TV Q&A: Why do stations cover high school football from the end zone?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.
Q: One thing I've always wondered when watching highlights of high school football games — on really all the local news channels — is that they put the cameraman down on the field generally around the end zone. At least to me, that always feels like a difficult position to see the game and plays develop. Why do they not put a camera in the press boxes? I know it can get cramped up there but just always wondered if that was an editorial decision or not? Or if they're allowed to ask for video from the schools (or even a volunteer?) and be able to take clips for highlight reels from a high angle, like we are used to in college and pro football.
— Alec, Greensburg
Rob: Not my area of expertise, so I asked retired Channel 11 photographer Scott Dobson, who still shoots for professional and college sports teams, to weigh in. Dobson shot Friday night football games for more than 35 years and he explained that "well-shot football from field level is way more viscerally compelling that the 'game-film' look from up top.
"If you're all about the Xs and Os and want to analyze a play ... up top is for you," he continued. "But to follow a spiral in the air into the hands of a receiver who lands at your feet brings that action right into the viewers' living room. When a player scores and ends up right in front of the lens and celebrates 'face-to-face' with the camera, the fan at home feels that celebration. I will say that is the number one reason to shoot HS football from the sideline."
That makes sense, given the tiny amount of footage that actually turns up in a newscast.
Dobson cited another logistical reason for field-level footage.
"As photographers are assigned more games to cover each night, it just makes sense logistically to run in, grab what you can and get out," he said. "(It's) faster than trying to squeeze into an already populated press box."
As for TV stations using video provided by schools or volunteers: While I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen at some point (see next question), for now Dobson said video from school productions or volunteers might not meet the aesthetic or technical standards required by the station. There may also be contractual issues with unions that would prevent the use of amateur video in a newscast.
Q: I don't know if you've addressed the coming fiscal crisis for local TV early in the new year. They are feasting on the revenue from incessant political ads but that will go away after the election. I don't think there's enough bath remodeling commercials out there to pick up the slack. Who will get the ax or "retire" early in the new year?
— Robert, via email
Rob: TV stations have faced post-election advertising doldrums in the past, but Robert is correct that this time may be different, especially in Pittsburgh. Bloomberg reports Pittsburgh TV viewers saw/were subjected to more political ads than viewers in any other TV market in the United States.
Local TV station general managers did not respond when asked to discuss Robert's suggestion, but editorandpublisher.com recently published a story suggesting "as ubiquitous as television is, there is more evidence that television broadly and local broadcast specifically may be in a similar position to legacy newspapers 10 or more years ago."
EP points to soft financial results from the country's largest broadcast TV station ownership groups in the second quarter of 2024 with decreases in total revenues and core ad revenues, despite significant increases in political ads.
"Companies with major stakes in cable TV took billions in write-downs," writes Bob Sillick for EP. "Some local TV stations may be sold. Layoffs continue, often in the thousands. Subsequently, many of these companies have lowered their total revenue and ad revenue forecasts, suggesting the start of a slow downward spiral."
But the posits that the decline in advertising revenue is less acute than a decrease in the retransmission fees local stations receive from cable/satellite/streaming providers for carrying their channels.
As for who among local on-air talent may depart, we learned earlier this month that longtime WPXI-TV primary anchor David Johnson will retire Dec. 13 . It's possible others will join him in the next month. This is often the time of year news personalities announce their retirement, regardless of the current economic fortunes of local stations.
Q: When will new episodes of "Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch" air on Discovery Channel?
— Dan, via email
Rob: Discovery couldn't give me a more precise answer when Dan's question first arrived earlier this year, but now the network has announced a premiere date for the new season: 10 p.m. Nov. 20.
Set on a 160-acre property in Utah's Uinta Basin that's rumored to sit atop an ancient hidden Aztec fortune, "Blind Frog Ranch" involves the search for lost gold and the discovery of unexpected artifacts.
