Reinventing Local Broadcast in Real Time: Key Takeaways from Arc XP’s NAB Conversation with WPLG

At NAB, Arc XP’s Matt Monahan joined Darren Alline, Director of Engineering at WPLG, for a candid conversation about what it really takes to reinvent a local broadcast business in the middle of industry change.

The session, Broadcast’s Next Big Bets: Reinventing the News Business in an Age of Accountability, explored far more than technology. It was a discussion about audience trust, operational resilience, platform fragmentation, and what it means for a local broadcaster to adapt without losing sight of its mission.

For WPLG, those questions are not theoretical. They’ve been playing out in real time.

Reinvention starts with serving the audience

One of the clearest themes from Darren was that transformation has to begin with the community a broadcaster serves.

When Matt framed the conversation around a new “age of accountability,” Darren pushed back on the idea that accountability itself is new.

“I don’t think it’s a new age of accountability. I have been accountable to the companies I work for. I’ve always worked for organizations that have a strong journalistic ethic, and so nothing changed for us. We are just being true to ourselves, relevant to our audience, true to our audience.”

He grounded that responsibility in local broadcasting’s public-service mission.

“We’re licensed by the FCC to operate in the public interest. That’s the reason, in theory, we have our license. And so no matter what happens, we have to operate in the public interest.”

That perspective shaped the entire conversation. Even as audience habits shift, platforms multiply, and new tools emerge, Darren’s message was clear: the foundation of local news is still relevance, trust, and service.

Independence required WPLG to move fast

A major focus of the discussion was WPLG’s transition to independence and what it took to execute that shift at scale.

Darren described how quickly the station had to expand its local news operation.

“That’s what we did. And we brought on roughly 50 employees, and we expanded storage, cameras, vehicles, all the things we use to do news, we had to grow all that in about six months and make sure that we were ready to go on August 4th.”

That kind of transition touched every part of the organization. It was not just a programming or branding change. It required WPLG to rethink staffing, workflows, equipment, digital distribution, and audience access all at once.

And it happened under difficult conditions.

“People had to do very hard jobs in an air of uncertainty that they had never had to work under before.”

One of the hardest parts, Darren said, was simply planning for a moving target.

“Understanding what resources you were going to need… even they didn’t know what they were doing, so things were moving targets as we went through the process.”

Direct-to-consumer streaming became essential

After losing distribution on some streaming services, WPLG had to move quickly to make sure viewers could still access its content. That led to a major push around its own app.

Darren explained that WPLG built on an existing CTV app, adding geofencing and its linear feed to reach audiences who would otherwise be left behind. He also credited Arc XP’s role in making that pivot happen.

“With the help of Arc, we did it, and it was kind of a pivot because originally that wasn’t something that was in our plan. In a couple of years, we probably had about 100,000 downloads of the app. And since August 4th, we’ve probably had over 80,000 downloads of it. We’re delivering about 1.3 petabytes a month to our viewers.”

For Darren, the long-term value of that investment is clear.

“I think having your own direct-to-consumer streaming app and getting your content to them directly and not relying on a bunch of other people to do it… in a few years, we’re going to be very thankful that we had to do that.”

Audience access matters as much as innovation

While much of the industry conversation around streaming centers on growth and monetization, Darren consistently returned to accessibility.

WPLG’s audience includes younger digital users, but also viewers who may not be especially tech-savvy. That reality influenced product decisions from the start.

“We wanted the bar of entry very low. We have quite a few viewers that are not tech-savvy… having them go to their phone, scan a QR code, do all that kind of stuff, was something I did not want to do.”

Instead, WPLG focused on ease of access.

“No paywall… But it’s worked out.”

That same philosophy showed up again when Darren discussed future app development. The goal is not just to stream content, but to create a more familiar, more compelling product experience.

“We’re going to release another version of the app that’s going to have… a much better user experience.”

He pointed to features audiences already expect from top streaming platforms:

“We are trying to go to version two, get more engagement, get them a local TV app that is more like Netflix and other big-time streaming apps that they’re used to. Features like DVR, program guide, rewind, all those kinds of things.”

Reinvention does not mean abandoning what already works

Darren reflected on how WPLG approached change. Rather than trying to reinvent everything at once, the team focused on strengthening the fundamentals.

He shared a story about Dan Marino describing late-game execution:

“We don’t do anything special. What we do at that point is we do the things we do, and we just execute it as well as we can execute it.”

For Darren, that became a useful framework.

“What we tried to do is just grow the things we do and do them well.”

That mindset helped WPLG get through a high-pressure transition. It also reflects a broader lesson for broadcasters navigating disruption: transformation does not always mean chasing something entirely new. Sometimes it means doubling down on the core strengths that already serve audiences well.

The future of local news is everywhere

Matt raised the challenge of fragmented audience behavior: viewers are no longer just watching linear TV or visiting a homepage. They are consuming news across owned and operated properties, OTT apps, YouTube, social platforms, and emerging interfaces.

Darren was realistic about what that means for broadcasters.

“We do both.”

That includes investing in owned experiences while also distributing widely.

“We put a lot of content on YouTube… We slice up our lead stories. The first block of our newscast gets sliced up and put on the Channel 10 channel on YouTube. We do streaming there. We post a lot of our specials… We’re everywhere.”

And that strategy is deliberate.

“We don’t want to hedge our bet… We just want to go where the viewers are.”

Still, Darren made it clear that owned channels matter more than ever, especially after seeing firsthand how easy it is for station identity to get lost behind platform layers and affiliate branding.

“I think broadcasters have done themselves a huge disservice by letting MVPDs present your station… with an ABC meatball. In a lot of ways over time, you’re losing your identity.”

That experience made brand ownership, direct audience relationships, and first-party engagement even more important.

AI’s biggest near-term value is efficiency

As the conversation turned to AI, Darren struck a pragmatic tone. He is not dismissive of the technology, but he is focused on practical use cases, cost, and editorial integrity.

Today, WPLG is using AI primarily in language- and text-related workflows.

“The big thing we’re using AI for at the moment is language related and text related things. We’re using it for transcription. We’re using it to translate things. We’re using it to generate voice from text and text from voice.”

He also sees strong potential in multilingual content, especially in South Florida.

“One of the things we’re seriously considering is do weather forecasts in multiple languages.”

At the same time, he emphasized that cost and operational realities will shape how fast adoption happens.

When Matt asked how close the industry is to more agentic workflows, Darren replied:

“You’re not going to like my answer. It depends on the cost. How much do they make? How much is it going to cost to bring on this software as a service or whatever the AI is? … Our finance team hates unknowns.”

Just as important, Darren stressed that broadcasters have to be thoughtful about how AI is applied in journalism.

“We’re a TV station, we’re journalists. Purely AI-created content, you have to be very careful with. It can go to undermining your integrity.”

That balance — between innovation, efficiency, and trust — was one of the most valuable threads in the session.

Resilience is not optional

If there was one operational theme that stood out above the rest, it was resilience.

Darren spoke openly about the realities of stitching together workflows across systems, platforms, formats, and rights models. He also shared a vivid example from the CrowdStrike outage, when WPLG had to keep broadcasting despite major systems going down.

“At 1:30 in the morning, I get a phone call saying, ‘Everything’s got a blue screen.’”

Even with key tools offline, the team found a way to stay on air.

“I said, ‘You’re going on television.’”

And when automation was unavailable:

“Guy went to the switcher, punched it, and off we went.”

That story underscored something important: for local broadcasters, resilience is not a nice-to-have. It is foundational.

Darren later described his ideal future platform in similar terms: “I think it needs to be very resilient, self-healing.”

He also described the broader goal as: “Build once and deploy many.”

That vision captures much of what the session was really about: creating systems that help broadcasters move faster, reduce manual complexity, and deliver content wherever audiences are.

Local relevance remains the North Star

For all the discussion of apps, AI, workflows, and platform complexity, Darren kept coming back to one central idea: local relevance.

When Matt asked how WPLG balances its loyal existing audience with the need to attract younger users, Darren answered by focusing on market-specific value.

“I think you need to know your market. You’ve got to work on being relevant to the audience you’re serving, your community, and then they’ll come.”

That may be the clearest takeaway from the entire session. Technology can help local broadcasters move faster, distribute more effectively, and personalize experiences in new ways. But none of it matters without a strong understanding of the community being served.

Final takeaway

The conversation between Matt and Darren was a powerful reminder that the future of local broadcast will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be shaped by how well broadcasters use technology to serve their audiences, strengthen their brands, and operate with resilience in the face of constant change.

WPLG’s story shows that reinvention is possible — but it takes focus, flexibility, and a willingness to build for both today’s audience and tomorrow’s.

And the results speak for themselves.

After navigating a major transition and rebuilding its audience from the ground up, WPLG is now outperforming its former affiliate across most dayparts.

“We actually as of now, we beat ABC in all but three day parts.”

That success reinforces Darren’s confidence in what they’ve built:

“I think we’re going to be just fine.”

Or, as he put it more simply throughout the conversation, the strategy remains clear:

“We just want to go where the viewers are.”