sanewsguy

9 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

All the more galling as there are a certain few channels which refuse to credit anyone uploading 100+ videos a day (most of them swiped from ntropolis and RetroOntario and the like) and which attract only the annoying 'channel number/current owner' comment crowd. They've been polluting my algorithm as of late, and it drives me crazy.

Are you talking about Steven Walsh? That guy gets on my nerves (and as someone who speaks with Ntropolis regularly, I can definitely confirm Steven grinds his gears as well). 
 

Yesterday on my classic video channel, 31 Rewind (shameless plug: please subscribe, as I have lots of unique content on the way), I uploaded a set of KSAT breaks from 1988. Not even 10 minutes later he had the legal ID up from that video on his channel. It was a late night post too so it makes me wonder if this guy even sleeps. His titles all follow the same formula: “(CALL) id (YEAR)” and have nothing in the description. Not even a credit/courtesy to the original upload. THAT part frustrates me the most - does not take much effort to credit the original uploader if you feel the need to do this, considering that it costs money to source the tapes, buy the right equipment to digitize them, actually digitizing them (a 6 hour tape will probably take, gasp!, 6 hours to digitize) and then time editing and uploading them.

People like him and KLMO (I have no shame in calling him out - it’s VERY well known here in the community I despise the guy since the day he ripped off my main channel branding on one of his secondary channels) get on my nerves and frustrate me, but ultimately there’s little I can do.

Those two are also THE reason I watermark my videos now. I hate doing it, because it takes away from the purity of the content. But I also don’t regret doing it, as it’s easy now to keep track of where my stuff gets used, and I’ve been surprised to see where some of it has ended up too!

6 hours ago, Samantha said:

There is mounting evidence that this has been in the works for the better part of a year.

 

On November 1, 2021, Gray parked the WANF call sign by changing an LPTV in Tennessee to WANF-LD.

 

On April 25, 2022, Rick Folbaum welcomed a new employee with this tweet: "Welcome to the team! Let's get to work. @cbs46 @GrayTelevision #Atlanta #News #First"

 

You literally owned this story. Why are you not taking credit for helping to break it?

2 hours ago, Hunter Madison said:

WEEK NBC and Heart of Illinois ABC are merging their newscasts. 

 

https://www.25newsnow.com/2022/07/25/25-news-heart-illinois-abc-announce-merger-newscasts-talent/

The person who wrote this couldn't have done this with a straight face, right?

Quote

It’s a transition that is garnering excitement - we’re going big because research shows that Central Illinois wants more of what’s happening in this area.

Like, really? Nobody buys this excuse.

1 hour ago, Marvin Dillweed said:

Wonder if Fort Wayne and Duluth will be next?

Based on what was published on FTVLive yesterday, it sure sounds like they're taking steps to make that a reality in the Fort at least.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2022/7/24/the-news-director-is-out-at-this-gray-station

The fact they haven't filled a lot of positions or hired a new reporter in a year sure sounds like the foundation for consolidation is being laid. Not filling positions through attrition. 

I knew this consolidation was going to happen the second Gray announced they were buying Quincy. There's nowhere else in their legacy group they operate like this with competing shows during prime viewing slots (this is more common with Nexstar in their older, smaller market holdings than anyone else; their Lubbock operation comes to mind).

Speaking of Lubbock, KJTV's newscasts are now full-on "NewsChannel 11" branded products, and I saw that coming as well. Surprised they didn't go the "Lubbock News Now" or "Central Illinois News Now" route though.

59 minutes ago, PTVNews said:

What happened?

13 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

There has to be some sort of breaking point for this expansion, but I don’t see it happening yet.

The breaking point has arrived. It's just that group owners (and some managers who refuse to adapt because "it's always been this way") won't change. Or they are straight up ignorant (Hilton Howell said that there hasn't been any great resignations at Gray.... I'm sure he's talking out of his ass, or maybe because he runs three insurance companies in addition to running Gray, he has no idea what really is going on there).

I think a change will come, but it's going to take younger people at the top to make that change. That unfortunately won't happen for another 10-25 years, and by then, it'll be too late.

14 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

I don’t think they have to revive “Bozo the Clown” or anything, but it would be refreshing to see local stations produce their own content. The way the TV market is going, they might just need to in order to stay relevant. The networks are prioritizing streaming, and the affiliates have become a secondary concern (Ex: CBS was willing to leave top-rated WRAL for basement-dweller WNCN just so they could receive reverse compensation.) Producing local programming other than news and the generic pay-for-play crap would at least be a step in making stations more relevant in their own communities again.

In lots of these markets, there are independent filmmakers and theatre actors. I'd love to see a station produce a good quality drama or sitcom on a local level (or maybe as a group to share costs). It's amazing what good quality you can get with today's technology and some creative minds. Of course, someone has to pay for the production crew, for the actors, etc. But I'd imagine on a local level, for someone who is looking for a platform and a big break, you can produce something much cheaper than a network level series since it's not all big name actors or crew. Some of these stations are in states where tax film incentives are great.

Or, maybe as an alternative, look at some PBS stations, many of whom do a far better job at producing non-news local content than the vast majority of commercial TV stations (maybe because PBS stations aren't owned by hedge funds so they have room to be creative and respond to their communities). One of my favorite shows from a PBS member is "Check, Please!" which originated at WTTW Chicago but has been licensed out to other PBS members as well. A show like this would work well for a commercial level too, if the creators were willing to license it to commercial stations, and it wouldn't take too much resources to put it either. Programming like this is far more useful to a local audience than "Local Steals and Deals" or a commercial for Power Swabs inside of "Podunk Living". And if you play it the right way, it can be easily monetized (maybe only feature restaurants willing to pay – might not be ethical, but a more entertaining way to make a buck than the crap stations put out now).

Just, something has got to give. The status quo cannot and should not continue.

On 7/22/2022 at 6:12 PM, AdamTheJ said:

Whether or not we are, I’d rather ask myself Not whether America really needs all these newscasts, but rather whether Americans WANT them? Are Americans really asking for the end of syndication as we know it? 

Forget whether Americans really want them or not, do people at the stations themselves want these extra newscasts? Especially when stations are already short-staffed and most certainly aren't adding extra bodies for these (both because people don't want to work there and because companies don't want to hire extra labor — it's a two-way street)?

If anything, stations should be dumping newscasts outside of core hours to help give their staff a break. Mornings, noon, 6, and 11pm are all you really need. The 9ams, 3pms, 4pms, 7pms, weekend morning shows of the world can go if you don't have the staff. Not only is it overkill and repetitive, but it's a lot of work when most stations are stretching their staffs thin. If you have to make your people pull double shifts to get both the morning and evening shows on the air, that's a problem. If you have college interns anchoring your weekend morning show because no one else wants to do it, that's a problem.

Although I'll argue that syndication has not been very compelling the past few years and has gotten pretty cliche. It's either "talk show with big name celebrity" or court show. There's no ifs, ands, or buts. These companies really need to do something different.

I'd also love to see a local station do something other than news or pay-for-play, but unfortunately local stations stopped being daring and creative once quirky local individuals sold their stations to hedge funds.

(I will give Graham Media Group credit in San Antonio, KSAT can and has produced a lot of non-news local shows in the past couple of years, mostly for their digital platforms but they'll air it on TV as weekend filler, most notably Texas Eats)

7 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

They eventually will say that. I'll check the AccuWeather Forecast from Channel 7 (WABC) or my First Alert Weather Forecast from WBRC FOX 6. Eventually, it will graze into your mentality.

 

I'm already used to saying 7 Weather Forecast for WSVN or my First Alert Forecast from NBC 6.

All I have to say is that you are definitely in the minority.

You're talking about viewers who will call these stations by old, no-longer used brands (I used to have a co-worker that still called KSAT 12's newscasts "NewsWatch" in the 2010s), their network, or their cable channels. The average viewer does not admire station branding to the extent you or this community in general does.

3 hours ago, TheRob said:

 

Retirement? During a non-sweeps month? How did he manage to pull THAT off? 

8 hours ago, evwalker0901 said:

Can anyone ID the music?

Definitely Arnold but sounds like a new/custom theme.

Erie News Now anchor Haley Potter will be facing felony charges for fabricating a stalking threat.

https://www.goerie.com/story/news/crime/2022/07/11/erie-news-now-reporter-fabricated-stalking-threat-pa-state-police-say/65370806007/

2 hours ago, Greggo said:

Who is that VO guy?!? Awful! 

Tim Dadabo. I completely agree that he’s awful.

1 hour ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

This is NOT a LinearDrift/Rey Rodriguez graphics package. Also, what do you expect for a package that's almost 12 years old?

Rey did indeed design this.

(would rather send the traffic to my channel lol)

25 minutes ago, EricTheEnthusiast said:

I've been holding back on commenting on the new WVUE graphics since it launched just to see what improvements or modifications would be made as usually once a package hits the air you see stations make a few tweaks to better fit the product and process. However, they've been saddled with technical issues and other mistakes that continue to this day (over a month in). Does anyone know what's going on? Specifically:

- they can't get through a newscast (or usually even a segment) without a mismatch between graphics, video, and story (happens all the time during the opening teases or the coming up teases)

- they can't get through a newscast (or usually even a segment) without an audio issue (you constantly hear an anchor start talking in the distance several seconds before their mic is brought up)

- the graphics seem to fire randomly, interrupting stories or live reports

- commercials inadvertently start during newscasts, and the talent seem unaware (during the weather hit, a commercial and a half played and David Bernard was still going as if he had no idea)

- yesterday during a weather hit in the 7am hour, the screen went black for about 2 minutes and came back to Nicondra doing her weather hit unaware (seen on both YouTube TV and my OTA DVR)

 

Before the graphics change, WVUE was on par with some of the national outlets, mistake-free and very well-produced. Now they're lucky to go a segment without a glitch of one sort or another. I feel bad for everyone that's there, you know they don't want this. But what is going on?

Sounds to me like the TDs aren’t used to automation!

5 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

Well it only took seventeen & a half months and three amendments. But the WDVM minor modification app (moving its signal a bit south so it can reach the D.C. viewers), was finally approved by the FCC today.

 

Here's the contours of both. The upper one is the current signal, and the lower one is the proposed new signal.

Seems like a useless move. I get they are moving closer to DC since more money can be made in that area, but at the end of the day, it's still a rimshot signal most of the DC metro wouldn't be able to receive.

I mean, can't they just stick WDVM on a WDCW sub and vice versa? Seems like a better use of spectrum to me and continue to give the people of Hagerstown some OTA broadcast outlet.

15 minutes ago, CarolinaWxGuy said:

Also TG Shuck has joined WTVQ as their Chief Meteorologist.

Didn't they just hire Jeff Andrews from WAOW a few months ago to be their chief? They seem to go through chiefs (and talent in general) like infants go through diapers. Not to mention, the previous chief, Jason Lindsay, didn't last long in that position either.

TG should rent, not buy, once Morris finds out he's not moving the needle.

6 hours ago, kfc513 said:

Aside from all the other issues, I'm still confused about the music situation.

 

So it seems to be confirmed that they're licensed to use News One, but that doesn't account for the other music packages that they used (though they all seem to be published through Warner-Chappell) which were also ripped from NewsMusicNow!

Simple: he was caught with his pants down and moved to quickly scrub the use of the stuff ripped from News Music Now once it was exposed to the right people that he was doing that. He probably made it private hoping nobody else would see that he was doing that.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that he had probably hoped nobody would ever catch him doing this, and it worked, almost. Kind of an odd logic to have when you boast about being seen in over 115 million households.

He also started to scrub the NMN stuff from his other show, "The Reed Report" and now uses some random YouTube music: 

It looks like he was doing this with his other show too, "Valley View with Austin Reed" (how many shows does this guy have?). That one is/was using the old TXCN music and Impact in a sponsor bump. Again, I think once Austin realized what he was doing was not cool, he corrected this. That said, he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. 

1 hour ago, ctmajka said:

I'm telling you guys, it's only going to continue to improve. It's not about ratings right now, it's about establishing a product, and allowing the audience to grow with that product. Hopefully this will continue to grow into competative news operation.

Completely agree. I will probably post a follow-up video on Friday to show my audience the improvements he has made, and to be fair. I don't want people to just see the first show, think I was there just to post it because it was bad, and move on. If he's making a true effort, which he is, I will spotlight that. For a one-person operation he is trying. I believe in being fair and equitable in my uploads (as the person who brought attention to this - I doubt we'd all be here talking about this if I didn't make that upload, and to be honest I almost passed on it, so I'm glad I did end up going for it). Not every station is going to be WPVI or WRC — conversely not every station is going to be WBKB or The Delta News. It's important to provide as wide of a variety as possible.

Is this product better than what KFSN was providing them? No, but nobody is claiming that either (I don't even like KFSN's product to begin with - too tabloidy for me). This is the same market who has bestowed the world with TikTok/IG stars Caroline Collins and Liv Johnson (KSEE/KGPE), remember. Fresno is not exactly the mecca of quality storytelling. I think Austin is making a legitimate effort to provide a serious newscast. Like I said, he is looking around for a graphics package and so it will start to look more polished with time.

If you want to blame anybody here, blame Cocola. They are a notoriously cheap company and have been since day one (they are still using outdated EAS equipment in 2022). I'm surprised they even picked up the KAIL lineup to begin with. I'm not surprised they didn't renew the KFSN agreement. I will give them credit for at least wanting to keep some type of 8pm newscast going when they could've just plugged in syndicated or paid programming (and the Cocola stations air a lot of that).

I have seen much, much worse, and I will defend Austin because he is at least taking people's concerns to heart and trying to improve. He is more than aware that his product doesn't look like the O&O in town, but I'm sure if he had the money, he would.

I don't think he is doing this for ratings or to make money, but doing it because he is truly passionate about it. And in this day and age when many people are exiting the industry and not missing it one bit, Austin should be commended for continuing to truly have a burning passion for journalism and local news.

My53 did not broadcast an original broadcast tonight — instead repeating Monday night's broadcast. I hope Austin didn't just give up all of a sudden.

1 hour ago, HoosierNewsie said:

Not sure who first replied to NMN’s comment, but if we’re going to be honest, I don’t think they are “well positioned to be commenting…” They clearly don’t understand how big of a risk this could’ve been to the future of News Music Now and even NMSA. 

Not saying I agree with that comment to begin with, but in the interest of fairness:

csreedabc is Chris Reed, owner of Newsmusic Central and also a copyright lawyer in his day job. So I can see why he said what he said.

In the interest of fairness, as the person responsible for posting the video that went "viral"....

Austin Reed did post tonight's newscast and he did take everyone's concerns to heart. 

He has replaced all of the various music lifted off of News Music Now with proper News One tracks that he is authorized to use, downloaded directly from WCPM, and only that package. 

I think he did read the FTVLIve piece that was published this morning and got rid of the podcaster-hosted sports segment in favor of an extended interview. He also put a disclaimer at the end that it was recorded at CentralValleyTalk.com studios (an obvious swipe at FTVLive for claiming that it was shot in his basement). 

13 hours ago, Weeters said:

Austin posted in the comments of the Studio 31 video that the music is totally licensed and we can contact "Mark Agent" about it, or somebody named "Gary".

He actually did license it — he sent my friend the contract he has with WCPM, so it is legal. Mark Agent is a legitimate person, the licensing director for WCPM. Apparently he had difficulties downloading the audio tracks and resorted to NMN for the first show. Should he have done that? No, but give him credit for getting that rectified quickly.

3 hours ago, detroiter313 said:

I wonder who would contact the webmaster of NewsMusicNow about Austin ripping off cuts from the site?

News Music Now is very much aware. He commented on my video:

2 hours ago, qunewsguy said:

Bigger concern... someone should be reaching out to Warner Chappell who actually owns the copyright for those works.

They are licensed, so nothing is going to come of this.

At the end of the day, I do feel kind of bad that Austin has received some of the hate he's gotten. Some of it is rightfully so and well deserved: lifting others' news video (even if he gave a YouTube credit) is not acceptable, and is not fair use if he's profiting off of it (which he is, there's advertising, it's all direct response ads, but there's ads) and he does seem to be making some strides to getting things right. There was a fair amount of lifted video this evening so I think it'll take him a while, but nowhere near the amount that there was Friday. The presentation could use a lot of work, and he knows that. He is actively shopping around for a graphics package and has had interest from a couple of designers.

Given the fact that is a one person operation, I will give him credit and I think this product is only going to improve over time. He had a week to launch (they were airing NewsNet in the timeslot the past three months after they declined to renew their outsourcing arrangement with KFSN at the end of 2021) and I guess they had to have NewsNet gone by the end of March. So I will give him a lot of props for stringing together what he could on such short notice.

7 hours ago, JosiahCubed said:

I don't know why; but I feel like with the current Gray graphics packages, WAVE and KGMB/KHNL have the best implementations of them so far.

I know why - because neither stations' opens were done by Gray's hub and it's very obvious. Almost anybody can design and animate stuff better than the Gray hub.

1 minute ago, Georgie56 said:

Hawaii News Now has the WVLT package.

thank you for tipping Dado and Larry off so they can get them (w/ Bandicam logo) for their channels

46 minutes ago, Samantha said:

This is Gray, so "My Little LPTV: U-Relays are Magic" is probably the answer. Of the BX LPTVs, they could use a U-relay in Montgomery, but they don't need an LPTV in the other markets (and indeed one they don't own a network affiliate in). They could always put Circle on WBXC; the network has no place to hang its hat in that market, and the LPTVs are all unremarkable diginet trees.

that my little pony pun was cringe ngl

44 minutes ago, channel2 said:

I get the impression that NewsNation isn't thought of too highly at Nexstar stations...

I've talked with enough people connected to Nexstar who would agree with that assessment.

On 6/16/2021 at 1:48 PM, CircleSeven said:R&O:

WRGB (6 > 35)

WRGB has made its move to physical 35. 

https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/antenna-users-wrgb-to-change-channels-for-over-the-air-broadcast-service