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I think the hyper-fixation on brand and music changes being some kind of driver for viewers to "get upset" and stop watching the station is kind of absurd, when you consider all the other things that can change in a TV news broadcast that the station really doesn't have much control over. Talent is a more important draw for viewers than music and brands, and retirements don't often move the ratings needle much. WPVI didn't see a massive ratings drop after Jim Gardner left, despite his status in the market. The same is looking true at WGN after Tom Skilling left, and I can't imagine a music change or branding would actually lead people to change the channel permanently. It's not 1996 anymore. I'd also like to point out that a lot of these old 90's era "people were MAD!!!" claims come from newspaper columnists at the time. We cannot know for certain what they embellished on to make their column more interesting. "People were upset" that a station changed their branding the same way people get upset that Judge Judy was interrupted for severe weather. This doesn't mean the whole market was "rioting in the streets" like people around these parts like to think would happen if WPVI modernized MCTYW. On that subject, the 1996 orchestral MCTYW was arguably just bad and was an abrupt, noticeable change. WPVI has been using new cuts of MCTYW from different composers for years at this point (there have been some new ones since the graphics debut!) and I have a hunch nobody but people involved with this community have noticed, largely because they don't sound as wildly different as the orchestral package did.

Not necessarily, there's always The CW Plus cable feed.

Yeah it pretty difficult to get WPLG on board with a subchannel. Especially that WPLG does News for WSFL and with them dumping the affiliation that newscast is likely over. That might put a bad taste in Grahams mouth that means Scripps was not happy with their deal.

Those markets have been relegated to receiving CW through cable on The CW Plus Cable channel.

If stations have these "fans" who are concerned about their branding, music, and graphics, then it stands to reason that the less popular (at least around here) newscast formats we've seen lately also have fans. Somebody's watching Scrippscasts, somebody is watching Tegna stations. Maybe that's because they like what they see. If viewers "cared about tradition" the way some of us like to think, we wouldn't be seeing 45% of the news audience disappearing into thin air.

General reminder that the "Action News" trademark is owned by Cox (and "Eyewitness News" is owned by CBS!) and stations have to pay to use them. Why should Scripps keep paying for a brand name for a format that hasn't been properly used in decades? I know folks have a weird affinity for these two brands, but come on. This is, by far, a better logo than some of the other Scripps rebrands over the past few years. Why should they pay Cox for this name? Why should they pay Nexstar for The CW? These are all competitors. People love to think talent at these stations treat each other like this is Anchorman, and while that's not true, there's no good reason to give your competition money for a tired old brand or a second-rate network affiliation.

Given the hot water Nexstar is in for running WPIX, and Adell's (mis)management of WADL, a subchannel affiliation on WDIV is their best hope. And there's no way one of the Windsor stations could pick it up and retarget their signal to an American audience. That ship sailed after all of the San Diego issues with XETV in their later years. Also CBC's CBET was once CKLW which RKO once had a stake in and used the station to target Detroit.

Less than 100 days out. Here's CBC's coverage plans.

Hello everyone, I'm sure many of you are wondering what's been going on with the site for the last couple weeks. While I don't even have all the answers, I figured it'd be useful to explain a bit about what happened and where we're going from here. First, a little history. I have never been in control of the tvnewstalk.net domain. Many years ago (we're talking like, at least 10 years back,) I ultimately inherited the responsibility of operating the site while a former administrator owned the domain. This, generally, was uneventful, except for a few instances where the domain registration lapsed and I had to poke them to get it renewed. This just kind of became the way things were, ownership of the domain never really came up, and slowly they stopped coming around the community. Fast forward to 2024, when in late February/early March, anyone trying to visit the site via tvnewstalk.net was greeted with a page reading "Account Suspended". As far as I know, this was the "old" server (that was still operational, serving only to redirect visits to tvnewstalk.net to forums.tvnewstalk.net) going unpaid. Since the DNS for the domain still pointed forums.tvnewstalk.net to the server I control, the site stayed online and accessible. This issue had happened before, and to my recollection, resolved itself without me having to alert anybody. I was also getting quite busy with work, so I chose to just let it go. Since everything had forever been at forums.tvnewstalk.net, impacts on traffic from the redirect not working were extremely minor. At the end of March, another problem arose. TVNewsTalk.net dropped off the Domain Name System. My assumption is this is related to the earlier "Account Suspended" issue, I guess the domain was registered through the host, and they removed it from their DNS when the bill (presumably) went unpaid. For most users, access to TVNT was cut off. This, however, happened slowly, as DNS servers took some time to update to process the removal. At least until a few days ago, we were still seeing people using the site via T-Mobile. When the domain dropped off DNS, I reached out to another one of our former administrators, who I had gone through the last time I had to contact the domain owner. They attempted to make contact, and got no response. There was beginning to be a lot of noise in the community wondering what happened to the site, and there was even some sort of unauthorized crowdfunding campaign spun up. It was at this point I decided to take matters into my own hands, registered LocalNewsTalk.net, and began the process of moving the forum over. That's where we're at now. The site has been transferred over. There are still a few loose ends to tie up, but otherwise we're back in action. I do not know what will become of the TVNewsTalk.net domain that we've called home for almost 20 years. Perhaps it will return, some day, but for the foreseeable future, we're going to be here at localnewstalk.net. Things still being worked on: Email (Registration, Password Resets): Email has been changed over to the localnewstalk.net domain and should be working as intended. Check spam folder if you don't see an expected message. Google Login: Changes submitted for review by Google Trust and Safety. Might be working. Facebook Login: In Progress. Need to complete extra steps to re-enable this. Discord Login: Should be working. Forum Theme: There are a small handful of broken things due to an update I ran while the site was unavailable. Please feel free to leave any questions or concerns you may have below. -Weeters

There are two sides to every story and somewhere in the middle lies the truth. Personally, I err more toward the Scripps version of the story given (as stated) the number of markets impacted, the decline of CW programming; and Scripps ability to utilize ScrippsNews to fill programming holes

Huh, interesting.

No eye here.

As a spry 134-year-old crackpot, I am still personally offended and outraged that those whippersnappers Huntley and Brinkley replaced the beloved Camel News Caravan. Even more than Actions and Eyewitnesses, we want our news delivered on drab sets in glorious black-and-white by chain-smoking anchors. That's the sort of tradition that will bring The Kids These Days back to broadcast television in droves.

Branding is important in every industry, but there is such a thing as overthinking it. Of what viewers we still have, I think all they really care about other than the news content is that the branding isn't distracting. I think all that most viewers care about is that the news content is of quality, that the anchors and reporters look decent, that the lighting in the studio is crisp, and that the newscast isn't riddled with production errors. Viewers no longer care or have any attachment to anachronistic branding devices. I'll never forget a conversation I had with two acquaintances in Los Angeles a few years ago. They were musicians and did not watch television and thought that "KTLA," "Eyewitness News," and "Good Day LA" were all the same station, and they assumed that local TV news was still stuck in those 70s-era trappings.

I hate to break it to you but all three major stations in Detroit will have now rebranded at least once. It happens. Folks in this market seem to like the hype of WDIV and absolutely nothing 7 has tried seems to work. They have been stuck in second since 2009 and there for 22 of the last 28 years. Even though their newscasts are really well put together now they spent years in the doldrums quality wise and never really followed the format to begin with even in the 1970’s. Their newscasts weren’t so different from KABC or WABC or WLS that we should say they reinvented the ABC local news wheel. It’s not the tradition it is in Philly or something either. If it means better graphic elements and a new voiceover and maybe talent opens and a new style that’s probably a positive on aggregate. Their focus is gonna be on using 7 and Channel 7… they don’t even have a slogan anymore. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Exactly! It's absurd that people would go crazy over an... rebrand that the station did.

People always notice that funny part thinking they will forget. People will always remember. People were upset when WXIA dumped 11Alive moniker in the 90s.

Even though this was kind of an "emergency" rebranding, that was a purposeful little nod to the site's history. That, and the fact that the media we talk about is growing beyond "TV" in the traditional sense. I think there's something wonky going on with the caching (we're behind Cloudflare now, something else I've wanted to do for a while) that is causing this, I'm going to look into it further.

THIS!!! I remember randomly discovering this site and it felt like a safe space and knowing that there are so many people around the country and world who geek and nerd out on TV news. This site continues to Thrive and Grow!

Why? Because they are dropping a name that hasn't really meant anything since Bill Bonds got fired 30 years ago? Good lord, this fandom is so unbelievably out of touch with reality.

Yea, given the fact of the Canadian programs on The CW, it's an good idea that CBET never grabs the affiliation without the CRTC knowing or the CBC is in hot water. And yea, WJBK is not really the best alternative because of its Fox Ownership (WJBK probably just say no to that immediately) but WDIV works. Not surprisingly, there was less controversy with the Nexstar purchase of Tribune Media in 2019 than when Sinclair tried to aquire Tribune in 2018, probably because Nexstar weren't going to put any divested stations to an side-car company like Mission (other than WPIX but that was opinional (XD)) and also because Sinclair was acting stupid, ignorant and not like an good Broadcast owner for putting Must-runs and false information and FORCING its anchors to say what EXACTLY Sinclair said. (Madison, Wisconsin got lucky, thanks WISC-TV.) Also, Nexstar got KASW because of the Meredith—Belo weirdness in Phoenix with KPHO, KTVK, and KASW that also affected St. Louis with KSDK and KMOV. Also, Nexstar doesn't really want to own CW Stations without an backup for some reason in Phoenix and South Florida. (Miami—Fort Lauderdale) Which confuses me because they can do that in Jacksonville with WCWJ (The former WJKS) but can't/won't in Miami, like how does that work?? ... Ummmmm, how would I explain this? In Kansas (with the former Kansas State Network KSNW, KSNT, and (semi) KSNF, Nexstar didn't mess it up an lot, same in Missouri with KTVI/KPLR and KOLR/KRBK/KOZL. Don't think WDAF-TV is an worse product now from 2017. It might be an really dumb move from Nexstar, but I don't think there should be an RKO-General-type of TV Station investigation. (Sorry if I'm acting stupid or something, I was just randomly thinking about the 'you can remove Local TV from your cable provider' thing.) Yes, Nexstar is stupid sometimes, but that's how Broadcasting is for it feels like for an long time.

Unless they agree to subchannel affiliations with WDIV and WPLG, the CW is likely shut out from Detroit and Miami entirely.

Miami is going to be the most interesting market to watch where The CW goes. The only realistic places I could see are as either a WSVN or WPLG subchannel. In Tucson, KTTU could be an option, or if all else fails, it could be a KVOA, KMSB, or KOLD subchannel.

I've lost all respect for Scripps at this point.. They just really want to screw everyone: employees, viewers, etc...

My lord...Bill Bonds is probably drunk cussing from his grave about this....

Im all for Bill adding his opinion.

Thank you for bringing us back! Even though I"m done with TV (for now), this site is still a daily one for me to keep up with what's going on in the crazy world of TV.

Thank you Weeters for in a way bringing us back to our roots. (Early 2000s) If we all remember correctly this forum was originally born from an AOL or Yahoo Geocites page haha. if I vaguely remember and it was called Local News Discussion lol. So in away the new name, Local News Talk brings us back to our roots! Glad to be back!

Love the new site. Great new colors and design. A breath of fresh air. Great job all around and thank you for the your work.

Thank you for your hard work in getting this site back up and running.. I agree the red is a nice touch

I’m loving the red on the website. Please keep it even if you do migrate back to the old domain.

On the other hand, the UP is a tiny market dominated by WLUC since the beginning of time. WJMN's solo efforts are only a decade old, and WBKP/WBUP strongly pales in comparison (only dating back to 1996). Amazed thet Lilly was able to jumpstart their own operation for WZMQ after they snagged CBS from WJMN.

Checked the schedule, and its just 90 minutes of news, 6:30am, 6pm and 11pm. I'd assume its the bare minimum ABC asked the station for to remain an affiliate, but its the same ammount WNWO did before Sinclair did a mercy killing for the National Desk, back when they did news from WSBT's spare studios.

Makes sense, since ABC 10 is a bare bones station that does literally nothing news wise....WJMN would do much better for ABC

It wouldn't surprise me to see Morgan Murphy move ABC and/or CW to WJMN. It's a far better station to be broadcasting on than both WBKP and WBUP. Also, merging news staffs would be a benefit, since WBKP and WBUP don't have that much to begin with.

Setting aside Nexstar/Mission for a moment, technology and generational shifts result in fewer eyes on all kinds of news sources. The pie has been sliced into far smaller portions, and consolidation didn’t cause that.

TL:DR: We ain't in the 1960s anymore Y'all. New York isn't in flames because WPIX isnt sold off yet. Okay, so, I mentioned the Nexstar WPIX type of controversy on April 1st (and no, what I said wasn't a joke) The FCC focusing on WPIX, a station which is only in the crosshair because of an LMA with Nexstar and not focusing on, well, I don't know... LOCAL news being taking AWAY in some rural areas (Wyoming) makes it looks like the broadcasting and ESPECIALLY the Television Broadcasting world seems to be semi-stuck in 1964. its like the ONLY Nexstar can do is to CANCEL the news department and sell it off to Sinclair and not compete in the market. Like, I've heard good stuff about KMBC's owners but not about WDAF? Like, should I explain that KMBC back in the day REMOVED an anchor because of her age in the 1980s under Metromedia ownership, then she sued Channel 9 only to lose after winning once because it's previous ownership was acquired by News Corp.? I said this on the same day: "Oh yea, since everybody is forgetting this, if Nexstar and/or Mission Broadcasting doesn't want to sell WPIX, they can sell any other stations to meet the cap/quota on Television stations." I do think Nexstar knew about this and sold off WJMN to Sullivan's Landing LLC to NOT get in anymore trouble. (Like if that helped). Sometimes, the Broadcasting Universe makes me confused. I'm NOT saying Nexstar is doing an good job, nor is the FCC but focusing on other problems like WPIX's ownership and not on how local news may be affected negatively be ownership changes are stuff that get me confused. As what Megatron did say, it's not the 60s hence why I said that time period. WLBT ain't under investigation in 2024 so why should any one else now? BTW, the length is a bit too much buti just want to say that really I still don't understand.