In a new op-ed for TVNewscheck, Ribeye Co-Founder and CEO Joe Marino makes the case that local broadcasters are sitting on a competitive advantage they’re badly underplaying — and that the path forward isn’t more dashboards, but better answers.
His argument, in a sentence: Big Tech was built to explain why its own platform works. Local media is built to explain how an entire plan performed. Those are very different jobs, and only one of them is what advertisers actually want.
“Advertisers are looking not for more dashboards, but for answers.”
Joe digs into why vanity metrics are quietly eroding pricing power across the local media ecosystem, why fragmentation is a reporting problem before it’s a media problem, and how AI — used well — can strengthen accountability instead of drowning buyers in more noise.
The piece closes on a line we think every local broadcaster should be sitting with right now: the future belongs to the explainers.
It’s a sharp read, and a useful one for any seller, planner, or operator thinking about where local media goes from here.
👉 Read the full article in TVNewscheck: Local Media’s Competitive Advantage is Accountability
