Economic tailspin batters local TV

The economic downturn has local TV broadcasters, both in Philadelphia and across the country, reeling and, in some cases, fighting for survival. They're struggling to cut costs in many ways: Ditching highly paid veterans, combining jobs, pooling resources, and expanding to the Internet are the common ploys. And, as traditional advertisers have deserted the ship, they're looking elsewhere. But advertisers want an audience. Ratings here slipped nearly 19 percent between November 2004 and November 2008, as Philadelphia's six major stations lost a combined average of 140,000 viewers at any given point during the day, according to the Nielsen Co. More than 440,000 viewers, on average, are missing in prime time, a drop of 25 percent. Despite the excitement of the presidential election - or maybe because it moved viewers to cable news - ratings for local evening news shows nationwide dropped 11.4 percent from November 2007 to November 2008. (Late news shows dropped 3.7 percent, according to Nielsen.) Advertisers, particularly in the auto industry, have headed for the exits. Nearly $200 million in revenue, 25 percent, vanished from the Philadelphia TV market between 2004, the previous Olympic and presidential election year, and 2008, according to BIA Advisory Services, the leading industry financial analysts. Not only is that revenue not coming back, the forecasters say, an additional $50 million will be missing by 2012.