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If all you have to worry is a TV stations Christmas commercial after the year that we’ve had you are one lucky person. They are clearly trying to boost some spirits and keep a tradition going while keeping their staff safe. Jeez.

This is 1985; I believe the Bill Meeks Spirit of Oklahoma package was created in 1987. (Tracy Carman/Media Preservation Foundation uploaded the sales demo to Soundcloud, from the master reel, and it was dated 11-Nov-1987, so this KLTV news package must predate it.)

The Weather Channel has had no problem covering local severe weather remotely for what... 30 years or more now? I'm sure this won't be a huge issue for whatever this is Fox ends up doing.

That's when whomever remains in the local markets provides a "cheat sheet" of tricky pronunciations. Or the met uses other landmarks to identify the path and avoids the one he's not sure of. It's not like a new local met in a new market wouldn't run that risk. Now, where this becomes an issue is - with any hubbing efforts - is the fact the satellite met doesn't know the history of the area, where the trouble spots are, and how they've handled severe weather in the past - that good ol' fashioned "local knowledge". A lot of executives seem to feel the appearance of news/weather/etc. is actually providing a service.

Bumping because there has been some confirmation of who did what. In a year end piece for the local publication Seasons of Connecticut, Dennis House confirms that WFSB laid him off. (link is to a PDF, relevant statement is on page 44). This might be more at home in the Meredith thread, but how bad off would WFSB have been to lay off who arguably was the face of their station with no avenue to a replacement. Especially with everything else going on - pandemic, election, societal strain, trauma from Denise's passing.

Butchering local town & landmark names while a tornado bears down on the viewing public. Anybody wanna take a crack at pronouncing "Schuylkill River"? Yes, 3000 miles away they will still be able to harness the technology to pinpoint the path of a storm and give viewers pertinent information, but when they can't pronounce your town, I get the feeling that some folks will turn the channel. And this is even IF they actually start hubbing weather. I see it more from the angle of "well, there's CBSN, ABC News Live, NBC News Now... what news-y angle ISN'T someone taking a stab at?"

NewsCentral was before its time. Technology has changed so much that it's impossible to compare with what we can do today. We have meteorologists working from home covering severe weather. What's the difference if they're 30 miles from the station or 3000?

I think the implications from such a service are far worse for those currently employed by FOX, and the future of local weather in these places.....as opposed to any "bias" that such a service may provide. They need to look back at Sinclair's "News Central" failure, which botched severe weather in many places when it was operating at the time.

I wouldn't...... ....Count On It.

Viacom probably wants to make a statement about the two companies being under the same roof again and make better use of prime real estate. MTV made good use of it during the first run of TRL, but it has been pretty much vacant ever since. Getting CTM in there is probably the best chance of anyone ever using that studio space again. The recent reboot of TRL flopped pretty quickly. I'm not sure how much this plays a factor too, but I believe there are some local regulations that require property owners/tenants in Times Square to have a flashy or high profile exterior use. The MTV studio has never been all that flashy, but it was certainly high profile during TRL in attracting huge crowds. If they do move, I'd be worried that CBS would then be lured into making the same mistakes again as the Early Show in trying to emulate the trappings of their competitors. I shudder at the thought of dueling outdoor concerts. The best thing about CTM and Studio 57 at the beginning is that it was true to what CBS News does best.

I would think the station’s executive team would be the ones to determine what the station’s holiday promo is all about, not you. Traditions are nice, but they can also evolve. Doing something one way just because it’s always been done that way is the worst way to do anything. Hoping your holidays are happier than The Grinch that appeared in a previous year’s WNBC holiday promo.

How dare that commercial station commercialize a commercial during this commercial-related holiday season?! OUTRAGE.

Speculation is over. Shawn Yancy to WRC evenings. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/shawn-yancy-joins-nbc4-washington-as-evening-anchor/2499232/

So it appears that two more PRMs came up in the "Black Friday" dump. And these are petitions for two NEW allotments. Gray is proposing to have a new full power allotment on VHF 9 in Freeport, IL. This probably explains why Gray wants KCRG off of RF 9......... Just to follow up, Gray sold WIFR's former UHF allotment (RF 41) in the spectrum auction. And moved the channel to a low power signal (RF 28). And since then those viewers have complained about not receiving the new signal. They've also simulcasted its channel on Weigel's LP in Rockford (WFBN-LD 23.11). WIFR even mentioned about "applying for a new license" on their spectrum page. This proposed VHF allotment makes sense since that part of Illinois is mostly rural. And the signal is better for folks who have outdoor antennas on the roofs. Unlike in the urban areas with big buildings, the VHF signals (like WBBM on RF 12) don't penetrate well like UHF signals do. I wished WIFR would've chose to move to VHF-high, instead of deciding to channel share (which they ended up not doing). Okay, the other allotment is UHF 26 in Eagle River, WI. I'm sure this is for competitive reasons. Quincy's WAOW has a repeater in Eagle River (WYOW). And I guess WSAW may want one in the Northwoods as well.......

Now it's one thing to login if they are airing network and syndicated programming on the website (like the NBC O&O's sites) or a local cable news station but it's another if you need a login for a local OTA newscast. Ironically, DISH and Nexstar are having issues right now and if a deal isn't made by this Wednesday December 2nd, DISH viewers are out of luck.

I currently live in the Charlotte area but I like being able to occasionally watch the local news from KOLR10. If they go behind a pay-wall, it will leave me without the ability to watch them (since I'm not currently living in the market). I really, really hope that Nexstar doesn't start restricting access to the live streams.

35 years ago today... a true classic.

I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty annoying that we've gotten to the point where our national anthem has become a hot-button political issue. If you like having it played on TV, you're a fascist, and if you don't, you're a communist. There's no pleasing anyone anymore, is there?

Dean Richards says he tested positive for the virus at the end of last month.

I live in South Carolina, but I also find 6ABC Action News from WPVI quite interesting (I used to be able to see it on the NewsOn app, until Disney took WPVI and all their stations off from that); that said, I hope Disney doesn't pull a Nexstar and restrict the ABC O&Os to residents of those areas.

This is no longer an isolated incident. WTNH has also gotten a paywall set up on its live stream of local newscasts. https://www.wtnh.com/news-8-newscasts/