Former New York Times CEO Mark Thompson spoke at a Freeview Outside the Box event, per Deadline, where he put out a warning signal for those who run television news stations in the United States.
Thompson stated that television news in the country is in “dead trouble” as it loses audiences under 60.
“News feels like a particularly old-fashioned style of broadcasting aimed entirely at older audiences,” Thompson said. “I live in the US, and [TV news] seems completely unchanged since the 1980s. I think it is in dead trouble.”
A challenge that all television news stations face is producing serious journalism for a smartphone generation.
So during Thompson’s tenure as The Times CEO, the company launched shows such as “The Daily” to bring the younger audience that “didn’t like speech radio” for years.
“In the UK, the biggest threat to Public Service Broadcasters comes from the behavior of younger people everywhere and whether or not you’re moving fast enough to move or reimagine your great content for them,” Thompson said.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
