Local broadcast news and OTT streaming services : the institutional obstacles from an on-air to digital transition

Abstract

The migration of legacy newscasts towards new delivery systems like OTTs has proven to be a slow process as both the legacy media institution and the new media institution face challenges in the ability to work together. The digital space is looking for lowcost, immediate, and evergreen content while legacy media newscasts produce high-cost, scheduled content that quickly expires. The study looks into the institutional norms in legacy media that stifle innovation and a quick migration into the new delivery systems. The research analyzes the discourse of fourteen interviews with different local news directors, general managers, and corporate representatives throughout the United States. The study examines the discourse used to legitimize legacy media and delegitimize new delivery systems through the use of tropes or myths that hold a belief as a set rule. The study aims to provide a window into the understanding of local news managers and corporate representatives vis-a-vis new media, how they perceive new media, and how (and if) they plan to set forth change in light of the viewership migration that is increasingly going towards the digital space.