tyrannical bastard

It appears the sale has closed. RIP Media General. And say a prayer for anyone you knows that still works for them.....they're going to need it.

ConnectingThePineBeltToJackson.com

Pretty much. By default, WALA is the only major station in the market NOT run by Sinclair or soon to be owned by Nexstar. As soon as Nexstar gets foolish and starts cutting talent, changing graphics, and changes WKRG.com into something stupid like GulfCoastProud.com, it could be bad news for them.

WALA would be the clear beneficiary of WKRG/WFNA being run further into the ground by Nexstar. Sinclair's already done it with both WEAR and WPMI. The Sinclair meddling is not helping things AT ALL. As for WKRG/WFNA, with their GM leaving, it could be a clean slate there once they bring someone on board. I believe their new ND starts next week as well.

Another Media General GM is getting out while the getting is good. This time, it's Mark Bunting leaving WKRG & WFNA for the GM slot at WSFA in Montgomery... http://www.lagniappemobile.com/bunting-leaving-wkrg/

Anything like WKRC's package? If they start rolling it out, expect it on their key stations like WBFF and WSYX/WTTE first.

If Tegna wasn't in cutback mode as well, this could have set the stage for Bunyan and Peterson to return to WUSA.

Satire alert...... I just found out that WTOK in Meridian is launching a 40 minute newscast beginning at 4:20 every weekday anchored by recently paroled Charlo Greene and.....Larry Blunt! OK.... That's it for me....you've been great!

NewsON has FINALLY launched a website for streaming newscasts! http://www.tvnewscheck.com/playout/2017/01/newson-launches-ott-website-to-stream-local-news/

...and if you're a DirecTV subscriber with a COX and/or a Hearst station in your market....time to put up an antenna. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/100363/no-new-retrans-contract-for-hearst-directv http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/100362/cox-directv-fail-to-reach-retrans-deal I bet there are some freaked out people in Boston right now....this along with their NBC switch-e-roo!

In that case, WEAR pre-empting that for their own annual trainwreck of the Pelican drop may have been a blessing in disguise. The usual miscues and technical gremlins were exasperated by the rain. One of their poor reporters looked like they were teetering over the edge about to be blown off a balcony in Destin covering their own celebration..of sorts. It's never been the same since Dick Clark passed away. These shows and the celebrities that perform on them just get worse and worse, and I just tune in the last 3 minutes or so to see the ball or whatever thing drops or counts down to Midnight.

They could always move up Deborah Linz from Dayton over to Columbus.....She anchored at WCHS/WVAH for a while back in the 2000s until moving to WKEF/WRGT to rescue their failing news product. Even her former co-anchor Rick Lord had a brief stint at WSYX/WTTE. Tom McGee's "final" DUI incident resulted in his return to WCHS/WVAH where he's been a primary anchor ever since.

And now the Dispatch is even making such claims.... http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2016/12/29/yolanda-harris-leaves-station.html [url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2016/12/29/yolanda-harris-leaves-station.html][/url] If they and 10TV were still under common ownership, the story wouldn't have surfaced UNTIL 10TV made it official. Could some of the recently departed from the Columbus airwaves be looking to make a comeback? Andrea Cambern? Mindy Drayer? Heck, even Cabot Rea and Dave Kaylor could resurface on WSYX / WTTE some day....

Apparently, she may be working out a deal with WBNS, according to FTVLive.... http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2016/12/29/crossing-the-street-in-columbus

Bill Phillips is returning to WTOV after a stint at WPXI for the past 15 years... http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2016/12/28/Bill-Phillips-is-leaving-WPXI/stories/201612280054 The writer forgot the fact that WTOV was cast off to Sinclair 3 years ago..

Political bias aside, they have an agenda. They clearly put their ”partners” front and center and make their stations run their content without question. At least now after the FCC scandal with the Huntsman Cancer institute, they are trying to CTA with an endless barrage of disclosures, disclaimers, and ”sponsored by"s... It's pretty laughable to even see the painfully obvious money grabs like ticker and snipe logos accompanied by said disclosures. It just goes to show how much of a "front office special” this company goes through. All the times they have forgot to do so makes the RKO General scandal look like an overdrafted check...The FCC needs to throw the book at them and make them bleed.

1990s WEAR too. They used the same italicized "3" for their news based off their now-former logo.

These two stations may be a good fixer upper for Meredith, but they have the same problem in Atlanta with WGCL as it has never had the chance to compete there.

Something like this had to happen sooner or later. WOIO has had too many anchors in the "Cleveland 19" era. But I smell another Robin Swoboda comeback.....she needs a position at WOIO to have worked at EVERY TV STATION in Cleveland!

FTVLive is reporting that Nexstar will be taking over "any day now"... http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2016/12/14/nexstar-to-close-on-media-general-stations-any-day-now [url=http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2016/12/14/nexstar-to-close-on-media-general-stations-any-day-now][/url] We'll see. If anything, it could be a time-brokerage deal where the "non-license assets" are closed on. As for the FCC licenses....approval would be nice. But I wouldn't put anything past the idiots from Irving....but this move is as CYA as you can get.

It's like Raycom and WOIO. Running a station in this sized market is clearly too much for them. Why CBS puts up with their failure year after year while sitting on WUPA... WUPA was CBS's insurance policy if Tribune refused to put CBS on WGNX (too bad they sold out because seeing as how Tribune has exploded in size since then...)

And CBS hasn't bought this train wreck of a station yet because.....

I'd like to know the last time Sinclair launched their OWN news department at a single station (or market) they own.... Even the brand-new newscast on WTGS FOX 28 in Savannah is piped in from WPDE in Myrtle Beach with a few "local reporters" to cover the news. If anything, independent, secondary operations in Sinclair's fold could be on their way out over the next few years.

WSM(V)'s 6:30 news started in 1973. WTVF followed suit in 1989. Did WSMV even try to land Wheel of Fortune because of Pat Sajak's connection to them? And due to the glut of news, even WZTV airs syndication staples including Judge Judy and Jeopardy! Wheel airs on WKRN.