Stephen Battaglio

The CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” is not going easy on President Trump and the commander in chief is noticing. President Trump went after the program in a social media post after seeing two critical stories regarding his handling of the Russia-Ukraine war and his proposal to annex Greenland.

As television station owners gathered in Las Vegas for the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention, they sent an urgent message to Washington that could be summed up in one word—“Help.” Streaming video has siphoned away the traditional viewing audience. Advertisers have shifted their budgets to digital and away from broadcasters. On the horizon, there is fear that streaming will get more of broadcast TV’s last surefire attraction, the NFL, which can exit its media rights deal after the 2029 season.

Forty years ago, the Reagan administration told PBS to find ways to increase funding for public television outside of taxpayer dollars. It did. PBS’ response to the challenge was to enhance the way it acknowledged sponsors. Instead of merely running a company logo before its programming, PBS let corporate underwriters place messages that looked more like standard commercials. That process helped sustain such programs as “Nova,” “Masterpiece” and Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentaries.

Television advertising is caught in the crossfire of the country’s political battles. When TV stars such as Roseanne Barr, Samantha Bee and Laura Ingraham get into trouble, advertisers retreat rather than risk having their brand names become collateral damage in the highly charged partisan atmosphere enveloping the media landscape. By the time a comedian or commentator is forced to apologize for a tweet or joke that goes too far, many sponsors want their commercials out before they can become the target of angry social media protests.

Cable news networks had reason to feel bittersweet about the end of 2016 as Donald Trump’s historic campaign for the White House drove their ratings to record levels. But in the days leading up to his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, Trump’s continuing love-hate relationship with them is providing a compelling sequel.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC have seen a surprising surge in their audience levels this month as they report in real time on the unpredictable saga of Trump, who can dictate their programming day with his Twitter account. After Trump takes the oath of office Jan 20, they will be covering a president whose distrust and ridicule of the media is unlike anything they have seen from a commander in chief. While it’s apparent Trump’s combative nature is lifting viewer interest, the uncharted territory of his presidency is likely to test the journalistic spine of the organizations as well.