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I think it's necessary to reference @Myron Falwell's post from the KCAL thread as it's extremely relevant to the ongoing channel number discussion. Long story short, look at Birmingham's WBMA, which brands as "ABC 33/40". It has not transmitted on the Channel 33 satellite since 2014, and is now regulated to the .2 on 40. WBMA's own low-power signal was on 58, which is also what their Virtual Channel is, but they didn't brand with any mention of 58 at all. What they do have is this mess, none of which have anything to do with the 33 in their brand, and And yet everyone still figures out where to watch James Spann when there's a tornado. In the words of one of our favorite media bloggers: JUST SAYING...

The entire 7pm streaming hour today was a WGPR/WKBD reunion, with Amyre Jr. interviewing her mother and former director Ken Bryant.

From what I understand, the SNL cameras were an NBC tradition. All of the O&Os get equipment from 30 Rock as NBC replaces it over time.

These are diginets as opposed to cable. Thanks to the Ion/Inyo footprint, Scripps has a major OTA presence to exploit as well as getting them on every FAST/OTT/SVOD. tbh if they spin anything off in a few years, it’ll be the network affiliates. And they have no reason to even do that.

Scripps is once again growing in cable. Makes me wish they didn't sell DIY, HGTV and Food Network in the first place.

4pm might not be far off at this rate, which would match up with their intended launch plans (after considerable revision). One thing I’m legitimately surprised about is WWJ running Entertainment Tonight at 1:35 a.m. … why not at 7:30 p.m.?? Amyre Sr. got her big break in 1975 as one of the first anchors for WGPR-TV’s Big City News, so it really does come full circle.

Say hello to TND. Sinclair Media SUCKS!

Amyre Sr. and Amyre Jr. - Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Amyre Makupson made her debut on the 6pm filling in for Shaina Humphries (who co-hosted The Talk out in LA today). Her mother Amyre Sr. also appeared at the end of the 6pm half-hour.

On the second week of its debut, 62 has launched the 5pm hour tonight. Rachelle Graham & Terrance Friday are anchoring the hour.

I'm an armchair, backseat-driving commenter as well. The loud, splashy, and tabloid-like "Action News" was the creation of GM Steven Gigliotti and ND John Lippman, who came aboard in late 1991. Among other changes, they dumped Jim Lampley for the more in-your-face Michael Tuck. KCBS won the February 1992 11 p.m. sweep primarily because of the Olympics, but it was all downhill after that, and the management team was canned. Bill Applegate actually restored a little order in 1994-95. While he retained the "Action News" branding he toned the newscasts down quite a bit. He hired Linda Alvarez for mornings; his throwing the CBS checkbook at Ann Martin led Bree Walker out the door, and then went for nostalgia. He outbid Disney and KCAL to get Jerry Dunphy, "Big News" stalwart Bob Navarro, Larry Carroll, and Dr. George Fischbeck!. Not that any of this helped the ratings -- it didn't. In fact things were so dismal that the early-morning news was axed until long after Applegate was shown the door.

MGM took over operational responsibility for This TV from Tribune after the Nexstar deal was completed in 2019, and then sold the network to Allen Media Group (along with LightTV, now TheGrio) in 2020.

There is one roundabout tie to channel 33 in the 33/40 gaggle of frequencies. WSES (the former WCFT "33") on actual channel 36 and virtual channel 33 is one of the ATSC 3.0 stations serving Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, and it carries the 17.2 feed of 58.1 in 3.0. So.....yeah. Then again, for damaged goods like WWJ, best to simulcast a streaming service called "CBS Detroit" as opposed to starting a news department on CBS 62. Maybe the 62 carries a little extra baggage because of the movie UHF? But moreso by the desperate moves to keep CBS in Detroit at the time, even preparing to pipe in adjacent affiliates and resulting in ABC buying stations in Toledo and Flint at the time because of the fear of losing WXYZ (which never happened) If you think about it, the fear of WXYZ going CBS really set the ball rolling for a lot of the secondary affiliation switches because of the Fox/New World deal. That forced Scripps to go all in with ABC, which caused Westinghouse to go all in with CBS, which caused the swap in Philadelphia, and so on....

I looked at WBMA’s channel lineup with @Weeterslast night. It’s devolved into an absurdly laughable mess since Sinclair twisted arms and bent reality to get the Allbritton deal finalized: Sinclair could make it so much easier on everyone and call the whole enterprise “WBMA ABC” or “ABC Birmingham” or “ABC 58” or “ABC Alabama”… and yet… and yet, people still find a way to watch James Spann on ABC 58/68.2/17.2/40.2… errr… “ABC 33/40” AND are doing so in a market historically dominated by 6 and 13 with a branding that’s been obsolete for nearly nine years. That’s what I mean when I debate the actual importance of channel number branding in the post-DTV switch and early OTT/SVOD eras.

For Fox or CNN they never had the memory of on air channel number branding visual or audio. There’s also no local vs national programming distinction. For a WPVI they’ve heard and seen “Channel 6” or “ABC 6” with that iconic “6” for decades. What would an older person using voice command remote say by instinct? “ABC Philadelphia” or “Channel 6”? Maybe “Action News” In Denver it’s “9” through and through. Then there is the Fox decision to de emphasize Fox and emphasize the KTVU 2 in the most digital forward market. TEGNA has emphasized iconic channel logos in recent years. Lots of puts and takes unique to each station and market not all of them related to digital program guides. Hard to make a blanket decision unless you have fewer legacy viewers at risk. It’s an easier one for the also rans or newer entrants to make. Like KUSI that ditched the attempt at 9 branding (they started as a hidden 51 emphasizing KUSI at the start)

MediaGeneral was doomed as a station group when Soo Kim and Deb McDermott forcibly took control of the chain, merged it into LIN and THEN tried to merge it into Meredith before dumping it all in Nexstar’s lap.

I don't think Media General was so bad. They had financial problems but their on air product was respectable, and they still treated WCMH and WFLA like their flagships. Outlet was a great owner. Everybody says the NBC years were good, but I wasn't a fan. When you're too cheap to build a new news set and have to get one second hand from Louisville, that's pretty shoddy. Likewise with their cameras. I think I remember them bragging about new cameras they were getting being used models from Rockefeller Center. LOL

The irony in that is that WTTE was their second station outside of Baltimore. They "sold" it to Glencairn/Cunningham right after Sinclair bought River City (and WSYX). To stay a step ahead of the FCC (and likely the DOJ), they moved "FOX 28' over to WSYX and made Cunningham's station a truly independent operation with no Sinclair programming at all. In a way, Sinclair's growth in Columbus has stayed constant and grown a little, while WCMH and WBNS tanked under their corporate regimes. WCMH"s damage was under Media General and the destruction of WBNS was largely at Tegna's behest after DECADES of local ownership under Dispatch.

South Bend (WSBT) originates news for both WNWO in Toledo and WOLF in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with the SAME ANCHORS. Logistically, it makes sense since WNWO has a 6 and 11 while WOLF only has a 10pm. On the other hand, WSYX is the crown jewel in Sinclair's fold, probably even more so than their flagship, WBFF in Baltimore.

Appears only during KCBS broadcast.

WADL didn't like the contract and terms of the CBS contract that why they never affiliated with them. WADL's owners wanted more $$$ out of the CBS deal back in 94. If Cox hadn't sold WKBD in 1993, WKBD probably would of been the CBS affiliate. When WKBD was FOX50 it 10pm did well. I'm sure under Cox in the 90s it would of pony up the $$$ and would compete against 2,4,7. I remember back in the 90s 62 mgmt kept saying a local news was coming in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000. By then WKBD/WWJ were merged under the CBS/Paramount brand. Using WKBD's facilities to do 10&11pm news then it get the axe. 20 years later a newscast returns. Almost 30 years to the network switch. It good to see them doing a newscast, but with so many new talent- at sometime you do have to bring in a talent in the market that has a name brand the audience knows. Someone posted online and said "62 has news" CBS prime time has done well in Detroit battling WXYZ & WJBK for 3rd in prime time. I hope there some good promos at 62CBS.

Since they added WDJT to my cable system, it's been just either '9' or '605' in the Roledex of my mind so I knew where to tune, and now it's just 'CBS 58' because that's what they've been every day since December 1994 and never changed the branding. Their first priority was to get established, then build a news division; on that front they've been very successful and now you nearly forget that CBS bounced around 6, 12 and 18 for so many decades, and they've got a good syndicated schedule. Meanwhile, WWJ has just...kinda existed. They just pass through CBS-owned content in syndication and outside of a few Lions games here and there and watching CBS, there's really been nothing to keep you there because 2, 4 and 7 are always there in their niches. Same when they purchased WKBD and made it just another bland UPN/CW station. And it's either 62 CBS, CBS Detroit, CBS, WWJ, CBS 62...never any consistent branding. And it didn't help that CBSNS had old guard management at the Westinghouse stations that wasn't changing a thing any time soon, or dysfunctional idiots with battling egos who bought stations to get into a golf club, and in Detroit, just never really tried. Still ended up a better result than getting WADL as an affiliate, though; that entire station is a headache and a half as it is now. Imagine having to fight them every few years on affiliation terms.

Like I said, it's real estate. Mcdonald's, Wendy's and Burger King all tend to be close to each other. If Hardee's is a couple of streets away, it falls off the map. You don't think about it. Same with the FM dial. Everything that's worth listening to around here is under 99.9. I don't even know what stations are on 100.1 and above for the most part. I simply don't get to that part of town. Also, just look around the country. Stations with the high UHF Channel numbers beating stations with VHF Channel numbers is still more the exception and not the rule. And if dial position doesn't mean anything, why do media companies still fight with cable companies to get lower channel numbers? Yes, people stream. But the thing about streaming is that you can't really flip through channels a lot. You're basically stuck with whatever you're watching. There's still value in a low channel number both from the standpoint of real estate, and simply from a marketing and image standpoint that you're not one of those UHF stations in the nosebleed section of the dial where all the crappy channels are.

Channel numbers only really matter to legacy brands, where the number transcends the dial and is the cornerstone of the identity (certain stations with a certain, stylized 7 come to mind). Call letters CAN fall into the same group. CBS Detroit and too many other CBS O&O's have little-to-no such legacy, unless you count decades of falling in 3rd place...or 4th...or 5th.

The discussion about channel numbers is missing the entire premise of CBS News Detroit. Somebody please show me how to tune my phone or web browser to Channel 62... This is an operation built on a "streaming first" mentality. The fact that it airs OTA is just a bonus. CBS appears to be, by and large, moving towards "streaming first". This is exactly how I've publicly predicted TV will move over the coming years. Channel numbers are an outdated concept in a world where more and more people are watching OTT where those precious numbers mean nothing. Traditional TV viewers are not bumbling morons and will figure out where to watch. Millions of senior citizens have figured out where to watch Fox News without it branding with channel numbers.

WEWS will still be (to me)... TV5 Eyewitness News and NewsChannel 5. Happy 75th Anniversary TV5.

Welcome to the last few years of the CBS O&O look.

These graphics are so clean and sleek. WABC needs them ASAP. WABC quite frankly has the worst graphical presentation of all the O&Os. KGO and KABC look the best IMO.

Laura Rojas, a previous reporter and anchor with KFDA in Amarillo (both the station's main news team as well as with KFDA's Telemundo channel) has died. The video mentions that she worked in other markets including San Antonio as well as in Colorado. https://www.newschannel10.com/video/2023/01/29/video-remembering-laura-rojas-former-nc10-anchor/

No big loss. Never cared for his presentation. Seems to be going downhill in market size. Went from NYC to Philly, and now to DC.