Same ol’, Same ol’: Consolidation and Local Television News

The consolidation of local television stations in the USA has reached epic proportions and takes two forms: outright station purchases and the implementation of shared service agreements among stations within the same market. This research is directed at answering the crucial questions that the Federal Communications Commission and the US Department of Justice have raised about the impact of service agreements on the content of local news in eight markets where such agreements exist. The analysis reveals that the implementation of shared service agreements has had a profound effect on the distribution of stories across stations and the use of shared resources, such as the anchor, the reporter, the script, and video/graphics for news stories.