tyrannical bastard

It looks like Waypoint Media is doing the exact same thing in Jonesboro that they are also doing in Hattiesburg, MS. Waypoint acquired a low power station there and beamed in a FOX affiliate (and eventually a CW .2) from their facility in Meridian. Waypoint owns both WGBC and WMDN in Meridian, having acquired WMDN from Frank Spain via a failed station waiver. I'm surprised KAIT didn't go after CBS as a .2 prospect. This way, they would still have WMC to import into the market as an NBC. Antitrust issues perhaps?

Eric Land has been named General Manager of Sinclair's Birmingham stations, succeeding former WBMA GM Mike Murphy who left for KMOV in St. Louis. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/85805 It should be noted that Land was the General Manager hired by Media General to hit the reset button at WBMG and rebrand the station as WIAT and "42 Daily News". I doubt that the Sinclair stations in Birmingham would be subjected to such a fate...

If they ever would have become one, it would have happened years ago. CBS still maintains several radio stations in Cleveland after selling off other markets. Now if the Cleveland Browns were a halfway decent team, CBS would have jumped on them like FOX has done (Charlotte and San Francisco) and tried to do (Seattle) in their NFC markets.

It's been heading that way ever since the departure of Sharon Reed, the return of Romona Robinson, and most importantly, the retirement of Bill Applegate. The departure of Tanchak only furthers this since he was one of the more boisterous personalities to come aboard. I have to wonder what card Raycom has up their sleeve, because their initial effort, "Hometeam 19/43 News" using the Raycom template was a complete flop that was only made worse when the Indians pulled their games from WUAB in 2001, which was a major blow which they've really never recovered from. Now if they take the WBTV approach, then they may have something. Its a slick package that blows their current abomination out of the water.

It will be interesting to see who replaces him, as this is a clear signal that the days of "Action News" are as very much numbered. If Bruce (Edwards) Kalinowski hadn't been picked up by WKYC, he would have been a good choice to return to his former position as he held it before Tanchak was hired.

Sharon Reed is OFFICIALLY joining WGCL as an anchor. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/85422/sharon-reed-named-anchor-at-wgcl-atlanta

KVHP has significant overlap into KBTV's territory. This goes back to when KVHP was the parent station of KUIL-LP, which was FOX's Beaumont affiliate until KBTV took it in 2009. I could see Raycom eventually picking up another affiliate or two on KPLC to attempt to round out the market.

This may have bigger implications for Lake Charles itself. If KPLC covers the Lafayette area decently, it still has the coverage advantage over piping in news from Baton Rouge. On the flipside, KPLC may challenge "K-JAC" (KBMT's NBC subchannel) if there's enough crossover. If i'm correct, viewers there associate better with the Beaumont-Port Arthur market than with Lafayette for their remaining affiliates. It is good news for Lafayette since they're most likely the largest market in the country now that still relies on an adjacent market for a major network affiliate. But on the flipside, it could mean the ultimate collapse of the Lake Charles market should Lake Charles merge into Beaumont. It could also be the next Zanesville, OH or Victoria, TX if KPLC sticks around for their local Lake Charles viewers.

WVTM has the potential to become the #2 station again if they play their cards right. Undoing the damage inflicted by Media General is the first step. They wasted no time putting in their own people and dumped the "Alabama's 13" brand as soon as they could get the Hearst material up and running. WIAT ran out of gas when they reset their managment and rebranded under LIN. They had a good thing going on for the first time in their history and tossed it out the window with all of the changes. For 33/40. James Spann. That is all. The Sinclair look and feel is a massive improvement though. WBRC will continue to rule the Birmingham market as long as Raycom owns them.

WVTM has always been a hubbed station, going all the way back to NBC when they hubbed their master controls. I believe they finally have built or are in the process of building their own master control. Graphics-wise, they went from the WNBC Pyburn package to MGFX, and over to Hearst's look. MGFX probably supported them in the interim until the Hearst changes were implemented.

...or resurrect the death star, make it a symbol and call it "The company formerly known as Gannett" And since the Comcast deal is on death's door "Spinco" sounds pretty good too.

They would have been better off resurrecting "Multimedia" or even "Combined" for their spinoff. In this case, it looks like the company is spinning off the non-print business unlike other deals which spun off the print sides like Media General.

WJHG in Panama City, FL is moving their hour-long noon newscast to 11am on Monday April 13. http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/299263801.html This will make way for a half hour noon show on low-powered sister station WECP, which recently began airing a 5:30 newscast as "Local 18 News"; pushing the CBS Evening News to 6pm. This now means that WMBB and WJHG will compete head-to-head at 11am. Since WECP relies so heavily on WJHG, this arrangement makes sense since newscasts can't air on top of each other. I'm surprised it took this long considering WTVY in Dothan began producing a 5:30 show for WRGX right from the get-go. And Panama City still lacks a 9pm newscast of any kind.

Probably one of the last stations that used the interface and software to run the channel, which long outlasted the original channel and concept itself. WPMI kept theirs going until late 2013-early 2014, but it was re-branded as "The Weather Authority Network" soon after the national shutdown, using the same template and software as WeatherPlus, but with a branded look that matched the station's branding.

I had mentioned it before it was "moved" to another thread about the "possibility" of The Now going on hiatus.

Former WKRG Meteorologist and "County Road 5" reporter Jere Hough has passed away at the age of 74. http://www.wkrg.com/story/28622764/remembering-longtime-wkrg-meteorologist-jere-hough

David Rogers worked at WKYC from 1997 to 2000, when he jumped to WCBS. He was later fired from WCBS because hit and ran over two construction workers on the interstate....one critically while under the influence.

If "Captain Kirk" got canned from WVIR, that's the end of his career, unless he succeds Emelie Boyles at KXGN in beautiful, picturesque, Glendive. WVIR is like a rehab market for people who have done things that have gotten them canned elsewhere. Is David Rogers from WKYC and later WCBS still there?

The Scripps/Journal deal closes March 25th..... http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/83727

It looks like sports isn't completely going away at WXIA....after checking Gannett's jobs page, WXIA is hiring a "Sports Multimedia Journalist." It is indicative of trends of making sports just another beat, but a puzzling move for a station in a place like Atlanta.

http://lagniappemobile.com/circulars-racialsocio-economic-issue/ WKRG will begin their 9am newscast on March 30th and will be a half hour show. Lagniappe also confirmed Devon Walsh will anchor at 9am, noon, and at 5pm with Peter Albrecht. Ashley Knight will replace Avery Cotton on the weekends, who took over Walsh's anchor slot on the AM show. Station management also hinted at the possibility of expanding to other times. Could this mean additional news on WFNA? Weekend AM news would be nice, as WEAR is the only station that does it for an hour on Saturday & Sunday....could Mobile/Pensacola be the largest market with such a minimal presence on the weekend?

Whether Journal is getting cold feet about the upcoming merger, sheer incompetence of Scripps' management, or some other bombshell, I have a feeling that Scripps' days in TV are numbered. Something is VERY wrong here. Even at the Journal stations, the people are running towards the exits it seems. Inbred content is going to be this company's downfall, ESPECIALLY after casting off top-tier syndication to their competitors on a silver platter.

Mario Gabelli had a large stake in Media General prior to the Young merger. He even mediated between Media General and hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners (siding with them) who was trying to buy 3 seats on the board of directors, prior to the economic collapse of 2008. Harbinger wanted to divest the newly purchased NBC O&Os in Columbus and Providence and other "non-core" internet assets. By the time Harbinger sold their shares less than a year later, the economy and Media General itself was in peril.

More WKRG news on the upcoming anchor shuffle.... Devon announced on her WKRG facebook page that today was her last morning show, and she will begin anchoring the new 9am show, and also for the 5pm as well. She will continue anchoring the noon show as she has done for the last 6 years. Presumably, she will join Peter Albrecht on the 5pm show, while Mel Showers and Rose Ann Haven will continue to anchor at 6 and 10. Since Avery Cotton anchored on the weekends, no word on who will be taking her place. And a piece of trivia.....Avery is the daughter of Drexel Gilbert, who anchored across the street with Peter Albrecht at WPMI until they were both canned back in 2007.

WKRG is moving weekend anchor Avery Cotton to the morning show, while current anchor Devon Walsh will be anchoring a newly (re)-launched 9am show. WKRG had one until 2009 when staff cutbacks warranted its cancellation. Based on some job postings...it looks like they are launching a weekend AM show including a 4th meteorologist/weathercaster. Aside from WEAR doing an hour from 6-7 weekend mornings, no one else has expanded to the weekend AM in Mobile thus far...