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People in television news (I suspect) are keenly aware of the
principles of technological disruption. The possibility that news organizations
(as we know them) are about to be (or already have been) marginalized, is a very
real prospect.
I watch much less television news now that RSS has come upon the scene. Why?
Because it's more efficient for me to have relevant news find me in exactly the
context that I appreciate most. My 10 o'clock 9 News (KUSA, Denver) delivers a
blob of news that I must drink all at once and on their schedule. TiVo allows me
to escape the scheduling issue but also encourages me to skip over the sponsors.
;-) Regardless, I haven't TiVo'd an affiliate or network news program more than
five times in the three years I've had TiVo.
Absorbing a big blob of information is not an efficient way to get
"updated", especially when you have interests that come and go. Sometimes I
watch the weather forecast with great interest. At other times I am focused only
on the top headlines of the day. And sometimes I want to hear about a
particular sporting event. My information requirements are 'atomized'. My
preference is to be informed in snippets based on an information diet of my
choosing.
I've noticed recently that RSS has begun to disrupt my television
news viewing behavior. It's not a perfect solution for me because I don't have
an abundance of local and regional news feeds, however, RSS is clearly changing
the way I stay abreast of news. While it's not the perfect solution [yet], it
will likely become a more perfect solution over time.
I have a brief history in television in the late 70's, although the memories
are fading quickly. As such, I occasionally encounter former colleagues and use
that as an opportunity to test my assertions that viewing habits are changing.
Oddly enough, the television industry appears completely unaware of
syndication formats such as RSS. This is not surprising - the stage of "becoming
an institution" with no re-engineering or innovation can lead to death for an
organization; a clear finding according to Clayton M Christensen in the Innovators
Dilemma.
If you're in the television news business - time to wake up and smell the
RSS. Here's some evidence I gathered in less than 10 minutes - it will only grow
in size and importance. | 
