In New York I managed to catch up with an old chum in network news and get a peak at the new NBC/MSNBC set (which is pretty impressive, especially for the back office co-ord stuff), and which will also bring the news channel from Secaucus, NJ to Rockefeller Plaza.

So NBC are spending but does the evening newscast have a future? Encouraging words from Jon Fine:

What’s important is that the newscasts remain profitable, and, according to current and former insiders, still bring in around $100 million each in annual ad revenue. The per-viewer cost of advertising for the newscasts, according to one senior media buyer, continues to rise — albeit more slowly than in, say, prime time — illustrating again a classic media paradox. Broadcast audiences diminish. What advertisers pay doesn’t.

These ad dollars are not irreplaceable. But consider some logistics. In markets airing the network news at 6:30 (as most, but not all, markets do), the newscasts drew 23.5 million viewers last season. This audience wants an evening newscast, so whichever network first drops the nightly news immediately hands the others a sweet ratings bump. Let’s assume, very conservatively, that 20% of your evening news audience would split evenly among other newscasts. So, congratulations: You killed your newscast to get a leg up in the ratings, but you just made your job that much harder.