tyrannical bastard

With the runaway costs of programming, much of the blame lies with the content providers (station owners).

Apparently, Danita Harris is moving to another station in Cleveland, according to tipsters to FTVLive.... https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2023/12/13/another-scripps-anchor-leaving

In recent years, the talent pool has really dried up, and the broadcasting companies' only way to recruit employees is to hit up the college campuses to staff their newsrooms and sales departments. So basically, it's one giant revolving door of college grads..when their contracts are up, they recruit a new bunch to take over. It's rarer and rarer to see new employees move on to a second or third station or renew their contract, unless they are highly specialized or well liked at their station. On the sales end, broadcast airtime is a fraction of what it used to be. With all of the extra selling for the other platforms (web, ott, etc), the companies also carve out their own slice of airtime to sell their own "national ads" as well. And with all of the consolidation of things, local ad sales is much more fragmented, with a lot of "one offs" and clients you never thought you would see on TV....think "Ferryman Funeral Homes" and "Red Wigglers...the Cadillac of Worms!"

Wow, this has to be the biggest departure from WEWS since Ted Henry retired back in 2009. I'll have to catch some of their newscasts in the next few weeks to see how "Scripps-i-fied" they've become. A sad transformation for a station built and put on the air by Scripps to become what it is today.

Or even....when MTV was still somewhat relevant?

I"m sure they'll be pre-taped and run whenever on KTUL. That would seem to make the most logistical sense especially if both ABC and FOX are running sports that pre-empt the usual news times. Still an absolutely pathetic move for a station in a market of Tulsa's size. Shame on Sinclair.

This de-affiliation trend of their logos is going to be interesting if it ever reaches the fox affiliates. Especially stations like WALA and WVUE who have branded as "Fox 10 and "Fox 8" for almost a generation. However, this could come in handy in Mobile, especially if they decide to snag NBC away from WPMI after next year and put it on 10.2. It also unifies the branding in markets like Biloxi and Hattiesburg, these are both markets that have dual affiliations but run the same newscast in many time slots. WLOX and WDAM largely refer to themselves by their call letters.

John Rogers is leaving WRIC in Richmond, and will be an anchor at WJLA. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2023/12/7/signing-off-in-richmond

More likely scenario: Production team runs with the existing bug.... CSD: where's the new bug? Production team swaps out during a commercial break.

For that to happen, the other networks would have to really let themselves go. It's a question if and or when ABC. NBC, CBS and Fox sell their namesake networks to other owners. The CW as it is is purely a secondary network with station owners primarily operating it as an alternative or secondary station to their primary channel. They would only "gain" viewers (or not lose them as quickly as the others) if the others have major losses.

And here we are with the company that acquired Tribune now owning a majority stake in the network, and a large number of their once-affiliate stations that carry it. That alone is probably going to ensure it's survival, unless it becomes such an albatross that even Nexstar shuts it down.

Oddly enough, WLOX in Biloxi had this one originally, and when they put in their new studio, switched to the same one WJHG was using before they went with the "Honeycomb" look. Meanwhile, WVUE went with the WSFA look while WALA went GrayOne recently.

Whatever games they pick up will likely be primetime spots that won't interfere much with Fox's lineup and be shows the viewers won't mind being pre-empted or pushed to late night.

Even worse considering KQDS became a third option after Malara essentially shut down KDLH and merged it into KBJR. Even Hubbard or Gray producing a newscast for them would be better.

Especially with Sinclair and Nexstar, the amount of control the top management forces on the lower ranks. While many of the stations they acquired had great ideas from veterans that could have been implemented throughout, instead you have the same management who ended up acquiring these stations, imposing their will, and turning them into mindless drones. The industry is poorer because of it and the great stations they have collectively run into the ground.

Watching WGN now during their "9 at 9" countdown and they are blowing past the "15 second" rule on content. They must have an expansive royalty budget, and I'm glad that Nexstar hasnt clamped down on it like they and others have done in recent years! WJW has been another that has frequently used a lot of popular music as bumpers in their shows, but this may be sort of a package they buy that has the music pre-cleared.

That is surprising, usually from 7-9 am, and 9am afterwards, the content outside of the top and bottom of the hour gets lighter with lots of banter, "roving reporter" content and some stations like WGN making it all their own. I like their "9 at 9" countdown of stuff at 9am. Smaller markets, especially those that are duopoly partners tend to keep it more newsy if they're counter programming the national shows.

Certain teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, want out of their deal with Bally Sports. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/mlb/cleveland-guardians/2023/10/12/cleveland-guardians-among-mlb-teams-telling-bally-sports-time-is-up/71157523007/ Basically, after this year's NBA season (if Bally still even has it locked down), you can probably stick a fork in them. As for Cleveland (and other markets), will they go exclusively with MLB, or partner with another broadcaster. I'd love to see them back on WUAB, especially if Gray is willing to put MLB teams in their markets. And do the Dolans still have any irons in the pay tv dumpster fire? Cablevision had a secondary presence in Cleveland until they sold their systems to Adelphia, and when they collapsed, Time Warner became a de-facto cable monopoly in Northeast Ohio. They also started SportsTime Ohio after not being able to secure a deal with Fox Sports at the time, although they were later acquired by Fox Sports until the Diamond sale in the Disney/Fox merger.

The most egregious, in the eyes of the FCC was trying to pass off WGN to a closely-aligned sidecar company (related to one of their major advertisers) in the failed Tribune merger. Way back when RKO General lost all their licenses, they may as well have been a mom and pop company (by the number of stations they were allowed to own at the time) compared to the sheer number of stations Sinclair has been able to own and control under current regulations. And all it took for RKO to have their licenses revoked was some simple corporate misconduct. Reciprocal trade. I can guarantee you not only has that happened at Sinclair, but in such multitude and frequency, to make RKO General's punishment seem like a slap on the wrist compared to what Sinclair should be facing.

Since KCTV is channel 5.... WEWS capitalized on their channel number (5) to launch their 5:00 p.m. show years ago. There are a bunch of "Live AT Five" shows, but being on Channel 5 gives them the opportunity to brand their show as "Live ON Five"

I guess Scripps figured the sports real estate was more valuable than the CW. The irony is that this was a Nexstar station after Meredith dumped it after acquiring KTVK. They figured cap space elsewhere was more valuable than having a station in Phoenix. And even more ironic, KASW signed on because KTVK wanted to stay an independent rather than run the WB programming in primetime.

Not sure how many stations other than WEWS have used "Live on Five", but it seems like an opportune move had KCTV gone that way...

Are they still trying to work in the WUPL branding on the WWL shows (on the bug), even though the only common denominator is the 7-9am newscast that ended up there because CBS forced them to carry CBS This Morning once and for all?

With all of the must-run garbage Sinclair puts out, it lessens their local output to the point where they actually question doing "local" news. But this issue extends to virtually all of the other groups...Gray does their fair share as well with "InvestigateTV" and sharing stories between markets. Same with Nexstar. Scripps is taking the HLN Jukebox to the next level, and other groups are just as guilty with all of their shared franchises. Sinclair and their "National Desk" have come in and out of the public eye just as people have forgotten about the way they've tried to sway politics over the years, from Mark Hyman and his commentaries, to the town halls, endlessly investigating Hunter's laptop and all of the "bad things" Biden has done, Boris Ephstyn, Sharyl "Tinfoil Hat" Attkinson, all while giving credence to a serial liar under numerous indictments and potentially the second president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to a second, non-consecutive term. Ok...rant done. But Sinclair will have their work cut out for them in 2024 if they want a front row seat to this $#!+show.

I guess what I meant to say instead of "legacy" was "pre-Apollo". Imagiconn basically took all of the former Northwest stations, and the Memphis/Tulsa stations that had existed under the "old" Cox. Don't know where WLMT came from... Fixed my prior post. Just mixing up Memphis call letters, after all of the crazy transactions in that market over the past decade.