Yikes! I know the business is hurting from lack of ad revenues… and news departments are eliminating newscasts, laying people off, grounding choppers and desperately cutting wherever they can. But sharing camera crews? That’s what FOUR stations in Chicago are doing starting next Monday.
NBC’s WMAQ-5, Fox’s WFLD-32, CBS’s WBBM-2 and Tribune’s WGN-9 have agreed to try out a camera pool sharing venture. According to the Sun-Times, a staffer from WMAQ will be the managing editor of the joint venture, which will be housed in WBBM office space separate from the newsroom. That managing editor will decide what the pool crews will cover on a daily basis and the raw footage will be fed to all participating stations.
ABC’s WLS-7 rejected the invite into the joint venture, claiming the need to remain an independent television news voice in the market.