TVIntheDesert

The wheel of uncertainty continues to spin at KPHO/KTVK:

 

http://www.ftvlive.com/todays-news/2015/11/10/news-director-out-the-door-in-phoenix

I'm with you on that one. I give Cox the best shot at getting KUSI IMO.

 

I think KUSI fits hand and glove with Sinclair, even without a network affiliation. I would take it that the McKinnons would like to find an owner with similar intentions for the station if they were to sell, and I think Cox or Graham would take the conservative lean out of KUSI.

 

It's a very bold move. Cord cutters are buying antennas and enjoying all those FREE subchannels and free HD.

 

Yes, but we all know that most cable/satellite TV subscribers will just switch to another provider if a dispute isn't settled in a timely manner. Eventually, that time will come when Sinclair will have a dispute with DirecTV, Cox, Charter, etc., and the viewer will have to switch again. Then this will lead to more cord-cutting, unless you're in a rural area where you might not get the over-the-air signal and your only choices are the two satellite providers.

 

 

Broadcasters' hunger for more retrans dollars, along with the declining subscriber base of cable/satellite services, will eventually be the downfall of the large station groups. They'll make money in the short-term, but they'll have to continue to justify increased retrans fees (if they negotiate in cost per subscriber economics) even if the cord-cutting trend continues.

Sorry for bringing up an old subject, but this morning a KPNX live van drove past me on the freeway, in need of new wraparounds (the truck still had the mention of "azcentral.com" and the pre-2011 Gannett "Globe-G" logo). I know re-wrapping their vans isn't a top priority, even though Gannett/Tegna has been known for cost cutting these past few years.

 

I also saw a KPHO live truck going the other direction on the freeway. I'm not sure how they're going to consolidate the KPHO and KTVK logos on their fleet, since they're somewhat trying to keep the stations' images separate for the time being.

 

CBS radio has lopped off 300 heads in the last few weeks so that's usually not a sign of a group looking to aquire more stations. Granted the head of the KFMB radio stations just "retired" last week.

 

Unless there is a real sweet offer on the table, I cannot see KFMB breaking off the radio side. The radio stations are NOT losing money by a longshot. They also run radio pretty lean.

 

Just a wild guess....

The local CBS radio stations become part of KFMB?

 

The radio stations may be profitable, but probably could do better in revenue. They just switched their national sales rep last month.

 

Well, KSAZ seems to be continuing on its road of occasionally being incredibly offensive. That earned it, specifically Cory McCloskey, a spot in a John Oliver rant:

 

 

This is just the cherry on top to me...

 

Rick D'Amico ran a segment in January that I found offensive. It was during the nightly Had Enough? segment (which had cited InfoWars and the Washington Free Beacon in the past) and discussed the sentence of 1,000 lashes given by Saudi Arabia to blogger Raif Badawi. D'Amico snarkily commented, “Well, at least they don’t wanna behead him”. Yeah, well...they DO behead people. They beheaded 87 in 2014. Badawi almost got the death penalty for apostasy — which a court threw out.

 

I wrote a letter to the station and to D'Amico at the time. I got no reply. It seems that Had Enough was discontinued in March.

 

 

KSAZ has been the one station in the group to really embrace Roger Ailes' influence as Chairman of FOX Television Stations. Before 2005, FOX 10 really tried to report without any political slant.

 

KNXV is doing...OK. It's got some turmoil going on, what with all the internal changes there. But it's in its once-a-decade "we're relevant" phase.

 

KNXV seems to be stable talent-wise. It's Scripps' tinkering that hasn't led to full stability. Then again, every English-language station except for FOX 10 is going through changes.

 

Ashlee is an ASU grad and also was a cheerleader for the Cardinals and has family in Arizona. I think she was smart to depart KGTV and Scripps.

 

Actually, KPHO, and especially their weather team, would be a step down from Scripps.

 

They may have made that statement, but I doubt anyone believes that they have no interest. Every broadcast group has interest because anytime a giant pile of cash is on the table from the feds there is "interest."

 

Let's see how the award cap and rules gets adjusted, and then lets see if Scripps is still sitting on the side.

 

Now if the entire thing flops......anything is possible.

 

I could see them placing WMAR in the incentive auction. What they might get for the spectrum might be worth as much as the station itself, since they've just about abandoned the idea of being any kind of player in Baltimore. One of Sinclair's three stations could take ABC.

 

Television stations are navigating something that is very important in the history of the medium.

 

The Internet has brought about an unusual convergence of technology and print, combined with the strength of social.

 

As a whole, the industry is not used to being multiplatform news outlets instead of just television stations that produce newscasts, where presenters come in front of a camera and read people the news. Convergence is just not written in a lot of stations' DNA. Exceptions are the few print-TV combos that exist (WHIO which is also a radio operation, WBNS) and radio-TV combos such as WBAL or KOMO.

 

What is happening is that television is no longer central to the production and compilation of news content. While I don't know if getting rid of the assignment desk was a wise idea, Scripps is trying something. And given the company's urgent need to finally capitalize on and monetize digital.

 

News demos are typically 25-54 for English-language stations (though Spanish-language outlets use 18-34 and 18-49 as their main metrics). Going for an 18-34 focus on a station like KNXV is guaranteed to alienate a lot of older viewers. I understand what they are trying to do, but sometimes "innovation" just goes nowhere.

 

And KNXV is one of Scripps' few stations that is actually on the upswing (given they're competing with Tinkering TEGNA, Mediocre Meredith, and a FOX O&O that doesn't take themselves too seriously, that's not much of a feat).

 

Can Media General run a cleaner slate than Scripps though?

 

I agree though WTVF is in a terrible position - it is regionally isolated from most of Scripps' portfolio AND a CBS affiliate for a company that has never had good relations with that network. Nashville is weird with so many "black sheep" stations with their owners due to all these acquisitions.

 

Not as weird as Las Vegas with Scripps, Sinclair, Nexstar and Meredith. I know it's early to tell what will happen there, but will Sinclair and Nexstar be able to keep the viewers at KSNV and KLAS, respectively?

Just in time for the 2016 election, Sinclair is adding more political programming to its stations, while at the same time, expanding Sharyl Attkisson's role at the company.

 

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/84799/sinclair-signs-attkisson-for-sunday-am-news

KASW has gone to Nexstar domain branding confusion too (even though the site is still under construction).

Another M&A to report about:

 

KAIL in Fresno, CA (currently a MyNet station), sold for $3M to a group called Aperio Communications Broadcasting Corporation. The station had been owned by the family of the late A.J. Williams for nearly 50 years, and has always been run on a shoestring budget. No word on whether or not KAIL will be converted to a Spanish station (all the Spanish networks, save for Azteca America, have full-powered affiliates there).

It appears that some Scripps stations have renewed "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" through the 2017-18 season. Most likely the old Journal stations, but it seems kind of odd for a group that was gung-ho about letting go of the shows everywhere their stations aired it.

I just found this story, which praises one of KNXV's biggest advertisers, Sanderson Ford (they sponsor the nightly sports segment on the station). Someone should have taught this guy some journalism ethics:

 

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/glendale/sanderson-ford-receives-presidents-award-for-tenth-consecutive-year

I noticed that the Nexstar logo is already at the bottom of KLAS's home page.

 

On the other hand, the KASW website hasn't been updated since mid-January, when SagamoreHill still owned the station.

 

You think they'll take the KPHO studio facilities?

 

I believe the Black Canyon studios of KPHO are too large and old (asbestos build, maybe?) for KASW to move in. I wouldn't be surprised if Nexstar found some space near the airport for the station, most likely near KNXV - that seems to be the new "broadcast row" in town.

 

 

First, one of three single-station Nexstar deals, the KASW one from SagamoreHill has been CLOSED.

 

 

They also named the former Director of Sales for the Telemundo Arizona stations, Denise McManus, as General Manager.

 

It appears they're staying at the KTVK facilities at 5555 N. 7th Avenue until May, according to the KASW info link at nexstar.tv.

More vestiges of Jim Rogers' ownership of KSNV are disappearing. It appears Sinclair successfully got their behind-the-scenes workers, which had been represented by a local chapter of the IBEW union, to decertify the chapter. Now, I could care less whether or not they are represented by a union, but the General Manager's comments seem to toe the company's anti-union line.

 

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/82476/sinclairs-ksnv-employees-opt-out-of-ibew

 

Just when it seems like things are looking up for KNXV... news director Pat Costello decides it's time to return to Seattle, at KOMO.

 

If they want someone in the market they do have Cameryn Beck on corporate payroll...

 

He must like Seattle so much that he doesn't mind working for Sinclair.

 

In other Phoenix market news, according to KAET's Facebook page, the nightly newscast produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism which has been in the works since last summer premieres on Monday, January 26th.

 

WTAJ morning anchor Angie Koehle had her last morning at the station this morning. She's moving to Phoenix with her family. She will be missed by the station and by all of the viewers.

 

Let me guess, KNXV will announce she will be their replacement for Connie Colla in 3...2...1?

 

And earlier this week Kaley O'Kelley announced she's headed to Dallas. Now we really are feeling the effects.

 

Ed Munson wants to keep his own (KPHO) people for the most part. That may not be a good sign for the future of KTVK's top rated "Good Morning Arizona." The KPHO casts just don't have the viewer loyalty KTVK has.

 

KNXV also has the Cardinals (and KWBA in Tucson is their station in Southern Arizona). That said, Monday/Thursday games tend to air on KTVK (the opening MNF game did, for instance; not sure on what's up with the Thursday night St. Louis game in a couple weeks).

 

KTVK has the rights to the MNF games, while KPHO has aired Thursday night games in previous seasons.

 

That's surprising. I expect Nexstar to cheapen the station (for instance, ditch their news chopper. Nexstar hates choppers) and plaster the word "local" all over the place.

 

Given they've actually been investing money in some of their latest properties (see Memphis, although it hasn't paid off for them yet), they might not do much. They should know if they do mess with anything, that will be a boon for KTNV and incoming owner Scripps (which actually does invest heavily in news, unlike Sinclair and Nexstar) or even KVVU.

 

I expect more staff turnover in the next year at KSNV than I do KLAS.