DirtyHarry

Like I said, it's real estate. Mcdonald's, Wendy's and Burger King all tend to be close to each other. If Hardee's is a couple of streets away, it falls off the map. You don't think about it. Same with the FM dial. Everything that's worth listening to around here is under 99.9. I don't even know what stations are on 100.1 and above for the most part. I simply don't get to that part of town. Also, just look around the country. Stations with the high UHF Channel numbers beating stations with VHF Channel numbers is still more the exception and not the rule. And if dial position doesn't mean anything, why do media companies still fight with cable companies to get lower channel numbers? Yes, people stream. But the thing about streaming is that you can't really flip through channels a lot. You're basically stuck with whatever you're watching. There's still value in a low channel number both from the standpoint of real estate, and simply from a marketing and image standpoint that you're not one of those UHF stations in the nosebleed section of the dial where all the crappy channels are.

The Bally name certainly has the reverse Midas touch. It seems like everything with Bally attached to it ends up going bankrupt. I don't really care about this issue at all. I don't care that sports channels won't be around to gouge cable customers. I don't care that teams will get stiffed of their rights fees. They all deserve each other.

Everybody says that, but it's about marketing. McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King generally locate near each other for a reason. The channel dial is real estate no matter what newfangled ideas people have these days. OTA parity is being right there with channels 2 and 4, instead of having to flip through dozens of stations to get to 62.

I can be the fifth vote. Forum, thumbs up. It's a small market and it's silly to have so many competitors in a small market. They have to double up. It's a matter of survival. Tegna, thumbs down. Maybe people don't like Tegna that much, but it's still not a bottom of the barrel broadcaster. The last thing this country needs is to have foreign money controlling domestic media, not to mention one of the better than average broadcasters remaining.

I'll gave them the solution. They could probably buy LPTV Channel 3 very cheaply. I doubt that anybody can even pick it up over there with rabbit ears. Once you have a virtual Channel 3, FCC rules say that every signal you own in the market can have the same channel number. They can become CBS 3 with a snap of the fingers, right along with Fox 2 and NBC 4.

It's a small Market though. You would think the stations would be pinched unless they are allowed to double up.

But why? What's the problem?

I remember Ronnie Duncan from his WSYX days. He seems to be a lot smoother and low-key these days. The weather guy is also decent, I like his voice. Can't say the same about the anchors. They both have very annoying voices. Go out and hire a couple of smokers. The weather center is kind of clunky. They're going to have to do a better job with that. Otherwise, looks good.

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2023/01/23/detroits-cbs-affiliate-wwj-tv-news-broadcasts/69830403007/ Can't believe Ronnie Duncan is still bouncing around. What's with nobody there owning a necktie?

Their promos are certainly a lot more interesting than anything on TV today. And I'm not talking about the comedic fake shows. I'm talking about production value of that commercial and even the graphics. I don't care about any of that. There are a lot of crappy people around the world, including us. Put it on TV and if people watch it, good for them. Let the people decide what they want.

Think: USFL We'll see. Competition is good. One of these days, one of these upstart leagues will be successful.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

It looks like it uses Garamond as the typeface, which was a 1980's/1990's thing. That's why I said the 1990s called and wanted their logo back.

Not bad, but it would have been better if they just started throwing chairs like they did on Springer.

I've only watch News Nation once. It seemed like a decent product and it looked very professional, but there was no kind of a hook to get me to tune back in. At the end of the day, I need something a little over the top to keep my attention and there was nothing there to get me to tune back in again. My ideal news channel would be a Jerry Springer News Channel. That is, Jerry Springer with the fighting, not the new and improved Jerry Springer when they toned it down. I'm only half kidding here.

I liked The branding under the old regime better. The new branding looks like, well, like they're selling 5-Hour Energy. Have they upgraded their talent yet? I haven't watched in a long time, but what I remember most is that although some of them were talented, they just didn't have the look for a national broadcast. They would have been fine for the nightly News in El Paso. Sorry if that's too blunt for you all, but that's what I thought.

There have been some stupid attempts to be different. At one point WSYX went to all chicks for a brief time. It was a disaster. And it seems like the WKYC efforts have been panned as well. But Action News 19 was different and successful. I don't know what I'd do without a lot of experimentation, but I know the current format of four bozos sitting behind a desk needs to be blown up. It's just boring to see the same thing everywhere. I think what I do is outfit a truck of some kind to be the studio and just go on location every day. People used to love to read their name in the newspaper. I bet they'd love having their little county seat featured on the news..

Is that a real set? The first couple of pictures make it look like a virtual set.

All I know is one thing: The way to get noticed is to be different. Just rehashing the same thing everybody else does nationwide isn't going to accomplish a thing. You need not only difference in branding, but difference in products. Same four interchangeable people in an interchangeable studio that looks like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise on all four local TV channels does not make for a lot of differentiation. Maybe if you're in first or second place, you don't want to rock the boat too much. But if you're one of the laggards, why are you beating your head against the wall doing what everybody else is doing?

I think that has to do with the intensity with which the product is used. I've just always felt intuitively that people tend to watch more TV in the cold weather parts of the country just because they are inside more than they are in warmer parts of the country. That's going to translate to more revenue and a lot of other things with a financial impact. Think of having a coffee shop in Duluth, Minnesota versus one in Havana, Cuba. Companies always do this. They will go in and buy a crown jewel asset and think they can cut the budget and still maintain it as a crown jewel. Maybe crown Jewel is an exaggeration when it comes to WBNS, but it's not that far off. If you buy an asset that is well taken care of, you better also take care of it as well.

Most of the Cincinnati stations got shafted when it comes to spectrum. I think only WLWT and WCPO have good signals. Maybe they are just going to use it as a translator.

That really is one of the keys to the death of local media. There are also business Dynamics such as the death of local business and more efficient forms of advertising through the internet, but the type of person running these stations is definitely one of the factors. Non creative people running a creative business.

I just found this during a Google search. I'm wondering if there's a new video out there somewhere.

My all-time favorite was Eyewitness Action News from Beavis and Butthead, but this is close enough.

Reminds me of Carol Burnett.