Local Television’s Biggest Challenge Isn’t Technology — It’s Human Nature
Technology can’t replicate human connection, but we need to embrace its precision tools that have become essential for competition.
For decades, local television buying has been powered by people, relationships, experience and instinct. In many ways, that human element is exactly what made this business great.
Deals were built through conversations, trust and market knowledge that could only come from years of experience. But like childhood Christmas mornings, the industry has evolved, and some of that old magic now lives mostly in our memories.
The key now is taking that experience, knowledge and intuition and applying it to today’s environment, technologies and tools. That combination will be the real secret to success in the future of local investment.
Humans are fascinating. We complain endlessly about inefficiency, wasted time and outdated workflows, but the moment a new technology arrives that could solve many of those problems, we immediately focus on the one thing it can’t do instead of the hundred things it suddenly can.
Not because the technology doesn’t work, but because change forces people to rethink where they fit.
I’ve spent my career in local television investment, and one thing I’ve learned is that our industry does not resist innovation because we lack intelligence or capability. We resist it because local television has always been deeply personal. Buyers, sellers and station partners have built careers around relationships — and in many cases, real lifelong friendships — along with negotiation skills, institutional knowledge and the ability to call on each other for help or favors when needed. When new technology enters the picture, there is often an immediate fear that those skills and relationships somehow become less valuable.
That fear is understandable, but I believe it’s misplaced.
Recently, I was standing on a street corner in San Francisco watching autonomous vehicles move people around the city with no driver behind the wheel. I remember thinking to myself, “People are riding around in driverless cars, and I still can’t get exact airing times of my spots in the software I’m using. How is this possible?”
What I later realized was even more important. The issue wasn’t that the technology didn’t exist. It was that I was still operating within the limits of what I had always known. Once I stepped outside my normal workflow and explored newer technologies being built specifically for local media, I discovered there were platforms capable of bringing that information directly to my desktop in near real time.
The capability was already there. I just had to be willing to embrace it.
That hesitation does not only exist on the agency side. It exists across the entire ecosystem — agencies, station groups, sales organizations and even individual account executives.
On the sales side, there can be concern that automation and programmatic systems somehow reduce the value of relationships; that smarter buying tools could make the process feel less personal; that data and algorithms could replace decades of market expertise and partnership building.
But let’s be honest for a moment — AI is never going to call a station rep on a Friday afternoon asking for two extra Super Bowl tickets for a client.
Relationships still matter. In local television, they always will.
Technology cannot replicate human connection. What it can do is remove friction from the transactional side of the business so buyers and sellers can spend more time focusing on strategy, ideas, partnerships and results.
That should excite us — not threaten us.
No platform can replace the instincts of a seasoned local buyer or seller who understands the nuances of Atlanta versus Phoenix. No algorithm can fully replicate the value of trusted relationships between agencies and station partners. But technology can eliminate inefficiencies that prevent talented people from spending time on higher-value thinking.
I often refer to the technologies I work with today as “precision tools.” A brain surgeon cannot operate at their highest level without advanced instruments. Even the most talented surgeon in the world would likely achieve better results with a sharpened scalpel than a butter knife. That does not diminish the surgeon’s expertise. It enhances it.
Technology should be viewed the same way in local television.
The experience, instincts and relationships built over decades still matter tremendously. But modern tools can sharpen our capabilities, improve precision, increase speed and allow talented professionals to perform at a higher level than ever before.
Technology is not replacing expertise. In many ways, it is becoming the sharpened scalpel.
Every major shift in this industry has faced resistance at first. There was a time when people said they would never text because “that’s what email is for.” Many resisted it. Eventually, texting became the preferred form of communication for an entire generation.
Innovation almost always follows the same pattern: skepticism first, adoption later.
Today, local television finds itself at another important crossroads. The next generation of media professionals expects modern workflows, real-time information and smarter systems. Meanwhile, competing platforms outside traditional broadcast continue moving faster, optimizing faster and evolving faster. The cost of hesitation is no longer just inconvenience — it risks competitiveness.
The future of local television will not belong to the companies with the most inventory or budgets. It will belong to the companies most willing to evolve.
That evolution does not require abandoning the human side of our business. Relationships, experience and market expertise still matter tremendously. But the companies and professionals that thrive in the next decade will be the ones willing to combine those strengths with modern technology instead of resisting it.
Technology alone will not save local television. People will. But those people must be willing to move forward — or out of the way.
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