NBC Universal announced today it’s investing millions and hiring over 130 new people at its 10 owned-and-operated TV stations. “The new leaders of the company believe in the owned television station division, and they want to see these stations strong again,” said Valari Staab, President of NBC’s local unit. “So we’re moving as fast as we can.”
The investment will add 1,200 hours of new newcasts, launch new consumer and investigative units in five markets, restore promotion departments at all stations, create new sets and expand helicopter coverage. There’s no word about specific investments in online or social media, but Staab added, “We want our stations to enterprise stories and truly produce differentiated, high quality local news content; and we want them to make it available to our audiences in as many ways as possible – on TV, online and on the go.”
The local TV industry as a whole suffered through the recession, shedding thousands of jobs and cutting back on newscasts. But recently the stronger ownership groups have seen a financial turnaround as advertisers returned to TV.
NBCU released this video of Staab talking about the investment:
When the FCC cleared Comcast to buy the majority stake in NBC Universal, the network promised to add 1,000 hours of local news programming. With today’s announcement, that brings the total to 2,200 hours.
