Local TV News Goes Full TikTok: Inside TEGNA’s New Vertical Video App

US local TV giant TEGNA is rolling out a completely redesigned mobile news app across 50 markets, and media watchers abroad are paying attention. Instead of simply repackaging newscasts for phones, the company rebuilt its local newsrooms around a “story‑first, mobile‑first” workflow that feeds the app around the clock.

The experience looks closer to TikTok than to traditional TV. Users swipe through a vertical feed of short, mobile‑native clips filed by local reporters and meteorologists. Each clip comes with a concise text summary and related coverage, so people can choose to skim, watch, or dig deeper. The home feed is personalized based on location, topics, and notification preferences, emphasizing breaking news and real‑time weather.

Behind the scenes, TEGNA has overhauled its production systems so that reporters can publish directly to streaming and mobile, with linear broadcasts becoming just one of several outputs. In four initial test markets, the company says video plays increased more than tenfold and user sessions grew by about 40 percent, suggesting that vertical, personalized news feeds may finally offer a sustainable template for local journalism on smartphones. For Japanese broadcasters exploring app‑centric strategies, this is a notable overseas case study.