When I first saw FOX 26 Houston KRIV evening anchor Caroline Collins' posts on social media about her directing or "punching" her own streaming show, I had no desire to write about it, because it was being done in Houston **FIVE YEARS AGO**.
And who knows where else they were doing it before that. If memory serves, KLTV in East Texas did a solo-anchor streaming show back in the late 2000s!!! And old-school radio DJs are probably like, "What about us?"
For those not eternally online, last week in the Instagram video called "The Future of Local News," Collins talks about her work with the TriCaster and calls it "scary."
I went to two Houston TV parties last weekend where various people talked about the Collins post and said none of this is new.
Back in 2021, Brandi Smith was the first Houston digital anchor using the VMix on her own to stream. Not long after, ABC13 KTRK used the Ross Video Graphite when Jonathan Bruce was hired in 2022 as a digital anchor, "punching" his own show.
In fact, Thursday Brunce released a TBT on Instagram showing off the promo from back then.
So all those people asking what is going on with the industry all of a sudden because of her post, clearly you haven't been paying attention or reading this blog or the trades. We've been telling you about the demise of broadcast for years!
I just did a giant story on KPRC 2's ENOUGH that's being shared around the country, about the station tackling the industry-wide TV ratings decline head-on by changing their 10pm newscast
Now I get it, Collins only started on air in Houston in 2023. She might not know what other Houston stations have done in the past, but because of her massive social media following, with a Master’s Degree in Communication Technology and a social media specialization in tow, whatever she does will be amplified.
What I am tired of is the endless posting about this like it is the future when it really isn't (read what I think is the future below).
Heck, FOX as a company has been doing this for years on streaming product LiveNOW from FOX.
I've been waiting to hear back from FOX before I posted, but my guess is I will never hear back. And I don't blame them. I'm sure they know this isn't the cutting-edge tech they are presenting it as.
Here are the questions I sent:
- Is Caroline doing a streaming show and a linear newscast like this?
- How many hours of streaming is KRIV doing now?
- Is Caroline the only anchor doing this at KRIV?
- I saw that FOX 35 Orlando is starting something similar; is this anchor "directing" going to all FOX O&O's?
- My DFW readers love KDFW, so are they going to have anchors directing soon too?
- Is the switcher product a Tricaster?
- Does KRIV still employ directors?
- Is this a local model of LiveNOW?
Now here is what a guy (I'm talking about me) who has been writing a media blog for 20-plus years and started in TV back in 1995 thinks.
Anchors directing their streams is not the future. The future is already here, and I wrote about it earlier this week. It's AI anchors.
So there you go, a post I never thought was even worth writing, but because of all the misinformation out there, here you go.
