tyrannical bastard

If Scripps does decide to sell, who in their right mind would buy them with what they've done to their stations? It would have to be some kind of private equity deal to keep things running, but if that ever happens, what's left to cut to make a profit on their investment?

O&O wise, CBS lags in the largest markets while ABC dominates. NBC varies, but seems to be in the middle. Of the top 5 markets, Chicago is where Fox gets their clock cleaned by WGN on a consistent basis while NY & LA seem to be doing better, WNYW does way better than WPIX and what's left of WWOR (but does KCAL and KTLA outrank KTTV?) Generally, ABC has held up the best as the network owners have "borged" their stations. CBS took a hit in the 80s from the Tisch era and Jeff "Zucked" the NBC stations during his disastrous tenure.

At least it looks better with the new package then it did with the other one. And the team colors are also used by the Pirates and the Penguins, so they do transcend beyond the Steelers to being more of a "Pittsburgh" thing. I like Pittsburgh, But being from Northeast Ohio, you get the idea .

How is Pittsburgh doing these days? Even though the newscast is pumping out the same garbage that all the other CBS markets are, they're allowed to use the ugly black and yellow to cater to the "Stillers" fans, and probably get a lot more traction by doing so!

Imagine that.... Garbage out (more Scrippscasts).... Garbage in (lower revenue).... https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/scripps-q4-station-revenue-drops-12/

Way back in the 80s and 90s, the networks were ceding their time left and right as the game shows that filled that time were going away one by one. Of course, that was a different era when the networks PAID stations to air their content....but local ad dollars were more enticing.... Flash forward to today, and you can't pry away network time from their "cold dead hands". And they replace shows with new ones just because they have the "time" to do so. All the while reverse compensation is alive and well and is keeping the whole shebang afloat (for now). The last ceding of time I can recall is "Later" going away on NBC, but even that is filled by a repeat of Nightly News for any affiliate that doesn't want to (or can't) replay their late news.

Given the questionable status of Alabama (and other SEC schools), and the dominance of Michigan (and potentially Ohio State), this change of CBS from SEC to Big 10 may help in more important places as opposed to the CBS stations taking a dive without SEC football. I don't think that it's going to lead to any affiliation switches, unless one of the big owners really drops the ball with Paramount and they go elsewhere....

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.

And they're even using Antenna TV's Facebook page to plug their latest washed-up host. Last I checked, Geraldo was not a classic sitcom. An 80s and 90s talk show, but not something Antenna TV carries. Good old Nexstar....

Good to see that Lockwood is finally giving them a look of their own instead of the old Gray look they kept until now.

I've never understood why New Orleans on Fat Tuesday is more like Halloween while Mobile sticks with the more traditional "Mardi Gras" dress with masks, beads, feathers, etc. Speaking of Mobile, WKRG did their traditional 9am to 5pm coverage, WALA ramped up their coverage from 7am all the way till 6:00 p.m. (they used to do 10-2), and WPMI, still ravaged from the Sinclair layoffs last year, did no coverage at all.

TVNewsCheck was nice to have because it kept an eye on station groups and some of their unchecked means of consolidating in local markets. The story continues in their (hopefully temporary) absence, as there a lot of questions surrounding the future of Sinclair, Nexstar, Gray, and even the other groups like Tegna, Cox and Hearst. And given its a touchy election year in which much is at stake, our media, and even our democracy as we know it are of primary concern. With the rapid consolidation and elimination of voices, this is very concerning.

https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/tvnewscheck-presses-pause/ Here's hoping this is a temporary thing. The industry is such a mess, that even this stalwart is feeling the pain. Now that i'm "retired" from TV, I still read their updates twice daily, along with FTVLive, and any other update from this site. Even TVSpy and their related operations are largely paywalled, so the news about TV is going to be harder to find now.

Speaking of WBNS, Tegna has appointed Rick Rogala as their GM, coming from WATN and WLMT in Memphis. https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/rick-rogala-named-gm-of-wbns-columbus/ Media General had hired him as the GM at WCMH during their ownership, I'm not sure if he lasted into the transition with Nexstar. But prior to WCMH, he had worked for KARK under Nexstar.

Sinclair is looking at "strategic alternatives" for the Tennis channel. https://frontofficesports.com/sinclair-exploring-strategic-alternatives-for-the-tennis-channel/ Since the reorganization, they've been a part of "Sinclair" itelf, separated from the broadcast stations and Diamond Sports. I don't think other parts of the company are going well, either. Sinclair Digital dumped Stirr earlier.

Seeing as what's happening with the stations Marquee just picked up, it's a tall order to bring local TV service here. Could it come to the market just merging into the Billings market? Glendive is a small fraction of households compared to even the Alpena market.

Thought I'd check in on the former Marks stations (WBKP/WBUP in Marquette and WBKB in Alpena) now under the management of Morgan Murphy. The Marquette stations are an odd bird in themselves. Being a larger market than Alpena (which basically is the smallest market in the country with its own functioning news department), this station does some strange things with its newscasts. The station uses a virtual set and instead of shooting video for their stories (aside from their bureau reporter) they rely on a lot of still pictures, and even obvious stock footage to fill out the VO of local stories. NewsNet provides their weather and sports coverage. When the local news runs out, the national packages take over. Down in Alpena, it's a more traditional newscast, They once again have their own meteorologist (after relying on NewsNet to fill in the gap). At one time, Alpena actually did the weather for Marquette. Being Alpena, and the third smallest market in existence, This is an obvious starter's market where people don't last long and move on quickly. Unlike Marquette, WBKB is the only game in town and as of last year, holds every major affiliation (Big 4) for the Alpena market. I wonder if Morgan Murphy (Queen Bees Knees LLC) has any plans to standardize the stations like they have with their others. And the $64,000 question.... How much longer will the Marks estate hold on to the Montana stations, including Glendive?

I don't think Alan Sealls is going to come back on TV anytime soon in the Mobile area, (unless he pulls a Jym Ganahl which is entirely possible) but he certainly raised some eyebrows with his latest appearance.... (Alan teaches Broadcast Meteorology at the University of South Alabama)

Not related, but CW ads are showing up on Antenna TV. Nexstar will do anything to cross promote itself.....I'm surprised that NewsNation promos haven't shown up there yet! It's a little confusing because our MeTV station is owned by Nexstar (and airs their CW promos), alongside our independently run Antenna TV affiliate, making it clearly a Nexstar decision.

It's the station's, but Nexstar is forcing them to use it to promote NewsNation to a certain degree.

If anything, the stations have to give up inventory (either paid or promotional) to show NewsNation ads. For a station that is not clearly number #1, giving up this prime inventory may be something that could possibly make a difference for the positive.

Another longshot possibility....take the NBC affiliation from KSL. I know KSL has fallen in line after years of selectively preempting NBC content, but if they hint at any reservation of paying for NBC, Gray maybe more willing to.... More likely, Gray could set itself up to air Utah Jazz games.

Obviously, The CW wouldn't have the marquee race on Memorial Day weekend, but carrying the other races leading up to it and any other series would be a benefit for WISH. So even after the 500 itself moved to NBC, they still tape delay it in Indianapolis?

That may be a good thing for WISH-TV in Indianapolis.

In a way, Drew Carey could be considered one. He's hosted TPIR for far longer than his namesake sitcom from the 90s.