I think it would spell the end for many local broadcasters, though. However, given today's access to cable and internet connections, that might not make much difference, really. I suspect that internet media, though, will end up replacing all the rest before too long. The trend is already there. It's simple to create a new media outlet online, and even one person can establish such a thing at almost no cost.
However, offering enough high quality content to attract an audience is another matter. That costs money, and a lot of it, so you're right back to the same problem, really. Content producers insist on being paid, if they're any good at what they do. And they can get paid, so it's pretty hard to create enough content on your own to support a popular online media source.
Some have found enough content providers who will work for free. DU is such a place. But, finding the quality content on such outlets can be difficult, so it's hard to create a large following. I could use DU as an example of that, as well. Here we can see the number of page views for any original post. It's pretty small, even for very active threads. So, there's that.
I'm not a fan, though, of government subsidies for local media. With money comes control.
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