The Big Question: What's In It For Them?   

Local TV news directors are wary about the new 24-hour cable news channels.

Local television news directors aren't overjoyed by the impending creation of three more 24-hour network news cable channels. It's not that they're fearful of the new ventures by ABC, NBC and Fox. What they really want to know is: What's in it for them?

They wonder if the channels will siphon off viewers from their local newscasts. And they are concerned that whatever news video they supply to their affiliated network could be used against them, diminishing their station's image with the public or aiding their local competitor. Nor is it clear yet whether or how the local affiliates will be compensated by the networks.

"It has the potential to both help or hurt local news, and it all depends on how it is formatted and how it is executed," says Tom Doerr of WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami. "The prospects of using our station's established and credible news talent in ABC's new venue presents a tremendous opportunity to us. But if we are going to be competing against ourselves, we have a problem."

John Butte of WTHR in Indianapolis sees a similar opportunity and dilemma in NBC's joint enterprise with computer giant Microsoft.

"This could be an advantage as an affiliate to have access to another 24-hour type news service where we can do regular news," says Butte. "We could do continuous updates of five minutes or longer.... But we need to be assured it will be good for our station."

NBC is under the most pressure to satisfy its affiliates because of a targeted July starting date that coincides with the network's exclusive broadcast coverage of the Olympic Games from Atlanta. ABC does not intend to launch until early 1997, although that might change now that Fox has announced plans to begin its service before the end of the year.

One way for the locals to get involved is by adapting what some of them already do for CNN's Headline News. About 80 stations whose prime affiliation is with ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox provide five-minute news inserts at 25 and 55 minutes after the hour on cable systems in their market that carry Headline News. (Some of these arrangements with CNN are expected to end once ABC and NBC enter the cable news environment.)

ýThe CNN approach would appear to us to be fairly restrictive," says NBC's Bob Horner. Horner is president of the five-year- old NBC News Channel, which feeds news stories to affiliates and broadcasts hour-long newscasts on the network during the overnight hours. Horner says the Charlotte-based operation will be at the core of what the network does with local stations. "We think our [all news] channel would be considerably enhanced if there is opportunity for more local injection than you typically see on CNN."

He says he also expects "a lot of conversations between us and the news directors and general managers that will deal with the online service that is a separate, but complementary, venture with Microsoft. We think this is potentially the most exciting part because of the competitive advantage this has for us."

ÔBC for now is concentrating on trying to integrate its affiliates into the 24-hour channel. Five-minute news inserts are one probability, says Don Dunphy, vice president of affiliate news services for ABC News.

"We do want our affiliates to share some kind of programming," Dunphy says. "It would not only involve maybe cut-ins but participation of the longer duration, half-hour or hour-long programs – something to distinguish us from what's out there now."

Fox's plans for its affiliates are more nebulous because the news resources of both the network and it's local stations are limited. Some Fox stations do not have news departments and some of those that do have only one major newscast a day. Furthermore, Fox has a minuscule network news department and no national news programs like those at the heart of the NBC and ABC infrastructure.

Fox officials say they intend to broadly follow the CNN model where affiliate participation largely depends on mutual exchange of video that is not exclusive in any one market.

What all the networks must do during their negotiations with the local stations is convince them that participation in the 24-hour entity will help their broadcast ratings and be financially worthwhile.

ýWe can't jump in and do anything that would, in effect, put our [local] news as a second priority," says Ron Miller of WJAC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. "And sometimes these guys in the big operations don't realize what we really have to work with, and they want too much."

"If we're going to do something significant or even do five-minute news windows we're going to need people and facilities. And to do it right, it won't be cheap," says Doerr. "That's why there's got to be a very symbiotic relationship between us and the network, so that we're enhancing each other's images as opposed to competing with it." l