One of the ideas that comes up from time to time in regulatory discussions of TV market borders is the idea that viewers in “orphan counties” would be better off if they received TV from their home state.
Voters would be more educated on issues affecting their state. People might be more aware of the culture in other parts of their state. And NFL fans would always have access to their in-state teams.
All of these are worthy causes. But when it comes to news coverage, the problem is that local and state news are so intertwined that you can’t separate them. Any “in-state” newscast piped into a border area is mostly going to be dominated by news from the distant city where the station is based.
This is the model that has always existed for broadcast TV news. Stations cover news in their own local area and mix it with reports from the state capitol, TV stations elsewhere in the state, and the Associated Press. The mix depends on the day.
In most border areas, stations report news from both sides of the border. Not only do they recognize the importance of serving people across their viewing area, but people in border areas are interested in what’s happening nearby. After all, borders are just artificial lines on a map.
This was on full display in 2018 when the Husky Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, had an explosion and fire. Several Duluth, Minnesota, TV stations offered hours of continuous coverage as parts of the city were evacuated. Viewers in Superior needed the information and viewers in Duluth didn’t care that Superior is in a different state. It’s one community.
People cross borders regularly for work, education, entertainment, and family gatherings. It should only make sense that media outlets cross the border, too.
There is another kind of “orphan county,” though. In a few cases, “orphan counties” exist simply because of a shortage of broadcast TV service in a particular region.
This is the case in Nebraska’s Panhandle, where viewers mostly watch TV from Denver but KNEP-TV in Scottsbluff is trying to make inroads to provide Nebraska-based news to the region. The channel is carried side-by-side with Denver stations on cable, but satellite viewers must switch to an antenna to receive Nebraska-based news.
Of course, viewers also now have the option of watching any newscast they want using smart TV apps and websites. They can check them out and see for themselves if they’d be better served by watching the news from somewhere else.
Jon Ellis has worked in small-market TV news for 20 years in assistant news director and producer positions.
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