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One of the perhaps challenging things is to step back from being an “insider” and the tendency to minimize or explain away audience tastes and preferences as them just being misinformed, or not exposed to the “right/better” way. Quality is often more subjective than we give it credit for. We dismiss viewing patterns as “oh, it’s because of the local news lead in, not GMA” as one example. No one is saying lead-ins don’t matter, but A doesn’t automatically equal B. The degree to which inertia is a factor is next to impossible to quantify, whatever our “gut instincts” say. Nothing wrong with hypotheticals and musings, but they’re not objective data points. Similarly, those of us of a certain age (ahem) might think the young ‘uns just don’t know the Cronkite era (quite probable) and would view today’s media very differently if they did (not provable). Tastes and desires change over time. The “old rules” are ones we cling to, and when there’s a little movement or pushing at the edges of those rules, we get indignant that it hasn’t been done that way and it’s wrong. And if the whippersnappers don’t understand it’s wrong, they’re wrong. I go well back to the David and Joan era of GMA. I get that today’s version is radically different. But that’s not better or worse in itself. If what they do works in today’s media environment (which doesn’t remotely resemble back then), more power to them and the audience. The audience isn’t wrong for liking what they like….though I do wish those darned kids would get off my lawn.

Honestly, having Sam back so much has been my issue with the show. Without weather, he just becomes the show's (second) mascot, the comic relief and chuckling idiot in the background. He still has great chemistry, but the purpose for his presence is non-existent. And while I love Robin, her vacation time is insane. She must be on the Jimmy Kimmel PTO plan.

CBS dumped MyNet from WBFS and WSBK three years ago, so it's an all-indie roster at this point (outside the oddball Start TV low-power in Indy). I just don't see Nexstar giving up on WPIX at all and having to rebuild WLNY from the ground up (and the ramifications for NewsNation would mean it would have to be at an HC2 price to be believable). WKBD going back to the CW and some NX rural sticks being sold off would make a whole lot more logical sense for Detroit so Kevin can get his HC2 money and fly off into the sunset. And the only way KCAL gets sold off really is years down the line when 3.0 is standardized and they can fit its schedule onto a KCBS sub; it's just too insulated into that LA operation to really be spun off with the WBFS and WPSGs here.

I think some will be union shops while others will not become union shops as TV station owners will fight tooth & nail to not have a union shop.

I'm surprised that CBS hasn't sold that Indy Start TV channel to someone else why keep it truth be told.

Maybe thats the answer because Im baffled as to how GMA is still number one! I like him but Michael would make more sense as a sports rather than news anchor. His presence makes Lara's role redundant. CBS Mornings & Saturday Morning are significantly better news programs. Mornings is stuck in third because it hasn't been on the block as long as GMA and Today. Lets not give Today a pass. It's been significantly dumbed down since its 2014 rebrand. It's third and fourth hours are overdue for cancellation but syndication options are in short supply, so that's unlikely. Overall, GMA along with 20/20 & WNT embody ABC News' biggest problem: tabloid sensationalism. Journalistically, CBS News is the better of the big three. ABC & NBC are better at developing on air talent who can succeed future vacancies.

Ues, people act crazy when the see the station camera much less the vehicle. People are less likely yo try to vandalize, steal or break into the car if they think its a regular civilian vehicle.

Several are top 10 markets including N.Y., LA and Boston. Along with WPIX that’s a large amount of stations Nexstar would need divest to buy them and stay under the cap when FCC scrutiny is already a factor. Good luck with that.

Regarding costs, I tend to think the people who have access to the P&L info and are responsible on up the chain have that info and balance costs vs benefits. And they would also better know any data that indicates if there is a return on investment. Even if “flexing muscles” is a motivation, so be it. It’s a business and that’s part of the game. Im sure there are close calls that go either way, and sometimes there are factors none of us know the situational specifics about.

No, what I'm saying is that the megagroups have resources that the smaller ones do not, and the megagroups are better situated to rapidly deal with stuff like disaster recovery as a result. Stations that don't have the same resources (i.e. WINK) get stuck pointing a camera at a laptop while their transmitter wails in the background. Even when WVUE flooded during Katrina, they had WALA to fall back on. They briefly used the KUHT control room before WFAA brought in their production truck, and eventually they rented fiber to run their shows entirely out of a secondary production control room at WFAA. Master Control was rapidly moved to WFAA as well. KUSA also did some stuff for them as the WFAA setup was patched together. The only thing they did with the KUHT equipment was switch cameras in the first few days, everything else was done from Dallas or Denver. They only used the KUHT cameras until the WFAA truck showed up, and they only used the WFAA cameras until they pulled their studio cameras (which were moved to the second floor as the building started to flood) out of the old building. The Dallas arrangement continued for many months until they got a trailer built out to "Tegna specifications" and brought production back locally. Save for the first day or so when they used the KUHT control room, all KUHT did was provide studio space.

I don't have to like what Lougee is saying, but I don't disagree with it. I am quite concerned that some of these smaller groups and/or solo owners will start to go under, simply because they do not have the resources the big ones have. Resources that range from disaster recovery (look at how Tegna propped up KHOU when their facility flooded, then look at what happened with WINK under the same scenario) to engineering resources to shared services like graphics or Traffic or Master Control. Like I have said before, I believe this is precisely the argument that's going to make things start to change, and whether that change is good or bad is up for debate.

I still don't understand why it's 39% and not an even 40%. Did someone hate round numbers?

Let me see if I can help you here. The rule is that a single entity can't own full-power broadcast licenses that combine to cover more than 39% of the country. (There are some nuances here like the UHF discount, duopolies, Class A stations, etc. But that is the basic rule.) The broadcast networks are subject to this same rule. Their O&O stations can't reach more than 39%. What is not covered in that 39% is programming reach. The broadcast networks, and syndication programmers for that matter, can set up agreements to have their programming broadcast by stations covering 100% of the country. So NBC Prime or Live with Kelly & Mark don't have a limit on their national reach. But NBC and ABC can't directly own stations that reach more than 39% of the country. Hope that helps!

Broadcast TV is likeky long past its chance to be broken up by the government. When Ma Bell (AT&T) was broken up into the RBOCs, it only took 20 years for many of them to merge back together as....AT&T. By then, cellular phones were a regular part of life and customers had options. Nowadays, the very POTS that comprised phone service is a rarity that has been largely replaced by VOIP and cellular. At least we still have competition in TV, even if it's the same three owners and many markets. The stations are going to have to start falling before anyone intervenes. I think on the internet end we could start seeing some regulation since the content pool is getting smaller.

I know Sinclair has been basically blacklisted ever since. No one has wanted to do business with them and now they are in a deep financial hole after being "forced" into cable after terrible behavior with the FCC. Even in a free market, any company would be foolish to deal with them.

KYW picked up the new morning cut of Dimensional that KPIX and now WCBS are using: