Rusty Muck

37 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

Hour-long superhero shows + CGI × COVID compliance + all those writers trying to keep Riverdale from becoming an ouroboros =

 

This is why you're going to be seeing A LOT more of Eric Estrada and Laura McKenzie on The CW (I'm shocked Associated Television International isn't getting their own 25% piece).

 

Also...Hearst does have leverage with the Litton E/I block, so don't expect them to go gently into that good night either. 

Erik Estrada? Does this mean Cool Cat is coming to the CW?

4 minutes ago, channel2 said:

 

Wouldn't CBS be unhappy about that? Much of the reason CBS even bothers with a morning show seems to be for the soft power that comes in having clips from interviews and such circulating. It makes the network look important, like Today and GMA make NBC and ABC look important.

 

What might that do to Nexstar's relationship with CBS?

Well, the inverse of BBS completely taking over CTV comes to mind right away.

22 hours ago, The Frog said:

While the acquisition isn't formally closed yet, Nexstar is immediately assuming corporate oversight of The CW.

There's one thing that glares significantly over this sale, beyond this totally cringe-inducing passage from COO Tom Carter:

Quote

“As you’d expect from Nexstar, our first goal is to improve the profitability of The CW and more fully realize its potential as a broad-reach entertainment provider and marketing solutions platform,” said Nexstar President-COO Tom Carter.

“In the near term, Nexstar can leverage its infrastructure to reduce costs in areas such as corporate overhead, digital infrastructure, advertising sales and content and programming acquisition at The CW. While reducing costs is one path to improving profitability, there is significant opportunity for value creation by focusing on building the broadcast audience and driving new revenue,” said Carter.

As the nation’s largest station group owner, Carter said Nexstar will have a different approach than other network owners — and the previous CW ownership — in not focusing on programming “capable of crossing over to an SVOD service.”

@sanewsguyasked this on Discord this morning... where's Perry? Arguably the biggest day in the history of the company—and less than two weeks after his tenure as CEO was extended by four years—and he was nowhere to be seen.

I can't imagine the CEO of one of the country's largest pure-play television chains going AWOL the day of their highest-profile transaction, let alone a CEO so totally tied in with the company that he's almost universally known as Uncle Perry.

3 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

I guess it depends on the specifics of the new programming. I’m not sure affiliates are going to want to air NewsNation, for example, given that they may soon be home to both Chris Cuomo and Bill O’Reilly. If Nexstar is just planning on putting out cheap older-skewing programs and leftovers from Paramount/Warner, I guess it wouldn’t be as big a deal (especially since it’s just 2 hours per night).

Forcing any NewsNation product onto the CW is a non-starter and would implode the affiliate base.

15 hours ago, NowBergen said:

It seems that is not what Nexstar plans.  I'm guessing he wants to use the off network shows on their own stations, limiting viewership and buzz.  Good luck.

A few things mentioned in the investors conference are a bit concerning.

 

They mentioned the production agreement with Paramount Global and WBD is for a year, and after that will be considered.

 

They mentioned that they plan on moving away from mostly scripted programming.  They seem to be following post divestiture Fox's approach with a few scripted shows and several cheap uninteresting unscripted game shows and more.  I'm not sure that will bring more eyeballs to the CW.  It may backfire.  I know it's a turn off for myself and I watch several CW shows.  

If I’m at Scripps, Sinclair and Gray, I’m taking a good look at exercising whatever sale-related clauses exist in my CW affiliate contracts.

26 minutes ago, David Salter JR said:

The difference is that UPN and The WB had name-brand shows like Star Trek : Voyager, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dawson's Creek

The other difference is that UPN and WB existed in an era where smartphones and OTT streaming services didn't exist.

6 minutes ago, David Salter JR said:

what programming strategy will Nexstar pursue for the CW? news? unscripted shows? something else?

Paramount and Warners still hold minority stakes and will continue to supply programming, and unless something drastic happens, the existing streaming deal with Netflix will be unchanged. The biggest change has already happened with the mass cancellation of shows (but that may have more to do with Zaslav at WBD than anything else).

If Nexstar was smart they'd keep the network as-is with other production companies producing content for them. If they can stave off the losses and turn something close to a profit, it could work. But the CW has never made money and has always operated as a loss leader and that was even when the younger demo-strategy still WORKED.

4 minutes ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

It depends on the market. They aren’t going to yank it off a station like WISH, for example, when they have both the CBS/Fox affiliates in Indianapolis. Same goes for WCCB. I don’t think anyone was suggesting that Nexstar would/should replace every established network affiliation with a network like the CW. Any suggestion of such a thing would be asinine.

 

In the case of stations like WGN and KRON, however, it would make some sense. First, it’s not like they’ll be alienating CBS when CBS/Warner are selling the majority of the network over to Nexstar anyway. The CW is a non-core asset for them. Second, it’s true that WGN gave up the CW “for their own self-interests,” but those interests had to do with local sports broadcasting rights that had to be moved to other stations to accommodate CW programming. As I previously mentioned, WGN no longer has local sports rights, and the CW would give WGN two hours of programming that their company (Nexstar) owns. Finally, in KRON’s case, why would Nexstar spend on a MyNet affiliation when they’ll now have their own network to program? It’s the same reason why NewsNation is dumping reruns for their own talk shows.

 

Of course, there’s no guarantee Nexstar will want to switch all of its independent/MyNet stations over to the CW, and it’s highly unlikely they would do it right away. This is pure speculation. That said, it’s not a far-fetched possibility.

It goes back to the cost-benefit analysis. What is to be gained by making WGN or KRON an affiliate of a network that no longer can reach its' target demo due to mere obsolescence?

The mere fact your average CW affiliate has a daytime lineup with hours and hours of courtroom schlock, "Trash TV" Maury reruns and Steve Wilkos, spillover newscasts from a senior duop partner and barely anything else is rather telling.

What is there to be gained from yanking the affiliations off of WCIU, WPSG, KBCW, WCCB or WISH?

What is the return on investment for alienating the massive groups that own those stations right off the bat?

What benefits stations like KRON, WGN, WPHL, WJZY and WTTV that already have established brands (and in the case of WGN and WTTV, willingly gave up the CW for their own self-interests) to disrupt their programming with CW fare?

Just because Nexstar is buying majority control of what is still for all intents and purposes a three-way partnership does not mean they are going to be doing things to it or to the affiliate base "just because they can"

52 minutes ago, TheRob said:

This is quite the paragraph from the Deadline article.

 

The demographic focus of the CW will also change over time, Carter said. Historically, shows like Riverdale, All American, Arrow and Supernatural have focused on viewers in their teens through their 30s. The reality, though, is that the average CW viewer is 58 years old, and Carter said that schism explains why the CW is the lowest-rated broadcast network.

The CW targets a demographic that is least likely to watch OTA TV. It might have still worked in 2006 but that's 16 years and 12 models of iPhones ago.

@Georgie56posted this in the Discord but KCNC recently updated their Twitter profile, without a single 4 in sight.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what will happen next.

5 minutes ago, NowBergen said:

That's an approach for the court of public opinion.  What they are providing the FCC in response to questions is probably far more detailed.  if not, they have real bad lawyers and advisors.

Easy money on Standard General’s legal counsel being that bad.

Soo simply thought he could buy Tegna out of sheer hatred for Dave Lougee, and the details didn’t matter.

8 minutes ago, NowBergen said:

If my memory is right, a few weeks back both Soo Kim and Deborah McDermott have made statements in response to the some of the criticism.  Including investing in news product, not cutting as well as clarifying Apollo's limited role as a funder and not involved in any part of the operation.  I'm sure they have had to file and answer directly to the FCC much of this in more detail that may not yet be public.

Their public statements have been this mix of playing the victim card and tepid deflections (“It’s not true! Proof? Bro. Trust me!”), it’s stunning how unprofessional Soo and Deb have been throughout this process.

I’m employing Occam’s Razor for this analysis, and with the level of opposition, FCC scrutiny and Standard General in amateur hour mode, this deal needs to set up an appointment with Dr. Kevorkian.

4 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

Again, this (very long) post isn’t to say that you’re wrong and that CBS isn’t thinking along the lines of 100% brand unification; it’s only to say that there is evidence that CBS still wants some regional emphasis at their more successful stations. It’s certainly true that the CBS O&Os are generally last-place stations that have been run into the ground by David Friend, Peter Dunn, etc, and that their more successful stations are in comparatively smaller markets. However, when you have stations like WJZ, WCCO, KDKA, and WBZ that have built their success around their local identity, there’s no good reason for CBS to throw those babies out with the bathwater. I could be wrong, but I think management realizes that.

Again, the problem is that KDKA, KYW, WBZ and WCCO have to share those call letter brands with unrelated radio stations. Most people really wouldn’t care if the call letter brands were retired. They aren’t nerds like us and get easily confused between the two.

If that wasn’t the case (and CBS had forced the radio stations to change their calls en masse in 2017, as what Sinclair made Lotus do when they bought KOMO radio) then a case could be made for keeping the call sign brands in the TV group.

It’s only a matter of if anyone at Tegna has the good sense to call off the deal before the FCC rejects it out of hand.

The one thing you do not want to do is lie to the FCC, and withholding the info about Apollo having a substantial financial stake in the buyout (because Soo can’t afford the company on his own) reaches that level of impropriety.

This deal is deader than dead.

20 hours ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

How about CBS NYC News Now or CBS 2 News Now?

The goal is brand unification. CBS already has an open position for Group Creative Director which explicitly states that they will “work closely with CBS Stations, CBS News and CBS Marketing to unify our brands.“

On 7/11/2022 at 11:46 PM, newscopter7 said:

It blows my mind to think you’d want to take these legacy Group W stations—market leaders with recognizable brands—and fold them into a network news brand that has been the bottom dweller for probably close to 40 years. 

Group W hasn’t existed for nearly 26 years. Legacy is one thing but not if it’s holding back the evolution of the station group/rebuild of the network news division.

Moreover, outside of KPIX and WJZ-TV, the Group W TV stations never fully owned those recognizable brands. They were always shared with radio and now mean totally different things to different people since CBS sold off the radio unit. (Nevermind that KYW-TV was never a “market leader” in any sense of the word.)

18 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

I tend to agree with that argument, and if CBS even goes with the CTV-style branding at all, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made exceptions for their market leaders. WCCO, WJZ, KDKA, etc are known by their longtime brands on social media, billboards, a weather tower (in CCO’s case), and their vehicles. That’s too much successful brand familiarity to change overnight for the *chance* that the other markets improve.

WCCO, KDKA, WJZ and KYW share their identities with wholly unrelated radio stations. John Q. Public has no clue about KDKA not having any tie to it’s onetime TV sister, so of course the TV station got all sorts of flack when Wendy Bell’s career imploded at the radio station. Or that KYW radio is now co-located with, and operated alongside, WCAU.

Call sign brand equity doesn’t mean as much as you think it does when it’s been split both ways for decades.

19 hours ago, RGSJenkins said:

Especially after the paint on their vehicles, black and yellow nor KDKA ain't going nowhere any time soon.

How much do vehicle wraps cost? Something instituted by prior management (the GM that instituted the gaudy black-and-gold look left months ago) always can be reversed through a simple Paramount Global budget line item.

4 minutes ago, Nelson R. said:

WSBK is keeping their 8pm news and moving the 10pm portion of their MyNet schedule to 1am. I think it would’ve been easier for them to have the news at 9 and 10 and MyNet from 11pm-1am. 

WSBK doesn’t have to compete against anyone at 8pm. The 10pm hour is up against WHDH and (in theory) WFXT.

Why not experiment at 10pm and eventually merge the two newscasts as a 8–11pm primetime news block?

On 7/7/2022 at 9:03 AM, nycnewsjunkie said:

This isn’t a sign of anything until we see evidence of WBZ itself rebranding (the website doesn’t count.) CBS stations using the “CBS News (Insert City)” brand for newscasts isn’t anything new. KTVT does it at midday to promote their streaming service, and WLNY did it for a while at 9pm. The “Now on TV38” portion of the title could just be part of the cable guide’s listing, but we’ll have to see what it looks like at launch.

 

What we do know, per NewscastStudio, is that CBS is working on new graphics that are expected to launch in the fall. I have personally seen no evidence in publications that suggests CBS intends to get rid of local branding on their main local newscasts based on the new website designs (nor have I even heard rumors backed up by sources.) Because of this lack of verifiable info, until we see/hear more of the specific changes that are to come in terms of rebranding, I would treat any suggestions of a full brand overhaul as pure speculation, and nothing more.

Everything is pointing to CBS using these DFW-hub produced newscasts as what will subsume all the existing brands. (NewscastStudio isn’t exactly a reliable source, tbh, I could barely read what Michael Hill wrote.)

Outside of WCCO, KCNC, WJZ and KDKA, the CBS O&Os are laggards. WFOR, KYW-TV and WBBM have nothing to lose by becoming CBS News Miami, CBS News Philadelphia and CBS News Chicago, respectively. Ditch the current number and call letter brands and Enforcer, too.

Besides, it’s all but confirmed that WWJ-TV will be rebranding as CBS Detroit/CBS News Detroit when their news operation launches.

On 6/5/2022 at 3:32 PM, CLETVFan said:

Does this mean Nexstar won't be buying The CW?  Plus, switching the network to streaming only would hurt the affiliates, unless MyNetwork TV could fill some slots.

This looks more and more like Paramount and Warner Bros. jointly shutting down the CW and selling the remains to Nexstar (satellite uplinks, whatever remains of an affiliate base).

11 minutes ago, Nelson R. said:

Would they change the network name to Nexstar?

I’m sure the affiliates owned by Scripps, Gray, CBS, Sinclair, Hearst, Sunbeam and Tegna would be delighted at that. /sarc

15 minutes ago, CircleSeven said:

The FCC is asking the parties for new information in regards to this transaction.

 

From Bloomberg:

 

Huh, it's like the FCC has some questions relevant to the plot... 

5 hours ago, Yankees4life said:

The only thing that matters is if the FCC approves it. (God, I hope not)

The tightening credit market and unfavorable interest rates are what will doom this deal. The shareholders vote was symbolic and pretty pointless.

Stubborn Raccoon Index for Standard General/Apollo’s purchase of Tegna is at or near 12%.

On 4/24/2022 at 2:56 PM, nycnewsjunkie said:

That said, I’m not sure why CBS wants to de-emphasize local brands on all of their stations, given that there tends to be more trust in local news than national news (and CBS News isn’t exactly dominating the ratings in mornings and evenings.)

The goal here is to remake CBS News as a collective of the O&Os, so unified branding on all platforms is a necessity.

On 5/18/2022 at 2:23 AM, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

As I was told by a former CBS GM, Doups aren't core to their mission.

Paramount Global is not the former CBS Corporation. They’re sinking money into developing newscasts for their CW outlets based at KXTA, which I would consider as core.

There is no reason why Paramount will sell those stations when no buyer exists. Nexstar can’t take them and is too stubborn a company to unload dead weight.

2 hours ago, The Frog said:

The CW essentially functions as a hybrid linear network/AVOD service. Putting a paywall on their content would be a mistake.

The CW is losing a majority of their scripted fare this off-season as Paramount and Warners are cutting their losses. It’s being killed off in plain sight.

Perry’s buying a stripped-down frame of a car, which is enough of a mistake to begin with. But he should know a thing or two about mistakes: he launched NewsNation.

24 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

Yeah, I meant to leave out the obvious full-power ed licenses like KDTN, KLTJ, WYDN and KWDK; those aren't going anywhere anytime soon (and there's no way they're selling them to traditional educational interests). The low-powers acquired from bankruptcies like Equity's and Guardian are more likely to be sold off. And here, KDTL was duplicative to WPXS, and already carrying Retro TV instead, which seems to be an overall anamoly.

It depends on how badly Daystar needs the money. After Harold Camping's 2012 apocalypse prediction failed, Family Radio had several of their 92-108 FMs (inc. Newark, Philly-Trenton and Annapolis) reassigned as commercial in order to get quick cash. Daystar might be well advised to do the same.