Local news is changing, according to the University of Chicago.

Three media companies now control 40% of local news stations in the United States.

But consolidation doesn't always have to be a bad thing.

That's how a now former general manager of a Lexington TV station summed it up in an interview with Renee Shaw.

Chris Mossman, thank you so much for your time.

We appreciate it.

Oh you're welcome.

It's my pleasure.

I'm glad to be here.

Yes.

Thank you for your willingness to help us understand it.

So many have read the news the week before when we recorded.

This was on a Friday, and many people had been talking about this, particularly in the industry, but also viewers who were concerned about, anti-trust rules.

And if they're going to be better served by these types of acquisitions.

First of all, explain to the to the viewers what your role now is.

Is now I'm retired.

I look forward to spending a lot of time on the beach, traveling and hanging with my family.

Right.

But prior to that, I've been the general manager of TV Q for the last two years and change.

Prior to that, I spent 22 years with gray, running W-k-y-t also working as a senior vice president.

So I've been involved on the other side of this when we purchased a couple of major companies, with gray with it was Ray com and Meredith and what was involved in the transitions there.

So I've seen, sides of it.

I have a very good understanding of what Scripps will probably be doing.

I don't know any of that other than what I've read and, press releases, but I think it could be a real benefit to, viewers here in central Kentucky and southern Kentucky, just based on what I am, what I see, and what I know with the economics of the business.

Okay.

So frankly, the economics of the business have changed dramatically right over the last few years with cord cutting and then the money that the individual stations need to pay to the networks and in able to carry the programing.

And that money keeps going up where the cord cutting the retransmission dollars that the stations get keeps going down because of cord cutting.

Right.

And there's a lot of dynamics happening in the industry right from competition from other services, streaming services etc.

and just the economic bottom line.

But many are curious how does this not violate some type of anti-trust rules.

How our viewers, the public better off when these things happen?

It's hard for me to say across the board that this is going to be good for all of the viewers.

I'll give you the situation in Louisville as an example, where you have Derby, which is the number one station in Louisville being purchased, the whole company Block Communications, being purchased lock, stock and barrel by my old company, Gray Media.

And you have two dynamic, flourishing news organizations, and I don't honestly know how that's going to work out from a viewer perspective.

I know, my friends who are running wave have some, have some ideas, and they should do a good job with it.

But that'll be a challenge here for for us TV.

Q we have had to have had the smallest newsroom in the Lexington market, just from the pure economics of it.

And I, Adam Simpson, is the I believe he's the president of Scripps.

And in his press release, he actually talks about bringing more reporters into Lexington to cover the neighborhoods, in Kentucky and assuming that they do what they're going to say in the press release, I think that could be really good, because it's been a struggle for us to be able to get enough reporters out on the street to do what we need to do at TV.

Q got a great team of people there.

The phrase that I've always used is small but mighty.

But people would think it just off of there may be limited knowledge of the business that you would almost simulcast those local newscasts from, and just put them on TV.

Q except for the national offerings, of course.

So that's not perhaps where it could go if they're going to expand the reporter.

Staffing sounds like that's opposite of me.

I think I have no idea how they're going to do it.

Yeah, but there are times of day, for instance, w TV Q has the only 9:00 news at 9 a.m.. Well, had the only 9:00 news in Lexington for a long, long time.

Fox recently started one up, Katie.

But Alex can't be on at 9:00 because you've got NBC programing.

Today show, third hour there.

There's also a 3:00 news on TV.

Q that does quite well.

It's the only 3:00 news in the time period.

And, the guy's been doing that for years and does a really good job with that.

So that's two hours a day right there.

That's different.

But it doesn't mean everyone at work was fired.

No no no no no no.

There were some changes in upper management.

Hence I'm here talking to you.

Right.

But everybody else is still is still there.

And they're, they're going to have a filling out process to see who that's with the team and where they want to make changes, as is certainly their right to do.

At a time when local news has never been more important.

Right.

The fact that, at the bottom of it, that it is about, civic engagement, news, literacy and knowing your community, do you are you curious or fearful that that gets lost in all this?

Or perhaps it doesn't?

Perhaps this is the antidote to the dearth of local news.

I mean, other than just the bleed in the lead stuff, but real news that helps empower people in their decision making.

Perhaps this is the antidote to that.

It could.

It could well be.

Scripps is an organization that's very committed to quality in their in their newscasts.

I'm sort of, in the process of becoming more of a snowbird.

But we have a place in Saint Petersburg, and Scripps owns the ABC in Saint Pete.

And I saw a I believe it was about a ten minute long package that could have said very well and cut.

Yeah, right.

Talking about, water usage and how data centers are sucking up all the water and look at it, that is like, this is really, really good.

Yeah.

It wasn't just, you know, a shooting in, you know, in the not so nice neighborhood or something.

It was something that, you know, dug again.

And I think that with this opportunity and I will also say this, I know there are some very good news minds over at Alex.

Jennifer Smith is an excellent news director with a great reputation.

Dylan, is the assistant news director there, and I worked with her at W-k-y-t.

She's super.

I think they're going to do a really good job.

And this will be a win win for people in Lexington.

Yeah, I can't say the same thing in every market.

You know, it's not, maybe not going to work out, especially if you have a number one buying a number two.

But when you have a strong, definitive news leader buying a small but mighty station, you know, it, can.

Make a difference.

There's a there's a positive.

There's absolutely there's a there's an opportunity there.