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You nailed it. It always has some "freedom fries" fake right wing outrage feel to it. I'm a right winger, but I don't like schlocky TV, nor do I like being jerked around with obvious propaganda and phony outrage.

I noticed the changes in the city label fonts on the radar map. WBBM is about to switch to the new graphics package.

I know KTIV is the ratings leader there, and I believe KCAU is well ahead of KMEG/KPTM as well.

I can think of at least 12-15 more markets where Sinclair runs a last-place news operation that I could easily see cut.

It's like those dumb "Brand Power" ads...the segments don't feel natural, don't match the tone intended, and are usually just a signal to roll around the channels for a bit while some guy in suburban Maryland tries and fails to appeal to someone who just wants to know the local news, not some minor thing on the other side of the country they don't care about.

The other problem with those must runs is that they are not produced in such a way where they flow seamlessly with the rest of the newscast. It's very jarring, like you almost changed channels.

And this is how Springer responded in his first--and next to last--commentary on WMAQ:

On the local level, some of the Sinclair stations pump out some really excellent journalism. WSYX has taken a more harder edge "On Your Side" advocacy approach and other stations are very critical of corruption, wasted tax dollars, and being "a voice for the voiceless". On the corporate end, yes some of their products are very lacking. It's like you're taking a middle market newscast and simulcasting it to whatever market can't afford to put one of their own anymore. It's basically all the "must runs" that put Sinclair on the map as everyone's most hated company they've never heard of. And I really believe there is something going on with Sinclair. Especially tied to the Diamond Sports bankruptcy. Every time the judge forces them to make a payment of some kind, another round of layoffs begins in some market they can barely keep the lights on to begin with.

WBBM is gearing up.

CBS & their excessively long brandings. "WCCO News & CBS Minnesota". Interestingly enough, the multiple ABC 7 Eyewitness News stations have worked for ABC though.

WPMI deserves better than this, especially better station owners than Sinclair!

And in Chicago flag colors... Was NBC ahead of its time? I kind of hope so, honestly.

This is going to be the year that many 3rd and 4th rate stations are going to be dropping news and not just Sinclair, it’s going to be Scripps, Nexstar and the other big groups. In Milwaukee WTMJ and CBS58 are only averaging 5,000 viewers in the demo at 10, WISN and WITI is about 14,000-15,000. When I came to Milwaukee in 2000 WTMJ had a 15 rating and wisn was about 10, viewership taste has change thought out the years but Milwaukee has always had one of the higher viewership of local news in the country. This is a business first, many of these 3rd or 4th rate stations are only breaking even at best and likely losing money on news. There is no company that’s going to come to buy and bunch of money losing operations with almost no viewers. The stations that have dropped local news so far had no viewers in the first place, basically no one will notice.

Jerry Springer died today at age 79. His impact on television was undeniable.

There’s too many CBS 2’s. 4 to be exact in the O&O station group. Hence why they want to give each market a unique and local feel with the call letters since channels don’t mean anything these days with streaming. This leaves WCBS the only one that kept the CBS 2 in its branding. Chicago is going the call letter route like KDKA, and KCBS focusing on KCAL instead.