Puzzled by the new faces behind the anchor desks in your local television market? Sunday’s New York Times explained that a generation of veteran anchors, whose hefty salaries “seem out of sync with the reality of budgets,” are being bought out and laid of. This trend is alarming to viewers -  more than half of the population watches local news regularly, according to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, while only 34 percent read a newspaper each day and 29 percent watch a network evening newscast.

But the Television Bureau of Advertising is expecting a 7 to 11 percent decrease in commercial revenue next year, and stations are adamant that the cost cutting has to start somewhere. But is the anchor desk the right place to start?

TV news, like its print counterpart, has long planned how to move its format to the Web to take advantage of a medium that’s still growing in popularity. The challenge is that viewers can pick and choose their own news on Web casts, which in some cases may render the anchor “superfluous.”

The reality is, as Tom Petner, editor of the TV industry newsletter Shop Talk said in the Times’ article, “The industry is moving from star players to more of a team sport.” But, this could be dangerous for some station owners who have newcasts, which represent 40 percent of the station’s revenue. Many veteran anchors in large markets carry the station’s entire brand solely on their shoulders. When you replace them with someone new and younger you not only risk losing viewers, but you also risk losing the insight that only decades of news reporting can bring.

This only goes to show that TV news must continue to reinvent itself if it wants to continue to thrive and make money for stations. And veteran anchors have an incredible opportnity to be a part of the solution, instead of a victim of the fallout.

In an effort to juice up sales this Christmas, retailers are checking their lists twice and sending customers emails jam-packed with exclusive offers to get them in their stores and onto their website.

When trying to reach millions of shoppers, emails are cheaper and quicker than print inserts or direct mail; the average cost of an email message is $7 per consumer response versus $48 for traditional direct mail.  Many retailers are jumping on the email bandwagon because they can create and send a promotion in half the time it takes to print and distribute traditional messages.

Saks Fifth Avenue installed a new point-of-sale system with Internet capabilities in every store to gather customer email addresses and send customized emails.  Home Depot promoted an opt-in email alert for coupons and special discounts on Black Friday, the company’s biggest shopping day.  Gap is getting personal and emailing customers coupons with customized holiday songs from artists Flo Rida and Trey Songz.  Bloomingdale’s is targeting younger consumers by increasing its emails significantly.  The upscale department store believes sending them a ton of shopping incentives will make them look better and feel important.

In today’s rocky retail climate, it’s vital to find a cost-effective way to increase traffic in stores and online.  And with millions of Americans looking for any way to stretch their hard-earned dollars this Christmas, exclusive discounts and free shipping via email will be impossible to pass up.