On this, I completely agree.

Every — and I mean EVERY — TV story is designed to get you to watch MORE.. it delivers information, but the whole thing is a set-up to get you to watch, so you can watch the next thing, so you can watch the next thing, so you can watch the weather… and then the next TV show..

It’s LINEAR!

So, the trick is reworking video (programming) for people who can go do anything on your site at anytime. They won’t sit through video so they can watch the next video so they can watch the next video… because?

here’s why:
it’s all already available in text — organized with the most important details FIRST (not buried at the end after it was teased at 8:35 p.m., 8:55 p.m., 9:05 p.m. and 9:35 p.m.)

the TRICK is going to be finding MORE compelling video that will make people watch and making it available to supplement the text.

No one will watch a 1:30 package of a 7 inch print story with one photo!!! why? because MOST of the video in packages is just b-roll… and the photo in the story is of the best video in the package…

The key will be producing MORE video and MORE compelling video… packages will die on the web.. as they should

we banter back and forth about news this and news that, but what about everything else in the life of a city and its people?

local stations better get back in the habit of thinking local programming because it looks like the networks are in the slow process of cutting out the middleman.

Outside that, I think you’re right, we need to move beyond our legacy sites and create new online communities on new brands.

Now, if a station wants to make it a separate site, that’s fine. But frankly, finding that on a news site really turns me off, much in the same way “kicker” stories do at the end of newscasts.

Yes, I know I’m a dinosaur, even though I work on the Web. But just because something can be done doesn’t mean it necessarily should be done by everyone. YouTube works for reasons that TV stations can’t replicate.