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It wasn’t a gesture. It was a Nazi salute. Let’s call it what it was.

WLFI set is from when they went HD under LIN, WTHI set when they built their new building in 2012 under LIN, and WFFT set from their HD days under Nexstar. Under Heartland, I think both THI and LFI did add some more people back and improved their reporting. I think if Heartland hadn’t sold, they would have gotten new sets or updated sets.

Snippets of the new set as the new duo was interviewed by Maurice's WCBS colleague Mary Calvi. I'm not seeing Deborah Norville on there as often these days. I'm really hoping the set lighting will look as dim on CBS's cameras because this looks great. I love the diverse landscapes in the background. It makes the broadcast seem more nationally oriented, and not just New York City/East Coast centric. It reminds me of Good Morning America's intro from the early Gibson/Sawyer era. In this era of washed out HD, dark lighting and warm colors look good.

Remember CNN+? They're gonna try it again. https://deadline.com/2025/01/cnn-layoffs-streaming-service-1236264641/ https://www.thewrap.com/cnn-layoffs-200-job-cuts-new-streaming-service/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cnn-layoffs-cuts-hundreds-jobs-major-restructuring-1236068690/ - - - Major schedule shake up confirmed: The Situation Room moves to 10am with Pamela Brown joining Wolf Blitzer (yes, already announced, I know) Jake Tapper's The Lead moves to 5-7pm Kasie Hunt jumps to afternoons with her new show The Arena at 4pm Hunt is succeeded as CNN This Morning host by Audie Cornish at its new time of 6am 5 Things moves from CNN Max to the network at 5am (of course) with Rahel Solomon taking over from Kate Bolduan nothing yet on Jim Acosta's move no confirmed start date for all moves https://deadline.com/2025/01/cnn-lineup-changes-1236265012/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/new-cnn-lineup-jake-tapper-wolf-blitzer-audie-cornish-1236116122/

CBS Mornings aired a tribute package for Nora, as today's her last day, (and coincidentally Nora's birthday according to Gayle). It seems like CBS is trying to be gracious as they ease her out. **Actual video now uploaded https://youtu.be/dFc9TUxZQPE?si=tpaqmHYTfgu5agHR Edit: Oprah also paid tribute to Nora on her last broadcast..

Please let it be true and they reverse it for all stations.

It absolutely was; the air quotes was me being facetious/poking fun of how the media isn’t really calling it what it is

CNN has picked up on the Allen story. It's nice to see the comments and reactions are extremely negative.

Griffin will shut down the tv stations before they ever sell.

A few brief thoughts: Not sure Wolf has ever co-anchored a broadcast (other than virtually for special broadcasts). He's been flying solo in studio for decades. Will be interesting to see. Hopefully Pamela learns from his direct interview style. Tapper is a strong anchor and has been Wolf's heir apparent, so not surprised he'll take the 5-7 slot, though I'm disappointed it'll be as part of The Lead. I would rather see him become host of Situation Room 5p-7p than move The Lead into that slot. I never loved the format, pace, organization, graphics, music, etc of The Lead. I think it lacks the same gravitas that gives Situation Room a commanding presence. Somewhat surprised Alex Marquardt doesn't fit in to the succession plan given he's been a primary fill-in on Sit Room and done a strong job. However, he was a central figure in CNN's recent defamation suit which probably didn't help him.

I sorta saw Maurice departure coming. He was either gonna go to network at some point. As for Lonnie never thought he be part of the package deal but CBS is doing something different by adding a meteorologist to the picture as if there brining morning news to the evening news. It will be interesting. I can see Maurice advancing to solo anchor of the EN if John leaves it. I don’t see him coming back to WCBS after this opportunity.

Maurice’s Farewell

They already did. Maurice, Kristine, Lonnie and Otis sat on the couch reminiscing about the 14 years they spent together between 5:20 and 5:30. Kristine mentioned Maurice and Lonnie will be on the CBS Evening news. Alice came on after to anchor the next half hour with Kristine on the 5pm news

Vivid Zero has pulled back the curtain on the ABC O&O package.

I would rule out WMAQ. Haeberle and Randhawa have the investigative beat covered. WFLD is looking to produce more content and a weekly investigative program would be interesting. And as crazy as it sounds… NewsNation. I know Zouves is the designated investigative reporter, but she also anchors. Having a full-time person with as much experience as Goudie could be invaluable. In theory, he also could work for WGN splitting his time between the two.

Probably because his shows are barter and don't cost the station anything.

And of course it was because Dan O'Donnell threw another temper tantrum about 'free speech for me but not for thee'. These stations just have to stop listening to these cranks because the only thing they're good for these days is outrage. I didn't even know she had an Instagram account, so this was her personal one, not anything connected with the station. Godawful situation that should have been a quiet suspension at the very most, and our X-obsessed man is a private citizen with no government power. She should not have been fired, and these news orgs are turning 'balanced views journalism', meant to deal with little things like football lights at the high school stadium and road expansions through neighborhoods, into a punchline.

Yet, 'KTV and 'QTV say hello.

LIN hasn't even existed in a fucking decade! Heartland must've been cheapasses too.

Those complaints can go right to the circular file after whatever perfunctory acknowledgement they wish to provide. There are a plethora of stations that don’t run news operations. There is nothing that states if your station had one that it must continue in perpetuity, regardless of economic factors. The realities of the ad economy are harsh. Viewers have more choices, the revenue pie gets split more ways, and something’s gonna give. Does it suck for some viewers? Yep. For the hard-working people laid off? Double yep. That is always true with any cutbacks in any industry. But life is rough. If there is some bottomless-pocketed investor out where, and who meets the unrealistic standards people put forth, who is it? Who is going to pump that kind of money into let’s just say the Allen portfolio? What would be their actual return on investment? Much like the contraction of the print news industry, it’s a disconcerting change to people who lived a long time with a different reality. But that world? It’s gone.

Byron Allen's media empire could be subject FCC and congressional investigations and paying hefty fines to the FCC over this apparent violation of not serving the best interests local TV viewing audiences. At this point, Allen would probably be smart to sell his local TV stations off to companies that can operate stations that would adhere to serving public interests in good faith, and building up new groups of up-and-coming content creators.

Please don't speak this into existence.

WABC, with Inauguration coverage running long, decided to air Eyewitness News from 7-8 tonight bumping Jeopardy! & Wheel of Fortune to overnight.

Perhaps if something dramatic happens? KFVS might try for it too, but it has poor coverage in the eastern part of the market. Still, for one of the few independents left in the business (I wonder if someone like Nexstar has tried to buy WPSD but either was rejected or seen as unable to complete a deal??), that would be a huge coup de grace.

The Fox affiliate in Rochester, MN is valued at $495,000. I know the market is small, but that's not much money. I presume a good chunk of that is tied up in being the local home of the Vikings.

The latest SNL depiction of MSNBC was unfortunately accurate. Their panel of host lined up like "The Avengers" , over obsessive coverage of Trump...to the line "we're Not going to give air time to every crazy Trump statement" despite doing it anyway.

Went back to check it looks like that started today, last week they were using the EN desk. Maybe they are preparing the set for life after the EN, and that involves the new desk? Also just thought this could just be for the coverage of the Inauguration.

A press release from Allen making the Weather Channel forecasts being seen on local stations seem a positive thing… it’s like putting lipstick on a pig and somehow making it look uglier. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/778247699/the-power-of-the-weather-channel-is-coming-to-your-local-television-station

This had been one of my fears whenever everyone was rooting for Allen to buy Tegna. I could tell from the programming that they put out that they were cheap as hell and would run everything on a shoestring budget. I was hoping that I would be wrong but look at what's happening now. I don't mean to sound pessimistic or be a "I-told-you-so" but what's happening at these stations is truly pathetic. How do you expect to be able to serve a market effectively if you're not actually based there? Allen is unfit to hold any broadcast license. This makes me sick to my stomach.

Let us all review something we have heard James Spann say over the years: Know your landmarks. Most people will not remember many roads, unless you drive them or they are a major one, like an interstate. What does Spann always do? Name off places people know: schools, churches, BBQ restaurants, that one gentlemen’s club one time. Here in Evansville, many of the Mets will say a number of the schools, major businesses, the airport. If a tornado is on the ground in a rural area, someone at TWC might say, “It’s in a rural area, not much to worry about.” Someone local will say, “This is on the ground just one mile west of XYZ High School.” Yes, we have a number of schools in corn fields around here. Our Doppler radar sits in the middle of a corn field. Everyone here knows if that radar goes down, we lose data that can help save and protect lives and property. Nothing against the folks at TWC, they are great people, but they shouldn’t be doing something this local.

Anywhere. Good luck anywhere. We have all been there with a new reporter or met doesn't know local dialect and pronunciations of a city or county and encounters a good learning opportunity on the fly. For Allen stations- yes, Hawaii, but I also think of the Wisconsin markets that use a ton of Oneida, Potawatomi language in community names. For some mild entertainment, got to YouTube and search "How to pronounce town names in (insert any state here)"

Something Nexstar would probably consider doing as a workaround to having actual duopolies in some markets.

Did TEGNA drop the design hub too? Also, do you have an example of the ads? I think this will bite them in the ass, honestly.

There though it mostly involved stations with no infrastructure whatsoever in the News Central format, and at least even in the TND era they still use mostly local folks on downtime to deliver forecasts and general breaking weather news. That I have no issue with because they still have that staff for the most part deliver breaking weather, even in the KTUL and WNWO situations. Just having everything come from TWC...say if you're watching on WAOW, are you going to have to deal with severe weather non-applicable to you from WKOW because master control doesn't know the distance between Beloit and Wausau? How do you know local landmarks and street names? And how on earth do you have viewers submit videos and photos now, because they have to go through TWC's national system rather than the known local system? There are a lot of dangerous unknowns in hubbing weather nationally even in a well-planned transition over a couple of years, and it's worse in this ad hoc setup where now you have bitter ex-staff either on a new station or just starting their own efforts online.

Look to the Equity bankruptcy and WLNE circa Great Recession for a little insight; they didn't shut down right away, but just let unpaid expenses and payroll claims escalate to such a dangerous level they start losing programming outside the network, then staff who are tired of them, and eventually it gets to actual satellite transmission, then IP, newswires, then the network finally gets to the point of revocation and then you're down to a sky cam shot until THAT contract gets revoked too. Allen at least has fallbacks, but viewers will NOT be happy to see 15 year-old car, pet and media junket shows in prime time.

Assuming it's actually revoked under a Republican-controlled FCC.

Obviously broadcasting is not his thing, either he doesn’t wanna go big budget or he’s a shoestring media owner. Instead of getting investors to buy big networks how about you reinvest in what you currently have. If he wanted to go into broadcasting maybe buy a few tv stations, every broadcast group started small he grew really fast and obviously wasn’t ready for it. Some will say we’re being hard on him because he’s black, when the truth is he’s just not a good broadcaster and that’s okay. I tell ya this I do not want to be a television station owner it seems stressful. If I did own a television station maybe a few stations I wouldn’t want to be a major owner. Because there be more shoestring budgets and it would be less stressful and profitable they’re are many station owners who own only a few stations and there profitable and they can do virtually whatever they want. I’d have general manager at all stations, and probably no news programming at all unless the network demanded it. My dream would be to own a Telemundo station, maybe give that a news department.

Longtime play-by-play voice of the Milwaukee Brewers & the PBP voice in the Major League movies, Bob Uecker has passed away at the age of 90.

No surprise there. Microsoft sold its share around twenty years ago, and few people think of that company when they watch or think of MSNBC or even see its name.

Methinks Nexstar wants that shot that way so it shows off all of their branding in one shot. But the "only one person in the studio" could ring true as well.

It sounds like it's akin to the CBS/Viacom split, where Sumner Redstone still controlled both - although he clearly favored Viacom, which kept the "sexier" Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks and BET, over CBS.

That's one way to sit out a non-compete while still working and not having to move, considering the WBNS/WKYC common ownership.

Looks like WABC will be starting to move into the new Disney space at 7 Hudson Square pretty soon.

They occasionally produce specials on key topics a handful of times a year and they always air as a special edition of the 5:30pm broadcast.

They teased the 6 o'clock news coming up, at the end.

I think the issue is most likely cable carriage and placement. The Trail Blazers probably want their flagship station to ensure games are as visible as possible.

It looks as though TheGrio is dead. Long live TheGrio. FTV Live reported it today, and the website backs it up: Program listings are gone. Never thought I would say this, but Byron Allen is officially the biggest broadcast grifter of the century.

All the petty arguments on the forum need to be let behind in 2024 and start fresh in 2025 by focusing only on WABC in this thread and respecting decisions to air less news on certain holidays. Have a nice New Year everyone.

Can you guys take this conversation or whatever it is offline? Thanks. It is way off topic.

Did not realize that they vote in markets other than their own. But you're right, it seems like almost everyone gets one. Still, seems kind of ironic that someone who never officially got the anchor position won the award. That seems like a major step down. I wonder what he did to get the boot and have to settle for something like that?