under increasing pressure these days, it’s difficult to make heightened localism a reality. As a result, most stations’ localism defaults to local news and some Sunday morning public affairs shows, but not much else. A partnership between a public and a private broadcaster shows that commercial TV stations can make a real commitment to localism while maintaining fiscal responsibility. In August, WNBC New York General Manager Frank Comerford announced that the NBC flagship would air five local programs produced by city-owned WNYE, aka NYC-TV, at 11 a.m. each weekday until the launch of the new iVillage program in December. The arrangement also includes airing the five programs, plus two others, on WNBC’s digital multicast channel, WNBC 4.4, which is carried on major cable systems in the market. Under the deal, NYC-TV retains four minutes of advertising avails in the shows with the remainder going to WNBC.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/10/13/daily.2/