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Realistically, the network isn't giving up that real estate to NBC and CBS. The benefits, hypothetical at that, of stations like WPVI for example doing an hour of news are more than offset by the lost revenue of abandoning the genre. Of course, there is the money to be made from those who view later in clips or on-demand, et al. Non-owned stations making more cash does nothing for Disney directly. Keeping something competitive in that slot does. They may try and fail with an initial replacement. Such is life. But if, and it's a big if based on one comment at this point, he leaves after this contract, that slot is going to remain in ABC's control. Personally, I'd love to see Nightline reclaim the spot, but I know that isn't the smart business play here. It's just a personal preference from someone with no skin in the game.

I would doubt it. Hasn’t the JKL hour been fairly successful for ABC? Seems like they’d want to find a suitable replacement than abandoning it.

There were times where WAGA did beat WSB in the 70s, 80s and 90s before the switch. There were times WXIA beat both WSB & WAGA at 11pm due to NBC primetime lead in the late 80s and early 90s. When the 80s came around in the bigger markets NBC & ABC just changed with the times. CBS hasn't fared well in the bigger markets, but NBC & ABC does really well. CBS does well in mid size, smaller and rural markets. Prior to the switch in the 90s. Atlanta, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Dallas, Phoenix & Tampa Bay those CBS affiliates did really well.

You can partially give the New World-FOX partnership/merger the blame for all of this too. Additionally, before WAGA was bought by/transferred to FOX in the 1994-96 realignment, it was arguably one of their stronger affiliates. Notably it is also the only station in Atlanta that currently has a chance at surpassing the almighty WSB-TV. Same goes for the prior affiliates in Detroit, Milwaukee, etc. New World must have run their stations well because the majority of them continue to maintain strong viewership. This time period also coincides with when CBS began to see declining ratings as a whole. Also during realignment CBS had to affiliate with small unheard of channels with relatively high channel numbers, and in many cases the news room was built from scratch.

A lot of CBS stations especially in the top ten markets had historically have less stability and branding changes regularly while NBC and especially ABC stations have way more stability and reporters/anchors tend to stay at these stations longer so viewers get familiar with them and trust these people more to deliver the news. Most people want a quality newscast over quantity.

By mayoral proclamation, today is Tom Skilling Day in Chicago, in honor of his 72nd birthday & next week's retirement.

I don't know...I think the cancellation of the Late Late Show after Corden's departure was a bit of a bellwether for the decreasing relevance of late night talk shows. Kimmel has his audience, but if I'm not mistaken, he is routinely beaten by Colbert and Fallon. As far as his current place in late night TV is concerned, I feel like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight are more culturally relevant than Jimmy Kimmel. I suppose there's a chance that ABC finds a fresh comedian to helm a new talk show, and if they're making money between 11:35 and 12:35, they probably won't fix what isn't broken. However, if they end up giving an extra 25 minutes to the affiliates, that really wouldn't surprise me.

There can be common threads, but no situations are identical. Each station has its own unique competitors and market dynamics at work. In some cases (a la KDKA as noted) that has worked to the station's benefit. Others, not so much. Sometimes you can employ a solid plan and execute it well, and still not show big results, if the competition hasn't given people enough reason to go elsewhere. And your network performance matters; while a really strong local affiliate can outperform and even give the parent network a bit of a boost there, by and large, you're also partially at the mercy of factors outside your control.

Look, before this topic gets put to rest (and let it do so soon), I love both packages and contrary to how we blow over about these things on this forum but your average viewer who knows nothing about station groups and graphics packages could care less on localization of graphics packages, music, the actual graphics, and even the reporting. Sure, something slow and European wouldn't work in Chicago or Philly, and viewers would be more comfortable with the style they know but in the end of the day, it's still going to ring in money and viewership!

When it comes to local newscasts, I've noticed a pattern emerge in most media markets, especially the top 10. ABC is usually no.1 in the market. NBC is a close 2nd, though sometimes it surpasses ABC. But CBS? Almost always in a distant last place. Is there any reason as to why CBS is so bad?

To put sports into it. CBS losing the NFL (NFC) in 1994 was a huge blow to the network along with their subpar prime time programming at the time. CBS then started to turnaround in 1996 and started what would turn into a 27 year relationship with SEC football before getting the NFL back in 1998 but with the AFC it wasn't the same as the majority of their original NFC crew were already at Fox. One has to wonder how losing SEC football this coming season will come into to play for those Southern large and rural markets. Yes, the Big Ten is a much bigger market conference but I bet those newscasts on Saturdays in the South will take a hit with the exception of places where the CBS affiliate is the only choice like WMAZ in Macon. (I'm so glad I left that area! It's the only TEGNA station that was ran well. The competition there is a joke! They should be absorbed into Atlanta DMA)

Nice and clear talent line up too. not confusing to know which time your favorite personality will be on.

Yes, from what I've noticed the schedule is: 4,5pm: Kendis, Arrianee and Chris Cimino 6/6:30/10: Kori, Shirley, Mr. G Previously, Chris did the 4/6 and G the 5/10. Happy that PIX has finally diversified their evening teams, from what I saw of Kendis he seems like a great fit and adaptable to the lighter fare of the 4pm, and the harder approach to the 5pm.

I was interviewed for one of WUPA's "newscasts" back in December of 2022, with one of their only MMJs. Watched the newscast that evening to see what was what and definitely disappointed. Wasn't surprised, I didn't even know what the local CW affiliate was at the time until that morning, let alone that they had a newscast. I will definitely agree that they were produced like "Spectrum News 1".

My theory for the affiliates is that their struggles stem from the '94 realignments. They lost some stronger affiliates, left to pick up weaker ones. Look at ATL, CBS lost WAGA 5 to Fox, so they had to settle for WGNX 46, a weaker station with a dial number up in the boondocks. For the owned and operated stations I'll say again...CBS O&O newscasts have a very generic, corporate, "Spectrum News" like feel, that isn't always authentic to the markets they're in. Big example, CBS' defunct "Nowcasts". WUPA's version, produced in NYC, felt so out of place in a country/soulful/hip hop city like Atlanta. WCBS' Mary Calvi and Chris Wragge could do one of those nowcasts because they don't add any extra personality to make it feel like you're watching a New York morning show. This in contrast to the loud-brash-Brooklyn Rosanna Scotto on GDNY or the Jamaican Dancehall or Street Soldiers segments covered on WNYW. Even though all o&o station groups duplicate their formats across markets, ABC, NBC, and especially FOX & CW stations are better at adding local touches.

Second that, especially with the offer he made in the fall(?).

And this is still all predicated on if Disney decides to sell ABC within 2 years and what the new owner wants to do with the slot.

The Judge Judy repeats will stay on the air for three more years.

The last one standing from the 1989 morning news launch. 12 different people she's worked with over time. A true OG. The good thing is she is sticking around for the 35th-anniversary Morning newscast!

A notable exception is CBS owned KDKA in Pittsburgh, although a lot of it is historical preference hanging on tight.

Fubo has filed an antitrust lawsuit to stop this joint venture project from happening.

WBIR Action 10 News Update (February 23, 1982)

True. I see both sides. I agree with the idea of identifying a similar product via aesthetics through several markets. Not to drift off topic but, comparing the more successful ABC O&Os vs CBS O&OS...I don't mind duplicating a look just with added personal touches like KWY doing green instead of the standard CBS blue and white. I know the argument is a similar look for content sharing but the audience does not care if WCBS takes a KYW green graphic. The issue becomes when stations sound like a bland corporate carbon copy and not locally authentic. Look at WCBS with its pharmacy jingle ringtone open and clean corporate feel which doesn't match the vibe of a gritty intense city like New York. In contrast, even though WABC is one of ABC's many Eyewitness News copies, it still feels locally authentic to NYC with its diverse set of long-tenured reporters and its "flashier" (as some have said) format.

Geraldo Still at Large.

Will this set up yet another reboot of Geraldo at Large where he'll get a half-hour to do whatever he'd like?

What part of "offer no specifics" makes you think I'm buying the spin at face value? I was just sharing what came up in a Google search. Personally, I doubt NN is turning a "good" profit. As for your other statement, I doubt you'll ever be in any position to make decisions on staffing anywhere.

Indeed, great point. Hey, if they sell it to Byron Allen, look for lots of content from his library there.

Not to dive into speculation, but could ABC return the remaining portion of the 11/10pm hour to their affiliates and have Nightline on at 12a/11p? Certain ABC affiliates may want their old hour-long newscasts back....cough cough WEAR...WISN... Not to mention those stations that added another half-hour syndie after the 10pm news and did so for years.... Doing so would give ABC stations an advantage over CBS or NBC.

Roz Varon is hanging it up.

You could have offered some commentary like, "Looks to be conjecture" or similar.