Rusty Muck

And we all know what happened to WCBS - it's arguable they've never recovered. Fittingly, that massacre took place as Westinghouse completed their merger into CBS.

Absolutely zero leeway. WJW has a lot of long-tenured staff and a lot of newscast output for a market this size. I expect an absolute bloodbath on day one because Sinclair. Actually, a good analog would be how Cumulus Media ruined KGO 810 - but a lot of the factors that led to the death of KGO were probably unavoidable (demos that aged out of any relevance; a large and expensive payroll; Cumulus' desire to McRadio everything).

That KOMO is being portrayed as "defying" Sinclair by burying those must-runs at the least accessible time slot possible... that's only giving their GM and news director the biggest bull's-eye possible back at Hunt Valley. They'll both get forced out for corporate lackeys in a few months, and KOMO will be ordered to air Osama bin Epshteyn and Mark Hernian at prime slots.

Tribune risks having to pay a hefty "kill fee" if the merger isn't completed by some point next spring, or if it collapses. In reality, both Sinclair and Tribune should have set that kill fee for two years, not one year. But Sinclair also expected Paid Off to ignore the rules and let it go with a rubber stamp as big as the Free Stamp on Cleveland's downtown. That's really the only signal worth keeping an eye on, IMO. If that kill fee deadline is extended, that means something is up.

Andy is asserting that he left by his own volition, having lost his father a few weeks ago. He's cohosted the midday show at WKRK "92.3 The Fan" for six years now, and apparently wants to focus on that. [MEDIA=twitter]908801917404565505[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=twitter]908802443194060800[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=twitter]908803101846573056[/MEDIA]

Loss of (expensive) talent that identify with the viewer can risk being a big turnoff. After all, Sinclair's favorite colors are pink and green. WJW and WGN-TV risk being wounded irreparably by THAT... moreso than by being forced to run Osama bin Epshteyn ordering the arrests of people protesting the Trump Regime... or Sheryl Atkinson's poor impersonation of a non-discredited journalist. (And to clarify, both WJW and WGN-TV will be losing a lot of veteran talent, even in the imperceptible chance the Sinclair deal implodes.)

Since BreitBrat Ben Swann remains on Meredith's payroll, that will make such a defeat even more noteworthy.

That's such a incongruent argument that I refuse to dignify with a response.

Corporate Mandate = Forced

Has that debuted at all? Was supposed to have debuted on August 28 but got pushed back. Unlike the alleged social media smarty-pants at KNTV/WTSP, it looks like that show is going to be a Nancy Grace rehash, along with some sports and weather. Yippie. I'll pass.

Harlan Hill is an insufferable political hack that I blocked ages ago. That said, that's still a great blooper.

Weigel making a play in the possibility that Sinclair is not allowed to have a triopoly with KTVI, KPLR and/or KDNL?

That would leave Charlotte, Houston, New York, LA and Orlando, no?

WKYC conceded the 5pm news race back in 1992, when Multimedia-produced Donahue took the spot of "The First Report" (which begat Montel, and then Dr. Phil). Dr. Phil is undoubtedly credited with WKYC's resurgence in 2003, thanks to the show being a wildly successful counterprogramming move against news on 5, 8 and 19. Plus there was a nationwide stipulation by the syndicator that the show couldn't be run against Oprah.

WKYC carries the Feud in the 2pm hour. Speaking of WKYC, you'd think they'd consider expanding their newscasts to the 5pm hour, and move Ellen and Dr. Phil up an hour. With Sinclair poised to destroy WJW from the inside out, they ought to take advantage.

Gray is alleging fraud and conspiracy against these two, but it's obvious to anyone with a pulse that WEAU (or any of the other duped stations) didn't do any vetting whatsoever. This lawsuit should be DOA.

Of course made possible by NBC moving up Early Today to start at 3:30am EST.

Are the legacy Fisher and Allbritton ABC affiliates now tied together with KDNL and the other Sinclair ABC affiliates? I'd be surprised if they weren't.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sinclair bundled WNWO with a large chunk of their NBC affiliates in a group-wide affiliation pact. Otherwise NBC would be talking with Gray about moving (back) to a WTVG sub.

Why? The show is consistently beating both Fox and CNN in overall viewers and 25-54. Plus it gives BriWi something to do.

Does anyone have any tangible proof which station is in what place in Phoenix beyond supposition or assumptions? For all we know, KPNX is rising in the ratings by taking a tabloid approach.

They'll call WWOR Fox 5 XTRA or some variation of it.

WTHR (nee WLWI) is also unavailable. Ditto with "The Nation's Station," 700 WLW (namesake for the entire WLW chain).** Although if a Nexstar-TEGNA merger goes through, they'd have WXIA, which was WLWA*** in the 1960s. ** Columbus had its share of chain stations throughout the years... prior to being purchased by Taft, 610 WTVN was WHKC, an outpost of the then-Cleveland Plain Dealer-owned 1420 WHK. Taft then paired WTVN AM/TV by purchasing WLWC-TV's FM partner, 96.3 WLWF, rechristened WTVN-FM, now WLVQ. *** Not to be confused with 550 WKRC's brief stint as 550 WLW-A in the early 1990s when Taft/Great American was broken up.

Which in those terms means WLWC's license ceases to exist, no? Doesn't sound like it's a channel share. It's funny because Outlet placed the WLWC calls there in the 1990s so an LP station in Columbus couldn't use them (of course, WCMH being the original WLWC - and now is also in Nexstar hands).

It's going to take years for KRON to ever return to a bare shell of respectability in the market. And with Nexstar as the owner... That being said, this realignment of the prime time news block back to 8p-11p is a no-brainer, and never should have been broken up in the first place.