mre29

5 hours ago, channel2 said:

Also you've gotta love big corporations and their aversion to paying taxes.

It's why so many broadcasting companies were sold in their entirety, why Nexstar and Sinclair became so gargantuan, why companies such as Hearst, Graham, and other relatively smaller companies haven't been able to make as many acquisitions, why ABC had to pass on buying WJLA (remember, they didn't want the rest of the Albritton stations), etc.

It's also a loophole in the tax code, one that should be closed by Congress. But it won't be.

4 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

The one way CBS could shed KSTW to a commercial owner, if tax penalties weren’t an issue, is if they sold it to Sinclair to pair with KOMO, and Sinclair sold off KUNS in turn, in a way that turns it into a standalone operation. I’m not sure if TelevisaUnivision has the cap space to buy KUNS in such a scenario; Entravision might have an easier entry into Seattle.

They could skip a few steps by doing a facility swap between KUNS and KSTW, a la the WFOR-WTVJ swap back in the '90s. It would have the side effect of putting KUNS on channel 11 and KSTW on 51, though.

4 hours ago, DENDude said:

 So I only see the CW missing in 3 markets here after CBS drops them.  My Network TV is without stations in 24 Markets, they will do just fine!!!

Is anyone here going to lose sleep over MyNetwork TV not being in 24 markets?

So, when do the affiliation deals for KIRO, WANF, and WTSP expire?

It also shows that the Ion stations aren't set in stone; if Scripps sees a good use for one, they'll use it.

NBCLX seems like something that could've been a one-hour show on WMAQ America -- er, NBC News Now.

Sounds like WBBM rushed the switchover so they wouldn't be last.

Now it's down to just WJZ and KOVR. 13 versus 13! Who will blink first?

5 hours ago, mvcg66b3r said:

Rome is Atlanta, not Chattanooga.

Doesn't Gray have some sort of connection to WRCB?

7 hours ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Somebody fetch me my violin. 

It's, uh.... it's already being used.

On 4/13/2023 at 9:58 PM, SlimyTrain said:

I've seen this graphic so many times I- 

Also, what do they count as "other"?

Physical media, I'm guessing. DVDs, Blu-rays, laserdiscs, VHS, Betamax, 35mm film reels, etc.

1 hour ago, MidwestTV said:

It would be quite the calamity if, in the end, Tegna ended up buying the Standard General shops for cheap. Just a fun thought - not trying to dive into Speclatron.

That would actually be hilarious.

4 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t understand this elevated perception of Deb McDermott. She runs just four godawful stations, yet I get the impression that people view her as some sort of broadcasting royalty.
 

The only thing she’s known for is turning Young/Media General into a massive behemoth that got sold off to Nexstar; that does not count as a positive contribution to journalism or the industry in my book. I don’t really give a pig’s fart if she’s collateral damage of Soo Kim’s irresponsible greed.

For the record, I have no opinion about her. I was just wondering if GoldenShine9 wanted to see her and the rest of Standard Media's staff banished, too.

3 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Soo Kim needs to be banished from the industry completely.

Even if doing so takes out Deb McDermott and Standard Media in the crossfire?

Hmm....If the helicopter is supposed to get maintenance and an inspection every 100 flight hours, that inspection would have to be more frequent than once a year. Otherwise, it would only be in the air for an average of 16.4 minutes per day.

30 minutes ago, MD TV said:

Yeah, we hear all about the sports-related carriage fees but this is probably the highest carriage fee for a channel that doesn't carry any sports.

Anyone else have a sudden desire to see Tucker Carlson tackled by a football player running at full speed? Just me?

I was hoping for a trial, as well, but Dominion must've been more interested in the money. Oh well.

That said, doesn't this belong in the US Cable News forum?

So, are we taking bets as to which station (WBBM, WJZ, or KOVR) is the last to switch?*

*Asks the guy who does not have money to spare right now.

So, for those of you here in the US who get it, how is the "new" BBC (World) News, anyway?

2 hours ago, VHSgoodiesWA said:

Give me an old John Wayne or Perry Mason/Raymond Burr classic any day. Cheers, Seinfeld, Home Improvement too. The Conners is one of the few first-run sitcoms left that still follows a classic comedic format, not modernized and PC.

You do know The Conners isn't the only sitcom that has laugh tracks, right?

7 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

I hope design packages embrace black, browns, yellows and purples more instead of the general blue and white, breaking red, and morning orange looks. Not CBS but Nightly News woth Tom Brokaw used brown and purple effectively in the early 00s.

The Morgan Murphy stations use white, orange, and what looks like dark gray with a touch of blue. It's strikingly different from other packages.

I have to admit, this looks pretty good:

It also makes me want to see what the black box looks like with just the 3 in it. Anyone want to mock that up?

Oh, and is Morgan Freeman aware that he's apparently been cloned? Because that's who Ukee Washington's voice reminds me of -- in a good way, of course.

I've gone ahead and started a Speculatron thread for HLN. As Daleks would say, SPEC-U-LATE!!

2 hours ago, Yankees4life said:

Looks like we'll be hearing "Strive" in SW Florida now...

That's a bad thing?

Meanwhile, HLN, which has been showing older Warner Bros. TV dramas on weekends -- first The West Wing, now Fringe -- has expanded that to weeknights, with Third Watch now showing at a rate of four episodes per night (8:00pm to midnight, ET).

I mention it despite not being sure this is the correct thread anymore for discussing HLN. I mean, does the channel even fall under Licht's purview outside of simulcasting CNN This Morning? Do we have to move this discussion to the Breakroom?

9 hours ago, Recovering Producer said:

This is from 10+ years ago, but promos that taunt the other station for their perceived shortcomings, orders from management for field crews to go scorched earth with the competition when out on stories everyone was covering - block other stations from getting interviews that they happened on first (witnesses to car crashes, fires, and crimes and other things where there's really no meaningful reason to sandbag the competition), on one occasion WBBH deceived the widow of a murdered police officer saying they would share an interview they did with every other station but really used it as a heavily-promoted exclusive (to be fair, they did give WINK and FOX4 the video a few days later after it aired and other stations learned of the sketchy tactics they used to get the interview and possibly a chewing out from the police department PIO) And management where I work definitely frowned upon being friendly with people from the other stations socially.

 

All things that didn't happen in any other market I worked in. Healthy competition? Yes. But respect and understanding the biggest difference we all had with the people working at the other stations was the name of the company on our direct deposit. 

 

So, how did WFTX (Fox4, which hasn't been locally owned in decades) behave during all that?

4 hours ago, CircleWXYZ said:

Overall the feedback seems to be positive.  However, you have some crybabies from a particular site I shall keep nameless, who are not only refusing to give CBS News Detroit a fair chance, they are looking for any lame excuse to bash it.  It’s like they don’t want to like it.  Their complaints about it are so delusional and so ridiculous, it’s not even funny.  I know there are 2,4, and 7 fanboys in the Detroit market, but my goodness.

 

This is why I left that site, because all they do is whine and complain.  With each argument, they lose credibility.

Let me guess: Starts with a "t", ends with an "r", and normally has a blue bird in its logo?

Welp, there's Hearst's purchase for the decade.

2 hours ago, TheOneManHerd said:

I thought it was a late April Fool's joke at first, but I'm sure the staff there is breathing a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, I can just imagine the reaction from staffers at WVIR when they realize what they missed out on.