The uncomfortable outcome a lot of us in local news have experienced over the past two years found it’s way up to the national level.

  I’m talking layoffs.

  ABC News announced it will layoff about 300 employees.

  I’m sure some of their more talented reporters will be safe (such as Brian Ross).

  And I’m also sure a number of their other bureau reporters are feeling a little bit on edge.

  Although only ABC knows how it’ll handle the layoffs.

  The bad economy started hitting the local news business about 18 months ago.

  Now it appears it’s hitting the tv viewership dinosaurs that are the Big Three (when I say “the Big Three,” that’s tv speak for NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, and CBS Evening News.)

  The Big Three newscasts are out of date and have adapted very little.

  Viewership eroded long before the bum economy and continues to.

  Let’s face it, unless it’s a breaking news story, by 6:30 p.m. we all already *know* the news of the day.

  With FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC, we no longer have to wait around until after the local news to find out about the news of the day around the world.

  The Big Three are going to have to adapt.

  And so far they haven’t.

  Even local tv news is going more mainstream (just look at our 7 o’clock show and in the next couple of weeks the bosses are giving me a blackberry for crying out loud!).

  Watch the Big Three and you get very little attention being paid to the internet.

  The Big Three prides itself in never needing opinion to drive ratings, but I don’t see any other answer.

  Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck are dominating cable news.

  Keith Olbermann and Chris Mathews are continuing to pull a significantly less but loyal audience.

  The sad thing is that some very brilliant people work for the Big Three.

  Icons in my line of work.

  Talented anchors like Brian Williams.  Solid interviewers like Katie Couric.  True trail blazers like Diane Sawyer.

  Outstanding story-breakers like Brian Ross.

  Their management is going to have to find a way to adapt, or the old guard may ruin the Big Three.