sanewsguy

By the looks of this, KXAN still hasn't ironed out their site yet:

The HD version isn't too bad when you to compare it to the . This is what happened when I looked at that crap: . Especially this, this is the ugliest part of that package: Hell, I wish Newport would've bought this station to complement the rest of their upstate NY cluster. They would've had nice Hothaus graphics then. :puke: Why WKBW? Why? If they were going to throw the ABC logo in there they could've done a much better job. Also bad choice on the red variant. It looks out of place. The solid black version would've worked better. Also note that they outsource their master control to Encompass in Atlanta. They did that to get out of upgrading their Buffalo master control room for HD and laid off 10 in the process. They also laid off their webmaster in 2010. Granite has ruined this station and it makes you wonder why ABC kept KFSN instead of WKBW. You gotta love this quote from Wikipedia regarding Bill Ransom (their previous GM). It's heavily opinionated but it's true. WKBW may actually have a shot. Nurse just needs new ownership who'll help him out and make his station competitive again. Ironically, WIVB's current GM is Rene LaSpina who was previously at WPTY before Nexstar took over, showed her the door, and began their rebranding into WATN. I don't think she'll do any damage at WIVB because they're already in good shape but from what I've read and heard, LaSpina is the GM that really does nothing except fire people... Cinemagic did that package. It was one of their better packs. The graphics, music, and set were are all real nice but this whole "7 News" thing is what did them in and why they're still third place to this day. Buffalo viewers were so engrained with MCTYW and the "Eyewitness News" name that they turned away after this happened. It's ridiculous. Honestly I think MCTYW is dated as hell but there would be a huge meltdown at both WPVI and WKBW if they dumped it (and yes, it's been a lifelong dream of mine for WPVI to dump that theme). I hope Nexstar comes in and pulls a WATN on WKBW. Even better if it happens in the same market WATN's old GM works in. That'll show her...

Most of y'all aren't going to like hearing this, but this doesn't actually seem too far fetched. I can tell you what will happen: WMYD/KOFY will probably be divested since Nexstar probably has zero interest in those stations (their largest station by DMA is KTVX in SLC; no WHAG doesn't count since it's really a small market station that shares a DMA with DC). Duluth and Buffalo remain the same. Also, I can see Nexstar pulling a WATN with WKBW minus a call letter change (the call letters are well known in Buffalo) since their ratings are so bad and they need to improve that and return to their former #1 glory. Peoria, IL-WHOI and WYZZ move to their own facility. WMBD moves in with WEEK (WEEK has the larger facility). WAOE stays the same. Binghamton-Mission acquires WBNG (or Mission acquires WIVT and Nexstar proper acquires WBNG). Syracuse-WTVH (Mission property probably) moves in with WSYR (the dominant #1 in CNY, so nothing changes really). New LMA partner, everything else is status quo. Some things I'd like to address: WFFT-probably remains Nexstar proper; WPTA=Mission, WISE=Rocky Creek. If Nexstar closes in on Evansville, they will control all network affiliations but NBC. What makes you think that can't happen here? Yes, but let's see. The ABC doesn't have a strong news prescence with most of their stuff sourced from WETM Elmira. The three people on their team (a ND/main anchor, a reporter, and a sports anchor; Wikipedia incorrectly lists one of their interns as a reporter) can easily be absorbed into WBNG. WIVT rates so bad Nexstar hasn't bothered with them. They are still using graphics from sometime during the 20th century (can't think of the exact year), an even older set, and dated music, plus WSYR's Rod Wood as the announcer. The NBC is low-powered and has no news whatsoever. The CBS is long-dominant. I can't see why Nexstar doesn't want them. Didn't the FCC reject Sinclair's application to sell WSYT to Cunningham? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? There are at least two owners so IMO, that is fine. Why would he need to? As I mentioned, there are really only two news ops in Binghamton (a rather small market to begin with), WBNG and WICZ. No, WIVT doesn't count. They're programming the bare minimum as their affiliation agreement states. I don't see anything wrong there. Granite has always been Nexstar's. I think somewhere along the lines, Perry Sook and Peter Markham are good friends, since he also called Sook up for Comcorp. WMBD's studio is in a stripmall. It's smaller (but newer) than WEEK's I can tell you that. Sinclair already has two facilities (they probably require some investment to get them up to par) they can use: WYZZ's old studios in Bloomington which continue to serve as a news bureau for WMBD and houses sales staff for both stations, and WHOI's old facility next to the transmitter in Creve Coeur (currently vacant). They wouldn't really have to build anything new...

Story of the day, courtesy TV spy. WDAF Catches ‘Royals Fountain Lady’ in VO Before Her Famous and Illegal Romp By Kevin Eck on August 6, 2013 4:51 PM When Jessica McCoy crawled into a fountain at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium while the hometown Royals were playing the Minnesota Twins, she may have stumbled into viral video history but was still safely out of TVSpy’s local TV jurisdiction. But when an alert anchor and producer at Kansas City FOX affiliate WDAF figured out McCoy had appeared in a VO the station did before her fountain appearance, we had to get involved. Last night, McCoy, dubbed the “Royals Fountain Lady,” was arrested after spending a few minutes exploring the stadium fountains during a game. Video of the incident surfaced on the web, particularly on Deadpsin.com. WDAF producer Rob Zerwekh was alerted by anchor Nick Vasos that McCoy looked like a woman seen in reporter Brad Underwood‘s VO from the night before (pictured). Zerwekh tweeted the news out this morning saying, “@Deadspin We may have had the Kauffman Stadium fountain lady in pregame VO yesterday here at FOX 4. Same? Different?” McCoy was booked into jail for trespassing, resisting arrest and soliciting an officer. Kansas City Police said she propositioned officers in an attempt to avoid charges. Zerwekh told TVSpy, McCoy repeatedly denied the solicitation charges when asked about it by Underwood who caught up with her after being released. “We talked to you yesterday when you guys were tailgating,” said Underwood who followed McCoy as she was leaving jail. “What happened last night?” “I was drunk. What do you think happened?” McCoy said. When Underwood asked if her friends were going to pick her up, she replied, “We’ll see if I have any left.” Here’s the photo progression of McCoy’s night courtesy of Deadspin. From left to right, WDAF story/fountains/mugshot tweeted out by KC police: I like how you can clearly see the drink in the second photo and for her honesty that she was drunk. Other notable headlines: WAAY's ND Keith Lowhorne leaves that station after seven years there. He says the departure is not related to the firing of Shea Allen. Read more here. And, Escaped Inmate Calls Topeka’s WIBW Before Surrendering to Authorities

IIRC, they're supposed to be going all-local with their news in the near future now that London has bought them out. I'm not sure if they're still doing the simulcast of KABB news, but if they are, KIDY/KXVA actually pays KABB to simulcast their news. I've never understood why they simulcast KABB, since S.A. news is irrelevant to that portion of the state. Maybe KDFW (closer affiliate than KABB) declined to let KIDY simulcast them? KABB doesn't cover that market, but for legal reasons, KABB is considered a competitor to: KLST/KSAN, KRBC/KTAB, and KTXS. So KABB cannot use any footage from them. That's why that market never gets covered on KABB news. I actually like it. The first ten seconds are pretty neat; it gives you a glimpse at their history. This open is years ahead of its time and its small market anyway. I don't expect too much from that market...

Still is: There's actually an interesting history behind it too (from KOBI Wikipedia page):

Are you sure? From what I've read, KDRV is #1 in Medford, then KTVL, then KOBI. Just because KOBI was first on the air and KDRV was last doesn't decide the ratings. Now if KTVL and KDRV were on UHF and KOBI was the only VHF station in Medford (analog era), then this would make sense...

I'm a little skeptical... Yes, I'm quoting Wikipedia: What if they don't launch it again. It'd be nice for KRON to launch a diginet, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Just sayin' Also from Wikipedia (KUTV's page): It's a known fact that Nexstar hates weekend morning news. WBRE, the only pre-Newport station that has weekend morning news, airs them for one hour on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, while rival WNEP airs them for about two-three hours both days. Now WSYR, a station at which Nexstar has largely maintained the status quo (they're a huge moneymaker for Nexstar and were likewise with Newport), also has weekend morning news for one hour (7AM) both days. None of the remaining Nexstar stations have them even though it would ideally make sense on stations like KARK, KTVX, and WATN. It costs money to staff a weekend morning newscast (and nobody is probably going to watch it anyways) so I truly don't see that happening, even at a station they spent $5 million on. Also of note, when they finish their acquisition of the Comcorp stations, KETK also has one-hour weekend morning newscasts at 8AM both days. I don't see those getting cut, at a station that is pretty much already run like a typical Nexstar station. Case in point, at the end of the year, I see three Nexstar stations with weekend morning news; WATN won't be in that three. Sorry...

Replying to a ton of these: NO!!! Why!?!? :mad: Brady will have a virtual monopoly on the Yuma market (I don't count KECY and you'll see why in a sec). KSWT could've easily gone to Sinclair who would've done a far better job with this station. Nexstar would not have been bad either and probably would've invested in upgrading KSWT's infrastructure. Brady is not a good station owner based on how he runs his Stainless stations or KVTV in Laredo. Once he sold KZTV's non license assets to Cordillera, they consolidated it with KRIS (well, KRIS actually moved into KZTV's larger building just down the road, but still...) and the quality of the product shot up considerably. They even upgraded it to HD. KSWT and KYMA may co-locate with each other but I can't see them getting new equipment. I think they will just take the old equipment with them and install it in the place. I base this off the only Brady station with news, WICZ, and they are still in SD. KECY isn't much better, even though they are backed by NPG. They do the news in front of a green screen on a Tricaster system. They're in HD which is a plus. They don't even have a true News Director (the main anchor, Anna Chaulk, kinda oversees the whole thing I think). They also don't have a really good online presence. I'm shocked they never got the IB website (while KEYT and KMIZ did) and are still using that "yourtvfamily.com" blog setup. They do have a Facebook/Twitter but they seem to use that more to announce contest winners (they do quite a bit of contests) than to actually post news content. They use their news personalities to act as faces of the station rather than to do their job and report the news. This says that NPG really doesn't consider them to have a large news presence. They have a separate anchor (Anna Hayes) on the 6PM ABC news which makes no sense when they can just have Anna Chaulk do that one as well. BTW, Hayes only anchors and doesn't do reporting. Give me a break. They only have three reporters who all shoot their own video. They do have one ENG truck though which is good. NPG could throw some more money at this station but I don't see that happening unless they have an incentive to do so. Maybe this will be their incentive? I honestly hate the E/I regulations, it's so dated, mainly because kids don't watch Saturday morning cartoons anymore. If kids are even watching TV anymore, they're watching cable networks like Disney and Nickelodeon( :puke: yeah, sorry I hate both channels...) not CBS or ABC. Or they're probably online, on their phone, doing school activities, playing with friends, or playing video games. If the FCC wants to regulate what kids watch on TV then they can take a nanny position like the CRTC and extend the E/I regulations to cable but it's ineffective on broadcast TV. Literally, I've seen the ratings for the Sat. Morning cartoons here, they get HASHMARKS, meaning no one's watching them. The Sinclair group here (excluding recent purchase WOAI) buries their E/I stuff on early mornings in between infomercials or other "graveyard" slots where people are unlikely to watch and air the bare minimum. Networks like CBS and ABC are smart enough to know nobody's going to be watching these anymore so they just outsource to companies like Litton who'll cut them a cheaper deal to program the slots for them. I've seen the Litton garbage (not by choice) and that's exactly what it is, garbage. It's boring, stuff that belongs on PBS and not ABC. WATN won't add weekend morning newscasts. Nexstar hates them for whatever reason and only WBRE and WSYR air them currently. KDFW only had them on Saturdays for years until very recently when they expanded them. Maybe this is a sign KTBC will add weekend editions of Good Day Austin. God, I hope so :drool: .

MidwestTV, can you describe what KCTV is like under Blaise Labbe since he will be coming to WOAI/KABB on Aug 12?

This station is a joke. They can't seem to keep anybody longer than two years at the maximum. The sad thing is that they seem to know that: They need to work on trying to keep their primary team longer than a year or two. I can understand the frequent turnover with reporters, but not anchors. WECT is doing something right when they can manage to keep folks twenty years or more and WWAY cannot.... I also predict Makenzi's replacement will come from INN, because they seem to like to hire their female anchors from there (Henderson and Catlett are both former INN anchors).

Regarding that article you linked to, the way KCTV used to be is how KABB is now, especially during sweeps. WOAI is FAR softer than that. Seems like he'll do a good job here and he really needs to tone KABB down. They are the market's blood and guts station by far (KSAT is fairly similar content-wise but they have definitely toned it down a bit in favor of more substantial news). I could see Keith McMahan resigning. Keith is not even a news guy. He used to work at channel 4 as their sports EP before leaving to do PR. Blaise's and Keith's styles seem to be completely different. This will be interesting... CBS Atlanta continues to have their problems... Time to let their idiot GM go. I can't see why the CBS affiliate in the 9th largest DMA does not have a sports department. Meredith isn't a bad company but they really should just give up on WGCL already and cash it out to CBS...

The SBG-owned duopoly here announces a new ND, according to Rick Gevers. There's a couple things wrong there. He does NOT replace Tom Bell. He is filling a newly created position. From what I understand, the assistant ND position at WOAI is being eliminated and the current asst. ND will become WOAI's new ND. This new guy will oversee both KABB and WOAI's news. Keith McMahan remains KABB's ND and James Keith remains the assistant ND but I think he will be pink-slipped when the consolidation takes place (I hope McMahan gets the axe instead of J. Keith; James is ND material and it would be their loss if he left). This is one of the first steps towards consolidation. From what I've heard, they still haven't started on the building but I would think that would start up on it in the next month or so... Stay tuned! If anyone from the KC market sees this, is he a good ND? What kind of product does KCTV put out under him and what should I expect to see in S.A? I'm not familiar with Labbe's work. WOAI has a large emphasis on investigative reports with some crime sprinkled in. KABB, OTOH, is pure blood and guts plus fires and wrecks. They also have some local human interest stories toward the end.

According to the Express-News, KENS 5's morning traffic reporter Natalie Tejeda is moving on to WIAT in Birmingham. Danielle Saar, most recently of KOMO and also with KABC, KSWB, WTSP, and KKTV in the recent past, will be her replacement. Yes, while Saar is easy on the eyes, she won't be here for long. I've seen her work. She is too good for San Antonio and has moved around way too much. Her career isn't stable. I like how she says she visited four years ago for a wedding and fell in love. Puh-leeze, S.A.'s a great city, but don't judge it off of a visit you "had" to make and not just visiting to visit. She's trying to sugarcoat the whole thing and won't be here long. The only stable traffic reporters here are Shelly Miles of WOAI and the police officers on KSAT. KABB and KENS always hire pretty out-of-towners who stay no more than three years. That means turnover. Turnover is bad...

Their schedule reminds me of KCWX's while they were still under Belo or ion when it was still called Pax... Especially with the gobs of infomercials in daytime.

WVEC got a new CSD (Ed Tudor) last October. So they have been tweaking around with stuff ever since he took over. Also noticed the change in V/O to John Pleisse. They probably won't get a major change until Gannett takes over and standardizes them on their CG system and graphics.

Thank god. I hope Abbey Niezgoda is next, very unprofessional reporter (and probably a Rockstroh hire) who embarrassed herself and ABC 6 when she brought bad publicity to the station by getting dogs sicced on her. Citadel should just sell this station (and their other ones) to Sinclair already. If you thought there was a worse company than Sinclair, there is, and it's Citadel Broadcasting. They treat longtime employees like crap and show them the door (like they did when they first bought WLNE). They also favor recent Emerson College graduates at their stations for some reason...

They can just fire the KGPE production staffers then.