Leaderboard

An unfortunate error at WTOC concerning Michael Penix Jr:

You beat me to it! I was gonna post this. But in terms of this, it could get ugly and fast.

At least his first name isn't Harry....

A look back from last night's 10pm news. Longtime anchors are hard to come by now these days. Allison has proved it all with dignity. She is WMAQ of this generation.

MyNetworkTV basically. A branding package and a programming block that can be aired as is, bounced around, or split in half. WATL tried the primetime news and it failed. How bad were the ratings?

I wonder in MPB's pulling of PBS, would a willing broadcaster pick up some programming on their stations? WAPT aired Sesame Street prior to the creation of MAETV, now known as MPB. WNDU was another station that did the same, being owned by Notre Dame itself probably helped things, before WNIT signed on for Michiana. And a fun fact about Mississippi Public Broadcasting.... One of their early shows was Clyde Frog. Most of us know him as Eric Cartman's toy and sometimes sidekick on South Park.

Scott Jones from FTVLive is reporting in his newsletter that Troy Bridges, former WKMG meteorologist who's now at WWJ-TV Detroit... isn't going to last much longer there. He's joining the new news operation at WUPA Atlanta and will start with morning weather cut ins come Monday, August 18th, before the news operation launches in full next month. This move makes sense for him, considering he's a Georgia native and his alma mater is the University of Georgia.

They have made good on their promise. Telemundo Deportes Ahora has launched today. https://www.thewrap.com/telemundo-deportes-ahora-sports-fast-channel-launch/

I saw it Monday as well... Didn't say anything since I was on the road the previous week and not watching TV- Didn't want to be lambasted for noticing something late that was new to me! NN is also getting more... casual(?) with the camera angles combing back from break later in the show.

So, you're saying Tia does both hours? Last time I thought to tune in, it was still Ponce & Cody.

In other news, Sinclair is buying more of their "sidecar" stations, buying WXBU and WWMB from Armstrong Williams, WUTB from Deerfield and KMTR from Roberts Media.

A treasure trove of old Today Show episodes from 2001, 2003 (start of Iraq War) and 2005 (Hurricane Katrina) were released by malgent. 2001, a wedding just 6 days before 9/11 2003: 2005: Sidebar, apparently Dan Rather's last appearance on the CBS evening news was to talk about Peter Jennings death in 2005...

Interesting! Never would have guessed this would ever happen

Meteorologist Katie LaSalle, previously of KMGH, has switched Denver stations to KUSA where she's going to work weekday mornings: https://www.instagram.com/katie_lasalle/p/DNO3DemRpm5/?hl=en

She says she will be doing public speaking full-time.

One good sign is that BET is off the sale block, which makes me assume that no networks will die and MTV2 and VH1 will continue to be zombie feeds of UPN/WB sitcoms until their next RTC cycle.

I find it hard to believe that KIMT was #1 back in May considering the owners and cutbacks, but they've released this promo touting it as such:

It was cool to see how the network looks, and it won't be a success... it'll be a massive success. Also, I'm seeing via FB posts that 1° Outside, the New England-based weather service created and run by the husband and wife meteorology duo of Matt and Danielle Noyes (loved them for years), has launched their own 24/7 streaming network of their own but its hidden for Patreon folks for now. It's a sign of the times, and I know that more networks like these are coming...

Without CPB, what kind of infrastructure will there be for PBS and NPR itself? It will basically be a group of stations sending programming to each other. NPR is more centralized than PBS, so changes may be the most apparent there. Key member stations (WETA, WQED, WNET, WGBH, etc...) produce a lot of PBS's programming, so the member stations may have to create a cooperative to feed programming to each other.

When WBNX lost the CW under the Ernest Angley management, that was tied to a default the ministry had with one of their investors. They were originally under contract through 2021 and WB/CBS cut the deal with WUAB that's up in September. Then Nexstar bought the CW, and then WBNX.

With just days to go before their Independence Day, WANF has finally posted their plans, telling you what I've already told you but there's some new wrinkles in there. TL;DR Sounds like ATL Live will be two hours, both new, one at 10am and another at 1pm. On The Record is their new politics show on Sundays at 11am. WANF will even have a 7pm newscast on Saturdays. Uncovered: ANF Investigates, the local Investigate TV+ weekly version (let's be honest here), will air Sundays at 7pm. Atlanta Eats moves from WPCH to WANF on Saturdays at 8pm. One-on-One with Monica Pearson moves from WPCH to WANF on Sundays at 8pm. WANF will even have weekend news at 9pm on top of the 10 and 11pm news I've already mentioned in previous posts. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/08/12/anf-unveils-new-programming-with-expanded-local-news-political-show-investigations/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMJwGpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHizTHCSEcDM7l_7iudkrV7MzraI7A8bTrZIijDJMHzADUNVIN1vsnFWgA-GS_aem_9zQ3US4YRDdB2BfyNUAoRw

The schedule was just as I thought it would be; KVVU/Arizona's Family East, though with some more sports programming. They have a successful template in those stations (even back to Meredith), so I think it's worth a try in Atlanta. Be relieved there's not a single Byron Allen program on it at the very least.

It feels almost appropriate that WPLG's last ABC prime time will be ending with the 2003 Freaky Friday since them and 7.2 will be 'switching bodies' as it were, except it's permanent.

It only took them 30 years.

Long predicted, interesting to see this come into fruition. Top market Atlanta will now have another O&O besides WAGA. Hopefully whatever newscast they produce isn't as generic and lifeless as their former CBS "Nowcasts". I don't anticipate CBS News Atlanta will perform any better than WXIA or WANF but let's see.

Suspicious I find that suspicious… could it be management could she been laid off obviously her colleagues like Shirleen are wishing her the best so it had to be management. Can’t speculate further but perhaps she was laid off..

Update on this- The Saint Paul Pioneer Press is reporting on a sexual harassment lawsuit that Clair has filed against KSTP... But it also sheds light on her departure from that station with management claiming that she was terminated from KSTP for poor performance which was also the reason for moving her from evenings to middays (which KSTP claims that it was not a demotion as her compensation was unchanged). The lawsuit is only against the station, although the article does also mention former ND Kirk Varner and former Chief Met Dave Dahl specifically, as well as the "KSTP male meteorologists' refusal to work constructively...". Editorial note- Posted the Yahoo News version of the story as the Pioneer Press keeps stories behind a paywall.

No. Ponce & Cody do the 10A hour and Tia does the 11A. I think they’re still trying to differentiate between the two hours, so it’s very much a work in progress. Also, since Elizabeth is still dealing with the effects of shingles, my guess is that they’re trying to keep her workload as light as possible for the foreseeable future.

A new streaming show made its debut recently… ‘Chicago Live’. It’s like a local version of ‘LiveNOW from Fox’. Not sure if Elizabeth Matthews will be handling anchor duties M-F or will do M-W while retaining her anchor duties on the weekend editions of GDC. Chicago Live airs at 1P. Also worth noting is that they no longer air a repeat of the 10A hr. of ’Chicago Now’ at 11A. Instead, viewers get a new 2nd hour of CN hosted by Tia Ewing. I’m not sure if they have settled on who will co-host with Ewing.

I just noticed that NBC is now using a side-by-side style bumper for their Nightly News commercial breaks with a 'Headlines Now' slide on the right. When did they start using this? I'm assuming it debuted on a Monday if I were to guess. It's been a while since I watched network news.

We have another retirement coming up. Wednesday, October 15th, will be the last for WEEK's Chief Meteorologist Chuck Collins after 50 years in broadcasting, 23 of them at WMBD, and the last 16 of them at WEEK. https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/08/13/week-tv-chief-meteorologist-chuck-collins-announces-retirement/

As in "it won't become another feed of Byron Allen reruns" good news and at least keeps that channel and its sisters going at the very least.

Another post to mention... Sounds like KDKA has quietly canceled the 8pm news on sister WPKD and replaced it with a repeat of KDKA's 6pm news. https://www.triblive.com/aande/movies-tv/tv-talk-more-change-at-kdka-tv-news-director-exits-with-promotion/

Stations pay dues to PBS. They’re recalculating the formula now for future fiscal years.

Here's the web article. This will be a HUGE loss for WCAU. Tracy has been a real cornerstone for the station through the many changes, via anchors and otherwise. Jacqueline London (who I still remember from WKMG-TV Orlando very very well) hinted as saying November, so more likely before Thanksgiving that she'll be gone from WCAU. https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/tracy-davidson-leaving-nbc10-philadelphia/4253667/

That's a good thing?

American Public Television (completely separate from both orgs) distributes most of the instructional and other cooking and travel shows that aren't usually associated with the larger public television stations; they have not been affected by any of this to date.

I read on RadioDiscussions that it seems like Cumulus is turning its sports radio stations in Alabama into a statewide network modeled after flagship 94.5 WJOX-FM Birmingham. 100.5 WJQX is now JOX Tuscaloosa. 730 WUMP in Huntsville is now JOX Huntsville. 660 WXQW in Mobile is now JOX Mobile. 740 WMSP in Montgomery is now JOX Montgomery. It sounds like 690 WJOX will remain the same, which is currently 24/7 ESPN Radio.

I would think CPB only provides the funding, while the actual infrastructure is part of NPR and PBS.

What happens when you combine a former local news anchor (Jim Rosenfield) with a former CNN anchor (Alisyn Camerota) and an anchor with news and sports experience (Dave Briggs)? A new streaming show, Connecting America, is on USA Today's streaming channels. https://www.gannett.com/pr/gannett-debuts-connecting-america-on-usa-today-streaming-channels/

Tracy Davidson just announced she is retiring from Channel 10 this fall.