GoldenShine9

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

With all of the issues, it may have just come down to that there literally isn't much advertising revenue to support the station even in a part-time bureau state and they were completely under water with the station (over the years the transmitter alone was a money sink which kept breaking down in the core of winter). Some of these smaller markets are down to a state where they're stalled out to the point of ripping and reading from Nixle and Facebook for much of the show (because police and municipal authorities don't want them to go deeper than that and openly obstruct them from doing so) and the only original content left is weather (which can be outsourced) and sports (outside the high school football and basketball regular seasons just a vacuum of time).

One solution may be to have identical newscasts except for weather coverage, which can be accomplished by having 1 or 2 additional meteorologists at the parent station and a second green screen so they can go live there if needed.

Another thing I noticed: KNEP is consider to be in the Denver market (that market is enormous in size and that is not where it should be, but Nielsen sees it differently). That's a huge amount of cap space used for a station that covers 0.1% of the DMA. That would allow Gray enough space to, once it pays down enough debt, make some other spot acquisitions. For example, KPTV could use some company in the Northwest, and there are a few stations out there they could buy. 

1 hour ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Kind of a good point, actually. While Morris' shifting of Fox programming to WCBI-DT2 technically violates the new Top-4 regulations (this move likely would have required a waiver to allow it under the new rules, and there hasn't been enough time since the ownership rules were passed to get approved for one before WLOV came under Morris' control), keeping the status quo under Allen was risky too.

 

Until Morris took over the SSA, Allen (like Heartland and the Spains before it, dating to WKDH's shutdown after its LMA with WTVA was terminated in 2012) had control of three Big Four affiliations between two stations: Fox on WLOV, and NBC (main channel) and ABC (on DT2) on WTVA.

Using a one-size-fits-all metric doesn't work here. In Top 50 markets, the proposal is certainly worthwhile. However, once you get below 100 and especially below 150, you have a hard time maintaining more than 2 independent operations and that would lead to missing affiliations. In the smallest markets, a monopoly seems to be acceptable and hasn't hurt either its product or the consumer. Look at KGNS in Laredo for example - it has no competition, yet they have greatly upgraded their product under Gray.

9 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

FTR, WLOV had been managed alongside WTVA since 1992, when the SSA was first established by the Spain family to take over operating the weakest of WTVA's two Big Three competitors. (WLOV was Tupelo's ABC affiliate at the time, and would switch to Fox three years later, leaving the market without a local ABC station until the now-defunct WKDH signed on in 2001.)

 

The problem here is, considering the FCC recently approved an update to its broadcast ownership rules that closed the loophole allowing station operators to put a Big Four network on a multicast channel (including through the acquisition of another station's primary affiliation), Morris might be looking at a fine soon thanks to its decision to move Fox to WCBI-DT2 after the fact.

The problem is that the market cannot support three, let alone four, independent outlets. The only alternative would be piping in adjacent markets (Memphis in the north, Jackson or Meridian in the south).

What value does KCBU have for Gray though? Unless they acquire KSL (and there's no indication Bonneville is selling), it's an isolated asset with no real value.

Are there any Gray stations that do not have the "First Alert" branding at all, in markets where none of their competitors had it first? (So throw out, say, Kansas City).

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

 

Or a certain orange-skinned individual.

 

 

This would be a very good time for Sinclair to sell some of their stations, and not just small ones, either. But something tells me the company's response to that would basically be, "If we can't control those stations, NO ONE CAN!"

 

I think the only way that they would start selling is if they start losing network affiliations.

Most of their stations rank dead last in markets in news ratings.

When you're getting involved with Project Veritas, that is a big time red flag. That's supporting conspiracy theories.

Could there be a bidding war? One possibility is Comcast-Universal gets involved - and they would have to sell either CBS or NBC...

https://policyband.com/blog/an-fcc-rule-could-hinder-an-nbc-cbs-merger-2

7 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

So, what graphics system does GrayONE run on (presuming it wasn't developed to be compatible with other systems) and what system does KSNB and KNOP run their graphics on?

No ex-Hoak stations currently use GrayONE, so that could be an issue.

Removing the networks also makes it easier to brand a station that has multiple affiliations within its envelope too.

1 hour ago, HSV cheesehead said:

Its entirely possible that there's now two version of GrayONE, with version A being what we have seen with WAFF, KMOV, WCSC, etc and version B being what we are seeing on KNOP and KNSB. Other than the ticker and font there certainly are similarities between the two. Its possible there test alternative packages in smaller markets.

 

Additionally, this could be an alternative to be primarily used by ABC affiliates, but optional for others.

I'd think also those stations would be near the bottom of the priority order for GrayOne being some of their smallest markets. Perhaps once KOLN/KGIN changes over, they will do it en masse for the Nebraska stations.

6 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Given that Fox has historically had more rigid branding conventions than the other major networks (the only ones to deviate from using network-centric branding including WSVN, KHON, WDRB and KVRR), I think culling network references from Gray’s Fox affiliates would be much harder to implement. ABC has apparently been requiring affiliates to include the “circle” logo into their station logos, making it also unclear whether they can pull network branding.

WBRC doesn't emphasize their Fox affiliation much in their current logo - it is at a secondary line.

1 hour ago, SteveKendall said:

KYTV ("KY3") in Springfield, Mo. has not prominently featured the peacock since it introduced its current logo when it went HD years ago. However, in 2016 or '17, the station started using the peacock in its bug during newscasts. I just noticed tonight that the peacock is no longer part of the bug. I don't watch regularly, so I'm not sure when the change occurred. Incidentally, KY3 is still using the graphics that were commissioned by Schurz in 2015, right before the station was sold to Gray.

If that is the case, KYTV is certainly overdue for a change and GrayOne is coming at the right time.

3 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

I see "Local 8" as a natural transition there with "Local First" as their slogan, and since they already have one "Live Five", it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to see KVVU become that too. And I don't understand why dumping network branding is a bad thing at all.

I'm guessing there will still be a Mardi Gras theme in the colors once WVUE goes to GrayOne.

5 minutes ago, HSV cheesehead said:

Has there been any pattern (geographic, prior ownership) to which stations are getting the new graphics? Also, is the Meredith package an option for stations as well?

The old Meredith package is being phased out, just like the previous Gray packages are. It seems whenever a station is ready, they are going with GrayOne. I'm guessing smaller stations are lower priority, but some REALLY could use a new package.

What Gray stations have the oldest graphics packages? They should be a target for GrayOne next, although they would be in small markets I would assume.

It reminds me of the old late 1980s logo as well.

From what I have heard, the new KMOV studio opens next week for use. I am going to guess that GrayOne will accompany KMOV at the new studios.

30 minutes ago, LOWERCASE GUY said:

As someone who worked for a station bought by Coastal Television only to get terminated 2 weeks after the fact. LEAVE....NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

 

They come in with all of these promises saying they will make the newsroom much better, invest in a lot of new equipment, provide better resources, the CEO (Bill Fielder) who is also a politician (if that gives you any idea as to what kind of person he is) will act like he is your best friend, has your interest at heart, then when he takes over he eliminates about 90% of the newsroom staff. He will offer you a severance of 1 weeks pay and an extra weeks pay if you sign paperwork promising not to discuss what happened. Spoiler alert, none of us did, and we all took to the competition and newspaper.

 

This company makes Sinclair look like a 5 star company to work for. The guy who owns this is seriously scum.

 

To those who work at KVRR and KQDS, get your resume and reel ready and be prepared to be on the chopping block if you do not leave immediately.

Ideally, the other companies in the market should snag the Fox affiliation to their DT2 and use it to expand their news presence. If, say, WDIO or WDAY grabbed it, they'd have more revenue and more opportunities.

That's terrible, terrible news for those stations. Even Byron Allen or Nexstar would have been much better.

6 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

I dont hear must criticism for Hearst and Graham. 

I wonder what it would be like if Hearst and/or Graham owned a lot of small market stations as well though. Combined, they have only one station in markets below #100.

20 hours ago, Weeters said:

 

This came up in the Discord the other day and isn't even true. Sinclair executives have a base salary close to or equal to that of most of their peers, and even with stock grants are lower than others.

 

Compensation in 2022 (Source: salary.com)

Chris Ripley (President and CEO, Sinclair Broadcast Group): $9,632,015 total compensation, $1,379,700 base pay. (David Smith has an identical pay)

Perry Sook (Chairman and CEO, Nexstar Broadcasting): $39,318,892 total compensation, $1,995,193 base pay.

Hilton H. Howell Jr. (Executive Chairman and CEO, Gray Television): $7,922,375 total compensation, $1,350,000 base pay.

Adam P. Symson (President and CEO, E.W. Scripps): $15,043,797 total compensation, $1,200,000 base pay.

David T. Lougee (President and CEO, Tegna Inc.):  $7,271,601 total compensation, $975,000 base pay.

 

Any of these 5 could take a symbolic salary of $1 and live solely off their stock grants (which makes up the majority of the difference between base pay and total compensation) and all it would net the company is a little wiggle room for a handful of station's CapEx budget.

 

The FCC is not going to revoke anyone's licenses because they canceled local news and replaced it with a regional newscast. That's insane. It would be a political nuclear bomb that would likely end up gutting the FCC of those and other powers. How long have New Jersey politicians been complaining about WWOR's news coming from New York City? Literally nothing has happened there and it's been going on for almost 15 years.

Private companies (such as Hearst and Graham) we don't get that data from, correct?

3 hours ago, CoopInTheHouse said:

A much needed improvement for the station! The station before was very low budget, and GrayONE is really helping that!

Apparently, Gray spent over $18 million on upgrades for the station as well.

2 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Tulsa seems like a scary place for this to be going down especially since Sinclair and Scripps compete there.  Has Scripps done any "Scripps-a-fying" of KJRH?

 

At least they still have a dominant Griffin station that keeps things LOCAL.

 

Another tell-tale sign of the Tulsa market was that KOKI was one of the two "legacy" Cox stations cast off to Imagicomm (along with WHBQ in Memphis).  This was one of the Clear Channel stations purchased by Newport, who instead of dumping them to Sinclair or Nexstar, sold them to Cox at the time.  Cox is still the primary cable company there, right?

You have to wonder what happens to the Tulsa market if/when Griffin cashes out and sells KOTV (and KWTV).

11 hours ago, ScottSchell said:

Basically. I really wish there was a company that would come in and buy KTUL but sadly I doubt that will happen.

Sinclair doesn't want to sell anything. They are probably happy to see everything rot, as long as their propaganda can be spread.