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I am watching CBS News Detroit right now and Karen is still there. She is pregnant. Guess she is on maternity leave and just came in to do the weather today.

It should also be pointed out that Hearst is a private company, so if it was a waste of money, we'll never know or need to care and obviously the Watermans wanted a steward, not a repeat of Jim Rogers's wishes being completely disregarded by his family for some quick Sinclair cash. I tend to put Hearst in a completely different container than most of the public broadcast groups simply because they do quality things that would be shot down by shareholders and seem to still think of the public as their actual customers as far as television and print, along with online.

One of them would have to blink first and hope the other two don't wipe the floor with them.

It doesn't appear NBC will be cutting back in prime time programming from recent reports. Also, they plan on getting NBA rights back. With that, it will help them reduce their scripted programming and allow them to shift shows to other nights where they don't have sports programming.

Whoops. I think I made an calculation error.

The second theme is arguably a lot catchier so it should be an upgrade.

That was SCHURZ Communications.

It's less funnier for me as an Missourian to see Alpha Media do these changes because they could change WIBW-AM in nearby Kansas at any moment and how they are literally erasing anything local to their stations in Missouri. That and Townsquare literally turning in radio stations to the FCC and/or shutting then down. So yea, I'd expect the FCC to do nothing about the ownership caps for TV but will for radio even if it might be controversial. And again, at least some buyers exists for Television that isn't God-Broadcasters. Radio however, not so much.

For what it's worth, I don't necessarily think it's the solution as much as I think it is the likely outcome. We, and the FCC, can continue to dream that all these local investors are going to come out of the woodwork to buy up these stations, but we continue to see the opposite of that happening as the small, local owners continue to sell out (i.e. WBBH). Some of these stations have already sold off their towers, and I really wonder how long it will be until you start seeing companies wanting to sell off the transmitter itself... Setting up something similar to the UK's broadcasting system where the transmission is contracted out to Arqiva. Especially as the bean counters at these groups love not owning things, and nobody seems particularly interested in doing anything useful with ATSC 3.0... It might be more "economical" to go through another round of spectrum auctions with the caveat that some will remain for television, and Crown Castle or whoever can buy that up and rent out the space to everyone else. We're already kind of seeing this with the post-repack channel shares out there, and ATSC 3 is primed to consolidate much of a market into a handful of frequencies.

I don't think they're filling in for free. Whether or not they're getting paid salary or not, I would assume they would get some kind of bonus for doing the extra work, besides getting the national exposure.

The race is usually blacked out live locally.

Funny enough KABC was really late to the NS2000+ scene...didn't pick it up until around 1990, so only had it about 4 years. Before that it was Cool Hand Luke opens plus their own synth version of Cool Hand Luke for the bumpers and close dating back to the mid 80s. For this month's update maybe there was some research or thought that the teletype sound has some brand equity among Angelinos or nostalgia among the staff. At least when they ran their anniversary clips I remember something about the Cool Hand Luke music being in there more than I thought it would. Going back to 99 when WABC picked up v2 of the EWN package they really amped up the teletype sound that got diminished when they moved from the CHL based package in 94.

Hearst buying WBBH is a unique one off, if you look at the demographics of SW Florida it’s very old, it’s the only demo that’s watches tv news and subscribe to cable in large numbers. Ft Myers is still a fast growing area. Just going by news ratings and how many people are watching in the market it’s likely far larger than its 55 ranking, possibly 5-10 rankings higher. Local news pay is really bad and in ft Myers for all stations especially WBBH it’s even worse. There is a bunch of injury lawyers and shady home remodelers in SW florida that purchases ads that make WBBH very profitable. Hearst isn’t going to buy your guys pet stations from owners that you don’t like. There is no one that’s going to purchase tv stations and “invest” in tv news in 2024 we are long past that point.

Agreed. Should it happen, it will likely be part of a larger bill related to FCC rules and regulations. I'd compare it to the FAA reauthorization law that passed earlier this month, where lawmakers added five daily long-distance flights out of slot/perimeter restricted National Airport just outside DC. A small piece of a must-pass bill that got more noise than more consequential parts of the law, and was heavily lobbied for by an industry with a few big players. (In this case, most airlines that aren't named United, which wanted to protect its hub at nearby Dulles airport.)

Funny to see that everyone on here almost universally pans KABC's switch to WABC music. I agree, but I can't help but wonder whether we might all have thought differently had they made these changes 10-15 years ago when CBS was similarly standardizing around the WCBS look. The WABC cut of Eyewitness News has become so recognizable with WABC for us that it feels wrong to hear it in Southern California. But, it's probably one of those things that doesn't matter a whole lot at this point. Most viewers are only watching for 5-10 minutes at a time at most, so who cares what the open music sounds like these days.

And here it is. 2 different music packages used during one (extended) close:

Exactly. With all of the stuff going on in the world right now, I don't think in any way, Joe Biden is going to focus on the ownership caps.

I'm just gonna put this in the most blunt way possible: I do not expect "the cap" to survive under any political regime for much longer. It is a dinosaur. You can make a convincing case to either "side" as to why it needs to go away. It's been 20 years since Congress last meddled with it, it's just going to take one of the not-Sinclair groups to make a stink about it to the right people. It's a dated method of calculating "reach" in a world where everyone is connected to everything. I've theorized before that this isn't going to start from a company wanting to buy more stations, but a company trying to sell stations and not finding a buyer. Sinclair begging to raise the cap so they can buy more hits a lot differently than, say, Disney saying they can't sell the O&O group because nobody who wants to buy it can because of the cap. The ownership cap on television stations is the least of Biden's worries. I really don't think the general public cares all that much.

Not even Pax TV got to own all its affiliates. The dream of the CW being all O&Os doesn't sound feasible to me. Again, I point to UPN. After Viacom bought Paramount, they dumped all their NBC and CBS affiliates to make room for more UPN affiliates. If you want to own a network you had better go all-in on it.

IMO, CBS Local and National don't necessarily need to be under one brand. I get why CBS is doing this because they need something to boost their station's performances. The brand unification would be better if national CBS's product (outside of 60 Mins/Sunday Morning) were stronger. As I've said before, I think the national/local synergy is hurting CBS O&Os as it further rips them of local flavor. In contrast, Fox O&Os are especially adept taking the adding local spice to the corperate station blueprint. That being said I do love seeing the national talent anchoring the local newscasts.

Things are getting a little off track here... Hearst rarely buys stations, and just blew $220 million on a station in a market where $220 million is a... questionable amount to pay for a TV station. I'm not so sure they'd still be in a buying mood, and I'm also not sure why people see this as the golden opportunity for Hearst to enter the market... This company has had operations in New York City since long before anyone even thought of the concept of television. I feel like they have had numerous better opportunities in much better market conditions to make that happen. In all likelihood, a forced sale of WPIX would probably result in Nexstar dumping some underperforming stations (I'm sure they have a few) to get them back under the cap to own WPIX outright. They've invested far too much in WPIX to let it go elsewhere.

Hearst being the same company that created "yellow journalism" by it's founder, William Randolph Hearst. And another pillar of early journalism, Scripps being a pioneer in ways that can be respected or reviled.... If Sinclair is still around next century, will they be a respected company? And Nexstar compared to these is an upstart company that was founded in 1996. Perry Sook worked menial roles at stations like WOWK and WPXI during the late 70s and early 80s.

How in the Florida was WBBH an 'waste of money' for Hearst? Hearst acquired it and WZVN because Waterman Broadcasting wanted to sell the stations off before Edith Waterman turned 100. And plus, it isn't an 'waste of money'. it's in 2nd place behind WINK-TV (Channel 11), ONWED by the family of the founder of the ORIGINAL CLEVELAND BROWNS, Mickey McBride. Also, I like how no-one even notices that WZVN, albeit owned by Montclair Communications, is operated by Hearst.

WPIX is a V. They own a ton of Ion stations that take up a lot of cap space for them. Though they might not have to unload too many stations given that all WPIX would do would double WPXN's cap hit.

Remember just six years ago after closing on Media General, he killed Hollywood Today Live, not because of its terrible and anemic ratings, but only because of its Hollywood and Highland rent cost and talent. But NewsNation is fine because it uses existing video from affiliates, existing sets and infrastructure at PIX Plaza and the WGN bunker, and depends on talent that costs a third of the major network news divisions. There are no designs on it topping FNC, nor most of its stations; if they lead, that's sadly just a bonus, and outside a few stations were local management are ensconced and still fighting, it's about getting all the RTC possible, not pulling a WCIA and pissing off their COLs by criticizing local municipalities, and just getting by with finances to the point staff doesn't start circulating union voting petitions. The only visionary thing Perry has at this point is skating by on a 2003 business model in 2024 somehow. And lord, I've been taking a bunch of studio pictures to upload to Wikipedia; the most depressing and poorly-maintained facilities I've seen are universally Nexstar studios. Outside Gray's WGGB with a slightly faded front sign that I can't knock because it'll be changed and the actual building is fine, along with WFSB (their lighted '3' needs a refacing), the disappointment of seeing how much maintenance has been deferred outside the WWLP and WJET/WFXP studios was saddening on my last trip. I couldn't even watch WFXP in Erie because Mission is STILL in a fight with DirecTV involving RTC a year and a half later; at this point when do you just give the hell up on Mission and DT2 those affiliations a la Sinclair, because you're just pointlessly pissing off willing viewers over petty matters.

The way Scripps stock has tanked ($3/share), I can't see them being a buyer. They are far more in selling condition. Don't be surprised if that happens. WPIX would make sense for Hearst since they don't own a station in their HQ market. Graham would be weird. They don't own many stations and their only non-big 3 station is JXT which is news heavy and is a duopoly with WCWJ.

All of this. I'm not seeing why it matters how different stations in different markets having the same general look and feel is an issue. Viewers aren't watching out of market news. And for the fraction of a fraction of people who travel to the other city and happen to watch the news there, that has no negative impact.

I would love to see this and have it be a happy medium. I really wish NBA Finals rights were split with NBC on every year that ESPN has Stanley Cup Finals because ESPN is horrible in their coverage but like I said in an earlier comment ESPN prioritizes the NBA over all of their properties outside of MNF and College Football.

They had good business reasons for doing so. The CW served its purpose and as the respective companies went through their own changes (good, bad and otherwise), it became apparent the that purpose was not a priority. That's ok, priorities change. If Nester was there to pony up the price and get them out of managing a business that didn't really fit their strategic plans, good for them.

Yeah not sure I understand all the bemoaning. Was there confusion on what a station group mandate was?

WBD & Paramount all but gave up on the CW in 2019 when they ended the Netflix deal and stopped selling CW shows oversees. They are the ones that set the CW down it's current path. Had Nexstar (or someone else) not assumed the network's $100 mil. debt in 2022/23, the CW likely wouldn't exist today. I say this to say, that even if all three companies (WBD/Paramount/Nexstar) been equal partners, you still would need all three to be fully invested in the success of CW. It's clear that WBD and Paramount could care less about the network which leaves Nexstar to have to shoulder everything alone. Yes they could have made more of an effort to keep/buy more expensive/higher quality programs, but again, if your main programming suppliers (WBD and Paramount) aren't willing to work with you, what can you do?????

If an average joe doesn't pay attention, they don't know what WABC is. Stand out more among who? Nobody but us would be watching multiple ABC O&Os at once, and everything outside of the opens are similar enough to the old look that those same average joes won't really notice, so nobody should be confusing them with any of their LA competitors. As for the shade of blue, that's just what it is. Opportunities to customize the package are based on literally any other accent element that isn't the primary blue pieces. Look at the CBS package, the in-show branded bugs have been seen in blue, red, orange, green, gold, black, and even purple, but the standard lower third doesn't change. Same thing for ABC, but they're blue.

Nexstar doesn't have guarantees on Adell's loans, nor does Nexstar have a purchase option on WADL like Mission has on their stations.

Why does Matthew Keys even give Kevin Adell the time of day? This moron did just as much to torpedo this deal as the FCC did, he'll be lucky not to lose WADL in bankruptcy to a Godcaster.

Also, a little note, some of Mission Broadcasting's first stations were actually operated by Sinclair until 2001. 1.) I didn't say anything else. Anyway, I really think Mission was bored into how long it was for them. Ah yes, LMA. (Especially for the conflict because of WPIX, really Adell?)

WAAY was a Raycom/Calkins overlap. Nexstar had to sell WFFT and WTHI as overlaps from the Media General buyout. I'm not sure why they dumped KQTV and forewent KIMT and WLFI but I guess every little bit of cap room helped.

Paramount and WBD should have only sold a combined 33% of their stakes in The CW to Nexstar, rather than giving up all but 25% of the network. By offloading the majority of the network to Nexstar, the company’s strategy for The CW seems to hinder it more in the name of making it profitable while making it more difficult for the network to make it into the black (even though they claim it’s slashed the network’s operating deficits, while simultaneously stating that the network’s revenue will soon no longer be disclosed publicly) by driving away its existing audience through the replacement of its more costly but better produced shows with low-cost fare and imports that make it less competitive with the Big Four. It makes you wonder what the network would look like under a Paramount/WBD/Nexstar equal partnership. Would the programming be much like the CW pre-Nexstar or a hybrid of the old and new formats?

Not sure why this continues to be a discussion. NBC Universal killed the idea a while ago. If one of the full networks decides to do this (I would bet on ABC first as a cost cutting move). then it is worth the discussion. Sorry. And why so much about Kansas City? It's all speculative.

Despite the fact KMBC is the market leader, WDAF is considered an strong 2nd place, with the 9pm timeslot being considered an leader due to the longevity (WDAF started an prime-time newscast in 1994)

Locally in Kansas City, if any and I will repeat this literally ANY Television station tries to put an 9pm newscast on thier main channel or if they are in a duopoly, the secondary channel, it WILL get defeated by WDAF-TV (A FOX AFFILIATE) because Channel 4 just have the experience with an 9pm newscast SINCE 1994. It doesn't even care if it's Channel 9, 5, or 41, it will lose against Channel 4. That's an local, but important example why the Plan B wouldn't be an More News situation.

If they have to CW+ cable-only those markets it'll be devastating, and you know cable/streaming companies would want a big cut to take a market-only channel like that in 2024.

I'm guessing they wanted a partner in North Carolina; WCCB was willing to take it and had the flexibility to schedule a limited-run show. Nexstar may make a lot of questionable choices, but they aren't going to enter into new contracts for limited-run external news programming in a world where NewsNation could do something similar, with all the potential revenue staying inside the company.

Huh, it's weird that they wouldn't re-acquire WDAF.

WDAF would have been kept by Sinclair, but other Tribune stations were slated to be sold to Fox including KCPQ, WJW, KSTU, KTXL, KSWB, and WSFL. https://sbgi.net/sinclair-provides-additional-information-about-agreements-to-sell-tv-stations-related-to-closing-tribune-media-acquisition/ It would have been interesting had WSFL actually wrestled away FOX from WSVN. But now, it's a soon-to-be independent owned by Scripps.

WGN literally killed the whole deal because of how they tried to pass it off. Even if they sold it to the station's janitor, it was the selling amount that set off the alarm bells with the FCC. Also, FOX was threatening to pull their affiliations in the markets they once had O&Os. A side effect of this deal would have been many of the former O&Os going back to Fox in order to pacify FOX so that Sinclair didn't dwarf them. Fox was well aware of Sinclair's news aspirations. Nexstar snuck theirs in after they got Tribune and WGN America, and now they're a minimal threat.

If you look at the schedule though, which has been wrong as of late; currently they seem to be carrying older Sony Black sitcoms and random infomercials on the ex-BNC cable feed, and the stream has a random Serena Williams documentary. Something is going on when you get three different programs on three different ways to watch the same network.

I`m not sure it was the first. but Tom York's Morning Show on WBRC might be in the running, having also started in 1957. Unlike WFMY's show it is no longer on the air, having ended in 1989. If you were looking at the first local morning show, you'd have to go with one that had news but was more or less a comedy show. That was Ernie Kovacs' 3 To Get Ready on WPTZ (now KYW) in Philadelphia. The success of that show prompted Pat Weaver to create the Today show, which wasn't strictly a news program in the Dave Garroway era.

Best implementation of the package: WPVI-TV - Philadelphia. Biggest disappointment of the package: KABC-TV moving to the WABC-TV music package. Overall, it's a very nice and clean package. -- Matt

I agree. This package was an upgrade for the visually stunted WABC but a downgrade for KABC & KGO that already had solid appearances. I did like that the ABC O&Os — despite duplicating ABC 7 Eyewitness News in multiple cities —let each station still maintain some uniqueness. As someone said, the average viewer doesn't care... but us niche crowd comes here to harpe about these things lol.

Yeah it's a done deal. They've adopted WABC's style. I guess to be fair KABC's outgoing theme (New Generation 2) that was customized for them by the Gari Media Group was in use since 2012 so just over 10 years. Original Eyewitness News New Generation Theme (2008 - 2012) Eyewitness News New Generation 3 or 4? (2012 to 2024) The final days of their outgoing theme: Would've been so fitting to see them keep these light blue colors and the music for their new package. That would've really make them stand out more. They were also the first station to adopt the original NG theme. In 2008 during the "going HD" era. WABC chose to stick with Series 4 theme they've kept their music since September 1998 (25+ years). Which is why it's so odd to see palm trees associated with the Series 4 variation in the new KABC open it, seems out of place. If an average joe doesn't pay attention they can easily be mistaken for WABC: In my opinion the Series 4 theme should've been exclusive to the New York market to solidify both stations unique identity. The outgoing more upbeat lighter NG theme was more suited for the more chill Los Angeles market. But I digress! I guess I just really miss their outgoing NG cuts and theme lol . They seem to be having issues with the audio though this morning the closing cut didn't play. Above is the morning show clips from FATV with the WABC theme. The graphics also just don't match the light blue nature of the set, they should've just kept the background more of a light blue as well, overall I think KABC rollout of this look is the most lackluster of them all.