Phoenix television stations ABC 15 and Fox 10 agree to share newsroom resources as part of a deal announced Wednesday by their parent companies. Photos by Nick R. Martin and Fox 10
Two Phoenix television stations have agreed to combine some of their newsroom resources in an effort to save cash in a tumbling media economy. The local ABC and Fox affiliates are making the move as part of a deal by their parent companies, which are setting up similar structures in other cities nationwide.
Under the deal announced Wednesday, KNXV-TV (Channel 15) and KSAZ-TV (Channel 10) will pool their resources to cover so-called “general market news events,” according to a statement released by their parent companies. This means that the stations would send only one crew to cover a story and then share the footage later. It’s not clear what kind of news — whether it be press conferences, sports, community meetings — will be covered jointly under the deal. However, the statement said it would be up to the leaders of the partnership to decide that on a day-to-day basis.
For ABC 15, the deal comes on the heels of two rounds of company-wide cuts handed down by their parent, the E.W. Scripps Company, this year. The first, in February, reduced employee pay and did away with some retirement benefits. The second, in March, asked workers to take a number of days off without pay.
Scripps and the national chain of Fox Television Stations also agreed to combine newsroom resources in two other markets, Detroit and Tampa, Fla., in addition to Phoenix.
In the joint statement, Brian Lawlor, the senior vice president of television for Scripps, said the agreement “will allow our existing staff to cover even more local news across multiple platforms” and in doing so, provide “deeper storytelling and richer content” for viewers.
The statement also said that other stations in each city may join the agreement in the near future.
Already this year, the three other television news outlets in Phoenix
struck a similar agreement to share a single helicopter for story coverage. KTVK-TV (Channel 3), KPHO-TV (Channel 5) and KPNX-TV (Channel
12) agreed to share one copter for things such as
breaking news and traffic footage.
Full disclosure: Since January, I have made unpaid, semi-regular appearances on ABC 15 to discuss the Serial Shooter trial.