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I think the main issue is cost. First, you have to subtract the amount you're getting for the infomercial. So this venture is already in the hole. Then you need to add talent costs; the KABC and KCBS shows have outside talent in addition to the sports anchor. Then you have to sell it to an advertiser or two. KCBS and KABC seem to have a couple of car dealers they can call on when they want to do additional programming. I haven't seen anything consistent on KNBC. So, it's a tough ask. Additional opinion that no one asked for: "The Challenge" is bad enough 17 weeks a year, expanding it would benefit nobody.

THE gold standard of Chicago journalism and investigations at its finest... Carol Marin. Now, she's getting a call from the Order of Lincoln, the state's highest honor. This is a very well deserving recipient. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/veteran-nbc-5-journalist-carol-marin-among-2025-order-of-lincoln-honor-recipients/3674772/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wmaq_eml_shr&fbclid=IwY2xjawJZuKxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZQgePBQzq7ynFe12dhBzn5t3GZDmuAzKJV7_wWNvf_5URNrYODFWTJp-w_aem_vHG2EjoQOKQmqqdQA3Gnyg

Deborah Norville announced today that she's leaving Inside Edition after 30 years when this season ends: https://www.tvinsider.com/1184654/deborah-norville-leaving-inside-edition-final-episode-date/ Mary Calvi anchors the weekend edition and fills in for Norville during the week. I wonder if she's in line to take over, and if that would affect her duties anchoring the morning news.

It's the definition of "acquired taste", that's for certain. It's really gonna take getting used to.

Lee Peck is now one of the morning anchors at WALA in Mobile. He was an early evening anchor before, and filled in as primary anchor after Byron Day's departure. Eric Reynolds is apparently still at the station, but his whereabouts are unknown. He was a longtime morning anchor at the station, even anchoring with his wife at one time. I'm hearing that it could be health-related, so I send my best wishes to him and his well-being.

KSWB would be another great fit for this package

Jane Pauley and her agent can do the funniest thing ever... (I kid, I kid)

If Mary Calvi is chosen to replace Deborah, will she be able to balance it with her work at WCBS?

WPXI has finally found their replacement for Katherine Amenta in the morning... its Liz Kilmer, trading in evenings (mainly for WPGH at 6:30pm) for mornings. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1081912917078427&id=100057791871983

Jessica Foster has moved up from morning anchor to primary anchor at WJHG in Panama City, replacing the now-retired Neysa Wilkins. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1040227587922954&set=a.151923240086731

Just shy of 40 years at the station, Joe Schmit has announced his retirement from KSTP Television and April 30th is his last day. https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/joe-schmit-announces-retirement-as-kstp-sports-director/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJZd0dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcq9Gv1txQpVHa9POYDThbktvXC9u3jbkYKnFS39yWTwMf9RiMDBUlmqlg_aem_2iSJBf2bu5cKPdnCSf6mhA

According to that other site, the Braves on Gray graphics are actually the first outing for what will eventually be a group-wide graphics package for regional sports broadcasts on Gray channels.

On Monday, April 7 (according to 1iota, a TV taping and movie premiere tickets website), Live begins at its new set at 7H².

For April Fools I would have expected the "Mix of 96" to make an appearance

April Fools???? -- matt

Gray has partnered up with FOX and KMSP-TV to provide 10 games of OTA Twins Baseball coverage across the Northern Midwest. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fox9.com/sports/mn-twins-games-fox-9-2025.amp

FOX is playing ball again... this time with the Twins and KMSP. Also, Gray Media is involved. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fox9.com/sports/mn-twins-games-fox-9-2025.amp

It's definitely odd to hear.

So are they just hiring the Weatherology Voicebot 4000 to do Allen station weather hits? It feels like they should be adding staff rather than subtracting from it, and hiring cheaper and younger inexperienced talent (God forbid the worst of young WeatherTwitter) just puts them in the same boat.

I don't think it was with the spring intro a week or so ago. It noticed it on the 5 am news today, but didn't watch yesterday in the evening or night. The VO sounded ever so slightly different with the "Action News..." beginning - just a rerecording with the Philadelphia vs Delaware Valley. Eh, whatever.

SKY News has updated its graphics package. Gone is the gradient, conventual shape look, in favor of more boxes of various shapes, and flat colors.

Jacqui Jeras just posted that today is her last day. She's on now with Felicia Combs.

WWMT when the nasty weather hit Sunday used ARC-WMI for the nonstop weather coverage since MSU was playing Auburn when the storms were about to flare up. Didn't want to deal with upset MSU fans I wonder if MSU wasn't playing if they would've cut in for the storm coverage, they did a cut in before the 2ND half was about to begin. All my years never seen a weather met call hub when the cut in was over on all the local TV stations in West Michigan. Interesting that happened in NC a couple of weeks ago shouldn't Charlotte be master control since that is a big city why call Indy for that.

On this day -- April 1, 2025 -- Live aired its final edition from its studio of over 40 years at 67th & Columbus in the Upper West Side.

More retirement news. Not today, but come Wednesday, April 23rd, Chief Meteorologist John Bernier will have his last day at WRIC-TV after 41 years. Kept a secret since last September, the news was announced today during the 5pm news. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH4T6gAv3xt/?igsh=YmQxenZoaXI4c282

Another retirement today... KEYE's Fred Cantu. After 53 years in broadcasting, 40+ in Austin, and the last 23 at KEYE, today is the last day for Uncle Fred with a half-hour special at 6:30 p.m. CT. https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-mayor-kirk-watson-declares-march-31-as-fred-cantu-day-in-honor-of-53-year-career

More than likely it was a specific Saturday or Sunday night at 11pm when WABC was late because of sports. It’s a very “creative” way to be number 1, when the competition doesn’t exist. as for WSB in Atlanta. Their claim actually isn’t wrong. By percentage, they do have more watchers. It’s again, a technicality. obviously the NY DMA is larger and therefore WABC has more total viewers, but in Atlanta DMA, the percentage of total available viewers is higher for WSB.

We’re number one!* *….in the left-handed lumberjacks demo

If they were to drop Colbert, they could bring back a new version of ‘Crimetime After Primetime’. I think there could be an audience for that. When it comes to streaming, they lack a real vision on how to make it work and be successful. It shouldn’t take a year (or more) for new seasons of shows (or new shows in general) that air on MTV, Comedy Central, etc.. to make their way to Paramount+. Plus, having to pay out residuals/royalties should not be a deterrent from making entire libraries/seasons, etc… readily accessible.

I believe so. But network TV has fallen so hard that game shows like these are all over prime time of virtually all of the major networks.

At the risk of getting off-topic, if I recall correctly, New Zealand is the only other country in the world that does allow pharma ads on TV. It's at least the only other developed country. And even there, it was only legally formalized in 2023, and a lot of people (including doctors) want it banned. The market in Europe is a bit more complex than you're making it out to be. Ad revenue is falling and there's still plenty of angst about streaming replacing linear TV someday. It's also not unheard of for networks in Europe, like Channel 4 in the UK, to make cutbacks as severe as what CBS is currently doing. Channel 4 just went through a few years of greenlighting significantly less programming than usual and cancelling series they had greenlit during production because the money wasn't there to support it. I have a theory about why it still doesn't seem quite as dire for traditional TV over there. European countries were always much better at making TV feel like an event consistently. Just look at all the extra effort they've always put into presentation - the idents, live announcers introducing the shows, etc. It sounds silly, but psychologically, I do think it matters to viewers on a subconscious level. Outside of the local news (which itself is becoming increasingly centralized), American TV has always lacked that personal touch. Linear TV in America and in countries with a more Americanized style of television seem much more vulnerable to streaming because there's so little to differentiate it besides the negative aspects: more ads and less choice.

What @nathannah said. It's not because of this move but all of the other bloodletting Paramount is doing in recent months. Almost like when the 1980 Summer Olympics was cancelled in the US, NBC's future as a network was put into question because they were already in deep trouble back then. And then the genius Jeff Zucker thinking out loud that NBC could never be "on top" again with all of his idiot moves. Paramount is in it for the money right now. If an affiliate balks, they'll go to the next willing station, or cut them loose when the time comes. The O&Os are a boring mess, CBS News is irreparably damaged from all of the changes, and any goodwill it has left has been stripped away with every cut they've made. The most stinging was the end of the Christmas specials they've run for DECADES. If Stephen Colbert goes away, CBS is done for, IMHO. And on the streaming side, there's little reason for me to ever get Paramount+. The only way is to give it to me for free from one of my other services. They've gotten Warner Brothers stupid and started cutting classic Nickelodeon content you can't get anywhere else.

That's a bit extreme, but I could see the networks' late-night lineups gravitating towards a mix of dirt-cheap experimental programming, movies, and imported shows, somewhat like ITV regions in the UK when they made their first attempts at late-night programming in the '80s and '90s. I don't see the classic late-night talk shows lasting much longer, that's for sure. There's really nothing they still offer that podcasts don't.

I'm looking forward to a time when the national anthem plays and broadcasts end for the day because it's too expensive to run anything anymore. Remember, RFK is implementing a rule which wouldn't allow big pharma to advertise. This is a what I primarily see as the advert stream for evening newscasts. So the era of network evening newscasts may just end.

Remember Cayle Thonpson from KOMO and The National Desk? His next home takes him fill circle... to Boston and for WFXT. He was a freelancer, but is now a full-time anchor and reporter. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1033627248579747&id=100057974443555

Sherri's gonna give you more in season 4.

They didn’t dump the noon Sunday show. Im currently watching it.

Yeah, I went to college in the Lehigh Valley in the early 2000s and that newscast existed back then.

Australia The longest serving presenter in the history of ABC News Breakfast is hanging it up next week after a 15 year run. He's staying at the ABC to work on other projects. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-rowland-6168aa13_some-program-news-i-will-be-leaving-news-activity-7269090460126593024-oLr8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

Canada It's a new day, and it's the same old story: more layoffs, this time at Rogers Sports and Media. However, nothing is closing or shutting down. https://www.thestar.com/business/rogers-sports-media-lays-off-dozens-of-podcast-radio-employees/article_a5b1eca0-a6d3-11ef-8315-77ad00480a89.html

Mexico The Mexican boss of the 8,000-ton gorilla that is Televisa has resigned as he's now connected to a FIFA bribery scheme. https://thedesk.net/2024/10/grupo-televisa-emilio-azcarraga-resigns/

Well, I found more retirement news, but this happened yesterday (as of this post). WVEC's Mike Gooding said goodbye after 40 years there. https://www.13newsnow.com/article/life/people/reporter-mike-gooding-says-farewell-to-hampton-roads-after-40-year-career/291-04a6a389-5258-4f63-a481-51e3c01f5afb

Did they change the open to "Philadelphia's Leading News Program" -- not sure if this changed with the new Spring intro, but definitely something I noticed yesterday, at least at 5PM.

57 years at one TV station? It is unheard of now these days in this business. Yet, longtime KARK camera operator Morsie Eagles did just that. Today, he finally retires at The Morsie Eagles Studio (named in 2018) at KARK. https://www.kark.com/news/kark-4-today/kark-4-news-longtime-camera-operator-morsie-eagles-retires/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJX1BhleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHS0eLyTCFzdcloLYtNqauQLYZANUA2F69eToVGruBf2P6KCN2ZX8MbUz7A_aem_9QydHpk2FLzzGMCPCj9e3Q

Australia We're about to have DAZN Cable. News Corp. has sold FOXTel to the owners of DAZN in a USD$2.4 billion (A$3.4 billion) deal. https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/dazn-acquires-foxtel-news-corp-telstra-1236257581/

Second Update: CHCH has revealed the employee who passed away a week ago. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=964139372419634&id=100064707394920