Leaderboard

Less than three months until the change, and WSVN/Sunbeam is asking the FCC to return to only broadcasting in ATSC 1.0 and ending its channel sharing agreement with WPLG. Currently, the WSVN spectrum has WSVN and WPLG's ATSC 1.0 channels, while the WPLG spectrum has WSVN and WPLG ATSC 3.0 channels. No similar filings from WPLG/Berkshire Hathaway to request a return to ATSC 1.0 transmission that I could find. Likely just a matter of when that is filed.

Yeah, I've been working on uploading the new opens over the last few days. (Playlist that I'll keep updating...) Meanwhile, it looks like they're trying to go toe-to-toe with WGN's morning after-show. Streaming at 10 (as I type this) is Chicago Now with Anthony & Kaitlin.

Over recent weeks, I have already seen David Ono and Jovana Lara co-anchoring the 4pm and 6pm newscasts as well as Marc Brown and Michelle Fisher co-anchoring the 5pm newscasts. Brown has still been solo anchoring the 11pm newscast. Once Ellen Leyva retires, I presume that will be the official weekday afternoon/evening lineup going forward.

I’m not going to speculate too much because KABC clearly knows what they are doing but if I was making the post-Ellen Leyva lineup decisions, it would look like this: Mornings: Talent stays the same (John Gregory, Leslie Sykes, Rachel Brown) 11am & 3pm: Phillip Palmer and Colleen Sullivan (Pairing that now exists) 4pm & 6pm: David Ono and Michelle Fisher 5pm & 11pm: Marc Brown and Jovana Lara Weekend Mornings: Talent stays the same (Tony Cabrera & Irene Cruz) Weekend Evenings: Jory Rand and Sophie Flay

Not surprised. I had an inkling this happened. Mostly because I was thinking recently of...

With the folks behind the standard doing all they can to sabotage ATSC 3.0 as a DRM'ed mess with weakened coverage areas to distribute FAST channels and websites nobody needs, this is just another nail in the coffin for it. Sunbeam is right to just give up on it and end the farce and focus on just channel 7 alone and figure out something else for their 3.0 plans; ABC and Fox don't even take advantage of 3.0 90% of the time.

When is WSVN going to adjust back to NTSC?

Although by the looks of the order, I’m wondering if Jovanna is moving to 4pm/6pm with David, and Michelle is moving to 5pm/11pm with Marc.

First time I think it's happened, Ike Ejiochi sat in at the anchor desk this past Sunday, filling in for Pedro. https://abc7ny.com/videoClip/16319545/

If these new billboards are any indication, it looks like Michelle Fisher is Ellen Leyva's replacement. I haven't seen any official word from ABC 7 though.

Byron has renewed all nine of his celebrity court shows (I remind you that none of the shows are litigating real cases, but CA court transcripts with actors), which is probably going over well in the AMG station Slack or Teams .

What I will give them is the "local" accent is instantly recognizable to anyone who has spent time in Spokane as the Monroe Street Bridge. For market 70-something in 2025 it's not bad, and in fact pretty good. It will resonate with a local audience. Some of these other "we took design cues from local architecture" sets use a slightly different color faux brick and expect people to get it.

Every step and element of a set- from the first design meeting through the final light being plugged in is about money. Larger owners, like Nexstar for example, can get away with the same "set in a box" being mass produced which allows for some of the little design touches to become attainable in the budget. A much smaller company like Cowles, the owner of KHQ, has to pick and choose with the budget they likely have. They chose tech and an overall set that they likely hope will last as long as the old set did for them.

The Allen Wisconsin network is having a meltdown; WAOW has been stuck having to cover WKOW's newscasts since yesterday (and having to present their news that's completely irrelevant to Madison to pad out shows), along with having to do their statecasts in the morning. At this point, you might as well consider Madison, La Crosse/Eau Claire and Wausau two-operation news markets because it seems like Byron doesn't even care about having a proper third news operation (and Rockford will be inevitably hubbed out soon enough).

This is a fine set for Spokane and market 73. Folks, I think we need to collectively come to the terms with the fact that the money is gone, everything is more expensive, and design trends are different than they were 20 years ago.

Recent finds! WWAY noon opens from Election Day 1992, and the day after: The A-block of WECT’s 5pm news from September 2000: WECT 11pm opens - weekday and weekend - from February 1995. The first set with NS2000+ before getting the Ellis makeover:

Wow! Channel 7 has come a long way! The new Disney building has been an improvement for all shows that moved. Loving the neon lights and brick wall, it reminds me of Tegna's set design trends.

The TWC forecast on WEVV doesn’t even have Evansville in the right county. They moved Evansville from Vanderburgh Co. to Spencer Co. These two counties don’t even border each other. Not surprised.

Carley Gomez, formerly of KXTV in Sacramento, joined the station and did her first weather report last night. Also, based on the thumbnails on their website it looks like Marc Cota-Robles is Ellen's replacement at 3PM.

Huh... that's oddly weird and fascinating to me.

Actually, KCAL+ and MeTV Toons share subchannel 9-6. Monday through Friday 4:00 AM to 7:00 PM: KCAL+, which airs syndicated programming that doesn’t fit on the main channel’s schedule. 7:00 PM to 4:00 AM: MeTV Toons, which is also seen full-time in the L.A. market in HD on KSFV-CD 27-1 and in SD on KAZA 54-3. Saturday and Sunday All MeTV Toons.

For the record, there's no KCAL Plus. There were rumors about that, but they ended up adding Me-TV Toons instead.

If they wanted to air more news, they could easily put it on their localish 7.2 sub channel or create abc7 plus subchannel, & add more news & local programs to that station. It seems they're adding news online to stream at different times during the day. Simulcast it to get more viewers. Ktla should fo the same by adding a subchannel. Kcal already has kcal plus, so if they wanted to, they can add more news to that station.

She probably gonna try to rebuild her house first someone in the forum told me it burned down in the Eaton Fire so that’s probably priority.

... and the failed Black News Channel

The same Princell Hair that was news Director at Baltimore's WBAL.

Didn't see a thread for Allen Media group, so here we go! And to start things off, Bob Prather (who left Gray to start Heartland Media) and Andy Fisher, are both leaving AMG. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2023/4/17/breaking-shake-up-at-the-top-of-one-media-group-to-be-announced-today Could any of this be related to Allen's involvement in the Diamond Sports dumpster fire?

Another major loss on the Gulf Coast of another TV legend. Longtime WALA-TV weatherman John Edd Thompson has passed away at the age of 82. He had worked at WALA for over three decades before retiring in 2009. https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/05/06/longtime-fox10-chief-meteorologist-john-edd-thompson-has-died/

It wouldn't surprise me if the same cases are on different shows, with the same actors, or maybe that's how they make them different. I wonder if these are outright sales of the facilities to other parties, or simply selling the building to a new owner through a sale/leaseback deal... Either way, it's going to bite them somehow in the future. When the rent goes up, then that's a big problem.

I saw this in an FB group today...

The thumbnail for the on demand 11am newscasts confirm that change.

On that note from the thumbnails in the video archives I see that Colleen Sullivan is now regularly anchoring 11am instead of Jovana Lara.

Nooooooooo! He’s so unwatchable. Ugh. Philip Palmer would’ve been the better choice, he’s already there from 11-12.

And Princell Hair has been named President of Allen Media... https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/princell-hair-named-president-of-allen-media-broadcasting/