All Activity

I'm thinking this is why we're starting to see more local weather "extras" being produced, as well as Matt Laubhan's new venture... I'm pretty sure we're going to see plenty more in the coming months...

WTMJ taking it on the chin and letting so many go. Now Tom Durian is done at the end of July to move on to KVVU, Henderson...and Las Vegas, as evening anchor, since Steve Chamraz is entrenched. KTNV must be livid.

For those who missed it... WTEN's Steve Caporizzo's sign off from Monday:

This is similar to what former CBS affiliate WTVT did for years where they pushed Y&R on one day tape delay to 1pm as they had the one-hour lifestyle program Pulse Plus which then became a Noon Newscast and half hour local talk show Eye on Tampa Bay in 1989. The only difference is WTVT never showed the half hour soap operas Search for Tomorrow, Capitol, or The Bold and The Beautiful. TB&B was pushed to lower powered independent WTMV from 1991 until WTSP took it when they got CBS in the New World Deal in December 1994.

It should say co-chief because WITI has two. The other is Rob Haswell, who's been there since 2005.

Smart of them to think ahead. Now CBS needs to heavily plug that video in their own coverage of this.

Trump's "presidential library"? Transcripts aren't good enough. The complete, uncut interview should also be made available for viewing,. I mean, do you think average voters are going to interested in reading a transcript when there's a video to watch? In fact, the complete, uncut interview with Harris should be made available now.

Fox Weather is bringing in WITI’s chief to supplement their holiday vacay schedules again.

TBN also did themselves no favors by cashing out many of their stations in the spectrum auction, and subsequently selling the licenses to other parties, much like WDLI in Canton living on as a re-packed station on Ion's (Inyo's) WVPX. These TBN stations (and other full-power god-casters) exploited the must-carry obligation to get them on cable while the others opted for retransmission consent. Donations went down over time and the spectrum was a way to make some quick cash.

I think Mississippi TV will stay separate markets, but Greenville/Greenwood under one owner and WTOK in Meridian and WHLT in Hattiesburg ceding to their Jackson counterparts is beginning to weaken the markets a little. Moreso in Meridian since WTOK is the undisputed leader in the market while WHLT has always played second fiddle to WDAM who has kept their operation local to the market. If either Columbus/Tupelo or Greenwood/Greenville had Gray stations, they would probably have pulled the same moves Meridian did. At least WTVA is the only Allen Media station in Mississippi and WXXV and WCBI remain separate operations, likely due to distance.

I read that his wife will remain on WTVA. They actually worked in different stations at one time - I know that because of the clip that I saw when he proposed to her on live TV.

That can be attestable (TBN lost most of their Spectrum carriage over the years for their other channels outside regular TBN and enlace) but there's also the reality that cable providers are not up to paying $2 more for a channel with a shaky business model (big star with their own show tricking down an audience on generic other content already found on other channels) and whose product is already otherwise free or available in rerun form elsewhere or on podcasts. TBN is hard into digital first as then they don't need to bother with the middlemen negotiating carriage or the costs of the analog era translator network they sold off to speculators and subfarm operators. That he had no control of his network library at all certainly didn't help matters, but also that broadcast surcharge fees are getting near $50/month, it's beginning to be a losing battle for bundles, with providers beginning to fight back (re: the old Cinci Bell fighting Nexstar because they don't want NewsNation just to carry Dayton's NBC/CW stations) or having to capitulate (Spectrum getting back the dumped Disney networks in exchange for Hulu access at their own terms). Phil refused to do the most basic research that TBN simply doesn't negotiate carriage well outside must-carry and their JVs like Hillsong have had a high failure rate, that .1 channel leases for stations rarely watched, even must-carry on pay TV systems are a money pit (CHSN learned that too even as subchannels), and now he's learning that lesson in bankruptcy.

Merit Street is complaining that TBN didn't help it get on cable enough.

Yes

Good for them for not bending the knee.

Does the TV version of EWTN still air Mother Angelica's reruns? EWTN was her mission as a nun and was an extension of her creating a monastery in the South after experiencing a miracle of her own healing from a devastating injury. Her original TV efforts were through WBMG (now WIAT) but she decided to start forming EWTN after she objected to CBS's content at the time. As tormented as the Catholic Church has been throughout its history, this is probably the only religious TV channel purely devoted to faith.

For those who remember WTVD's longtime anchorman and reporting stalwart John Clark... you can find him in a new adventure with his wife Val offering positive Christian content in a new podcast... The Clark Report. https://theclarkreport.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLTQGlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFJalMxalp0ajdTZW9aakU4AR4G83An0B-nKcI3x15NORborAPXM99c_yKqZvPdIffI7nn96mfGMjIr-OiD8Q_aem_PAdL6hXnPq01R-Xhlg7OUQ

Yeah, it was very surprising. Her Instagram and LinkedIn still say she works for ABC7NY, so it must've happened within the past few days.

Interesting update on Janice. She was just on last week. I like WABC’s use of the networks talent lately. Rhiannon Ally filling in for Shirleen this morning.

More news via LinkedIn... Marc Mullins was one of those laid off by Scripps at WRTV Indianapolis. Thankfully, he has a new home with TEGNA and KVUE Austin starting July 14th. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7345984809032142849-iaYD?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAABqGw-0BrOQ_9csrv95OAtvM37gqLkE_dSc

WKMG loses two on-air talent folks in a span of days. First, Crystal Moyer who's leaving WKMG after 5 years there later today (as of the time I write this post). https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/06/25/thank-you-news-6-gets-ready-to-say-farewell-to-longtime-morning-anchor/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wkmg6&fbclid=IwY2xjawLS5PNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhenP7c_1K0bxmgKgC5KtLn9AfZwzuvSPyfCm6KTqmruSfmt8sT5jt1nm_MU_aem_fTe-Jk7_86xBB8s7up4gxw Now, its longtime morning and noon anchor Bridgett Ellison who left yesterday after 14 years there. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/07/02/wkmg-news-6-celebrates-anchors-14-years-of-service-to-central-florida/

Saw him added into the group photo for the mornings on the 11pm news. I wonder who will be the permanent co-anchor for Weekends. Toni Yates appears to have a great rapport with Michelle. Also I just looked at the team page to see if they added Jaysha Patel yet, and was shocked to see Janice Yu is no longer there.

In the end, Paramount Global didn’t settle because they were wrong. They didn’t settle because it was fair. They settled because that’s how power works now. Grease the right palms, press the right flesh, and you can say whatever the hell you want—as long as you don’t mean it. In the end, they sold out the truth for 16 million bucks. ... that’s a hell of a bargain.

For a brief moment, I though John was going to curse.