The nation returns to traditional holiday revelry following two years of COVID-19 shutdowns and scaled back celebrations.
Streaming news has proven to be a powerful tool for news organizations. Streaming allows news to arrive at a moment’s notice and travels wherever the viewer is. It reduces the scarcity of news in the media equation and provides customizability.
There are currently four major news networks, CBS News, NBC News, MSNBC and Fox News, that operate streaming operations. These services offer regular nightly news programs, reruns, documentaries and news analysis.
Streaming is likely to reshape news coverage. The major networks have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on streaming operations.
Streaming has also proven to be a big hit with niche audiences. For instance, sci-tech news sites SciTechDaily and astrophysics site Astronomy Daily cover astronomy, cosmology and Gravitational Waves. Streaming has also attracted overtly political news operations.
The major news networks’ hopes for streaming are high. In the first year, CNN and Fox repurposed cable programming for streaming and earned a combined profit of $3 billion. This is not surprising, given the fact that broadcast news has been profitable.
However, the streaming model has also drawn some criticism. Some argue that free news streamers are simply telling viewers that they can cut their cable subscriptions. Others claim that streaming news will silo viewers, a practice that cable has avoided.
There are also fears that the proliferation of new choices could feed the audience’s polarization. This could make it harder for news outlets to provide objective coverage.
In the meantime, it seems that the free news streamers are merely trying to promote cable-quality news. They want to be paid a portion of the revenue generated from their service.
