Central CA—Glamour, glory, golden…the three Gs that ruled the TV industry for years. Unfortunately, all of that is rapidly changing. There may still be some glamour and glory in TV, but it’s not nearly as golden as the golden years of the ‘80s and ‘90s.  

In the past, a TV station making money was never an issue, but rather, how much. That’s why the salaries of on-air personalities and upper management got so enormous. Now, a lot of that is coming to a screeching halt, as you may have guessed.

Many broadcasters are in a daze as layoffs and cutbacks continue to stun the broadcast industry nationwide.  The news gatherers never had to think about money running short; it was TV for crying out loud!

There used to be the perception that TV was a fully funded fun house of financial stability, a glamour job with a golden glow. But now with a sputtering economy and TV’s number one customer (the auto industry) on the ropes, that perception is not reality. TV is just like every other business now. If it can make money, the business will grow. If not, cutbacks will occur.  You can’t just flip a switch and be successful.

Stand by for the next shock. If business doesn’t get better soon, some news outlets will have no choice but to disappear completely. RealLocalTV.com may have an answer to part of the problem; keep coming back for a look.  

M.Brace Coines-RLTV.com