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Brian was badly—and I mean BADLY—miscast in his on-air role at CNN, but his written reporting and nightly online newsletter were highly, highly respected, @HulkieD often referred to the newsletter as indispensable. Hopefully he has a recurring role at the Atlantic.

T.J. Holmes is in trouble, if this NY post story is any indication. There is no way that ABC allows this spectacle to go on much longer. Clips from every show this week have been reposted and every interaction is being over analyzed.

Sinclair at least tried to give an effort, even if it was disingenuous and back-handed (and in the case of WGN-TV, terminally fucking stupid). All Soo Kim has done is whine and cry and play the victim and make ridiculous and baseless accusations of racism among opponents of the deal. He's so brittle, it makes you wonder how in the wide wide world of sports he literally destroyed Media General and LIN and offloaded that unholy mess to Nexstar for a king's ransom.

This was exclusively Fox Television Stations thankfully (also lol MyNet is a complete afterthought). Also note that FNC and Fox Business are under a different agreement, so they were never in danger.

Hot take- In the era of Google Maps and Waze, having traffic reports in newscasts at all makes no sense. As for the what already happened part, that's just news.

No such thing as coincidence.

It's too much of a mouthful. CBS News New York NOW on WLNY etc.. CBS News comes off as clueless at this point. They don't seem to get that their news product is generic, and that streamlining everything into that same generic format just adds to the problem. CBS O&O's local newscasts have no personality or originality. They reek of corporate blandness. Channel numbers are becoming less relevant, but I wouldn't say they should be dropped from branding all together. This! New talent has to get a chance, but just reporting the news isn't enough. There has to be some personality and flair to it , which a lot of the newer talent lacks. People can get their news from anywhere. You as a station have to give them a reason to come to you (within the boundaries of good journalism of course).

That's not the first time she's filled in for the 5PM. Sade was off, Liz was off, Sandra was off, Lauren was off. The amazing thing about WABC is when fill-ins happen, it doesn't hurt the flow of the newscast and it moves smoothly.

In the U.S. alone, WBD owns or operates 49 cable networks: * CNN * HLN * CNN en Español * CNN International * TBS * TNT * TruTV * Turner Classic Movies * Cartoon Network/Adult Swim * Boomerang (English and Spanish) * Discovery Channel * Discovery en Español * TLC * Animal Planet * Travel Channel * Food Network * Cooking Channel * HGTV * Hogar de HGTV * Destination America * Investigation Discovery * Oprah Winfrey Network (95% with Harpo Productions) * American Heroes Channel * Discovery Life * Science Channel * Motor Trend * Magnolia Network (JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines; operated by Home Box Office, Inc.) * Discovery Family (60% with Hasbro) * Discovery Familia * AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh * AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain * AT&T SportsNet Southwest * Root Sports Northwest (40% with Baseball Club of Seattle, LP) * MLB Network (16.67% with Major League Baseball, NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications and Cox Communications) * NBA TV (operated by WBD, owned by the NBA) * HBO * HBO2 * HBO Signature * HBO Family * HBO Comedy * HBO Zone * HBO Latino * Cinemax * MoreMax * ActionMax * ThrillerMax * MovieMax * Cinemáx (Spanish-language simulcast of main Cinemax channel) * 5StarMax * OuterMax

Agreed that that west coast ABC's look far better. Their late 00s package was the cleanest to me:

This branding actually makes no sense. The “next” weather branding is about what’s coming next and preparing viewers. Traffic reports are quite literally about what’s happening now, AND what has already happened to cause the current traffic backups.

After some digging, TAG did make the 2003/04 "ring" graphics, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017021506/http://www.t-a-g.com/portfolio/onair_hearst.html Unfortunately, the video does not work. (Not sure if it was a demo reel or just a compilation of WESH using it, the link on their home page suggests the latter.)

He needs to go far, far away.

They have also done nothing to solve any of the issues, particularly how it will essentially be one company. The clock is likely to run out on this one.

That's not what irony is, and Stelter is a student of cable news so he was a perfect person to write about this. And he mentioned that he previously worked at CNN.

It misses the point. Apollo Global Management (which is the real name for "Cox Media Group") is a private equity firm that is allegedly not supposed to be exerting any control in the business dealings of Tegna or Standard General; they are only supposed to be providing financing and nothing more. It's what Soo and Deb have been repeatedly bleating about for months and months to their apologists (or is that Apollogists?). Shit like this makes it obvious in the court of public opinion that Apollo merely wants to run "Standard General" or "Community News" (or whatever in the hell Soo wanted to call the byproduct of this failed transaction) as a puppet company, owning three stations in Atlanta and four in Jacksonville. It's unethical, grimy as fuck, and lends credibility to Graham's already legitimate protest of the deal. There's a reason why the FCC and DOJ are literally sitting on the deal at this point and letting the clock run out.

You can file this one under "It's about damn time", the RSNs are heading to Peacock (complete with live sports [IE no blackouts])by the end of the year in their regional markets: https://thestreamable.com/uk/news/peacock-will-carry-nbc-regional-sports-networks-in-select-markets-by-end-of-year

Kind of ironic that Stelter wrote this after he was let go from CNN.

It's likely but let us not get our hopes up, this has happened two times before remember!

Good lord. Apollo, Standard, if y'all are having second thoughts about going through with this, all yall have to do is call it off. Y'all are basically on your knees begging and pleading for this to go to an ALJ.

CNN+ never should have been launched in the first place. It was doomed when the architect and highest-profile backer (Zucker) was forced out, and felt like it was given the green light in spite of the incoming Discovery team. It didn’t really have much to distinguish itself from CNN, it wasn’t a redo of Headline News… just a bunch of wayward niche fare. Given the crippling debt load that AT&T inflicted on WBD, the shutdown of CNN+ in retrospect should have been a warning sign for us all.

I agree. It's good to see CBS O&Os streamline its stations with the national CBS News instead of having cluttered brands scattered across the country. And it kinda reminds me of the BBC. They have regional stations tied together as one with their branding, like BBC East, BBC London, etc. So to have streamline branding with the local-to-national target, it's a good thing, IMO. It's also good to see station call letters in the brand as well to still give stations credit and recognition for content they're producing as part of the approach. As for numbers on the old logos, I could be wrong, but some cable companies may not have CBS3, for example, on the actual Channel 3, so it's good to get rid of it as CBS O&O news outlets are not only on cab/sat, but streaming as well. The only complaint is that it's taking forever for the new graphics to come about. We should be seeing them by now.

If you want to remake and streamline the O&Os to be synonymous and harmonious with the network, it’s the way to go. As it stands, the CBS O&Os are a weird mix of totally different logos and branding conventions, with some legacy brands and call letters shared by unrelated radio stations. Only WCCO-TV at this point holds any promotional or marketing connection to it’s former sibling at AM 830. WBZ-TV has minimal to no relationship with AM 1030, an iHeart station. KYW-AM has an extensive news and weather partnership with WCAU, not KYW-TV.

Another interview as the farewell tour in underway. This one seems to confirm Gardner’s last day at the station is 12/31; perhaps his actual last airdate is going to be Friday 12/30? Great interview to read overall: Jim Gardner Prepares for Retirement After 45 Iconic Years at 6abc On the eve of his retirement, local media icon Jim Gardner looks back on his career and his 45 years at 6abc. mainlinetoday.com

Sounds nasty, but I'm sure there's a topical ointment for that.

I noticed this nifty little addition to the bottom of KYW's syndicated fare bug...

TV is going to have a real problem because of momentum depending on where you get most of your programming. I mostly stream these days, so that's what the TV stays on. I don't go to over the air TV a lot because that's a few extra buttons you have to push. They need to figure out a way to make this all seamless so that it flows together. Likewise with cable. I should be allowed to purchase a package without all the local TV channels to save from paying all those other stupid fees, but have a seamless way to go back and forth between cable and over the air.

It looks like some executives have a few more gray hairs. https://nypost.com/2022/12/01/amy-robach-and-t-j-holmes-alleged-affair-prompts-emergency-meetings-at-abc/ Robach's divorce will be finalized later this month. https://www.tmz.com/2022/12/01/tj-holmes-amy-robach-affair-rumor-good-morning-america-no-discipline/?adid=social-twa

I hope they don’t dignify it with a response. Ultimately, this is another example of our society’s obsession with learning intimate details about strangers. Plus, if the viewers want romance drama, they can keep the TV on until General Hospital

I mostly agree but there are optics around the “family” and “wholesomeness” of morning TV that an apparent marital affair would likely not play well in. For me, I like TJ and Amy as a duo but not sure the dating dynamics would go well on a national network morning program. How do the dynamics shift while they’re a couple, how do they shift in the event that they’re no longer a couple?

They would have had to be separated considering how public they’re being in a number of those photos right? They’re literally smiling at cameras in one of the photos as they left TJ’s apartment apparently. Not sure how GMA will handle this but hard to see them being the future of the show in the way I also thought they’d be.

Yeah and they both have kids...the pics in the Dailymail don't look good. On the other hand, they clearly weren't doing a good job hiding it so this could have been going on for awhile and we're just finding out. Either way, ABC better nip this quick because it's definitely not a good luck for 2 of your star anchors to be involved in an affair!

I strongly disagree. WABC’s on-air look is awful - very disjointed and clunky although the color scheme isn’t terrible. I remember being shocked when I learned here that the package wasn’t built in-house. Their graphics package and set are arguably the worst in the market to me.

I've known gambling ads for years as a fan of international cricket and rugby, which is inescapable, but at least there, a regulatory authority is there to limit the most absurd things like 'free 'money' to bet, which is actually just site scrip you can't turn into cash very easily'. Here we just have a wild west where outside of states that know what they're doing because they regulate ring sports, states barely regulate take and the word of companies who likely have a bunch of staff known for breaking fingers. It's like the mid-90s where greasy guys bought time on USA Saturday mornings to prognosticate, except they now shave and talked women into joining the racket.

So somebody slid some cash under the table ...

Yeah, I'm guessing that it just doesn't make sense to have a set with a bunch of unnecessary clutter, like they had in the living room looks. It worked then, but it just doesn't translate now, especially all the fake plants. I also bet it wouldn't have looked too good in HD. The set that GMA debuted when they went HD took away a lot of the excess stuff, and I do think this still looks pretty handsome. That said, the thing I'm missing in morning TV, these days, is a bit of warmth, which this 2005 set had, along with texture and depth.

The HBO and Cinemax suite is understandable; you're paying for that on your own (though those multiplex nets will die the same way PPV will, slowly as every movie is accessible on-demand). And they do have a perfectly broad Spanish-language portfolio that shouldn't be touched. Some networks (especially sports) are regional-only, and don't forget that it's WBD that also manages NBA League Pass, so TEN more channels there. But the only time anyone thinks about TruTV is at tournament time and it's basically a 90/10 ownership split between the Practical Jokers and WBD . There is so much bulk you'd think could be cut as a section on HBOMax like Motor Trend (itself just a rebranding of an HD demo channel), the Travel Channel (a misnomer for over a decade), the Science Channel (which has really suffered under Zazlav's departure from educational programming), Destination America (a hurried rebranding that might as well be Things that Occur In America rather than actually focused on American stuff), and American Heroes (which mostly highlights criminals and is the actual subject of Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero", girl just wants to watch stuff about Patton, Teddy Roosevelt and Patrick Henry ). And there are entire papers written about how TLC's shows have damaged the kids who have been forced onto it and those who want to be the next big numbered heavy person to get a show on it, while Animal Planet seems to think just having an animal is excuse enough for human-focused junk to be on that network. Discovery Life and Family just seem to have no purpose any longer outside the Hasbro contract and as a burn-off network for old producers they don't want to work with any longer. The true untouchable of course is TCM and the others on top like HGTV, Food, ID, CN, Discovery, and you keep OWN because you aren't dumping Oprah. They should just fold TNT into TBS if they don't intend to keep their former drama/comedy split and just want a sports/big show cable network.

I have a feeling HLN will merge with Investigation Discovery in the near future. Both channels are now identical with similar programming. Doesn't make sense to keep both of them going. How many cable networks does WBD have now?

Weekend Express won’t be getting a proper farewell; HLN has chosen to air reruns of Forensic Files in its timeslot this weekend, so the layoffs of the Weekend Express on-air and production teams were effective immediately upon the layoff announcement. I’m guessing the CNN This Morning simulcast won’t include its weekend editions once the simulcast begins. I’m surprised the morning editions of CNN Newsroom weren’t included as a simulcast as well, which suggests the required minimum amount of news programming stipulated in HLN’s carriage deals must be around 15 hours per week (the total number of hours that CNNTM runs during the work week, accounting for its three-hour runtime).

Well, this quote from a July writeup from RBR is giving us a little more clarity on the KCAL brand being used for KCBS' newscasts. And, in a major move, local newscasts will no longer originate from KCBS-2. Instead, that station will simulcast KCAL-9 newscasts as part of a bigger plan to make KCAL, once the home of the legendary Jerry Dunphy and Pat Harvey, a player in the L.A. news race for the first time in more than two decades.

I’m betting it should. The CBS Innovation Lab’s guidelines is for duopoly stations with a news-producing CBS O&O to have the “CBS News (City) NOW” name, with the standalone CW affiliates having the “(City) NOW” name.

Very sad to see the last of news on HLN go, I, like everyone will miss Meade and hope she finds herself a good replacement at maybe a local station. That being said what will happen to studio 7 now?

Former CNN media reporter Brian Stelter writes about the demise of HLN for The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/12/hln-network-layoffs-cnn/672332/ The End of Companion Television CNN’s Headline News may seem thoroughly old-fashioned now that it’s dead. But its demise is a reminder of the creeping nature of media obsolescence.

Entertainment Tonight is reporting the same thing Was thinking the same. Honestly, both of them came out pretty well and the show is going on with an extra hour added at that. The ET report made the comparison as well. Agreed. You often see coworkers more hours a day than family, so it's natural that as human beings feelings develop. Extra marital affairs are wrong, but it's not the public's business. Audiences should be focused on TJ and Amy's work as journalists, not seeking personal narratives. (TO BE FAIR one could argue that journalists hunt personal narratives in other peoples lives, but want to privacy when it comes to their own). Morality clauses can be an overarch. Cheating on your spouse shouldn't affect your job unless you're in a position like a religious institution or something of that nature. Where does the line begin and end for how much work can dictate your personal life? It can be tricky.

ABC rightfully said screw tabloids and have Amy, TJ and Dr Jen Ashton on GMA3 as usual. Good for them but cannot say I expected that.

Disney/ABC will probably not even give a fat Mickey rat's behind about this and it will definitely blow over in a few days. Management will probably meet with Holmes & Robach and tell them to keep it professional in office and on air & that's it. (I actually think GMA3 should be renamed "GMA3: Holmes & Robach" now that I type that out... it has a nice ring to it. lol) The Mouse won't make a public statement because they won't want to draw more attention to it. People will forget about it within a week; the everyday news cycle will bury it.

Why is this even a thing? And why is anyone even questioning their “future” on GMA or how ABC will handle it? Two married adults fell for each other, separated from their respective spouses and have begun a new relationship together. It is sad that two marriages are ending but that is a normal part of life. Maybe they’ll address it on air or issue a statement when they’re ready… but who cares?

Nowhere near Lauer levels indeed, but the optics are not good. I hope they don't have any morality clauses in their contract. And with all due respect, besides the ass grabs, they have multiple shots, different days, some days in a row, of them at each other's apartments. This has clearly been going on for awhile.

Daily Mail is reporting Amy and TJ Holmes are romantically involved. link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11478421/GMA-hosts-Amy-Robach-T-J-Holmes-seen-looking-cozy-NYC-secret-romance-revealed.html