Local broadcast TV’s real challenge is not how to preserve every part of the linear schedule. It is how to preserve the parts that still matter while shedding the parts that no longer do.

In Episode 7 of In the Vicinity, local media veterans Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson unpack an industry that knows exactly what needs fixing—and is finally starting to align around how to do it.

Twenty years ago, USDTV was a clever idea ahead of its time — today, it may be exactly what NextGen TV needs to break through.

In the latest episode of In the Vicinity, local media veterans Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson unpack the growing imbalance between traditional broadcast and the scale of platforms like streaming giants and digital ad ecosystems.

The old characterization of broadcasting as a “license to print money” feels increasingly anachronistic. What remains is a business in stewardship mode — focused less on building for the future than on managing through a prolonged unwinding.

In this episode of In the Vicinity, local media veterans Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson unpack the growing tension between broadcast’s DMA-driven reach and streaming’s zip-code-level precision.

As networks invest less in certain dayparts, affiliates are left to ask a more pointed question about what, exactly, they are receiving in return.

NBC is taking a meaningful swing at the core idea of what a “national-meets-local” sports broadcast should look like — and, in the process, signaling where sports television may be headed next.

The combined Nexstar-TEGNA now has to prove that a vastly larger footprint can translate into sustainable economics in a shrinking linear TV ecosystem — without triggering backlash from regulators, distributors, or local markets.

This episode of In the Vicinity is all about Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna. Now that the deal is officially closed, Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson can dive headfirst into one of the most consequential developments in years.

The current administration’s political pressure against aimed at television journalism is real. But the regulatory system governing broadcast licenses has evolved in ways that make rapid, politically driven punishment extraordinarily difficult.

In this episode of In The Vicinity, local media veterans Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson explore why the digital transition has proven so difficult—and what it will take for broadcasters to evolve from traditional stations into true multi-platform local media companies.

The recent surge of games returning to broadcast television may represent something closer to a transitional solution than a permanent one.

In this episode of In The Vicinity, local media veterans Tim Hanlon and Jim Wilson have a candid conversation about the pros and cons of consolidation.

Is Indianapolis a narrow exception tailored to unique facts? Or is it an early indicator that triopolies — whether through ownership or ecosystem influence — are becoming normalized?

In the premiere episode of In the Vicinity, Vertere Group founder Tim Hanlon sits down with Madhive CEO Jim Wilson—former founder of Premion at Tegna, board chair of GSTV, and board member at Audacy—for a candid look at the future of local media.

Video podcasts will not reverse cord-cutting or restore the economics of peak syndication. But they may represent a pragmatic bridge between legacy linear TV and the conversational, multiplatform media environment that now defines viewer behavior.

TikTok’s local turn could become a powerful distribution partner for revitalized journalism. Or it could further platformize and fragment an already stressed ecosystem.

For much of the industry, the primary appeal of ATSC 3.0 is not better television. It is the ability to monetize broadcast spectrum for non-broadcast uses — even if that comes at the expense of free TV.

Boston’s fledgling LocalTV+ is a reminder that the long-standing promise of free broadcast television is increasingly at odds with how Americans actually watch TV — and with how the law treats modern distribution.