tyrannical bastard

....aaaand Scripps is now gone from Dish. https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/251626/scripps-stations-go-dark-to-dish-subs/ Scripps claims that this is their first EVER dispute with a provider, and that they are willing to make a deal. To put it simply, Dish sucks. Always has, always will.

It's good, but they could be improved upon...namely the logo itself, and re-do the supers so they don't look like they're built off the old Limerick package. I guess the last thing Cleveland TV needs is another canned graphics package (except for WKYC...the Tegna-itis would be an improvement at this point)

WDBD uses the same graphics as WLOX, while their parent station WLBT uses the WMC package. It wouldn't surprise me if WOIO gets a standard Gray package at this point. Even before Raycom, Gray liked to switch things up frequently on their stations as new packages come on line.

Cleveland had the same problem with the Browns, and since Youngstown was within 75 miles, they had to black out the games too. There was even a few times where Monday Night Football was blacked out when it was on ABC, and WEWS, WYTV, and even WAKC in Akron (before they were sold to Paxson) had to pre-empt the game. At least the NFL is primarily available on broadcast TV, while large parts of the NBA and MLB have migrated to cable and the RSNs. Given the state of the Fox Sports RSNs under Sinclair, that may be trouble with all of the cord-cutting and their "reduced" carriage agreements. Some don't even carry them at all, while the YouTubeTV only has carriage in primary market areas, and still lacks the new Cubs' network. If more sports pull the plug or postpone (due to COVID-19) this year, the pay-tv bubble could finally burst.

I think Stan Boney's transition was the same, he became co-anchor while doing weather, then totally relinquished his weather duties to become WYTV's solo evening anchor, before moving over to WKBN in 2015. I would imagine he keeps his 10pm and 11pm shows, while Dave Sess keeps 5 & 6 when Alexis begins her anchor stint.

FTVLive decreed that WKBN meteorologist Alexis Walters was making the jump from weather to primary anchor, and that such a move was something he had never heard of. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/7/17/moving-over-from-the-chromakey Ummm......Stan Boney? Not only did he make the move from Chief Met to primary anchor at WYTV, he moved across the hall to WKBN to be an anchor there.

Even with the outsourcing, there is no reduction of competition in the New York area, since WPIX is still a unique voice and looks to be operated as such. What's happened to (W)WOR in the past several decades is much worse, first to skirt around the RKO General scandal, and to gradually move operations back to NYC over time, making their efforts to serve New Jersey as a mere formality in their license. And with the sales price, given the rank of WPIX (5th?) versus where WGN stands, the price may be fairer. Fader wanted WGN for 60 million and Cunningham almost got WPIX for a mere 15 million.

Technically, what's to stop Nexstar from operating WPIX? Mission will hold the license and programming, and that's the extent of FCC jurisdiction. If there's some random UHF station that Nexstar wants to buy for "ATSC testing" or for some other purpose, then they can get that for half-credit. Where does Nexstar stand on their cap at this point? This is a one-off transaction, so even with how the Sinclair-Tribune deal fizzled, as long as it's Mission calling the shots and buying at fair market value, there shouldn't be a problem. Sinclair failed miserably with "getting" WGN by finding one of their buddies to sell to, at a significant discount. At stake is WPIX's carriage on YTTV (which was a group deal with Scripps for the other Tribune castoffs). This would make it the lone CW affiliate carried by a Mission or Nexstar owned station. Nexstar wasted no time in pulling WMYT from the Charlotte market (since FOX had it carried before). Hopefully a larger deal emerges that includes all of their CW stations and WGN eventually. This is a major hole in many markets. The timing on this was likely deliberate to see the end result of the FCC's decisions on Sinclair.

Looks like Nexstar was on a "mission" to get WPIX after all. https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/251137/mission-broadcasting-buying-wpix-from-scripps/

Then the new HNS will probably air on the MyNetwork channel, or in markets with only 1 netlet station that has local news provided for them, air for only part of the time (like the 6am hour).

I think WBNS's glory days are long gone, especially with Tegna at the helm. There have been a lot of people who have since left the station, both on-air and behind the scenes.

Now here's someone that had come full circle from working in major markets. Amanda Arnold, who has had several stints in Houston as a primary anchor, and even anchored at WKYC in the 1970s with Doug Adair, has been a morning anchor at WDHN in Dothan since April. https://www.dothanfirst.com/author/amanda-arnold/ She can be seen in this Klein& promo done for WKYC. She (and Tom Ryther) didn't last too long in Cleveland, and the weather guy went on to bigger things...cough cough...today show....cough cough. I had mentioned this era in the 1980's set thread, since WKYC was in a tailspin at the time because of the launch of Newscenter 8 and success at WEWS. NBC was desperate at the time and let WKYC do their own thing (seem familiar?) WDHN and Nexstar have been on a roll lately, launching a local 9pm news for Lockwood-owned WDFX. Could midday and weekend news be next? They've even had some longtime ex-WTVYers join the staff like Mike Gurspan and Oscar Fann. Then again, the opposite has happened at WTVY with Ken Curtis switching teams several years back.

With WFXG, much of the legwork was done under Raycom with their initial moves in 2011 (with the outsourcing) and later expansions in 2016. The first move coincided with Media General ending their arrangement in order to SSA with WAGT. The latter is the end result of WAGT's messy transition from one rival to another thanks to the Gray-Schurz merger, where a semi-unique voice was lost in the market to only be replaced by a simulcast (and exclusive, non-competing newscasts) from the other competitor. 10pm news in Knoxville has been a hot potato due to the mergers, sales, and contracts that have gone down in recent years. I'm sure Nexstar is itching to get back the 10pm deal with WTNZ it lost years ago (under Young), and later lost (under Media General) with WBXX. It all depends on how badly Tegna still wants the exposure there, and if Nexstar wants it more, not to mention how much longer the current arrangement is scheduled to last.

Looks like both WPGX and WDFX launched on the same day, June 1st. Here's WPGX's promo.

Well, to my surprise, (and thanks to scrabbleship for the heads up on WMBB/WPGX) Nexstar stations WMBB and WDHN are now producing 1 hour primetime newscasts for Lockwood stations WPGX and WDFX, respectively. For WPGX, this is the first 9pm newscast in a LONG time, going back at least 25 years. Panama City was one of the few markets not to have a primetime newscast of any kind. For WDFX, this replaces a news share from former sister station WSFA in Montgomery, who continued the arrangement until recently as WDFX had to be sold since Gray already owned WTVY in the Gray/Raycom merger. As for other spinoff markets, WFXG in Augusta appears to be producing their own news still, after spinning off from former sister station WTOC in Savannah. WTNZ is still having Tegna station WBIR produce their newscasts. At one time, both WTNZ and WFXG relied on what are now also Nexstar stations, WATE in Knoxville, and WJBF in Augusta to produce their news. WJBF stopped doing so when they entered into the SSA with WAGT under Media General, and WTNZ went with WATE under Young's ownership after their agreement with WVLT expired. This lasted until 2011 when the current share with WBIR began. If Lockwood is making it work in Augusta, I could see it continuing as is. WATE (under Young & Media General) ended up producing WBXX's newscasts (under Lockwood's ownership) until Gray bought them and merged them with WVLT. It is entirely possible WATE could be next in line if they choose not to renew with Tegna's WBIR.

Here's what's going on in Nashville with their 3.0 launch....and how the now 3.0 frequencies moved their feeds to the existing 1.0 stations. WNAB's CW feed is now on WKRN's frequency, still maintaining their 58.1 PSIP ID. All of the existing WKRN sub-channels are still there. WNAB is still operated by Sinclair and owned by a third wheel as before. The remaining WNAB subchannels are now on WTVF's frequency keeping the same PSIPs. WUXP's channels are now on WZTV's frequency, including all of their subchannels. The former frequencies of WUXP and WNAB are now the ATSC 3.0 signals. I'll be curious to see how these are used, and how the picture quality of the existing stations is now that they have shoehorned in the other feeds. The WUXP and WNAB feeds are 720p, along with the host feeds of their primary stations, WKRN and WZTV. Only WTVF is still in 1080i, and the rest of the feeds are in 480i. And in Pittsburgh... WPNT's former frequency is now the 3.0 station. Their main feed is now on WPGH's frequency, and the other WPNT sub-feeds are on WTAE's frequency. I'd be curious to see how the stations plan on using their 3.0 feeds. How much more content can they offer between the 2 in Nashville (from 5) and the 1 (from 3) in Pittsburgh.

Well, if this clip is correct, then the old WEWS Scripps-issue set debuted in 1984.

Another standard-issue Scripps set, that existed at WMC and WEWS (until 1981) I originally thought it was a hand-me-down, but WMC used it back in 1980...while the WEWS version was still in use. Here's WMC using the 70's WEWS-like set all the way in 1985. If my estimations are correct, this set lasted until 1987 and the newer Scripps standard issue set? WEWS had the 1981 set in the middle between the two sets (the blue one with the jagged desk). Their 1985-ish set lasted a decade, with several paint jobs and a skyline added in 1990 (around the time they changed to NewsChannel 5) It briefly lasted under the Edd-Kalehoff, slanted "circle 5" revamp, and a new set was built that summer that only lasted until fall of 1998. And we see in the 1980 clip, the "false ceiling" effect. I know i've shown this before on the site, but here is a "behind-the-scenes" from WEWS showing it in action. https://youtu.be/BmwAiiDnDjg?t=103

More news out of WALA. News Director Scott Flannigan has been named to the same post at Meredith sister station KCTV in Kansas City. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/6/18/bumped-up-the-meredith-food-chain I guess they'll have to hire someone in Mobile....oh wait, aren't they under a hiring freeze? Then again, they bounced their GM to bring in someone else a few weeks back....

It looks like Nexstar is consolidating their master control hubs from around 17 to 5. I can see Spartanburg and Springfield, MA making the cut since they were already major hubs started under Media General and LIN. Did Indianapolis have hubs for BOTH Tribune and through LIN/MG (when they had WISH?) Dallas looks to be a new hub not far from their Irving HQ. and the Denver hub is probably the old Tribune one there. Gone will likely be the Columbus, OH one started under Media General. I'm sure there a bunch of stations that have bounced from spoke, to independence, to hub, and back to spoke again through mergers and divestitures. WALA is one since it was a spoke in Emmis' ill-concieved hub, and later got a master control under LIN. LIN eventually had some hub operations there until WALA was split to Meredith while Media General kept WFNA to merge with WKRG. Meredith later hubbed WALA to their Atlanta hub out of WGCL.

WALA's Studio 10 went on hiatus for about a month then returned at 9:30 for a half hour of repeat/encore content, but has since returned full-force, only with the necessary social distancing changes. They also have added a lot of Meredith content to the show (People, Recipes.com, etc...) but have never been associated with the "Better" brand...the show itself was launched in the LIN era and has only had a time shift to 9am and several co-host changes.

Longtime WTVY News 4 personality Ann Varnum has passed away at the age of 80. https://www.wtvy.com/content/news/Longtime-WTVY-personality-Ann-Varnum-passes-away-571180241.html She was a longtime host of their morning program, and until a few months ago, hosted a seniors program on weekends.

Scroll back to the first page of this thread, and you'll see a picture of this set...it does look very close to the one launched in Atlanta at WXIA. These moves (and the "Alive" branding) were done under Combined, before their merger with Gannett. Going back to Virgil Dominic and WXIA, it was actually Combined that sent him packing from there (so says the article below). He had taken WXIA to #1 under his leadership after he was lured away from WKYC. http://www.clevelandseniors.com/people/virgil-dominic.htm And after he was hired at WJW, his launch of NewsCenter8 set the stage for their dominance in the years to come. Looking at this set, it does have some undertones to the NBC look that the network and O&O's were using on their newscasts. Meanwhile at WKYC, they were begging and pleading for local control as WJKW was now eating their lunch. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/153863990/ (read the OCR and you can read most of the article text)

Watching some of the stuff on that page makes my head hurt. It would probably alienate their viewers with epilepsy too. "See beyond the surface" reminds me of this classic from Boston.... https://youtu.be/WP1YbGLdXKM?t=90 And reading about what they did for WXIA......they though about this WAAAAAAAAY tooo much! "Hey, let's make the angles 11 degrees because it's channel 11!" As The Simpsons said in the Poochie episode it's just another example of a "...soul-less byproduct of committee thinking." But the agency wanted a brand that didn't get "busy.....it gets BIZ-ZAY!" I have to go now. My home planet needs me.

Here is WKYC in 1976, just a few years off of their old TV3 look, with a set much like it's fellow O&Os. Much of the shakeup may have been due to Virgil Dominic, who worked at WKYC up to the 70's, but was recruited down to Atlanta to try and make something out of WQXI/WXIA (which would also become a Gannett station by way of Combined). He returned to Cleveland to launch NewsCenter8 which vaulted them to the top and along with NBC's waning fortunes sent WKYC in to desperation mode.