While I myself am not in the business, some very good friends of mine owned quite a few stations around the country until recently. They ALWAYS made money from the news. It was the cheapest programming to produce. I have a hard time imaginging that small independents could make the most of their income (bottom line that is not total revenue) from News while the big networks lose at it?
You are correct. Local news programming is very profitable for television stations. Small staff, small budget - how much effort to film car wrecks and fires?
Much different for networks. Huge, expensive sets, bureaus - hundreds of editors, writers, factotums and assistant-to's. Plus, small viewerships in relation to entertainment programs. Less viewers = lower ad rates. Network news is history...