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Bonus points if Cox is the survivor or at least has more influence.

This is insane. I guess they don't realize this, but the audience they're angling for with a schedule like this is already glued to CNN or FOX News all day. Those people aren't going to flip away from the national politics they're obsessed with to watch hours of local news instead. All they'll end up doing is overworking their anchors, reporters and staff for diminishing returns until they either leave or quit. Again, with this new round of affiliation changes, there needs to be a better alternative for the stations left behind than either the bottom-of-the-barrel syndicated slop or hours of redundant local news on a loop.

I don't know where else to put it so it goes here... KHON's Joe Moore, his son Bryce (also working at KHON), and... Pat Sajak. All together for one final play as it wraps up a 24-year run.

Sounds like it could be a Hearst in reverse.... Cox has been one of the better companies until it was gutted by private equity. Hearst's origins go back to William Randolph Hearst and his "yellow journalism" and today it's one one the more respected groups out there putting out good journalism.

They assuredly want to be a buyer, but probably don't have many options available. Apollo-Cox is the easiest one of larger scale and gives them some needed capital if it is structured in a way where Apollo can finance. Sinclair knows its window of opportunity is closing, and fast. They need to buy something now or will wind up being ripe for a takeover.

Here's Sinclair's press release https://sbgi.net/sinclair-launches-comprehensive-strategic-review-for-broadcast-business/ Reading this, it almost sounds like they want to be a buyer, whereas the CNBC article spins it as them wanting to cash out. I guess Sinclair will see it their way, and everyone else will see it for what it's worth.

And who would be willing to watch? Would there be enough viewes to make it anything but a money incinerator?

Is Nexstar trying to become a mega-corporation at this point?????? I have a STRONG feeling that this will violate multiple FCC regulations/rules.

This is boring. Nexstar's Q2 Earnings. But there's a reason why I'm posting this: Yep. The CW is on the move in Erie as well. We just don't know yet if it will be on WJET 24.2 or WFXP 66.2. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:fbfe1fd7-bd8e-4e22-8624-a88fbc4a0104

Sinclair is dumber than Nexstar. First Stirr...now NewsOn? I really hope some two bit private equity firm buys Sinclair simply to drive them out of business entirely.

They clearly were unsuccessful with that plan, which puts a lot of doubt on the entire station group. The reduced valuation of their stations is partly their own doing.

InDemand, what a throwback. Bumping into those Viewer's Choice PPV psychic shows on Primestar my first days in the US is a core memory. Might be place for PPV but even pickleball have their own TV "network" now and they don't have to revshare with Big Cable

CBS will also honor the 50th Anniversary of The NFL Today with Brent Musburger in-studio Week 3 (SH week) 9/21. Also, Adam Schein will do in-game updates full-time this season, he did it on a couple of weeks last year when the studio crew went to Orchard Park (ahead of KC/BUF) & Detroit (ahead of BUF/DET)

CBS is launching a two-hour streaming spinoff of NFL Today known as NFL Today+.

Im interested in that idea. As for how stations can avoid basic newscasts in the absence of syndicated programming, I think Fox O&Os have tried to answer that. WTTG with Lion Lunch hour, KRIV with various local talk shows like The Isiah Facotor, and KCPQ with a statewide newscast. Granted some of these programs are not fantastic (Wake Up With Sally Mac and Lina, Chatting with Chelsea KRIV). I still, however, appreciate the effort.

So much so, that InDemand (the pay-per-view supplier to traditional cable companies) is shutting down its operations at the end of this year... https://www.nexttv.com/news/in-demand-to-shut-down-at-end-of-2025 Surely with the end of InDemand, this may have played a role in UFC deciding to go exclusively with Paramount+ with PPV distribution of their events. However, in the article I posted, it was noted that the three key owners in InDemand (Cox, Spectrum, Comcast) will each individually handle their own pay-per-view offerings going forward. That said, with the major sports leagues having their own streaming seasonal packages on their own apps, plus a few of them also using distribution through Prime Video, we'll see how much longer the traditional TV providers keep utilizing the pay-per-view model.

I don't think Gray can afford everything right now (or anyone else, for that matter). Plus I doubt Sinclair wants to let go of their influence, especially right now.

Could be hedging on another broadcast spectrum auction. Broadcasters initially asked ~$80B in the incentive auction last time but didn't get that, they probably hope mobile operators will fight for what would be the last chunks of low band spectrum this time. If not, fight to the death to make ATSC 3.0 mandatory. Then paid 4K OTA encryption, datacasting, selling subchannels, selling user data since tracking is built in - possible scenario given the hard push for encryption, and how they attacked Lon, from Lon.TV, and a few others who commented to the FCC against encrypting OTA signals, calling them paid astroturfers. Also, the FCC just had it's spectrum auction authority renewed to 2034. They must find no less than 800MHz to auction off, but only 3.98-4.2GHz (200Mhz) must be auctioned by July 2027. The military's 3.1-3.45GHz is blocked along with 1000Mhz in 7.4-8.4GHz. So that leaves a possibility they'll go down to more desirable spectrum - broadcast ch 20 to 36 would be 96Mhz. FCC can do another repack - keep UHF 14 to 17, set 18 as a guardband, auction 19 to 36. That leaves 4 x 6Mhz or 24Mhz which could fit 9-15 4K channels or 15-30 1080p channels in a high power high tower setup, more if they do an SFN. My people in Bulgaria have "The Multiplex", handled similarly to Britain - operated by the former government-owned telekom now private Vivacom. Whoever wants a channel on it has to apply, not sure how but I think it is first come first serve. It's a nationwide DVB-T SFN on 3x8MHz non-contingent channels, the government-owned stations on their MUX of 1x8Mhz with 4 channels on it and MUX2 for the commercial stations, 6 stations currently, 11 before that. The entire mux is also up on Eutelsat-33F

If I'm David Smith, I'm on the phone with Apollo Global Management to do a merger of equals with Cox Media. It's literally there for the taking.

nah. I recall reading interviews with Sinclair reps and their main talking point was always about how 3.0 will give the ability to localize advertising and being able to see TVs tuned in so they can do ad attribution, which broadcast admittedly needs. Now they're mad that Lon, from Lon.TV, and AntennaMan whipped up the 3.0 early adopters against encryption, telling the FCC they were astrotufers . Even had SiliconDust HDHomerun, which sponsored Lon a couple times, blocked from getting certification to decrypt 3.0 channels. retrans $$$. For now. They might make OTA 4K paid given that they already encrypt the signal, and conditional access with subscriptions is baked into 3.0

I still remember when WebTV and CueCat were going to revolutionize 'interactive TV' so long ago... The American TV market is not the UK is a passive audience and it just has never worked well. Why would we interact with a TV when our phones are in our hands to do said interaction? I've had the same computer setup for years, either a TV window to the right on my monitor, or a separate TV and the most interaction I do have with my TV (just cable television, not with an Apple TV or Roku) has just been the weather forecast in a cable box menu...which simply usurped a traditional channel doing the same thing for 2+ decades. That, and polls have just plain become pointless noise that doesn't do anything except bring Facebook 'engagement' in arguments that just are viewer poison to someone who just wants the news. Consumers would just be pleased to be excluded by ZIP code from weather updates that interrupt their shows for events nowhere near them. Weather radio can do that, and has for three decades, but somehow, two different digital TV standards have it as a 'back burner' feature that could be activated, but won't, because the NAB knows with their whole chest if it is rolled out, then advertisers can't have the full audience on their ads, and stations won't have their 'first alert' coverage go to everyone, so it'll forever remain a 'promised feature' that is part of a standard but like the closed captioning text channel, will never seriously be used. And I definitely agree that not selling higher-quality PQ has been baffling. Why are broadcasters all about just simulcasting their existing channels with barely improved PQ in formats that are out of date? Yesterday, I was watching WTMJ's flood coverage in 1080p through their app with crisp and clear weather maps that look blocky and unfocused in 1080i over-the-air. Push all of that over 'you can have the temperature on the side of the TV' or bad polling, along with this inane push of advertising targeting that the consumer does not want.

They don't seem interested in doing anything to win consumers over. I never hear anything about one of these station groups launching a diginet suited to showing off the 4K and Atmos or whatever. A Discovery HD Theater sort of thing.

datacasting, TV executive boomers' wet dream. They sell that like we're in the 1990s. I watched some exec on Youtube selling ATSC 3 as this amazing technology (odd how they ignore the encryption questions) and the big selling point he made was ... imAgiNe cArs d0WnloAding SofTware to update... My cheap 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy literally downloads firmware to itself, and I can see where it is at any time on a map, because it has a 5G chip already! Not that there aren't one-to-many broadcasting advantages but I have a hard time beleiving anybody is going to pay $5 to Sinclair and other ATSC 3 patent holders to put a chip in their gadget. They also seem to think Apple will put an ATSC 3 chip on the iPhone so people can watch broadcast TV. And all of that will somehow save broadcasting.

WHAT?!?! Not the best time to hear this, really. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/11/sinclair-is-exploring-mergers-for-its-broadcast-business.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawMHTHdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHqdLT0itRnuK0D7fCfwmHTQ_W5GWdwpUooxAxZArzhojzbdmXQFj2gXgHhKr_aem_jc5iWAQVRu0WMxp-8PHuGA

It’s supposed to be a National Weather Network partner; all of their partners (including flagship Tennessee Valley Weather) are advertiser-supported services.

I feel sorry for those that lost their jobs over at WZZM and being hub out I saw it coming since TEGNA started to do it at the end of 2024 and also putting the for sale sign as well.

It also just suits the macho ethos that Paramount and Skydance both share.

Markets with at least a Tegna/Nexstar duopoly, if not a triopoly or quadopoly between them: Ft. Smith, Little Rock, Sacramento, San Diego, Denver, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Tampa/St. Pete, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Quad Cities, New Orleans, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Buffalo, Charlotte, Greensboro, Cleveland, Columbus, Portland, Ore., Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Harrisburg-Lancaster-York, Knoxville, Memphis, Abilene, Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Midland-Odessa, San Angelo, Tyler, Tex., Norfolk. This deal doesn’t make financial sense if you buy these stations and keep separate news departments running. Most, if not all, of these markets stand to lose a news operation.

It does make me wonder about the business structure of this new venture. They are accepting advertising opportunities so it's likely a commercial venture. https://alabamaweathernetwork.com/advertise-with-us/

St. Louis would have a triopoly, so under current rules one would have to be sold. Courts would take a serious look there given the market size and the fact it would leave only one other newsroom (Gray's KMOV) I think the fact it leaves only one other news-producing station would be a major sticking point there. It's not the worst issue (talking to you, Scranton - I see no way WNEP doesn't get sold there on antitrust grounds) but it is concerning. If there were 2 news producers left, they would probably be able to absorb such by turning off KPLR.

Many of their SkyCams will be located on the Alabama Public Television (APT PBS) towers. Does make one think if the network will do weather updates on APT in the future.

Just as many cities don't have two or three competing newspapers anymore, fewer local TV newsrooms would not surprise me.

WSB is picking up Drew Barrymore at 10am and moving Kelly Clarkson to 3pm starting Aug. 18th.

Brendan Carr will allow it.

Sumner never got rid of the name "Viacom," why would David Ellison get rid of the "Skydance" name?

Elison can't seem to get rid of the stupid Skydance name can he?

May not be that way for long…

Misspelling "Paducah" is a great way to get off on a good foot ...

Well these deals are interesting. I guess that puts a kibosh on Gray buying Bonten's NBC Montana cluster. Expect the white '12' on a red square to come to KTVH.

Cox could be the "surviving entity", but David Smith and Chris Ripley would be running the show.

That's from all the mistakes they made a few years ago, with their behavior combined with the cable deals as desperation to get "something".

After a 15-year run, Brooke Moore has ended her time at WDTN Dayton. https://www.wdtn.com/news/after-15-years-brooke-moore-stepping-away-from-2-news/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMHTshleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHkKX5-aBMM00V-wB0zTcTp_YbZLeQ8-6WXTgcU3hr_yz2H8LX5TTMc-4kZii_aem_pKYTFo0-RspZLCIpBfc1xg

Disregard. Posted it in the wrong thread.

I wonder if WOTV could be the sole ABC station in West Michigan if Nexstar could take ABC away when they have to sell WZZM could they do the shell and Mission gets WZZM. I'm thinking that WZZM is a top 4 station and would have to be sold.

Nexstar has been a mega corp. What really sucks for Tegna employees is PTO. Tegna had probably the most generous PTO in the industry. Nexstar on the other hand...they'd ban PTO if they could.

Today is launch day! Both the iOS and Android apps are active, and the TV apps were supposed to launch at 11:00 a.m. but the Roku version is still unavailable as of this time. AWN goes live at Noon CT.

On the eve of WANF leaving CBS, meteorologist/traffic reporter Courteney Jacobazzi left the station on Friday for a position closer to home: https://www.facebook.com/Cjacobazzi/posts/pfbid02BHgM5H7P3aVB21UDCvfmmJpVxyXCTUUBNShuw2PegayJGT7wjMTBnKqpihFZegMCl?__cft__[0]=AZWeuGdAWgorzWhRHLpxLJvzaUbLeMyW8kkOQzszTgPMj3HXcNUPMbycdbAuJBr4QW9cTJcVWT0STxk0VG7LQQvchvI0mkzclcHyoXAd9UdgnlMUKGtxZOpUotj9ekMwgAmdITM1fDDM9DWsZGw9ij_l34Vkaf7gX9mhL04cXKE9YFGxPljJFMj5Crrj9t6PVG0&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

WISH-TV looks back at 10 years of being The CW affiliate.

Janice Yu recently announced her departure from the station after three years https://www.instagram.com/p/DNDqWy7OoKz/?igsh=emtlNDRwcnR4ZG83

Update on this: he suffered a heart attack in June while attending a baseball game in DC. He’s recovering, no timetable for his return.