In the Vicinity

This week on In The Vicinity, Tim Hanlon sits down with Rob Rose, producer and host of Raw Travel, for a candid look at the business of independent television syndication. Rose traces his journey from local ad sales to building a nationally distributed travel show—and explains what it takes to produce, distribute and sell advertising against a series without a major studio behind it.

Local TV newsrooms produce valuable content every day. Are they doing enough to reach audiences beyond the newscast?

In episode 32 of In the Vicinity, host Tim Hanlon talks with Mike VanZetta, founder of PiZetta Media, about what YouTube performance reveals about local news and the opportunities stations may be overlooking. His PiZetta News Tracker ranks stations, markets and ownership groups using publicly available data, offering a window into which approaches are gaining traction.

Local news still matters to viewers. But as audiences move beyond traditional TV, how can local stations make sure their reporting reaches them?

In this episode of In the Vicinity, Tim Hanlon is joined by Brian Ring, founder of Ring Digital, to unpack findings from his latest Future of TV Live report. They explore local news' reliance on pay TV, the opportunity for FAST and social platforms, and why vertical video could be key to reaching younger audiences.

In episode 30 of In the Vicinity, Tim Hanlon sits down with Tim Franklin and John Volk of Northwestern University's Medill Local News Initiative to unpack the findings from the latest State of Local News Report. They look at how station consolidation is reducing competition and original reporting, why local TV has struggled to make the digital transition, and what disappearing newspapers mean for television coverage in smaller communities.

Brenda Hetrick, president of Matrix Solutions, joins Tim Hanlon on episode 29 of In the Vicinity to explain why siloed technology and outdated incentives are holding local ad sales teams back, how political spending can mask those inefficiencies, and why sellers must move from pushing inventory to solving advertisers' business problems.

Madhive CEO Jim Wilson is back this week on In the Vicinity. Jim sits down with Tim Hanlon to explain why CTV has emerged as a powerful local performance channel, how AI, and ZIP-level intelligence are changing campaign optimization, and why streaming audio and digital out-of-home could be next.

In Episode 27 of In the Vicinity, Tim Hanlon dives solo into the stories reshaping local media—from shrinking newsroom employment and Local Now's growing FAST footprint to KPRC Houston's bold reinvention of the nightly newscast.

Plus, why a 20-year-old comedy rerun beat late-night competitors, how Amazon and DAZN are emerging as replacements for regional sports networks, and why WPLG's free streaming deal with the Miami Heat could offer a glimpse of local sports' future.

eMarketer Senior Analyst Ross Benes joins Tim Hanlon to explore why football continues to defy television's broader shift toward streaming, how local advertisers benefit from the NFL's massive reach, and why moving too aggressively behind a paywall could weaken even the strongest sports leagues.

Local media remains a $185 billion market—but the way that money is spent, sold and measured is changing fast.

BIA Advisory Services Managing Director Rick Ducey joins Tim Hanlon in episode 25 of In the Vicinity to explore how local television, CTV, streaming audio, social video and retail media are reshaping the competitive landscape.

In this episode of In the Vicinity, Tim Hanlon sits down with the President and Owner of Lakes Media Tom Birch to explore the realities of running six small-market radio stations across southern Virginia and northern North Carolina — and why relationships and results still matter more than sophisticated audience data in markets where traditional measurement often falls short.