tyrannical bastard

Another huge departure at WEWS. Joe Pagonakis is leaving on April 29th after 30 years on air, many as their "troubleshooter" reporter. He even began his career there in the 1980s behind the scenes and later worked roles in Youngstown and Fort Wayne before returning to WEWS in 1993. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Xhq6bKC9iQemvdi1/?mibextid=oFDknk

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

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.

I've noticed with some of their NBC affiliates (including WMC and WJHG) that there are instances where the peacock is still intact. Namely on graphical transitions, on-set monitors, mic flags and promos. It's probably simple oversight of making such a minor change, or just letting the stuff play out until GrayOne makes it's debut (some day). Speaking of WJHG, WECP is still using their CBS 21 logo with the eye everywhere, so it's mostly an NBC thing.

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.

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.

Sooner or later, there won't be any affiliates that time-shift the network news. Who's left (in ET and CT?). Pacific seems to have more leeway due to their location.

Does Sinclair even try to promote their ARC branding? Or is it just a name for their stripped CW affiliates? The name and what they say it stands for is just a byproduct of soulless committee thinking. It doesn't help that there are still many ARC community organizations across the country (still known as such) that deal with the developmentally disabled. (the "R" referring to an obsolete term for these individuals, their acronym still exists though.)

Lead anchor Byron Day is out at Fox 10 in Mobile. Their GM confirmed that he is no longer at the station. https://www.lagniappemobile.com/news/byron-day-no-longer-with-fox10-gm-says/article_5a653196-e21e-11ee-897f-c7ecd96a25c6.html (pay walled)

So does KNOP have any local North Platte newscasts left? Since Glendive hasn't done any local news for years, this could be the smallest market that produces a local newscast of any kind. Alpena's WBKB only does a 6:30 morning show and newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00. They reintroduced local weather but relied on NewsNet for a while (probably due to staffing shortages).

In Cleveland, this has WBNX written all over it. I can't see it ending up on WUAB unless it's after 9am.

That's a shame, since Meredith basically decimated their creative service departments before their sale, and Gray had to literally re-staff them all over again. Then again, KCTV has been a dumpster fire for quite some time. Under Meredith, it was a great place for people to fall "upward".

Dammit. The Bally Sports dumpster fire gets a new source of kindling.... https://awfulannouncing.com/sinclair/against-all-odds-diamond-sports-group-looks-set-to-rise-from-the-ashes.html

Missed this one from Biloxi.... Longtime Chief Meteorologist Carrie Duncan retired from WLOX in January to take a new position doing PR for Ingalls Shipbuilding in nearby Pascagoula. https://www.wlox.com/2024/01/11/wlox-chief-meteorologist-carrie-duncan-announces-retirement-television/ Eric Jeansonne was named as the new chief meteorologist and morning met Wesley Williams was named as "Senior Meteorologist" https://www.wlox.com/video/2024/02/22/wlox-announces-new-chief-meteorologist-senior-meteorologist/

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?

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

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....

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.

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.