ICYMI: Talking TV With The People Shaping It

Television had another transformational year in 2021, and Talking TV, the weekly video podcast hosted by TVNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp, took an all-angles look at what those changes mean for the industry.

From household name stars to behind-the-scenes managers, Talking TV hosted a series of smart, detailed conversations that yielded key intelligence on television’s next moves. Catch up on those conversations this week as you ready yourself for another eventful year in 2022.

Star Power

Veteran latenight host Jay Leno was back on TV with a rebooted You Bet Your Life and reflected on how the pandemic is shaping the career trajectories of emerging talent.

Nick Cannon took promotion of his new eponymous syndicated show to a new level on a whistle-stop tour of Fox stations across the country and caught up with us from Washington, D.C., where he joined WTTG’s morning anchors.

Fox News’ Jon Scott marked the network’s 25-year milestone, reflecting on his long tenure and fielding tough questions on how the network’s news side manages a coexistence with its more extreme opinion hosts.

NewsNation’s Dan Abrams offered a path toward breaking nighttime cable news’ left/right chokehold.

Inside Edition’s Deborah Norville made the case for the Broadcasters Foundation of America in a period of particularly acute need.

Journalism Innovations

NBC LX’s Fernando Hurtado showed how a new series, Connect the Dots, pulled back the curtain on the reporting process and seeks to court younger audiences by veering away from news conventions.

WXIA Atlanta’s Brendan Keefe illustrated how local news can disrupt itself and rediscover creativity at every level.

Newsy’s Eric Ludgood unpacked the channel’s major overhaul and widening distribution channels as it looks to broaden its audience beyond younger demographics.

Ad Fontes Media’s Vanessa Ortero proposed a scheme to quantify media bias.

From The Front Lines

Lyle Schulze of WIS Columbia, S.C., explained how the station is taking back its programming inventory amid a dearth of syndication options.

WLWT Cincinnati’s Branden Frantz offered the reasoning behind his station’s revival of editorials in a period of stark political divisions and tenuous media trust among viewers.

CBC News’ Brodie Fenlon shared his rationale for disabling comments on all stories posted to Facebook, and the positive impact it’s had on morale of staffers and viewers alike.

Mim Davey of KMSP Minneapolis explained how Black Lives Matter and the social justice movement have impacted newsroom priorities.

Find all back episodes of Talking TV here, and look for new episodes coming in January.