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I can't find a thread for general discussion about Cox Media Group, so let's start one with some actual news! WSB-TV anchor Justin Farmer is leaving the station after 16 years for an undisclosed finance job. Here's what's odd about this. WSB management announced the news to employees today (November 25) at the morning editorial meeting, and Farmer's last day is tomorrow (November 26th). A 24-hour turnaround from announcement to goodbye? This reeks of either a budget cut or a failed contract negotiation.

Cox has some good stations, WSB among them. I would hate to see Nexstar ( which according to those who work in the industry pays the lowest) come in and cheapen those stations. I wouldn't mind Hearst taking over. I've heard part of the reason why Hearst has such a good reputation is that it doesn't endlessly acquire stations like the other groups, so it isn't spread too thin. Moreover, they have assets outside of television, so they aren't solely dependent on tv revenue.

Bingo. Correct. I believe WSVN started their morning news in 1983 as Today in Florida at 6:30 a.m., six years before they would later lose NBC.

Wrong thread for that.

Yeah, this feels like a stopgap measure. A bandage, even.

That shouldn't matter. WSVN still uses Today in Florida which (correct me if I'm wrong) was a title it got during its NBC affiliation days. WTVJ calls their AM newscast NBC 6 News Today to differentiate. It's ironic that WSVN is often called the model Fox affiliate despite distancing itself from the Fox brand. Yes the business is changing... but as people have said before, I don't see ABC being content on a sub channel long-term in a top 20 market. If this were a smaller market, the CW or My Network TV, perhaps. We may be looking at another shake up in the next few years.

Gray has conflicts in Atlanta and charlotte. Nexstar conflict in Dayton Any chance Hearst jumps on this? Good chance to get some pretty good assets…conflicts in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Orlando would need to be divested, but that should be easy.

'Cos its cheap and network tv is on borrowed time. It will exist in some fashion, but the tv landscape is so big now, their influence has waned. All the comedies and dramas are cookie cutter and samey. So they will probably just produce sports and news soon. Lol.

Exactly. I really don't understand what the point was. It must be really annoying to work at CBS News with all the cost cutting and then see them spend money on stuff like moving "CBS Mornings" (what a dumb name) to Time Square with a set that looks like it could be a green screen. Honestly, all the networks have gotten really lazy with set design. The new trend seems to be make a fake digital set and then display it on a huge screen as a background.

WSVN has now been a Fox affiliate longer that it was with NBC. July 1956 until New Year's Eve 1989, South Florida's Channel 7 was with NBC (32+ years); since New Year's Day 1989, they've been with Fox...thirty-six years and counting.

Someone here questioned if WPLG would vie for the Fox affiliation should that ever become available. In many ways, Local 10 News news has the Fox tone that 7 News paved the way for... only now their news product is better than WSVN's, and I would argue it's the best English language product in the Miami DMA. Local 10 News is very fast paced, high story count, and tabloid, with an emphasis on live shots, and spot news...much like 7 News. Should FOX ever migrate there, it would be a perfect fit. *Speculation... we'll cross that bridge if we get to it. Overall WPLG is a great station and I hope it continues to do well after it becomes an independent like WJXT.

The audible hustling in the newsroom makes the footage even more compelling

FOX used to be equivalent to a big 3 before they sold off the movie studio. Now it's more like The CW except they put more effort into programming original animation, reality and sports. The sports is the only thing keeping FOX afloat IMO.