NBC 2.0 Cuts and Washington Newscast

WRC CUTS CHANGE FACE OF LOCAL NEWS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
A look at cost-cutting measures at NBC's Washington (DC) affiliate WRC (Channel four). The station is a highly profitable operation that has long enjoyed a market-leading position. The station nevertheless has been swept up by the "NBC 2.0" program, a broad initiative by NBC Universal to cut more than $750 million in expenses from its news and entertainment operations and trim about 700 positions (roughly 5 percent of its employees). Since TV news-watching is often the product of habit, local stations make even small changes to their newscasts -- their most profitable programs -- at their peril. A rival news executive said the cutbacks could provide WRC with a double economic benefit. The station can pare its payroll substantially by replacing older, higher-salaried veterans with younger, less expensive on-air personalities who theoretically will help WRC attract the younger viewers that advertisers seek. The news executive noted that the largest share of viewers for WRC's early-evening newscasts are older than 55, an audience that advertisers devalue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801784.html
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