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This is textbook fascism in action. Use every lever of power to force the media into submission. Punish dissent. Stifle journalistic freedom.

Hello, everyone. I have an update regarding LocalNewsTalk and our partner Discord server The NewsCenter. On Monday, The NewsCenter announced that it will be merging with the Broadcast Plaza Discord server. Emma's announcement to The NewsCenter follows. There have been a few questions as to what is happening to LocalNewsTalk following this merger. The answer is: not much! LocalNewsTalk will continue to exist, and we are working with Broadcast Plaza to continue the partnership we started with The NewsCenter. We will be updating our Discord page and adopting some Broadcast Plaza co-branding in the coming days and weeks. While the best place for questions about this merger remains the #repack channel mentioned above, I will do my best to answer any questions that this side of things may have below.

They're too busy covering local weather for Allen stations.. what would you expect??

It's mirrored the WNBC news studio just like looking at a reflection

Reminders for tonight for those of you who want to record final newscasts of these folks for prosperity and historical reference: • WPTV's Shannon Cake at 6pm ET after 29 years. • WDAY's John Wheeler's last newscast at 6pm CT after 40 years. • KNXV's Katie Raml's last newscast at 6pm MT after 24 years (actually longer, working in promotions before leaving, then returning in 2002). Also, next week... Wednesday, May 21st: • WRAL's Debra Morgan at 6pm ET after 32 years. • KENS' Deborah Knapp at 5pm CT after 38 years with the station and 50 in journalism. • WHIO's Cheryl McHenry at 6pm ET after 44 years (she already no longer does the 11pm). • WXIX's Steve Horstmeyer after 17 years there, but 48 in Cincy TV (delayed from March). Friday, May 23rd: • WBAY's Bill Jartz at 10pm CT (1983-1990 and since 1993). These are all I can find for right now but there's a lot of them coming up due to the end of "sweeps."

Noticed Cox customers in SoCal, North of San Diego County, don't get the Dodgers RSN SportsNet LA, so Dodgers fans unable to switch last few yrs. to DIRECTV or Spectrum, will soon able to get SNLA.

Really surprised they are keeping the Cox name, but with Spectrum being front-facing for the last decade, it makes sense to abandon Charter (which always sounded similar to a drug rehab center that existed until 2000). Besides price though, Spectrum is rock solid for me and I rarely lose service, so I must be in a good part of their service area (originally Marcus). It's just sad to see Cox in so many aspects wind down, though.

Alex Wilson posted on Facebook that she and Mike are alternating weeks and wont be together until some time in June. This is due to severe weather and one of them would be on after Weather Unfiltered for coverage when needed. They're basically in standby mode. The schedules day to day have been crazy. I believe this is due to the simple fact that people are taking time off. With Chris and Jacqui's exit that leaves them a little short so there has been a lot of shifting around when one is off or they just go to a 2 anchor format.

Maybe for now this is what the producers feel is right for the show. Also each broadcast is operated by different producers and etc, so what may work for the 11pm broadcast probably doesn't work for the 4, 5 and 6 broadcasts, which I also believe are different, etc..

Hahaha. I try not to. I do it for all of y'all. This is the stuff we nerd at and dork at. If I find them in time, I'll share them so y'all don't feel left out.

So... Getting that we will have no major visual changes other than Lester being swapped out for Tom, which makes sense since graphics package is still new enough. Nice touch to add Brian Williams in the mix... NBC has a history of conveniently omitting host tenures of some shows the network sees as a blemish to the franchise...

KCNC's Michelle Griego was featured on CBS Mornings today. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ9LeidxINg/?igsh=MWM1dGlva2lncmZsYg==

Definitely Channels is your best choice in this situation; it's mainly built for Mac, provides proper TV listings and I've used it for four years and rarely had any headaches running it on my Mac Mini or anything else I want to stream from it as a server through the house and on the road. It is a paid product listings-wise at $9/month but I find it indispensable and you don't have to worry about setups or schedule XML files and configuring things unless you'd like to explore their Docker plug-ins or custom content lists.

Bringing this up here because it involves Robin Roberts... Her, her brother Lawrence and yes, her sister, the legendary Sally-Ann Roberts in her post-WWL days in retirement, were all on Tamron Hall the other day to promote their new children's book. Glad to see Sally Ann again in her retirement and it shows the love Robin has for her family on doing great things. EDIT: Here's GMA talking about it.

Not to get off topic too much, but my sister avoided the Dorr tornado by a mile, and my parents avoided the Lansing one by 1/2 mile!

And also, Thur when the nasty storms hit Michigan a few spin up tornados were reported. The power flickered a few times but didn't lose it like a lot did in my area where I lived thankful for that, and was a light show didn't here all that much thunder.

Steve Wilkos Show renewed for 19th season. https://deadline.com/2025/05/the-steve-wilkos-show-renewed-season-19-syndication-1236402188/

Steve Dolinsky is getting out of broadcasting entirely at the end of the month, taking a job scouting for concepts and collaborations for Levy Restaurants. His research will inform and mold the foods they serve at sports and entertainment venues across the country. The company is based in Chicago. He also mentions the brand new studio they'll be getting later this year.

That too (which is still stupid of AMG to do.)

There are multiple factors to blame if we're going to do a full accounting of what killed traditional TV. I agree that greed is definitely one of them. Overpriced cable/satellite bills, extreme and intrusive levels of advertising, etc. It simultaneously got more expensive and more monetized while being less worth it. You could argue that the introduction of ads to cable TV, even though the original premise of paying for cable was that you were paying to avoid advertising, was the "original sin" that doomed the future of television. I posted this theory a few months ago, and I still believe it: I also think the historic laziness of American TV presentation is a big part of it. Compared to other countries that had idents, live announcers (sometimes on camera a la MTV's VJs) and all sorts of other extras that made TV feel like a big event, the presentation of American TV has always been minimalist and impersonal. In the long run, I think it's cost the networks dearly since they never developed the same brand loyalty as, say, the BBC that might have helped them hold out for longer against streaming and make the eventual transition more graceful. That laziness and lack of ambition extended to the programming, too. Networks started cancelling shows before they could even find an audience because it was safer to just recycle the same formats over and over again. Cable networks that started out with specific visions all drifted into being the same general-entertainment channels with the same programming before decaying into a worse version of Netflix binge-watching with ads every five minutes. And of course, the lack of local programming besides news doesn't help either. Most broadcast stations' schedules are full of syndicated crap that clearly nobody misses on streaming. Streaming is already heading in the same direction. It's becoming more expensive and fragmented, more encroached with advertising, too quick to cancel shows, and so on. It shows that the real problem was never traditional TV itself, it was the corporations behind it who simply can't help themselves.

I knew we shouldn't been fooled by their reverse 180 because Allen is still moving forward with their TWC plan.. Proof? WTHI no longer has a weather department. Their lone met, Everett Lau, will now do an off-air role at WTHI. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1254746726654346&id=100063570909098

Respectfully, we don't really encourage the creation of general threads, anymore, especially if it's being started with no particular headline or reason. The long, drawn-out process of this merger doesn't really count as so much is just currently in limbo. No matter their past, lumping in other groups' stations here is also unnecessary, as those companies likely already have pre-existing threads. Please refer to site rules. https://localnewstalk.net/guidelines/ Threads should have a targeted discussion topic: Creating threads that have no real topic of discussion (such as a "general" thread about a particular company or station) is not allowed without permission from the administration. Though threads of this nature exist from before this rule was put into effect, we discourage posting in them, as it makes it harder to find discussions about a particular topic, or causes numerous parallel conversations to take place at once. While not updated in several months, there is already a thread about the Paramount-Skydance merger. https://localnewstalk.net/topic/21444-skydance-to-buy-paramount-global/ If you're looking to discuss the political issues involved with keeping CBS's journalism independent while trying to get federal approval, there's a thread for that. https://localnewstalk.net/topic/21709-60-minutes-in-the-age-of-trump-20/ For better or worse, this thread has also already been used as a CBS O&O catch-all. https://localnewstalk.net/topic/19633-eight-cbs-stations-to-ditch-cw-and-go-independent-this-fall/

Even then, Sinclair's glass/curves look didn't make it to all of their stations before it got replaced.

More vintage South Florida News Snippets late 1970's ( Clip starting at 50:20 until the end contains disturbing images, viewer discretion advised)

Spectrum is pretty solid for me in CT, as well.

Katie Raml said farewell to the Valley today at the end of tonight's 6PM KNXV (ABC Phoenix) newscast after nearly a quarter-century there, seeing it rise from the bottom all the way to pretty the top if not close to it now. Considering how some of the corporate owners, particularly KNXV's owner, Scripps, have been handling things, we're lucky in this market that there hasn't been the craziness that has dumbed down news operations as we've seen elsewhere. And nice to see when the network acknowldeges it too seeing World News Tonight anchor David Muir recording a "Thank You" video for Katie, it's one thing if it's for a local anchor in NYC, where you might as well be a part of the network knowing how their news dept. operates, but another if it's for a non-O&O affiliate. https://youtu.be/DQpKmEIP6u8?si=m_yWzUOvx2wLBqTt https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DfzqbwpFU/

Normally, WDAY-TV articles online are paywalled. Not this one... ... because it's John Wheeler's last newscast in full from earlier tonight. They did it really well, especially the last half hour. https://www.inforum.com/weather/live-at-6-p-m-john-wheelers-farewell-forecast-on-wday?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WDAY_TV_News&fbclid=IwY2xjawKUv7JleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHvvOecBRlSRqTZZ59Cd_QvD3OmUjzp5nX2HUKKtqhWK07SMhHOVgq-0kaBdp_aem_8vAtR7vvhikBVT2OdA7nJQ

Shannon Cake's farewell. WPTV spared NO EXPENSE in going all out for her. Even former colleages like Michael Williams, Roxanne Stein, and Jim Sackett all came by to wish her a farewell. These videos aren't embedded so you'll have to go to YouTube directly for them: https://youtu.be/lSpGIFe7leo?si=qajbgy50Vupj6Bw6 https://youtu.be/geVGcK5GUkk?si=dxUMy25Kv_FQBnnl https://youtu.be/wXnXlRURwuw?si=m_jMgV7XIKJLctHR

Even WISH-TV's look keeps it alive after Nexstar traded over to WTTV/WXIN. And WXIN's new look looks like a more refined GrayOne. GrayOne hasn't even made it's way around the country yet and it's getting stale. I wonder if they ever intended to take it national after it debuted at WANF.

Also of note, the Nexstar package has been around waaay longer than GrayONE

Happy for Leon’s sobriety and praying it last his lifetime

Johnny Archer had been doing the 11AM weekday news recently, but he did the weekend evening news after Frances Wang left. I don't know if Keith & Erin will continue with the 11 AM.

Oof. Those poor Cox customers. I've heard nothing but awful things about Spectrum. Maybe Xfinity can put Mediacom out of its misery too. They're so bad they won't even hook up my street, leaving AT&T fiber as my only option.

More and more FOX O&Os are incorporating original programming onto their streaming channels, which can be seen via FOX Local. I know KMSP goes All Day from Noon to 5:00 p.m., and now, another great example from WITI Milwaukee. I already told you about their daily Wisconsin Weather Experts program that airs at Noon, right after the midday news at 11:00 a.m. Now, they have The Wisconsin LIVE Desk, which airs from 12:30-2:30 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/benhandelmantv/posts/pfbid08LiarWvmsVdsMfgKE75j3bMHdMrXEEc5cHXd8dJT14aGmsmYdB26BVM6BuMRVwzEl

A true end of an era is coming... The Queen of the Capital Region, WRGB's Liz Bishop, has announced her retirement. May 30th will be her last day and will mark the end of a 52-year era in Capital Region television news. It's the only station she ever worked for in her career, a RARITY in today's business. https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/cbs6-news-anchor-liz-bishop-announces-retirement-after-more-than-5-decade-career

Yesterday it was announced 11 stations have joined the Fever network, including a lot that aren't owned by TEGNA: https://www.wthr.com/article/sports/wnba/indiana-fever/tegna-expands-broadcast-distribution-indiana-fever-games-11-additional-markets-stations-companies-how-to-watch-guide-free-caitlin-clark-aliyah-boston/531-4b0454bb-85c9-49ec-8903-aea5b087535b

I wasn't aware either. Is this permanent or are they going to give TH their own set eventually?

Looks like it's across Highway 64 from the St. Louis Zoo and Forest Park.

KSDK is joining KMOV in leaving Downtown St. Louis, but unlike KMOV, KSDK is staying in the city. https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/ksdk-st-louis-to-move-broadcast-operations-to-new-location/

I've noticed that Spanish-language networks don't get much love around here so I thought I start one for Telemundo Deportes as their Spanish-language sports coverage is starting to become more impressive. For starters, Telemundo just released their Upfront, which is their plans for the upcoming TV season, and news came out that they're expanding their sports coverage big time. They already have Premier League coverage in Spanish, and so does several NFL games and Super Bowls in conjunction with NBC. Oh, and don't forget the 2026 FIFA World Cup. They will be all over that one to cover all 104 matches. Two things caught my eye, though, with this Upfront: Telemundo is a partial Spanish-language home of the NBA, airing 11 games per season, including the NBA All-Star Game, so NBC was able to get Spanish-language rights as well for Telemundo. The network is launching a 24/7 Spanish-language FAST sports channel in August: Telemundo Deportes Ahora, possibly modeling it just like their FAST news version, Noticias Telemundo Ahora. As far as I'm aware, this will be the biggest 24/7 FAST Spanish-language sports channel because I don't think Univision has any on ViX, and even if they do, its mainly Liga MX content. Telemundo's FAST version will probably be way different, but only time will tell. (Yes, this article does cover over stuff, but its the sports content that got my interest in this): https://www.forbes.com/sites/veronicavillafane/2025/05/08/telemundo-2025-26-lineup-preview-world-cup-2026-seor-de-los-cielos-spinoff-live-and-reality-tv/

Telemundo Deportes is good but it can’t compare to Univision Deportes which has all the soccer matches.

Since there isn't a thread for the CBS O&O's yet, I thought of creating one here, especially with all the speculation regarding their parent company Paramount Global's potential merger with Skydance, which as of this moment, appears to be on life support if I'm not mistaken. Former O&O's (KEYE, KMOV, KUTV, WGNT, etc.), as long as they're still CBS affiliates or former O&O's that were part of UPN and/or The CW and are still affiliated with the latter even after Nexstar took over the network, can also be covered under this thread. Replies of CBS/Paramount purchasing or selling a station, a new graphics package being adopted, etc., or anything else that's related, can also be included.

Yeah, it's getting common. In DC, WTTG, has the FOX 5 Live Zone from 12-2pm, the only 2 hours between 4am-7:30pm where they don't have local programming over the air. Reminds me of how KTLA had 5 Live to fill in time online when they still aired syndicated shows in the daytime.

It wouldn't surprise me if the same cases are on different shows, with the same actors, or maybe that's how they make them different. I wonder if these are outright sales of the facilities to other parties, or simply selling the building to a new owner through a sale/leaseback deal... Either way, it's going to bite them somehow in the future. When the rent goes up, then that's a big problem.

WADL will be airing Two & Half Men from WKBD come the fall.

True Crime News will be airing on WZZM as they have the stations up on the website no times have been given for many of the TV stations other than a handful. Which I think True Crime News will air at 7:30PM replacing Daily Blast Live in my opinion on Sep 9, makes sense that the TV stations are up since the website has been up since The Crime Watch Daily days.

ICrime was renewed for season 3 I read about it all the way back in Jan or Feb of this year Vargas is still host of the show. I'll check out Crime Expose with Nancy O'Dell always liked her when she was on Access Hollywood & sometimes would watch ET. I liked Crime Watch Daily I'll also check True Crime News which I wonder if that will be aired in the afternoons or in the access prime to compete with Inside Edition late night as well.

Is I-Crime still in production from Trifecta and is Vargas still attached? I know it's on WBNX's schedule, but not sure if it's new or repeats. The Gray station in my market dropped it for InvestigateTV+.

A new half-hour true-crime series, Crime Expose, with former ET and Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O'Dell as host, will launch on 9/23. https://deadline.com/2024/06/crime-expose-with-nancy-odell-1235984273/