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4 years after the new set debut. KNTV is getting a lighting upgrade and in a temporary studio seen below. talk about a blast from the past the 2016-2022 window wall and anchor desk was salvaged after the new set was built and is back on screen for the time being. https://www.facebook.com/100057978044857/posts/pfbid02qCfb48c2Qcv4maVxytHFG6kLpeuSZz4BZZW9B6skGwFxS37jmuXaYduj5b74WSojl/?mibextid=wwXIfr

So today Lynda Kinkade did 12-2am, Rosemary Church did an hour and since 3am ET we've had Polo Sandoval. Very much doubt that will be the case everyday. I was expecting someone in London to do the 4am hour, but today is a public holiday in the UK. Probably we'll find out the proper arrangements tomorrow.

WEVV closings now show (c) 2026 Gray Media. Website still shows AMB.

It's good that you mentioned this, because Kevin Orpurt is rejoining WTHI as its Chief Meteorologist. Although he looks different, it is so good to know that he is coming back.

From the Gray press release: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/gray-media-byron-allen-allen-003000970.html

As they are now part of Gray and no longer Allen, WTHI made their first big announcement. The famous bow-tie is back. Kevin Orpurt is returning as Chief Meteorologist after being cut last year.

NEPM (formerly WGBY) was actually a spin-off from WGBH in the first place so this is kind of a homecoming of sorts. I'm all for it!

We’re now going to see this situation become very common throughout public media—though it makes a lot of sense. One of the few times consolidation is likely to help more than hurt. GBH and NEPM to merge: https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/press/press-releases/2026-05-01/gbh-and-nepm-announce-anticipated-merger-to-strengthen-access-to-trusted-news-information-and-quality-entertainment-across-massachusetts DC for example is served over-the-air and on cable by at least three different PBS member stations. This is common in several markets. At least 70-80% maybe more of these program schedules overlap with the same programming.

First off, that link is bad. Here's a shorter, easier-to-read, and direct version that's free of the unnecessary LinkedIn detour and its URL cruft: https://thedesk.net/2026/04/five-states-added-to-antitrust-lawsuit-against-nexstar-over-tegna-deal/ The governors being Republicans or Democrats have nothing to do with it. It's the Attorneys General who are involved in the lawsuit. As it happens, three of them are Republicans -- in Indiana, Kansas, and Pennsylvania.

The Swap of Gray & Scrips stations has been approved by the F.C.C. Gray Stations: KKCO, KJCT-LD, KMVT, KSVT-LD will now be owned by Scrips

At this point, should the FCC premature revenge motivated early review of ABC/Disney licenses be a separate thread, since, Nexstar, at least publicly, with its own problems, is not chiming in? If trump did not want satirical jokes about the age difference with his wife, including jokes made for years similar to Kimmel's, then he should never entered public life. He, his actions, his life, his looks, his speech all become fair game. That's the way it's always been. Saturday Night went to town on Ford stumbling on stairs. Comedians have always mocked public figures and leaders. Let's not forget he gives them lots of material to work with. Sadly, he can't take it and now has ordered this review which Carr was all too giddy to comply in an abuse of regulatory power.

Annnnnnnnnd, let's all cool down for a bit. Maybe we should all let the dust settle on this thread until we get actual headlines, because some of us can debate back and forth til blue in the face. Not restricting posting, not locking the thread, so I don't want to hear anything about censorship. I'm just suggesting that everyone has well-established their points, by now.

I do not think it is the least bit wise of Kimmel to joke about the death of the President - how ever implied or mild the joke may purport to be. Even though Kimmel denied wrongdoing in his later monologue, he knew better than to make such a joke especially after last year's fiasco. I don't care who is the President or which political party he is part of. Jokes that hint at the death of the incumbent President should not be on television. Period. And that should be non-negotiable. Our society has never been more divided and making jokes about a President's death does nothing to unify the viewing audience on common ground and should never be accepted as part of our discourse in society. ABC management can fix this mess by talking to Kimmel behind the scenes and ensure he steers clear of such jokes in the future. And provided that a clear agreement is reached, then Kimmel should be given another chance. That said, this is bad for business at ABC and management will have to make some difficult decisions in the coming days.

History is being made in Portland. For the first time ever, we're getting a women's sports-focused RSN and Gray is making it happen. KPDX is being converted from FOX 12 Plus into Rose City SportsNet, the home of Portland Thorns FC (NWSL) and the new Portland Fire (WNBA). It will still be OTA on Channel 49 and Cable 13 (next to KPTV itself). https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kptv.com/2026/04/27/gray-media-raj-sports-launch-rose-city-sportsnet/%3foutputType=amp

Again, we agree that there is government overreach and that reviewing licenses over content screams past that overreach line. Over a cup of coffee, we would take a step back and probably agree on 98% of things. But, if we believe in the protection of the First Amendment, we should also agree that is still a difference between "spouting off", and saying that precious assassins are "rolling over in their graves", and desiring someone with "decent aim" (current viral TikTok video quotes) regardless of who the subject matter is. When things like that take off, it only provides others with unnecessary ammunition to tie that to recent quotes from a late night host to get to where we are currently at. Kimmel should be allowed to make jokes, wanting someone dead should always be condemned, and the FCC has no business to be reviewing ABC O&O licenses over this. I stand by both sides being abhorrent in their own ways and we deserve better across the board. I'm rooting for humanity, and right now it's not in Washington D.C., on TV, or any social media platform.

Here is my perspective- thoughts about the president aside... What isn't helping Kimmel right now, nor his rationale for the joke, is that there are plenty of examples on social media (pick a platform, any platform) where there are people are openly cheering for an assassin, upset that shooters miss, and wishing someone would be successful at completing that task. You can disagree with someone and even loathe them, but wishing death upon someone, anyone, publicly is terrible- and doesn't help the problem right now. That said, I think the president has far overreached with retaliation on many fronts and criticism is warranted and more than fair. However, I can and do also believe that Kimmel's explanation on Monday was simply trying to put the cat in the bag. For the first amendment crowd, correct- Jimmy can say what he believes is a joke, but on the flipside of the coin you cannot control or demand how people receive your joke. I might think a comedian is hilarious, you might very well think the same comedian is awful. While Kimmel's skit was written in a way where he was able to say "I meant their age difference", that reference could have easily been written into the joke itself and had prevented *some* of the backlash. A previous comment noted that the age difference jokes are not new- and correct on that front. But late night comedy has changed. Carson, Leno, Letterman, et al. would all wear their stripes at times, but also take shots at all sides of the spectrum- something that enough recent data shows has become quite one-sided (Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert, Gutfeld, and Stewart are all guilty in their own rights). Cooler heads need to prevail on both sides, and quickly.

Here's something interesting. All of CW Sports will be available live on the ESPN Unlimited app: https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2026/04/the-cw-network-and-espn-team-up-to-stream-more-than-800-hours-of-live-events-from-cw-sports-on-the-espn-app/

This whole ordeal has taken another wild turn. On April 4th, the old WMNN-LD/WXII-LD/NewsNet studio building was sold to a "Greenwad, LLC". This appears to be a holding company registered to a lawyer. There is not any information about what "Greenwad" is. This part of the transaction is not particularly interesting itself, but read on... On April 27th, with the sale of WXII-LD and WMNN-LD to Lowcountry 34 Media still pending, the FCC ordered Bridge News to file license renewal applications for all of their stations, alleging this is part of an investigation "for possible violations of the FCC’s prohibition on unauthorized transfers of control of the station licenses." The weird thing about these two transactions? The studio building was not sold by Bridge News. It was sold by Lowcountry, who apparently took ownership of the property from Bridge News on October 1st 2025, nearly four months before the paperwork to transfer control of the stations was filed. It will be interesting to see what the FCC thinks is going on here.

Respectfully, if you think ABC (News) has become the equivalent of state-run media, then you're not quite familiar with true, legitimate, state-run media.

1)The biggest station revocation in history was forcing RKO General's stations to be sold over financial practices, not over anything said on air 2) These proceedings are technically over Disney's DEI policies, hardly a meaningful basis for license challenge, but easier to defend than an outright censorship effort and it doesn't put the affiliates at risk for having aired Kimmel (including stations owned by Nexstar and Sinclair).

At this point, I really don't care. Simply, people are stupid. Enough said.

I watch a lot of ABC and definitely haven’t gotten the impression of state run media. Kind of absurd to claim that of the network employing Mary Bruce, Rachel Smith and George Stephanopoulos who are fearless in their pursuits of truth through all of this administration’s lies. On top of that, Disney has pretty immediately signaled they won’t be rolling over. Brian Stelter even reported this afternoon that Disney has signaled to station groups that contractual obligations to carry network programming will be enforced.

Bumping: CW will expand its broadcasts of the Savannah Bananas, with six games on the network starting May 10: https://www.cwtvpr.com/the-cw/shows/the-savannah-bananas/releases/?view=102114-the-cw-network-to-broadcast-six-banana-ball-games-during-the-2026-season This is just like what the NWA was doing back in 2024 on The CW app. But considering the big bang-up ratings it's doing for the net, CW makes much much sense and is the completely better platform for NXT's PLEs than Peacock.

Joie is a good talent. I enjoy her Tik Tok lives. I hope she finds a solid gig after Tulsa. I believe is from the Chicago area, she has a distinct sounding accent that is germane to the midwest.

KUNS ARC Seattle (The CW) is the official home of the Seattle Storm and has announced today that all non-national exclusive games of the WNBA franchise will air on KUNS with select simulcasts on KOMO. That is 35 games right there. https://komonews.com/news/local/where-to-watch-seattle-storm-wnba-announce-2026-local-broadcast-schedule-kuns-komo-news-tv-cw-seattle-refined

John Sterling, best known for his 30+ years as the radio voice of the Yankees, has died at 87: