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WMAR is already back to their regular schedule and Scrippscast like features on their livestream (including of the Key bridge story...not the time for this at all!) as WBAL and WJZ haven't left the live air since 2am, and WBFF is doing the best it can. This is about as much of an indictment on how bad Scripps has become and their generational neglect of WMAR as a whole.

WAVE is launching GrayONE an hour from now at 11/10c. They've been running promos teasing of it over the last week(s). As an aside, can we change the name of this thread to "The GrayONE-ification Thread" or something similar?

During the bridge collapse I found myself looking at Hearst's WBAL or turning to DC stations like WRC & WTTG because of the quality issues with the other three stations in Baltimore (CBS O&O, Scripps, Sinclair). It's crazy how much Scripps has fallen in such a short time that we could put them in the same sentence as Sinclair. Again, just looking at WPTV in the last 4-5 years is evidence. Scripps is quickly becoming a cheaper version what CBS O&Os often are --- coorperate and lacking local flavor.

To add to what @Abraham J. Simpson said, it wasn't just channel 6. Each Philly station sent reporters down. It happens on any major story between D.C. and New York. It doesn't take long driving between each of the 4 major cities, and it's more freedom to get stories on your own, than depending on other sources, in addition to providing extended coverage for national & international news agencies. Local out of town reporters were in Philly for some big stories recently, including the Fairmont Fire, and the I-95 bridge fire & collapse.

They have two reporters on site, and perhaps they are reporting for other affiliates. Regardless, it is a story with major implications for the economy, and we're not that far away that sending a couple of reporters to provide coverage is an issue. They can take the national stuff, but there's value in having a recognized part of the team there early on.

We can revisit this road forever but why the NBC brass broke up an iconic pairing? To this day I still don't know. I dont think it was ratings so it "must be the money" to quote Nelly lol. Its pretty telling that none of his anchor pairings after Sue (as great as Shiba and Sibila were) lasted long. Hopefully Natalie lasts long. As much as I love Chuck's straight non emotional/non editorial news persona, Sue's peronality made the pairing complete and livened him at times. She (and Roz Abrahms & Brenda Blackmon) should still be working today, if at least on the weekends. Back to Chuck, wishing him good health and I hope he takes the job to the end.

Last night during the 5 pm hour, they showed one of Chuck's long form reports (I miss those, it is what made News4 special in the 80s) where he reported on the B17 bombers, and found a person who flew with his dad, then allowed them to have a reunion. A touching story of the life of WW2 bombers and their post war lives. I assume we will see more of that tonight as well. They also seem to be making a concerted effort of including Sue Simmons, either mentioning her, stories with her and pieces of Chuck's interview with her. No matter how messy her departure was, you can never take away the great Chuck & Sue pairing and was a big part of Chuck's success & longevity.

Love that WNBC is dipping into the archives for Chuck! Take your daughter to work day (Mid 90s) Chuck and Sue dancing (1980s)

Don Alhart has the record (57 years).

It's too bad Sue is not there with him to celebrate, but that is the nature of the business. We'll see if Chuck makes the record for 57 years! Also here is a recent interview with Sue from Newsday: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/sue-simmons-chuck-scarborough-wnbc-ppsgedjt

2 Pac After Dark

The problem with Scripps stations like Fox 4 Ft Myers removing all talent (minus weather) from newscasts its that they're axing some of tv's last stand--personality. In the era of information overload where you can get news from anywhere, WHO is giving you the news definitely draws an audience. I used to tease my mom for always turning in to a specific channel to see a specific weather man when all stations give the same forecast. But that's what gives tv stations and talent power---the ability to command an audience.

In Canada, CityNews has new look. A major departure from previous formats. They now have new set, which ditched the standing anchor format. Honestly why.

They went the ABC O&O route with their 10-day

In Baltimore (like Pittsburgh) the Hearst station is the only operation with a helicopter. The impact on the Key Bridge coverage is glaring. How long until CBS sees the error of its ways?

I’ve been watching WBAL today (I don’t have any reason otherwise to watch Baltimore news). WBAL is a really good news operation. Polished reporters and some veterans who I can tell still know the art.

FIFY

Why did 6ABC send a reporter down to Baltimore to report on the bridge collapse? It looked like they were just on the side of some random road. Won't there be enough coverage nationally?

To your point — looking at the Baltimore DMA, community first (and station ownership) must definately play a role. Here, the Hearst owned NBC: WBAL 11 is the market leader. It's competition must definately play a role: *CBS's WJZ, Sincalir's Fox 45, and Scripps' WMAR (ABC, 2). All three of those are weak product station owners.

If I remember correctly, Chuck didn’t do much to move the needle at WNBC. It was the addition of Sue and their pairing that made 4 a ratings contender.

Story from today about Chuck commemorating today's anniversary at the Empire State Building. With a Sue Simmons cameo:

Another 90-day extension between the two parties... (which, again, considering the FCC news last week feels like a moot point to close the deal) https://thedesk.net/news/wadl-termination-date-mission-extended-june-fcc/

I don't see Nexstar/Mission fighting for Detroit Kevin Adell blew it just like blowing that CBS deal in 94.

This is the 50 Years With WNBC promo. WNBC-DT_20240325_1129.mp4

Looks like WAVE is next on the list!

Haha FTVlive also made this point

KDNL FOX 30 News Extra 1993 KMOV News 4 St. Louis 1993 WFTV space shuttle challenger coverage 1986 (begins at 1:00:35) KSBW Action News promo 1987 WTNH Action News Late Edition 1988 WXIX FOX 19 Headline Report 1992 KOIN 6 News 1994 KGW Northwest Newschannel 8 1995

Interesting that Nexstar claims that Mission Broadcasting is somehow an independent entity when the CEO of Nexstar's son was hired as a sports reporter!

NYC market is 6ish% of the country, and WPIX transmits on VHF, so there is no 50% UHF discount (which is dumb in the digital world because PSIP and transmitter frequency are no longer tied and UHF signals perform better than VHF with digital transmission) So, the answer is variable, depending on their strategy to get as close to the cap as possible, but if they divest from the smallest markets they own, it would be a decent number. That's assuming every appeal goes poorly for them, the FCC makeup doesn't change due to a change in which party is in the White House, and ownership rules don't change during the appeals process. Also, this is a notice of apparent liability. So, in theory, the FCC could change its mind. Don't hold your breath, is all I'm saying.

FCC has rules Mission (Nexstar) must sell PIX11 within a year. Nexstar has been fined as well for essentially being over the ownership limit. If Nexstar wants to keep the station they’ll need to sell others to stay under the cap. Good to see this side car crap finally got called out https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-orders-mission-to-sell-wpix-fines-nexstar-dollar18-million

Besides weather basically Scrippscast can be put together on a Tuesday to be aired on a Friday, there is very very little current event, breaking news being reported on.

Sue leaving I believe was budget cuts with NBC 2.0. These cuts hit at every level of NBC Universal. They kept Chuck since he was more willing to be promotions, projects and other things. Sue mostly just anchored at that point.

Looks like the end of ESPN’s tenure with MLB is coming sooner than later.

The best stations seem to thrive in spite of their networks, bad syndication breaks, and ownership initiatives, which is certainly being proven by the Coxpollo and Hearst ABC'ers, but it certainly helps if your station builds around the community first rather than the network that carries it, which WDJT and WANF have found out and WWJ is learning to do now. Meanwhile in reverse WWL-TV seemed to turn their back on NOLA when Gannett/Tegna took over (including the inexplicable "CBS This Morning" set emulation which backfired the moment they had to move the local morning show to WUPL) and WVUE is thriving on what used to be 4's bread and butter by just embracing the city and the Saints. And even though it has to deal with Sinclair, KUTV still manages to put out a good product which is strong against KSL and KSTU, while KTVX never seemed to find its way once non-local ownership muddled and meddled it to death; it certainly didn't help that its ownership pre-Nexstar was more used to running independent/UPN stations than a network affiliate.

Congratulations, CityNews for finally giving your talent chairs to sit in while on camera after almost fifty years! Now we just need to get the rest of the industry to knock off this 'standing while anchoring' idiocy.

The court has thrown out DirecTV's anti-trust lawsuit against Nexstar/Mission/White Knight.