Al-SA-TX

43 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

Changes like this aren't made lightly so NBC must be feeling pretty confident with themselves. You gotta give them credit for adapting to the times (heavy digital focus) and trying something new.

 

It's not a bad logo. Hearkens back to the old NBC 'N' of the 70s. I might have preferred the diagonal ends be sharp rather than squared off. Also interesting that they've kept the white border on the peacock after ditching it everywhere else.

There's some confusion on this, but the borderless peacock logo is for solid white backgrounds only. There is also a black/white version purely for just white backgrounds as well.

All other uses will retain the border. The only thing visually changing is the peacock's beak.

This might be why Allen is no longer pursuing TEGNA.

1 hour ago, Mrtraveler01 said:

 

I'm actually surprised it wasn't KABB that got the standard graphics since they're the legacy station in that duopoly.

It's no surprise that since Sinclair has taken over WOAI, that it has gotten preferential treatment over KABB.

When the graphics do launch, you'll notice that the standard package would have indeed looked better on KABB given that the FOX 29 logo already fits the color scheme. Want to guess the color scheme for the hybrid package? Look no further than the color scheme on WOAI's logo.

8 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

Don't like half-assing. Either both get the new gfx simultanenously or don't do it at all.

KABB is getting a hybrid package, and it's taking longer to iron out the bugs since they're the only station that is going to have it in the group.

I suspect y'all will probably hate it, but stay tuned.

Shareholders have re-elected all 12 TEGNA directors.

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/248363/shareholders-re-elect-all-12-tegna-directors/

This campaign lead by Kim was ill-timed and honestly, comes off as desperate.

I'm glad the shareholders saw that. I'd go a step further and say that Kim is responsible for the furloughs due to the cost TEGNA had to endure to hire advisory firms, etc, but this is out of my area of expertise so I'll leave it at that.

31 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

 

Glass Lewis & Co was particularly scathing toward Kim

 

ISS seemed skeptical of him too

 

The scolding continues from another advisory firm:

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/248085/egan-jones-recommends-tegna-director-nominees/

The current TEGNA board appears to be receiving a lot of support:

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/248020/advisory-firm-recommends-tegnas-nominees/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tegna-standardgeneral/proxy-adviser-iss-backs-standard-general-nominee-brown-at-tegna-idUSKBN21Z2BJ?il=0

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tegna-standardgeneral/ariel-investments-says-backs-tegna-in-fight-with-standard-general-idUSKCN21V2BK

The vote takes place next Thursday.

Spoiler alert: there isn't a single bank that is going to back/finance a transaction as big as what TEGNA is worth because of the current pandemic that has essentially caused our economy to collapse. Which is why Gray and Apollo dropped their bids. Nobody had to jump through hoops for anything.

And yes, it was COVID-19 that ended those talks.

I can't wait for all this to blow up in Soo Kim's face. 

19 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

My guess is that Air Comfort Solutions didn't want to renew the contract when it was up. Who knows what went on behind the scenes (maybe @Al-SA-TX might have an answer as to why ACS didn't renew the deal with KFOR for Chopper 4 but I could be wrong)

I'm not entirely sure. Air Comfort Solutions, the company, is a big spender in advertising. It could be that there was another suitor willing to pay more, so a name change may be on the horizon again. For now, it's just Chopper 4 again.

I'm no longer there, so I can't say for certain.

As a side note, Air Comfort Solutions Chooper 4 was a mouthful and I was never a fan of that brand.

1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Add another group who wants Tegna to sell or merge....

Enter HG Vora Capital Management, who last had a stake in Tribune, and cashed it out when Nexstar took over....

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tegna-hgvora-exclusive/exclusive-hedge-fund-hg-vora-wants-tegna-to-consider-a-sale-or-merger-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1WP

 

I think the biggest takeaway from this article is that Apollo does not intend to keep the CMG properties.
 

Quote

In June, Apollo approached Tegna so that Tegna could buy Cox Media Group from Apollo, the letter said, noting that Tegna felt its shareholders would not benefit from such a move.

That said, these Hedge fund companies can stick it where the sun don't shine.

11 hours ago, KentBrockman said:

I’ll make this observation, that weather man was clearly having a problem with his IFB and was probably pissed because you could see him tug it hard out of his ear. Producers and directors need to make sure IFBs are on and working before going on the air, that was very tacky and shame on them for not making sure his was okay beforehand.

Spoiler alert: If their IFB isn't working it's probably because they're late to the studio and that's on them.

10 hours ago, TheRyan said:

 

It seems like he may have been dealing with the IFB picking up too much noise (more than just director's cues)...but that's purely a guess.    

 

On a side note, I've occasionally noticed some reporters (at other stations) will literally pull out their IFB when they start their live shot.  I wonder why they do that.

When a reporter does this, it's because they aren't mix-minused properly, so they hear feedback (themselves on a delay) which isn't delightful. Usually a result of an audio operator forgetting to do so.

7 hours ago, Sendir said:

Rumors of a round of layoffs at legacy Nexstar stations and the new Tribune stations.

Can confirm. The axe is swinging at KFOR, so far an anchor position has been eliminated along with various administrative positions.

You truly hate to see it.

I'm still wondering why KTVT got a pass here. They dropped the ball just as badly as KXAS, in my opinion.

9 minutes ago, ttvn2000 said:

This explains a lot  - the station’s creative director had no previous TV experience and admitted in this interview that he did not watch local TV. 

 

https://www.wkyc.com/mobile/article/entertainment/television/liveonlakeside/liveonlakeside/95-243d301f-06ca-4369-b280-50eafcfd45ca

Y'all want to know why the TV industry is in the shape it's in look no further than this. I can't explain how many people are in positions that they shouldn't be in and I've worked in 4 newsrooms in the span of 6 years.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off topic here. To contribute: my thoughts on this logo is that it is indeed terrible.

Has someone already mentioned that Nexstar has switched to Wordpress? Hence the new website layouts. Looks like they're ditching their own CMS.

Apparently this has already been discussed. My bad.

[MEDIA=twitter]1041456554887835649[/MEDIA]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/time-magazine-sold-to-salesforce-founder-marc-benioff-for-190-million-1537137165

It appears Meredith has sold Time Magazine.

While obviously local management plays a large role in how a station is run, if you think corporate ownership doesn't make a difference, you're badly mistaken. I say this as someone who works in local TV. And TEGNA isn't considered a top choice company for most TV professionals.

 

From my observation, I see TEGNA as a company trying almost too hard to innovate. They often roll out silly, social media driven, experimental newscasts to multiple stations before such concept has even been successful on one station. Sure, there have been some successes here and there (like the intelligent and thoughtful Next at KUSA), but those have been rare. More often, cheap beats intelligent, thoughtful production.

 

Yes, that's the direction local TV is headed, but the company seems to take pride in driving the industry there even faster by proclaiming things like "Change isn't an option." I think in some ways the company outsmarts itself with its commitment to the theoretical without the tangible results. Just my thoughts.

I'm not sure what company you work for, but I also work in the business and disagree with a couple of things here. Full disclosure, I was at a management level position for a TEGNA station a couple of years ago when the company spun off of Gannett. Not once did I ever encounter anything along the lines of "Corporate is making us do so and so" (Nor has this occurred at my current station). Standardized graphics you say? Nonsense. If a CSD really wanted to, they could launch their own package, but most stations these days do not have a graphics department to support the every day needs of the news department.

TEGNA may encourage their business units to think outside of the box, but they aren't forcing anyone's hand here. That said, I would work for them again given the opportunity.

Secondly, again, those social media driven/experimental newscasts are coming from local management. If it was corporate, you'd see something like that on it's entire television portfolio. In this case, some GM/ND came up with the idea and others started running with it. I guarantee you whoever first pitched the idea was someone from sales who found their way into a GM/ND position. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in this business.

I'm not sure how to tell y'all this, but corporate doesn't come in and make anyone do anything. *GASPS*

It's all on local management.

Probably for a long time. KRBC has been with NBC since its inception in the 50's and KTAB is the #1 station in the market plus a strong CBS affiliate.

 

IF this were to take place, the most likely poach would be Bonten's ABC affiliations on KTXS and KTXE.

I always thought this would be feasible for KIDY to achieve since KTXS' presence in San Angelo is mediocre at best. I can't see KXVA taking the ABC affiliation away from KTXS, but I can see KIDY snatching the ABC affiliation away from KTXE. Last I heard was that KTXS has been trying to increase their presence in the Concho Valley, they even started renting office space next door to KIDY's downtown building...which I thought was a slap in the face, but to each it's own.

Fixed that; thanks!

 

And is the Big Country more marketable in news than the Concho Valley? If so, that would lead me to understand their choice...

I guess that depends on who you ask. Abilene is indeed a bigger market, but the competition has been around quite a long time. If you ask me, this is something that should have happened years down the road. I personally do not think this format will last.

As for San Angelo...KIDY has made strides with the audience there and is the only station that provides local news in HD. That alone is a reason that people have switched. KLST and KSAN have been getting a run for their money and it shows. It boggles my mind that they put aside a product that has been working since the operation started 2 1/2 years ago in favor for trying to be local in a market where they truly are not.

As expected, KXVA Fox San Angelo rebranded today as FOX 15 Abilene, with the news wesbite and all (fox15abilene.com). With that, they moved their 6:30 and 9 newscasts to 6 and 10, respectively "to go head to head" with the other marker stations.

 

Considering they still share assets with KIDY, I'm assuming they're just going to share the same newscasts, although that remains to be seen.

 

Here's their FB video:

 

On a side note, TEGNA is definitely throwing money their way. Maybe they'll finally get a studio next...

KXVA Fox Abilene*

KIDY is continuing the KIDY Fox San Angelo brand as far as I can tell.

'

It's unlikely that they'll be sharing the same newscast. KIDY is being pre-recorded and then aired at 6 and 10, while KXVA is live to focus on being "local" in the Abilene market which, in my opinion, is a lost cause since the operations still stem out of San Angelo.

They changed the branding to make the two stations appear that they are operating separately.

WKYC has taken some serious liberty in it's use of their graphics/opens and music over the last several months.

Here's a promo sample that uses the same music as the intro and most bumpers.

The supers and headline bar remain the same, but there's some leeway in other things, especially in the teasers.

 

And at the very end of the newscast, they ditched the TEGNA logo and replaced it with a generic copyright "©2016 WKYC-TV INC"

 

I doubt they're up for sale or going to be up for sale any time soon, but this is the furthesy yet I've seen a TEGNA station stray from their presentarion.

Makes sense. Gannett has made it pretty clear that they want to be their own entity, so why should TEGNA continue to use the USA Today colors? I no longer work for the company, but I hope the TANK is developing something new for the stations.

For those keeping track of the Lone Star Group, KAGS rolled out the new website platform today.

The rest of the group will follow suit over the course of the next few months.

I've noticed that the LSB stations still haven't updated their sites and it's late into January. When are they going to update them?

With the new platform rolling out, it was pushed to the July time frame.