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please give Robin Meade her job back! Robin Meade is amazing!

Ted Turner for CEO

I honestly thought - due to his previous work - that Licht would be a great fit for CNN, but I was wrong. Here's hoping the next leader will really improve the network. But at this point, it feels like a longshot.

The "folksy" tone of the show was a double-edged sword. It was that warm approach that made it a "success" on HLN but it is also why it was never considered a fit for the mothership. I put success in quotes because its ratings were good...for HLN...but the expectations for that channel were always lower than main CNN. The tenor of Morning Xpress was always lighter than the more serious tone CNN wanted through numerous iterations of New Day. Now, you could make the case constant anchor changes, set changes, etc. never really moved the needle against Fox & Friends and Morning Joe so why not try something different. But sadly, I don't see it happening. I don't see MSNBC making any adjustments because of CNN. They have been giving Fox a run for its money since Tucker's departure. (Obviously that has more to do with FNC's stumble but hey an opportunity is an opportunity) So, I don't see them adjusting anything because of a distant third-place CNN. If anything, they should focus on what (if anything) they can do to break FNC's long run atop the weekly ratings.

KCAL's is nice. KYW's is great. I doubt WCBS is going to debut anything remotely poor.

It’s about to get ugly.

Licht is officially out.

That is terrible.

WLUC in Marquette upgraded to these just a couple years ago... It's bad enough they can't decide on a temperature for the 7-Day... But heck anything that Gray offers now would be a vast improvement.. Especially since WJMN and WZMQ have better graphics...

The deal has fallen through https://inforum.com/business/forum-communications-planned-purchase-of-kvrr-tv-in-fargo-kqds-tv-in-duluth-falls-through?fbclid=IwAR1FO4E8VRwnFGHpD8Itig8SzTiklH6PbJ9CNEpLWABHheHB6-H-2Hbl9tI_aem_th_AYT-VNOjffSwi2wh6P6nXaKGKwZCtz0MhX8d18RDM__eZybQgMnwawLbf-ygLk0qtww&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

I obviously have no experience running a cable network, but as a viewer what I think Licht needed to do was: -bring back the CNN Newsroom look for dayside -stop mega focusing on one subject -keep Trump coverage brief and non-partisan -diversify network coverage outside of politics, climate change, and the usual stuff -Allow some CNN International material to air domestically (during the daytime and night) -get rid of problematic commentators and keep opinionated content (if any) in primetime to compete with MSNBC and FOX. -have that primetime opinionated block me a mix of conservative, liberal and independent/libertarian voices - poach *good* ex-jornalists (I'm talking like Ann Curry or Elizabeth Veargas *both too good for CNN* not Chris Cuomo)

Meet the Press will NEVER be what it was when Tim Russert moderated the show

https://deadline.com/2023/06/chuck-todd-meet-the-press-kristen-welker-1235404310/ Todd will depart in September and will be succeeded by Welker - Chief White House Correspondent, co-anchor of Saturday Today and his MTP Now co-host.

Mary Calvi just announced on the noon newscast that big changes are coming as they are updating their news set. They are on a temporary set until the set is finished. The new set will be unveiled at the end of the month.

Well, that was fun while it lasted. Just kidding. It's kind of a shame, really. Licht is, by all accounts, an exceptionally successful and creative producer, having essentially resurrected three different shows on three different networks from near death to successes in their own right. In some ways, he was set up to fail: he came in replacing a predecessor (Zucker) who was terminated but incredibly popular among CNN staff, and then immediately after he was named CEO, Licht shut down CNN+ right after it launched, executed rounds of company layoffs, and fired several on-air talents, all at the behest of his boss, Zaslav. The Trump town hall, which irked many CNN staffers too, was no doubt encouraged or approved by Zaslav, too. But, yes, Licht also made his own fair share of unforced errors, and by his statements in the Atlantic article, he had lost all support from his staff.

so is Saudi Arabia money dirty or not? you make it sound like the SG/TEGNA deal's dirty money mattered and this doesn't.

That would actually make sense, it wouldn’t do any worse in the ratings and it would bring a certain level of comfort to the executives, knowing she and her team are more than capable and they wouldn’t have to worry about any unfavorable press with them. Im also wondering if MSNBC is smart enough to take advantage of CNN’s down position and make any changes to primetime or weekends ahead of the election year, seems like a great time for MSNBC to tidy up the network while CNN is a mess.

Wow. Didn't see that coming. The "old" set held up well. Still better than a lot of the NYC stations.

I still laugh at the people who were trying to turn this into this being about Saudi involvement. Like nobody would ever dream of taking dirty money in this country. (Not saying Saudi money is dirty, but that's what they were trying to make it sound like.) All this time it was about squashing a competitor, which is what I said in the first place. I want you all to remember how you were used and now apply this lesson to everything else you hear in the media, especially when it comes from Washington.

Is this the forrmer CBSN New York set (sans that brickwall set up in the background)?

Nexstar may be cheap, but they’re not stupid lol

Zaslav was doing the micromanaging, correct?

Somewhat doubtful. Gayle likely only agreed to do the show as a favor to Licht. Now that he's gone; not sure she would want to continue as she doesn't need the money nor the extra workload. Charles signed a huge new deal that WBD will want to get their monies worth some how from him. A lot will depend on when a new leader is named. My guess is sometime in August or September. Can't see a ton of people jumping at the chance to run CNN and be micro-managed 24/7. And with a temporary quadfecta of people currently running things, I would assume no big decisions will be made anytime soon.

CNN is so screwed up right now (along with WarnerDiscovery) it would almost make sense for Nexstar to just give up on NewsNation and take CNN, and maybe a few more networks off of WarnerDiscovery's hands. The implosion of cable TV is imminent, and Nexstar could get these networks on the cheap. Then again, Perry being Perry, he'll make the same mistake Sinclair did with the former Fox RSNs and overvalue them to the point companies drop them and we have another Bally's situation...

After reading that article, the biggest red flag for me is that I don't understand Licht's vision for CNN. What is the mission and purpose of the news organization? A clear mission statement is often a rallying point for culture change. After spending time with that lengthy profile, you don't walk away with a crystal-clear picture of where he wants to take the channel. I understand what he's against, like boxes...he hates boxes to the point that the control room can say it in unison. He seemingly spends a lot of time trashing anything that was built in Zucker's vision. Fine. You don't like how he managed the channel. But what is your vision? Staff and ultimately viewers need more than a generic "under new management" type message. Here's the unfortunate reality for CNN; the competition has defined identities, and they don't. MSNBC captured the liberal lane. FOX, from its inception, laid claim to the conservative lane. So that leaves CNN to claim the middle. While the center of the ideological spectrum is a huge potential audience, it isn't exactly an audience that shows up night after night for cable news. The other two channels have built in audiences looking to see what mud their favorite host is going sling in the opposite direction. To me, the middle isn't a long-term solution. You are just Fox lite to one group and you are MSNBC lite to the other. Stand for something different! In my opinion, CNN should transform its primetime into storytelling and original reporting. Two of the most watched shows on television (broadcast or cable) are 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. Each do in-depth original reporting and that old-school style reporting gets people talking. And given CNN doesn't have the same time constraints as 60 minutes, you could air the report and then bring the reporter (and other appropriate guests) in for a debrief. Plus, it gets you out of covering politics every night. This is a huge country, there are plenty of stories to tell beyond the political ones. That is just one of a dozen different directions CNN could go. It is a costly and time-intensive idea, so it might not feasible. But at least it is a clear vision, something in 15,000 words I didn't get from the head of CNN.

The press release made it sound like the LIV Tour would continue as an independent tour under this new PGA/PIF consortium. However, if prominent LIV golfers switch back to the PGA Tour, I don’t know how that format sustains itself unless it’s some sort of second-tier tour. In any case, the PGA gets a massive cash infusion and the Saudis can exert their soft power over the PGA itself. The broadcasters must be fuming right now.

Personally I really miss good investigations of consumer issues like pricing and grocery store issues, but Food Lion and Pink Slime pretty much scared ABC and NBC into full time crime on their newsmagazines, and you don't see CBS even cover many of those stories any longer.

Quite the contrary. This is the Saudi's basically buying control of world golf.

Nope. They weren’t privy to the merger. Broadcasters aren’t all-knowing, all-seeing overlords of the leagues they broadcast. Even the players were blindsided.

I say that because most times you turn on the news you hear the same subjects: immigration, healthcare, climate change, and politics. While those issues are important, there's certainly more to fill up a newscast. Years ago I saw a story about kidnapped children in Africa (not the bring back our girls story) on PBS' BBC World News America. In contrast, all the other nightly newscasts were glued to Trump. Unfortunately it would take an industry wide moving away from politics in order to force audiences into different news consumption habits. If CNN continues with panel discussions have it be thoughtful conversation and not argumentative scream television. (...And I don't mean put together an MSNBC panel where like minded people parrott each other) The CNN documentaries are pretty good. I suppose I'm dreaming of pre late 2000s CNN when you got actual serious news coverage. *edited because of voice to speech errors

Howzabout we cut back on the random time slot drops until stations release/announce their full schedules, closer to fall? And when that starts to happen, someone can create the 2023-24 thread, and we can close up this topic.

I'm surprised that WBNX hasn't put out there fall schedule yet since there always the first to release what will be on for the fall, even know I don't live in Cleveland.

It will be interesting to see if MTP will improve under Welker. While I'm sure Chuck is a good guy, he was never that great of a moderator, and I know people from across the political spectrum were critical of him. I figured Welker would be promoted eventually after moderating a presidential debate. While I don't think anyone can replace Tim, hopefully Welker's an improvement.

Long overdue but hopefully this will be a good change. I would’ve preferred someone who is actually independent and a true moderator, since Chuck has blurred that line, but those days seem to be long gone. It will be interesting to see who they chose to replace Kristen on Saturday Today.

Comscore recently released a blog detailing TV ratings in the Atlanta market, and it seems to back up the notion of WANF beating WXIA. If you scroll down to "Top Five Broadcast Networks (by Rating), you'll see WANF in third, beaten by WSB and WAGA, but ahead of WXIA (fifth place, incidentally, went to the local MeTV affiliate rather than any of the indies or WUPA*). *Yes, I'm including WATL among the indies; MyNetworkTV is hardly a network at all, just an NBC rerun farm in all but actual ownership

I do recall at least part of the Media General look with Counterpoint. I believe 6 and 11 newscasts used Media General. 5 pm ("First at Five") had different graphics.

I miss Tim Russert and the days when Meet the Press was worth watching

Never trust a guy who combs it forward.

Pretty sure “budget constraints” was not the real reason.

CBS just laid off a ton of design staffers at the O&O level and announced the creation of a centralized design unit. They recently hired someone from outside CBS to be a vp/station group design. A ton of very talented local art directors, designers, and Chyron folks got kicked to the curb today with no notice. Rumor has it the creative services producers are next on the chopping block.

It isn't dirty money for every place else they spend it. It isn't dirty for Tiffany's, it isn't dirty when some sheik has have his cancer cured at the Mayo Clinic, it isn't dirty when they buy F16's from us, but it's dirty for something as insignificant as golf? The people who allowed themselves to get sucked into the propaganda that Saudi involvement was somehow dirty were just basically puppets and used by the PGA and the networks. That's the bottom line.

I just realized why the new 3 for KYW looked familiar... It's used by Sinclair's KTVO