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Correlation does not imply causation. Nearly every media company’s stock price has been dragging for the last month. The local TV business in general isn’t doing great right now. While this move definitely makes it easier for CBS to move the network in house in Atlanta and Seattle if it wanted to, I highly doubt that’s happening this fall. The Deadline article would’ve mentioned it, and CBS has affiliation contracts to fulfill. EDIT: If those agreements expire in 2024, I suppose things could potentially get interesting. Stay tuned, I guess.

Nexstar owns KRON and most of The CW, and Fox owns KTVU/KICU and MyNetworkTV, so that’s an easy shift.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that WMYD and WKBD each land teams (the Red Wings and Tigers on WMYD and the Pistons on WKBD, or vice versa). It’s also not impossible that WMYD takes The CW and snags a contract with one major-league team (e.g., the Pistons). Even if both stations acquire sports rights, I’m not sure if it makes sense for there to be two general entertainment independents in Detroit in this day and age (even-larger markets like New York, LA, Chicago and Philadelphia can make it work, but even that’s complicated to sustain there).

Scripps dumped MNTV clearly to extend WXYZ's news reach and flee from a filler network in MNTV and the station's Granite-era failures post-WB. They're not going to abandon that strategy if there's a shot to get the Pistons, Red Wings and/or Tigers on their air to boost their own news product, and I think Nexstar will end up sucking it up and dealing with WADL because it's that or HC2 in the Detroit market for them. I can definitely see a fair battle between Scripps and CBS to get the Red Wings/Tigers and/or Pistons though (Red Wings and Tigers will not be separated by Illich Holdings).

This is also a situation that is highly in flux. Long term, I just can’t exactly see Paramount operating stand-alone indies in markets like Tampa and Seattle. It IS possible that Paramount conducts an asset swap or two to better align things… say, giving WTOG and WBXI-LD to Tegna, Tegna gives CBS KHOU/KTBU and gives WFAA and KVUE to Cox, while Cox gives CBS KIRO-TV… or some level of horse trading to that effect. Simply selling them feels like a non-starter because taxes, plus Atlanta and Seattle are not easy to find a buyer for. Even if they run out this fall, for the short term, plugging in movies in primetime and reruns of Paramount Network and Paramount+ shows seems like a good enough concept. Supplement it with sports play-by-play, the CBS News Now hybrid and local renditions of KMAX’s Good Day. This can include Atlanta, even if CBS takes the affiliation in-house at channel 69. Nothing stopping them from buying a WTBS-LD and moving the new indie format to 6.1 and 69.2

Root Sports in Seattle is majority owned by the Mariners. I think the most likely outcome there is the Kraken buying WBD’s share and having a NESN joint ownership situation.

If I had to guess, WPHL, KQCA, and KRON are almost certain to pick up the CW. Two hours in prime time plus LIVGolf on weekends doesn’t drastically alter the schedules of those stations. As far as MyNet is concerned, would Fox even bother to look for another affiliate if they lose WPHL? They already don’t have an affiliate in Miami, and it’s not as though MyNet is much of a network anyway.

If you're bored, Diamond's full arguments are avaliable here https://cases.ra.kroll.com/DSG/Home-DocketInfo?DocAttribute=7617&DocAttrName=ADVERSARYNO.23-03071DIAMONDSPORTSNETARIZONA%2CLLCV.SUNSLEGACYPARTNERS%2CL.L.C.ETAL_Q&MenuID=19831&AttributeName=Diamond Sports Net Arizona%2C LLC v. Suns Legacy Par

I really don’t understand why no one else uses the cuts KPIX uses. This one could slot in for that Enforcer headline bed

A couple of additional points (from the article).... "The extensive rebranding effort comes as part of a broader strategic pivot for the network previously known for letting its anchors sound off about politics under former CNN President Jeff Zucker. Licht's mission is focused on offering viewers a more centrist perspective over the long term as the network heads into the 2024 election cycle — and avoiding getting pulled into the outrage machine." "Licht has asked producers to dial down the use of the descriptor "breaking news" because it is so overused it has lost its meaning, according to a memo obtained by Axios. He also discouraged them from referring to election denial as "the big lie" — preferring "Trump election lie" or "election lies" — because it was a phrase used by the Democratic Party, according to Mediaite." 'Zaslav has given Licht time to find his footing without the pressure of ratings scrutiny.' I will say I like were they're going with News Central and their attempt to contain 'opinion' to certain programs. Also, what they plan to do with the L3s sounds intriguing.

New CNN graphics are expected in June. The article is paywalled but here's the beginning of it: https://www.businessinsider.com/cnn-chris-licht-brand-refresh-ad-campaign-warner-bros-discovery-2023-5?utmSource=twitter&utmContent=referral&utmTerm=topbar&referrer=twitter Elegant. Hmm.

https://deadline.com/2023/05/cbs-stations-eight-drop-cw-go-independent-this-fall-1235357388/ Not a shock, but interesting in the cases of Seattle and Atlanta. I wonder what Paramount has planned for those stations.

The KMAX and WPSG situations are easy. KQCA and WPHL. Mind you, the latter is a MyNetwork affiliate owned by Nexstar.

CBS getting WSB in an asset swap would be the most insane thing ever and I can totally see it happening.

Somebody would probably want the spectrum... Also you've gotta love big corporations and their aversion to paying taxes. They'd rather be in a cash crunch than pay taxes!

The CW is losing good stations.

With Nexstar owning the CW, they may be in play to have drawn the short straw. With the implosion of the RSNs and the explosion of local news content, both are DVR-proof programming that can thrive on broadcast TV. Basically with Nexstar calling the shots at at the CW, they put themselves at a serious disadvantage without major investment from their former majority owners. The netlet era is over, unless Nexstar can find gold. So far it's a controversial golf league and an albatross news network. If they were smart they would be pursuing the soon-to-be available sports leagues that the RSNs can no longer afford. But of course the problem in all of this is retransmission revenue. The programming is so expensive so it's going to come back somehow... Likely in the form of a blackout come renewal time.

In Detroit, I really do think the CW will end up on Channel 20. I doubt it goes to 38. I also think we are going to see sports OTA again on WKBD 50. Furthermore, I do think we are going to see live newscasts again on Ch 50.

Most things on those independent stations is junk these days. I would love to go back to them showing live sports.

I would love to see the Tigers and Wings back on WKBD like many of the games prior to 2004. If a conflict happens, maybe WKBD could put said games on one of their subchannels. Not surprised about Paramount dropping their CW affiliations as they've been wanting out for awhile now.

Not to mention the article’s reference to CBSNS entertaining offering sports on the stations indicates it’s looking to poach some major professional sports teams from Bally Sports and AT&T SportsNet. Half of the affected markets have teams carried by networks owned by either group (Bally in three markets, AT&T in one), meaning Paramount is likely to scout for teams in Tampa, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Seattle, Philly, Sacramento and San Francisco are served by Root Sports Northwest and the NBC Sports Philadelphia, California and Bay Area channels, respectively. Though its less likely that WPSG can take the 76ers, Flyers and Phillies, KMAX can take the Kings, and KBCW can take the Giants, As, Sharks and Warriors for now, and the prospects of getting the Mariners and Kraken to be able to move to KSTW are unclear; NBCUniversal doesn’t seem to be getting out of the RSN business just yet and Root Sports’ status is questionable as while minority partner Warner Bros. Discovery is getting out of the RSN business, the Seattle Mariners majority own the network.

I honestly have a hard time seeing those stations losing the CBS affiliation, and their owners will probably try to package them to prevent it. The smartest move IMO for CBS is to sell the stations in those markets.

KRON has a 3 hour prime time News block from 8 to 11. KONG has a 2 hour news block at 9pm WPCH has a 2 hour news block at 9pm WATL has a 3 hour News block at 8pm WTTA has a 2 hour block of news at 8pm The question these stations need to ask is if low rated CW programming is more profitable that what they are already doing. With the election next year and the political spending going to be really high having complete ownership of your advertising is very significant (especially for the Atlanta stations considering Georgias swing state status). Personally I could only see KRON and WTTA adding CW, and that’s simply because nexstar will make them

I really think there could be some .2 situations, especially in Nexstar markets where they don't already have the CW.

They did make custom mods to the Scripps package for the opens (making them kinda similar to the KHON version of the KOIN Nexstar package):

When I was working there (I moved this past December) I did hear that they sort of piecemealed the design from other stations. It’s a rather small studio and there are support columns that couldn’t be moved so they had to work around those limitations. I did notice that there was a new open to the 6pm show on the night the set debuted but all the other shows are using the current Scripps look. Not sure if it was a test or something specially approved or what.

A lot of Gari's work (especially around that time) borrowed heavily from other Gari works... You can find parts of Eyewitness News in Empire and parts of Making a Difference in News Watch. It's how all the "Package with other signature" packages exist, they just drag 'n dropped the sequences around as needed. It certainly helped with marketing the packages as having "500 cuts!" even if a handful of them were noticeably identical to other packages. Nobody would have noticed or cared, and if you did find something that sounded too similar to something on a different station in town, you moved down the track list one or two tracks, and there was a version that sounded different enough.

So I sent the general manager of WJZ a tweet about when they are doing the switchover to the graphics. Kathy Hostetter, who is GM of WJZ said that it's coming but in "pieces" like they did in 2018 (when Audra Swain was GM). We are looking at a possible Late May - Early June arrival of "CBS News Baltimore" as stated by her. WJZ is so behind in the times. In the mornings, they have a bottom third with just weather and traffic. No news or sports report at the bottom. They don't even have a bottom third for their 4, 5, 6, and 7pm newscasts. Hopefully that changes with the changeover to "CBS News Baltimore." Now I did ask her about "THE CUBE." - The Cube is in fact gone and is now the weather center but it's only partially finished... there are some upgrades coming to the studio and the newsroom as well coming soon. One of the meteorologists (Steve Sosna) did complain that the weather center is underdeveloped and it totally is. It's very underdeveloped and looks like just "soundproof walling" and computer screens. Very lazy like. -- I think KOVR is going to beat WJZ to the punch.

They won't get anywhere as it is my understanding that their deal expired. Unless Diamond Sports has any options to renew the deal in their current contract, they're screwed. Bankruptcy courts will protect your position in current contracts that are in force, but they can't protect you in contracts that have expired.

don't think the viewers of the Colbert or Fallon are interested in Gutfeld or anything else on FNC

I’m well aware of that; I’m also aware that KPIX uses more than one cut.

The Pittsburgher in me is coming out saying: Can some of yinz stop complaining for once? Yes, WBBM pulling a WCBS isn't as exciting as exciting as them using call-letters would be. Just because the verbal branding hasn't changed doesn't mean the product itself is. And the mish-mash of the font for the 2's between the bug & website and the open is driving my graphic designer brain up a wall.

Hate it! Hate it! Nothing authentic about what WBBM did at all. KDKA, KYW, WCCO, and WWJ are all authentic! WBBM is just a mess.

The freaking desk.

Living in Baltimore and having WJZ stuck in the same standard Chroma Cues package for 20 years straight, this is leagues better.. Besides, WJZ is always the last to get upgrades, yet it is among the highest rated CBS Owned and Operated Stations.

I have mixed feelings about this... I knew WBBM was going to play it safe, but I'm disappointed they didn't take advantage of the new branding/graphics. They're treating things as if it's just another Wednesday (continuing to use/say CBS 2 News, no updates to the set, etc...) with a half-hearted mention of the new graphics and music before tossing to weather. Such a wasted opportunity.....

Good catch! Meanwhile, WCBS often incorrectly used the WBBM 2 in the previous look. Very similar but not the same!

WJZ needs to get with the program now.

Because no one gives a damn about that basic attention to detail. How can they be one of the last stations to switch, and look not at all ready? No updated video loop, the desk graphic in the same. Shall I continue? Points for not using the CBS Sports Los Angeles graphic, because the bar is just that low.

Goddammit. At least the CBS2 isn't still outlined...I guess?

WBBM has made the switch…

Not to get too off-topic, but they did a fairly decent job of making a small, cramped set look big.

Kait have switched logos and brought back K8 while keeping the current graphics package.

And on '07, Letterman and Ferguson were able to return sooner than the rest because World Wide Pants (Letterman's production company) owned the shows- not the networks and were able to create their own temporary agreement with the writers (Guessing Letterman himself must have funded that?). Not sure if any of the late night shows can pull that now with their respective networks owning production rights?

Technically, Sinclair only provides services to both WNBW and WGFL under a master services agreement. WNBW is owned by MPS Media and operated by New Age Media, and WGFL is owned by New Age Media. Back in 2013 Sinclair tried to acquire them, but there were too many conflicts in several of their markets, so they worked out in an arrangement to where either service agreements were started or non-license assets were moved or acquired. This is how the FOX affiliation moved from WDSI to WTVC 9.2 in Chattanooga as well as in Tallahassee where it moved from WTLH to WTWC 40.2. It's basically a complicated spiderweb so Sinclair can be involved without owning the stations outright.

They also have WOGX, which is semi satellite of WOFL

Combination of WCJB-TV being a 500 lb elephant in the market, and Gainesville being between Orlando and Jacksonville... and WJXT out of Jacksonville providing decent coverage.

It's hard to expect much in Market 203.

This makes sense given they brand their election coverage as 'America Decides'. Best to have all things political aligned in some way across all platforms. Didn't care for the Red & Blue moniker, if you will, anyway.

I'm not impressed but it is an improvement over the 100% virtual set they had before. EDIT: I was wondering who the two folks were on set... I just realized that's Chris Earl (formerly with KCRG) and Nadeen Yanes (formerly with WKMG). Woah.