tyrannical bastard

Nexstar released 4Q earnings and they will not be selling any legacy spectrum of theirs. However, some former Media General spectrum is going away... http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/101870 The question is....Are Mission and the other Nexstar sidecars selling?

I believe March 1st is the day when many of the former Media General stations will become fully integrated into Nexstar from a back-office perspective. From there, get ready for the websites....my god...the websites...

Please be Meredith....please be Meredith....PLEASE PLEASE be Meredith that ends up with them! Now that Meredith owns the station formerly known as WTBS outright.....they could have a superstation and a former one on their hands... They're the only ones who have room to expand and taking the prime Tribune properties could be a new avenue for them.

Since WUAB broadcasts on Channel 28, it would command more value to cash in since it's UHF. Since it's also "in the zone" for repacking, it could be the future home for a going concern that wants to stay on the air and currently exists above channel 30 or 31..whatever that is...

The "Deathstar" has it sights set on WIVB in Buffalo.....their target? GM Rene LaSpina, according to FTVLive.... And this wouldn't be the first time Nexstar has sent her packing. She was the GM at the helm of WPTY in Memphis that hit rock bottom under her reign. The sale to Nexstar resulted in the relocation and relaunch as WATN Local 24. While her time in Buffalo is debatable, she was responsible for a lot of layoffs and cost-cutting of the on-air talent during her time there driving morale into the toilet as Scripps was picking up the pieces over at WKBW... And as long as this video is still on YouTube....here's how bad it was at WPTY back in the day.... UPDATE: Dominic Mancuso, former WOIO/WUAB GM has been named as the GM of WIVB... http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/101659/mancuso-heads-buffalo-pair-for-nexstar

Although it never reached the heights of WTBS, WGN or WWOR, it did have a sizeable audience outside of the Cleveland Area as a mini-superstation...sort of like WTTV or WSBK. Losing the Indians telecasts and the growth of subchannels with MyNetworkTV programming replaced WUAB in these areas. While the Gaylord era (1977-1991) was considered second-rate to the original United Artists era (1968-1977), the station changed a little during the Stephen J. Cannell era (exclusively until 1994), and when Malrite...then Raycom started the LMA. Raycom purchased them outright in 2000 when it became legal to do so. I guess we'll see what subchannels are going away (if any) because WUAB has 2 (Bounce & Grit) and WOIO has 1 (MeTV). Perhaps push some off to the WOIO-LD repeater in Akron?

I'll bet they will be cashing in their the majority of their exclusively UniMas afffiliates and stations like WQHS in Cleveland they aquired from USA Broadcasting. That would spell the second demise for channel "61" in Cleveland, as Kaiser-owned WKBF operated there from 1968-1975, went dark and a new licensee signed on WCLQ in 1981, attempting to run it as an independent/Preview station. When WBNX and WOIO signed on in 1985, WOIO immediately rose to the top of the independents, leading to a gradual adoption of HSN programming that lasted until the sale to Univision. The call letters reflect the changeover to HSN as "Quality Home Shopping".

This is probably one of the first instances that we're hearing...but it makes complete sense given it's Raycom's largest market. But it is a very sad "end" to a station Raycom has systematically driven into the ground over the last 15 or so years. WUAB was the station I REALLY watched growing up. It was before we had cable. They had all of the cartoons I watched, and I stuck around to watch their off-network reruns of shows. I even remember watching "Barnaby" and "Superhost" in their final days of television back in the late 1980s early 1990s. It would be a few years later that I would get into news and all of the other nostalgia of Cleveland TV, but their shows were my "must-see-tv" when independent TV was still a viable thing. Flash forward to Raycom taking over, flooding WUAB with third-rate court and talk shows like all of the other MyNetworkTV stations. They had a chance to keep their dominance, but gradually pared down their more expensive programming, only to have WBNX pick it up. In the process, they became one of the top WB affiliates in the country, and won the chance to get the CW affiliation. The stigma of Ernest Angley and mild swear words being bleeped out disappeared because WBNX was more willing to run a better station than WUAB was. And to make matters worse, WUAB will live on as a subchannel on WOIO's anemic, abysmal VHF frequency. A signal so terrible that they had to sign on an LD in Akron just to cover most of the market decently.

Let me guess.....WYTV or WYFX beat them to it! But methinks it was WFMJ with the inside scoop.

I'll be curious to see what becomes of the Spectrum auction. There are lots of opportunities for frequency consolidation and for a shell to step up and "take over" a station or two. That's probably why Cunningham has a website and Deerfield looks to have one in the works....

Lest we forget the 2001 version of CNN Headline News... Sad thing, this is more worthwhile than the "Forensic Files"-fest it has become. Just like this classic KBBL-TV promo. https://g.redditmedia.com/1w0n6DOGjJzhh_P2ar8B0PMsIfoG8fT1KpMqiELLnYA.gif?w=480&fm=mp4&mp4-fragmented=false&s=575ba92ab3f13879732b9b3df9cd8518 "You're watching Channel 6, Springfield's home for Krusty the Clown, now on 3 times a day. Because at Channel 6, we got nothin' else!"

I'm thinking it's an ad grab. I've seen a barrage of 5 second billboards running on WKRG (bookending MANY of their breaks) with local sponsor logos plastered on them. They ran a package at 10pm by some reporter I've never heard of that gave a VERY generic overview of the behind-the-scenes of Super Bowl...i mean "Big Game" operations in Houston. Very generic and of little news value, IMHO. Mobile-Pensacola has little vested interest in this game, ESPECIALLY since WKRG and WFNA will not be airing it. FTVLive chronicles the poor crew having to use a mic flag for EVERY station that's taking part....which is probably everyone. http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/2/2/super-bowl-nexstar-style

So how many Nexstar markets are carrying this "Big Game" tailgate special? Other than Texas, around New England or Atlanta, or a FOX affiliate, it seems like a power play for them to throw their weight around and sell the living daylights out of it...

There's hope on the streaming front..... KOLR/KOZL in Springfield, MO is now streaming their newscasts online and has a Roku channel! (that doesn't stream newscasts.....yet) It's livestream, so I am hoping and PRAYING that Nexstar doesn't screw that up for the acquired MG stations.... Watching a little of their newscast is like going back in time 10 years when HD was new, sets were made of fake wood veneer, graphics were gratuitous and flashy....and Arnold's "Signature"!!!! before SESAC sent his packages back to the clearance bin for Nexstar to pick up years later....

As far as I'm concerned, he's far better off showing off his tin foil hat to the 5 viewers of WGCL CBS 46 TV Atlanta than being picked up by a company like Sinclair that will make him another "must run" in their agenda....

Something interesting at WPMI in Mobile in how they're filling their long-vacant morning anchor slot. Meteorologist Kelly Foster is moving to the co-anchor slot with Darwin Singleton THREE DAYS a week, and doing weather the other two. Jake Dunne will be doing weather those three days when Kelly Foster is anchoring. http://www.lagniappemobile.com/foster-promoted-morning-anchor-local-15/ Maybe this is the stone that takes care of two birds...."replacing" Kelly Jones and fulfilling the "Pink Slip Express" quota. Several other people have left recently including Taren Reed and Modupe Idowu....and have seemingly yet to be replaced..probably to save $$$. Over on WEAR, longtime morning meteorologist Christian Garman left in December, but it sounds like it was on his own terms...but it wouldn't surprise me if they lowballed him with a cheap offer. http://weartv.com/news/local/garman-leaving-wear-tv

Chances are, we'll never see WKRG morph into "Local 5".... ...Because of Sinclair-run LOCAL 15! Are there any other markets where Nexstar has this problem? I would love to see Graham morph WSLS into "Local 10"!

Another MG news director leaving.... This time it's WNCN's Andrea Parquet-Taylor...moving up to the same job at KTVT. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/101001

And if the reheating of "Pizzagate" wasn't enough.... WGCL 46 CBS Atlanta's "embarrassment of the month" is at it again saying that ISIS was a creation of the government...And he needs $50,000 to tell us how! Here's the story from FTVLive http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/1/25/atlanta-reporter-the-us-government-intentionally-created-isis I only hope that he signed a hell of a contract with Meredith so Sinclair doesn't get a hold of this wacko.....

Well...for anyone hoping that CBS pulls their affiliation from WGCL...you're out of luck for the next few years. CBS has signed a long-term affiliation with several Meredith stations

Sad news out of Dothan, Alabama. Connor Vernon, a longtime meteorologist in the market has passed away. http://www.dothanfirst.com/news/wdhn-meteorologist-connor-vernon-passes-away/643898190 He worked at both WTVY and WDHN as their Chief Meteorologist, as well as WSFA in Montgomery, WTXL in Tallahassee and KTBC in Austin.

Now that Media General has been consummated and the associated divestitures have taken place, that's probably been what's holding up the deal.

From the looks of things, things will be status quo, at least from a back-office perspective, until March 1st. Sort of ironic in that is also Ash Wednesday and the 40 days of Lent that follows. The final day is Mardi Gras, which is a MAJOR event in places like Mobile, coastal Mississippi and Louisiana. I don't know if WLFY goes all out for coverage that day, but WKRG does and has for years. Almost like a huge jazz funeral for Media General and the ensuing changes that could follow thereafter....

And WYTV gets passed along a FOURTH time as WKBN's surrogate. (New Vision/Parkin, Lin & Media General). The Vaughn Media shell lives on yet again... Technically, it was supposed to be separated back in December (2 years after the LIN merger occured) What gives?

...and Gray now has WBAY and KWQC.... I checked WBAY's page earlier and had Gray not come to terms with Dish (which they did), they would have been taken off. They had the warning their site which is now gone. The others divestitures look to be closed as well. I wonder in the Nexstar divestiture markets, what will become of the CrappyLocalSite.com's no longer under their control? God forbid they transfer to the NEW acquisitions....