Rival news bosses John Cruickshank, Troy Reeb and Robert Hurst came together this week at the annual luncheon of the Broadcast Executives Society, addressing the evolution of their business and how to reach younger generations.

Noting that a ‘declining interest in news’ has struck both print and broadcast outlets, Cruickshank, publisher of CBC News and formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times, said ‘casters must effectively invent a new business case.

‘No matter how different things are now in Canada in terms of how newspapers or television or radio hold on to audiences as we go forward,’ he said, ‘there’s going to be an extraordinary new media industry.’

But ‘it’s going to be tough on the media, and even tougher on the advertising people, who are trying to connect with people and audiences that no longer aggregate in the ways that they used to,’ he added.

With some reference to the new economy of free information, Reeb suggested that, from a news standpoint, major media brands such as the New York Times and the Guardian in Britain ‘are not monetizing their product.’ He suggested advertisers should sit back and think about how to get the best value for their dollars.

‘The important thing for advertisers to remember as they stampede online, because that’s where all the ‘cool kids’ are, is that the face of a television personality is unique, and the community aspects they bring help make that advertising proposition more valuable,’ said Reeb, VP of news operations for Canwest. ‘A seal of approval comes with services that are advertised on local TV newscasts. There’s an automatic positive association with that, and it doesn’t come through elsewhere.’

News programming, he added, is among the least PVR’d and least time-shifted element of broadcast media — not susceptible to ‘many of those other monsters chewing’ at on-air programming.

Hurst, CTV News president, was quick to support the notion that news programming, unlike scripted series or reality entertainment shows, has a place in the future model of the broadcasting business.

‘We are seeing in television, of course, an erosion of our revenue,’ said Hurst. ‘But it has not hit television with the same arrow through the heart that is attacking newspapers.’ He then recounted past examples of CTV’s attempt to reach younger viewers that failed because, ultimately, people pay closer attention to news only after certain life responsibilities kick in, such as taxes and family.

From Media in Canada