October 24, 2024 • 8 mins
In May 2023, Lee Harris joined the NewsNation cable news network, owned by Nexstar Media Group, as Director of Integrated Operations. For those in the New York Tri-State area, Harris' name and voice are very familiar, as he spent more than three decades as a news anchor at "1010 WINS." This makes him pretty knowledgeable about both the radio and TV industries, and it is this knowledge that has led him to take the role of moderator for the Executive Super Session, sponsored by ABC Audio, at Forecast 2025, presented by Radio Ink and the Radio + Television Business Report.
To learn more about what’s in store for Forecast attendees and about Harris’s first year at NewsNation, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson welcomes Harris to the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.
To learn more about what’s in store for Forecast attendees and about Harris’s first year at NewsNation, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson welcomes Harris to the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is the RBRTVBR in Focus podcast. Here's your host,
Radio and Television Business Report Editor in Chief Adam R. Jacobson.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello, and welcome to the podcast, which is presented by
dot fm, streaming social podcast to broadcast. Get a dot
fm domain name by heading over to get dot fm.
Today and today we're speaking with Lee Harris, who in
May twenty twenty three joined News Nation as director of
Integrated Operations.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Harris is a very familiar figure to people in the
New York Tri state area thanks to his nearly three
decades as a news anchor for ten ten wins. That
makes him pretty knowledgeable about both the radio and TV industries.
And it's just that knowledge that has led him to
take the role of moderator for the Executive super Session
sponsored by ABC Audio at Forecast twenty twenty five, presented
by Radio Inc. And The Radio and Television Business Report
(00:54):
to learn a little bit more about what's in store
for Forecast attendees and about Harris's first year at NewsNation.
We welcome him to podcast. It is great to be
speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Thank you, Adam, thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, let's begin by getting a sense of how News
Nation and WGN Radio, which you are also involved with
as they are sister NEXTSDAR properties are performing since you
first joined. We're wondering is there one thing that you
perhaps tweaked or implemented that has brought positive results my.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Cable news standards. We're still a startup. The channel is
only four years old, and that means that our competition
has head starts of anywhere from forty to thirty years.
The upside of this is that we're not necessarily ropey
in one hundred percent to doing things the way they
do them. What we've gone back to here is the
(01:43):
novel concept of presenting both sides of the story. As
you know, most of the cable networks that our major
players have decided to pick aside, either overtly or covertly,
and our method of dealing with that is to let
both sides be heard. We've had in recent years the
concept that some opinions are too dangerous to be aired,
(02:07):
and we don't subscribe to that here. So this is
the way I was brought up to do the news.
It's not possible to do it that way in some places,
and so I'm glad to be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Here and again, three decades of experience at ten to
ten WINS in New York, a station that I was
raised on, as sure many of our listeners and viewers
to radio and television business reports. What from your radio
experience is particularly influential in your role at the cable
TV network?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Anything in particular, I think some of the language that
we use. When I got to WINS, there was a
tendency there to do the news in news ease, which
I think worked pretty well for a number of decades.
One thing to remember about WINS is it is the
birthplace of the twenty four hour news cycle. Until WINS
goes on the air in April of nineteen sixty five,
(02:59):
you could turn the news on maybe at the top
of the hour on a radio station PB News a
couple of times a day, and the newspaper once or
twice a day. But WINS is the first time you
can turn a switch and get the news on demand
twenty four to seven. So, for better or worse, it
starts there, and everything that followed in that model can
(03:19):
trace its roots back to WINS. WINS was also an
aggregator more than a news gatherer, so they would take
content that had been gathered by others, rework it a
bit for the radio market and bring it out to
the people. A lot of it came from the newspapers,
and newspapers still are generating a lot of the news
(03:41):
that gets followed up on.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well you're going to be at Forecast twenty twenty five
on November thirteenth, asking what we are sure to believe
are some very important and insightful questions to some very
high level leaders, including Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television
Stations and Liz Alessi, vice president of ABC Audio and
ABC News. There is also going to be Rob Babbin,
(04:06):
the executive vice president HAD Radio for Cox Media Group,
and Michael Hayes, who's the president of Hurst Television. These
are certainly visionaries and ultimate deciders of where the broadcasting
industry will go in the years to come. Do you
have any sort of insight into what you think some
of the key questions will be to this esteemed group
(04:26):
of panelists.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
When I started going to conferences twenty twenty five years ago,
there was always a single topic of discussion, really, and
that was what will the impact of the Internet be?
And of course the Internet wound up having a rather
profound defect on the broadcast industry, for good and not
so good. I believe that the Internet has now been
(04:48):
supplanted by AI as the mystery elemental Can it be
used to our benefit? What risks does it post? And
it's been moving along very rapidly. I did some expert
fermentation with it in my work here, just trying to
generate TV stills that we could use. At a year
and a half ago, what was being produced by AI
(05:10):
look like cave paintings, and now what you're able to
produce is scaryly realistic. Not only that, within the last
two months we're starting to get usable video that could
pass for the real thing, And every day it gets smarter, better,
and more difficult to distinguish from reality. So I believe
(05:31):
that there will be a lot of discussion about the
efficiencies that can be reached by implementing AI and various
aspects of broadcasting and the risks that AI poses, particularly
to credibility when for US gathering organizations, really all they've
got to go on these days is credibility and the
(05:53):
fact that they have resources, because distribution is something everybody
has that used to be the model. I've got the microphone.
I've got the camera. You sit there and watch. Now,
everybody's got a microphone and a camera, So thanks a
bit more than that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, that's just a small taste of what attendees at
Forecast twenty twenty five will be able to experience in
person at an executive super session. It begins at four
point thirty PM on a full day. We begin our
day at about eight thirty in the morning, and it
is going to be just a wonderful event. You can
(06:30):
learn more at Radio TV forecast dot com, forward slash
agenda to look at the entire agenda and to register
for this event, which also includes a broadcast leadership reception
which is second to none. And this is all at
the Harvard Club in New York City November thirteenth. Mister Harris,
I look forward to meeting you in person at this
(06:52):
event and welcoming all of those that are listening to
this podcast that are a little bit on the fence
as far as why they should go. It is certainly
a unique conference. Would this be your first time? Have
you attended in the past?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I have attended in the past. I will leave you
with the words of a great Yogi bearra which is
that predictions are hard, especially about the future, and.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
With that we want to thank you and thank all
of our listeners for tuning into this radio and television
business report and focused podcast. It was sponsored by dot fm,
streaming the social podcast broadcast get at dot fm domain name,
but heading over to get dot fm today from the
global headquarters of Streamline Publishing, parent of Radio Inc. And
the Radio and Television Business Report, I am Adam R. Jacobson,
(07:36):
and I look forward to seeing you in midtown Manhattan
on November thirteenth at Forecast twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Again.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
For more information and for registration, please visit Radio TV
Forecast dot com. Take care
This is the RBRTVBR in Focus podcast. Here's your host,
Radio and Television Business Report Editor in Chief Adam R. Jacobson.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello, and welcome to the podcast, which is presented by
dot fm, streaming social podcast to broadcast. Get a dot
fm domain name by heading over to get dot fm.
Today and today we're speaking with Lee Harris, who in
May twenty twenty three joined News Nation as director of
Integrated Operations.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Harris is a very familiar figure to people in the
New York Tri state area thanks to his nearly three
decades as a news anchor for ten ten wins. That
makes him pretty knowledgeable about both the radio and TV industries.
And it's just that knowledge that has led him to
take the role of moderator for the Executive super Session
sponsored by ABC Audio at Forecast twenty twenty five, presented
by Radio Inc. And The Radio and Television Business Report
(00:54):
to learn a little bit more about what's in store
for Forecast attendees and about Harris's first year at NewsNation.
We welcome him to podcast. It is great to be
speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Thank you, Adam, thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, let's begin by getting a sense of how News
Nation and WGN Radio, which you are also involved with
as they are sister NEXTSDAR properties are performing since you
first joined. We're wondering is there one thing that you
perhaps tweaked or implemented that has brought positive results my.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Cable news standards. We're still a startup. The channel is
only four years old, and that means that our competition
has head starts of anywhere from forty to thirty years.
The upside of this is that we're not necessarily ropey
in one hundred percent to doing things the way they
do them. What we've gone back to here is the
(01:43):
novel concept of presenting both sides of the story. As
you know, most of the cable networks that our major
players have decided to pick aside, either overtly or covertly,
and our method of dealing with that is to let
both sides be heard. We've had in recent years the
concept that some opinions are too dangerous to be aired,
(02:07):
and we don't subscribe to that here. So this is
the way I was brought up to do the news.
It's not possible to do it that way in some places,
and so I'm glad to be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Here and again, three decades of experience at ten to
ten WINS in New York, a station that I was
raised on, as sure many of our listeners and viewers
to radio and television business reports. What from your radio
experience is particularly influential in your role at the cable
TV network?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Anything in particular, I think some of the language that
we use. When I got to WINS, there was a
tendency there to do the news in news ease, which
I think worked pretty well for a number of decades.
One thing to remember about WINS is it is the
birthplace of the twenty four hour news cycle. Until WINS
goes on the air in April of nineteen sixty five,
(02:59):
you could turn the news on maybe at the top
of the hour on a radio station PB News a
couple of times a day, and the newspaper once or
twice a day. But WINS is the first time you
can turn a switch and get the news on demand
twenty four to seven. So, for better or worse, it
starts there, and everything that followed in that model can
(03:19):
trace its roots back to WINS. WINS was also an
aggregator more than a news gatherer, so they would take
content that had been gathered by others, rework it a
bit for the radio market and bring it out to
the people. A lot of it came from the newspapers,
and newspapers still are generating a lot of the news
(03:41):
that gets followed up on.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well you're going to be at Forecast twenty twenty five
on November thirteenth, asking what we are sure to believe
are some very important and insightful questions to some very
high level leaders, including Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television
Stations and Liz Alessi, vice president of ABC Audio and
ABC News. There is also going to be Rob Babbin,
(04:06):
the executive vice president HAD Radio for Cox Media Group,
and Michael Hayes, who's the president of Hurst Television. These
are certainly visionaries and ultimate deciders of where the broadcasting
industry will go in the years to come. Do you
have any sort of insight into what you think some
of the key questions will be to this esteemed group
(04:26):
of panelists.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
When I started going to conferences twenty twenty five years ago,
there was always a single topic of discussion, really, and
that was what will the impact of the Internet be?
And of course the Internet wound up having a rather
profound defect on the broadcast industry, for good and not
so good. I believe that the Internet has now been
(04:48):
supplanted by AI as the mystery elemental Can it be
used to our benefit? What risks does it post? And
it's been moving along very rapidly. I did some expert
fermentation with it in my work here, just trying to
generate TV stills that we could use. At a year
and a half ago, what was being produced by AI
(05:10):
look like cave paintings, and now what you're able to
produce is scaryly realistic. Not only that, within the last
two months we're starting to get usable video that could
pass for the real thing, And every day it gets smarter, better,
and more difficult to distinguish from reality. So I believe
(05:31):
that there will be a lot of discussion about the
efficiencies that can be reached by implementing AI and various
aspects of broadcasting and the risks that AI poses, particularly
to credibility when for US gathering organizations, really all they've
got to go on these days is credibility and the
(05:53):
fact that they have resources, because distribution is something everybody
has that used to be the model. I've got the microphone.
I've got the camera. You sit there and watch. Now,
everybody's got a microphone and a camera, So thanks a
bit more than that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, that's just a small taste of what attendees at
Forecast twenty twenty five will be able to experience in
person at an executive super session. It begins at four
point thirty PM on a full day. We begin our
day at about eight thirty in the morning, and it
is going to be just a wonderful event. You can
(06:30):
learn more at Radio TV forecast dot com, forward slash
agenda to look at the entire agenda and to register
for this event, which also includes a broadcast leadership reception
which is second to none. And this is all at
the Harvard Club in New York City November thirteenth. Mister Harris,
I look forward to meeting you in person at this
(06:52):
event and welcoming all of those that are listening to
this podcast that are a little bit on the fence
as far as why they should go. It is certainly
a unique conference. Would this be your first time? Have
you attended in the past?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I have attended in the past. I will leave you
with the words of a great Yogi bearra which is
that predictions are hard, especially about the future, and.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
With that we want to thank you and thank all
of our listeners for tuning into this radio and television
business report and focused podcast. It was sponsored by dot fm,
streaming the social podcast broadcast get at dot fm domain name,
but heading over to get dot fm today from the
global headquarters of Streamline Publishing, parent of Radio Inc. And
the Radio and Television Business Report, I am Adam R. Jacobson,
(07:36):
and I look forward to seeing you in midtown Manhattan
on November thirteenth at Forecast twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Again.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
For more information and for registration, please visit Radio TV
Forecast dot com. Take care
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