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That montage all but encapsulated Stelter's piece in the Atlantic. The channel in it's original format was not only rendered obsolete, the truly ugly parts that came thereafter (Nancy Grace and her obsession with Casey Anthony) ultimately and irrevocably destroyed HLN's reputation en route to becoming a true crime rerun library channel. Meade's show felt increasingly out of place and to be blunt, I'm shocked it lasted as long as it did. Because HLN was already a zombie network and had been for years. Even with Meade, it had no identity, no direction, and honestly, no purpose to even exist as a cable channel.

Final sign off:

I don’t think comparing 2 stations in 2 different time slots really counts as competition, but I assume your point is that KCAL has the higher-rated newscasts. Is that really a bad thing? It’s the exact same news department, and the revenue is all flowing in the same direction.

First off, the real name for Cox Media Group is Cox Media Group. 71% of CMG is owned by Apollo Global while 29% is owned by Cox Enterprises. I understand that Apollo has claimed it won't be involved in day-to-day business decisions should the TEGNA/Standard General deal go through. My point is that you can't use a press release by Dish as evidence. It was a press release in a negotiation. You appear to be taking the Dish claim as fact to use against a deal you don't like. Don't like the deal? Fine. There are plenty of reasons to object to this deal. But a press release by Dish isn't a legit reason. Also, why is it that you repeatedly use foul language in your posts? Posts are supposed to meet a "work safe" standard. Yet the post I quoted above and your original post on this Dish/CMG topic each contained language that I couldn't use in a work email.

It was announced that WJLA morning meteorologist Veronica Johnson will be the WJLA's new Chief Meteorologist and Eileen Whelan will be the "new" morning meteorologist (though she has done mornings before) https://wjla.com/news/local/veronica-johnson-chief-meteorologist-historic-announcement-first-alert-weather-7news-wjla-channel7-dc-washington-local-news-history-first-woman-dmv

WTVG's Lee Conklin & Diane Larson been together for a long time- {btw WTVG beating WTOL} - https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/tv-radio/2022/12/03/diane-larson-lee-conklin-tenure-nightly-news-anchors-wtvg/stories/20221204018

Sinclair gave an effort. Standard General and Apollo not only haven't, they've repeatedly insisted that they don't have to do a thing. If it was Sinclair buying Tegna, they'd pull the shell game, divest a minimum of stations, and it would have been approved by September. Because unlike Soo Kim, David Smith actually knows how to close a deal.

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.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see them retire together…and you’re right, that would officially mark the end of an era in the Toledo market. Diane bridges the generational gap between “legends” like Gordon Ward/Don Edwards/Jeff Heitz and the current state of Toledo as a “starter market” for TV. Diane Larson is SOLID. She brings a level of class to the Toledo market that will never be seen again. When Diane and Lee retire, I speculate that the playing field levels a bit with WTOL. (Especially if WTOL keeps the Melissa Andrews/Jeff Smith pairing going - though Melissa Andrews is NO Diane Larson, or Chrys Peterson for that matter…but I digress.)

Storm chasing. OKC and Tulsa are hotbeds of storm chasing during tornado season. KWTV, KFOR, and KOCO all have their own helicopters...not sure about KOKH. In Tulsa, KOTV has a helicopter. On a storm night, the network affiliates pre-empt programming for wall-to-wall storm coverage. They have pilots in the air and a team of storm chasers on the ground (with cameras in their trucks). The OKC affiliates will station storm chasers on the ground throughout the market, and will track the storm on the ground and in the air from the Texas border in the west to the edge of the OKC market in the east. In the case of KWTV and KOTV, they will often share storm chasers on a big night...there was a night last spring when there were storms on both sides of OKC, and the KWTV storm chasers were in the rural western portion of the market while a storm hit Seminole, east of OKC. KWTV chief meteorologist David Payne directed KWTV's helicopter pilot and the KOTV storm chasers to provide live video of the storm. The pilots and some of the better known storm chasers have local sponsorships. They have become local celebrities. It's entertainment, but more importantly, it's informational. Viewers depend on the local weather personnel to keep them safe, especially with the preponderance of storms in that area. I recommend streaming KWTV on a storm night in the spring. As long as you're not in the storm, it's entertainment. David Payne is good TV on a storm night. This is KWTV's coverage from May 4. At about 1:03:00 of this video, he tells people to call "me-ma" to get to her safe spot. Shortly afterward, he calls on the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to shut down Interstate 40. Lots of local storm coverage gold on this night. apologies for taking over the Tegna thread for non-Tegna stations...

I must be really slow with this stuff, because I didn’t even know she left CBS2 to begin with.

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

I was supportive of them remaining on air once the additional details came out that this wasn’t nearly as salacious as the tabloids made it. But this is becoming a huge distraction and depending on how it shakes out could do damage to GMA’s brand strength. Based on my entirely unscientific estimates, TJ has fallen way out of people’s good graces. My girlfriend, my mom and social media all informing my hypothesis lol.

As a good friend of mine is wont to say, "don't ask because they just might answer".

If I were try to look past the spin Dish is doing, I would assume that Apollo is trying to negotiate for the stations they’re supposed to receive from Tegna and Standard once the transaction is through. Still really really weird and totally not shady, but they can’t be that stupid.

I don’t know if I’d call it “ass-backwards management” (not yet, anyway); it’s more like throwing in the towel on channel 2 in the morning. I can’t blame them. Keep in mind that their current arrangement has KCBS airing a newscast that draws a big fat zero in the ratings, while KCAL airs infomercials. As unconventional as this new arrangement is, it’s better than what they have now (although they might want to consider promoting the damn thing). That’s not saying much, of course. The spiel about “making KCAL a major player” is BS, and I imagine that management is smart enough to realize that they won’t be a major threat to KTLA or KTTV. The broader point is that KCAL can air its own programming (via CBS LA’s news dept), and the extra airing of CBS Mornings can give the show a ratings boost (albeit, a very small one). Sure, KCBS loses morning news, but when no one’s watching it, it’s not like anyone living in LA is going to give a damn.

Some people have more money than sense

Isn't KCAL already a major player in local news since they started a 3-hour primetime news block in 1990?

OK, I know the "let's make the secondary station more prominent than the primary station where newscasts are based at" thing has been done before elsewhere (remember FOX45 News on ABC22 in Dayton?). But it doesn't make any sense here. KCBS is the West Coast flagship of CBS with the combined 2/9 news operation that will be named CBS News Los Angeles, except now it will originate from KCAL, the independent station, while KCBS, the West Coast flagship of CBS, will be relegated to secondary status. If this isn't the definition of @$$-backwards management, I don't know what is.

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.

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.

They didn't "take their masks off" as you say. In the article says Dish claims, "that Cox, controlled by Apollo Global Management, has delayed “meaningful discussions” because it wants stations currently owned by Standard General and Tegna to be included because of connections to Apollo." So, Dish is claiming that Cox is delaying the negotiations because it wants to include the Tegna stations. That's Dish's opinion. Might be true, might not. But the point is, to date there is no actual proof of this. Just one company making up a narrative about the other. And Cox is hardly innocent. They put out a statement saying Dish was "employing their well-worn anti-consumer drop tactic" by "unilaterally choosing to black out all Cox Media Group TV stations across the country." Both statements are full of hyperbole to make themselves look like the injured party.

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

CBS is going the way of CTV when it comes to O&O branding. Someone was going to try this sooner or later. It is looking very likely at this point that KCBS/KCAL is going to be the first to debut the new graphics and rebrand when they launch the new morning show on Monday.

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.

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

WEWS is celebrating 75 years on the air in Cleveland this month. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/wews-celebrates-75-years-as-a-trailblazing-station

This is the most convincing evidence I've seen yet that the "CBS X" branding is out the door (I may or may not have been in denial). A shame, as we were in San Fran for thanksgiving and I was admiring the fact that the Group W "5" is still in use there.

KPIX dropped the CBS 5 logo on the anchor desk in their main studio in place of its call letters instead. It doesn’t look good I’m surprised they didn’t go with the CBS NEWS Bay Area logo instead. The newsroom desk has the updated logo.

Martin Savidge and Robin Meade both should have stayed. CNN/HLN is foolish for letting them go. Meanwhile, some of those who have made CNN a laughing stock are sticking around. That doesn't bode well. "This Morning" simulcast is a mistake.

I have a hunch that Jordan will be the new Chief Meteorologist at 'JLA when Bill Kelly leaves for KYW.