Image Credit: Pattison Media

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: Believe it or not, there is still reason to be optimistic about local media

Jun 6, 2025 | 12:30 PM

THE CRISIS IN LOCAL MEDIA hit close to home this week.

It has hit close to home before, with the closures of Kamloops Daily News and Kamloops This Week, and the gutting of the Stingray newsroom.

On Tuesday, our parent company Pattison Media announced the difficult decision to close CHAT TV in Medicine Hat, one of Pattison’s three TV stations.

CHAT had been an institution in the Gas City for nearly 70 years, providing trustworthy coverage of community issues and invaluable exposure for charities and local businesses.

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It was a business itself, though, and in recent years, that business was dealt blow after blow, including but not limited to the devastating effects of COVID measures, the economic uncertainty brought on by the U.S. tariff situation and the changing landscape of the media industry.

Finally, earlier this year CHAT TV’s headquarters was deluged by a massive flood.

Taken in aggregate, all those factors were too much for the business to bear.

Of all those factors, the trickiest one to navigate is the variety of advertising options available to business clients now.

One of the reasons advertisers are trying their hand at social media is because reach is easily measurable.

A couple of clicks and the client has access to a vast array of granular data. Often, that data looks very impressive on its face.

The reach of legacy media like radio and television, on the other hand, is more difficult to measure.

We know people are watching — first, because they tell us they are, and second, because our loyal clients keep coming back, telling us their advertising on our station is working. Our clients are not in the habit of throwing their money away.

Studies show television is still a powerful and effective advertising option but those granular digital analytics are hard to counter.

Even so, there is still reason for optimism in television.

As more people grow wise to how social media elevates garbage to the same level of legitimate information, they will turn back to trustworthy sources like professional broadcasters.

And where the eyeballs go, advertisers will soon follow.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.