GoldenShine9

How should the "little guys" (i.e. smaller companies) be treated? Since they will garner far fewer posts and less frequently but may get some attention - as long as they don't sell.

 

Oddly enough. KMOV did a Town Hall special last week on race relations in St. Louis.

 

But it would certainly give Sinclair more content to provide to their affiliates instead of the standard CNN and network feeds. Gannett has shared a lot of the content from KSDK with their other affiliates as well as Meredith with KMOV. Last nights newscast on KCTV in Kansas City was basically a simulcast of KMOV.

 

As far as KDNL is concerned, there were rumors that they were restarting their news operations but I haven't heard anything since then and there aren't any job openings for KDNL on their website anymore.

 

I believe KSDK had called in sister stations to assist as well; I know they called in Faith Abubey from WFMY at least. Not sure if KPLR/KTVI has called up from other Tribune stations, although WGN isn't too far away.

Outside the US I notice degreed meteorologists are rare in local news...

KREM is the only ex-Belo station that has neither the new graphics nor the new website, correct? Once those are all done, I would expect the ex-London stations to get the changes this fall.

Notice that the KGW site doesn't directly make mention of Gannett ownership (i.e. no words say "A Gannett Company"), I guess the ownership issue is playing a role in the site designs.

I don't know why you think WEVV is a joke. Because it doesn't have news? There's a dozen other stations across the country in the same boat. Are they jokes to?

 

The market is just to small to support 4 stations doing news. Especially when you have established powerhouses like WFIE and WEHT (pre-merger with WTVW).

There was no way they would get away with owning 3 out of 4 stations in the market. But WEVV is a joke station right now and likely will continue to be. It would be difficult to shut down since how do they put 5 stations onto a single signal?

Just a random thought --

 

I was looking through the Gannett properties and I think it'll be interesting to see how much the two ex-London Fox affiliates (KIDY/KXVA) will shape up and be changed by the Deathstar. From what I've found, they haven't held a Fox station outright, if ever.

The E/I rule needs to be abolished. Cartoons and children's programming are practically useless these days with YouTube and cable channels, they can be available anytime.

Will all the ex-Belo stations get the updates before the recent London acquisitions? Or could they go out of order?

I was just going to mention this! You can add WMBD 31 over in Peoria, IL to that list. Nexstar updated WMBD's long time sister station and fellow CBS affiliate WCIA over in Central Illinois but has not even touched WMBD 31. Heck they even updated the stations in Rockford to HD! So I really wonder what is holding up the updating of WMBD?

The other KING-associated stations (KREM, KTVB and KGW) would make sense to follow next?

The paperwork for KLJB, & KMSS/KPEJ have been posted. And as expected, Nexstar asked for a JSA Waiver.

Not going to fly. It's still a shell.

"After much prayer and fasting"? Geeze, she took that decision SERIOUSLY.

 

Anywho, Katie Horner has left KMOV to come back to Kansas City to live with her family.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/meteorologist-katie-horner-says-goodbye-to-kmov_b122162

E/I requirements are pretty much useless these days anyway. They get brutal ratings compared to cable and Internet programs, and those are not necessarily limited to a certain time of day (usually Saturday mornings). Also, a lot more people work on weekends these days so the definition is somewhat blurry...

https://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/on-the-move-51914_b121286

How often does someone jump 78 markets? That seems so impressive...

Could all news during weekdays become the norm as syndicated and talk programming loses its appeal?

Nexstar should just abandon that purchase, it is probably the most shell-laden deal I have ever seen with over half the assets heading for shells.

I'm surprised no one has moved on the ComCorp deal...at what point can they just walk away?

Agreed, the Citadel deal is clean and can definitely be approved as is.

As for the ComCorp deal, they definitely should order a divestment of assets in Evansville (either WEVV or the existing WTVW/WEHT duopoly) and Shreveport (either KTAL or the KMSS/KSHV duopoly) to a third party. Who would be willing to pick up those divested assets?

It seems that the ideal number of English-language local news operations to ensure profitability is:

Top 50 markets - 4

Markets 51 to 100 - 3

Markets 101 to 125 - 2 or 3

Markets 126 to 175 - 2

Markets 176 and up - 1

Based on that, a possible rule could be (for commercial stations only - PBS and non-commercial religious stations are excluded in the station counts):

* Top 50 markets - no sharing agreements with top-4 stations under any circumstances, maximum of 2 of the top 8 stations or 3 of the top 12 stations

* Markets 51 to 125 - no sharing agreements with top-3 stations, maximum of 2 of the top 7 stations

* Markets 126 and up - permitted except between top-2 stations (allows for competition in small markets), maximum of 2 of the top 5 stations

* Joint bargaining prohibited, must always be done separately with cable/satellite providers

In Eugene, when your only competition is Sinclair, you can pretty much sleepwalk...

Of course, they still have to give the ex-Belo stations the makeover as well, I would think that would come after the last of their legacy stations are done?

Just heard there was a roof collapse at WGAL in Lancaster, PA...station building damaged (not sure how much) and evacuated but no injuries...