Curtis’s trajectory from megastar anchor to Sunday host mirrors the ongoing transformation of local television news, from one driven by personalities to a model where the station and its brand are the stars. These days, stations rely on a team approach, instead of singling out one or two top names to draw audiences.
Undergirding this change is a steady de cline of local television viewers, which has squeezed advertising revenues and ended the days when big names such as Curtis and Jacobson commanded six-to-seven-figure salaries. Since 1990, for example, the number of Boston-area homes tuned into the 11 p.m. news has plunged nearly 40 percent, according to Nielsen ratings, with the decline accelerating in recent years as consumers increasingly turn to the Internet through a growing number of devices.
“They can find the news where they want it and when they want it. The notion that a TV station can promote a broadcaster or two and prime anchors becomes lost in that,’’ said R.D. Sahl, a former NECN news anchor who teaches at Boston University. “My bet is that if you ask people under 25 to name a local news anchor, they are going to have trouble doing it.’’
Along with Jack Williams, who still anchors WBZ evening newscasts, and Randy Price, who anchors WCVB’s morning newscasts, Curtis, 72, is among a small club of working broadcasters from an era when local TV news personalities made up Boston’s celebrity A-list. That list included sportscaster Bob Lobel and local arts reporter Joyce Kulhawik, who were laid off from WBZ in 2008; meteorologist Dick Albert, who retired from WCVB in 2009; and Tom Ellis, who had worked at most of the network affiliates and was cut from NECN in late 2008 because of budget cuts.
