newsbot

14 hours ago, Gavin said:

 

Plus there deal a blow because of the suit the FCC has made them pay. $43 million fine for failed Sinclair-Tribune deal. Sinclair might sell some stations cause of this and the post COVID World which seems broadcasting very sleak. Advertising-wise.

The fine is a rounding error on their balance sheet compared to the $10B they blew on RSNs with no programming.

2 hours ago, TSSZNews said:

Hubbard apparently made some pretty nasty cuts on the radio side today - anything being heard about the TV end?

Radio doesn't have retrans to cushion the blow of lost ad revenue, so they're bearing the brunt of the broadcast media cuts.

1 hour ago, oknewsguy said:

Don't be surprised that this is the beginning of what's to come for a lot of the smaller companies given the situation were in right now.

 

But to answer your question no but that is not to say it will eventually occur on the TV side as well

 

Honestly I think Hubbard's future in a post-COVID world looks pretty bleak

I'm also wondering about Sinclair with their heavy exposure to sports - sure, they're getting fat checks from the MVPDs but they're starting to get pushback with no sports on all those RSNs.

36 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

Her departure is interesting yet it's odd timing, with this virus I wonder if she had waited until we got to the other side of COVID before departing?

It could be a matter of Apollo wanting their own person in the top spot, or Guthrie not wanting to preside over what are likely to be draconian cuts once the full extent of the recession/depression hits the media sector, or some combination of the two.

Boston TV news legend Randy Price is leaving WCVB
https://www.wcvb.com/article/wcvbs-randy-price-announces-plans-to-sign-off-later-this-month/32386752

Also, Kim Guthrie is out as President/CEO of Cox Media Group
https://www.rbr.com/kim-guthrie-to-depart-cox-media-group/

4 hours ago, TheOneManHerd said:

WABI seemed to have a strict hair code for it's female talent.

All three anchors would end up at WGME in Portland, with Barr shifting from news to sports. Knight and Canney would go on to found a PR agency. Barr would return to her native Pennsylvania after her Channel 13 stint; she's currently at WGAL.

9 minutes ago, Gavin said:

 

Nah maybe the next month or 2. WRC did it I think had ratings success during last years government shutdown.

The government shutdown was by definition temporary; without a vaccine work schedules face extreme disruption for an indefinite period of time in the COVID-19 era. Furthermore, a significant amount of work will be home-based going forward. Even a number of TV reporters I've spoken to acknowledge that things will never be the same again.

22 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

It's only temporary though so don't celebrate just yet as it'll go back to 4-10AM once its all through.

I've seen nothing in the station's messaging to suggest that this is temporary. In any event, this will not be through any time soon; as with previous pandemics, there is significant risk of a second wave absent an effective vaccine.

Effective Monday WFXT is shifting its six-hour morning news block forward one hour to 5A-11A. With fewer commuters and more home-based workers, this gamble just might pay off.

I really hate Gray's streaming protocol, so I'm hoping this doesn't happen.

I wonder if there is any point in Tegnafying any more stations in light of this if they're all gonna get Grayified in the end.

Just saw Talkback 16, so that survived too.

WCSH/WLBZ kept "Good News" for their storm coverage, otherwise it's bleep-bloop all the way.

MCTYW survives - NEPA rejoice!

On 3/2/2020 at 5:25 PM, qunewsguy said:

The big question: will they finally drop MCTYW?

No!

Meteorologist Barry Burbank marks his 42nd anniversary at WBZ-TV
https://boston.cbslocal.com/video/4468285-barry-burbank-celebrates-42nd-work-anniversary/

5 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

There's probably room on 6.5 since stations haven't been afraid to use them lately. That seems most likely in Portland IMO. I can certainly see Tegna placing it on more of their stations in markets where Gray is absent.

I kinda wonder about Maine though because Gray swiped the NBC affiliation in Presque Isle from Tegna (and WLBZ did a fair amount of news coverage in Aroostook County when they had the NBC affiliation there, albeit via cable.)

The change-averse Portland, Maine TV market has experienced quite a bit of it lately on Tegna's dominant WCSH. The latest change has veteran evening anchor Pat Callaghan shifting to 5PM and 6PM weekdays, giving up the 11PM newscast to Clay Gordon, who previously worked weekend mornings. Gordon is married to fellow WCSH anchor Lindsey Mills (who anchors at 5PM weekdays) and they have a young child.

On 2/28/2020 at 7:54 PM, GoldenShine9 said:

 

I know quite a number of Tegna stations have added it in markets where Gray is absent. I know they did a joint venture over the OTT partnership, so there may be good relations between them.

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out in Maine where Tegna has NBC-affiliated stations in Bangor and Portland and Gray has stations in Bangor (CBS/CW) and Presque Isle (CBS/CW/FOX/NBC.) Gray is apparently going to launch Circle on WABI soon. No idea if they're going to put Circle on WAGM or WWPI, but they certainly have the capacity to do so. WCSH in Portland is pretty maxed out. Would Sinclair's WGME pick up Circle, perhaps replacing the moribund TBD?

WSBK/Boston has launched a one-hour 10PM weekday newscast, produced (as always) by sister station WBZ. The newscast is simulcast on CBSN Boston. This creates a four-way battle for supremacy in the time slot, with longtime leader WFXT and WHDH already vying with WCVB's half-hour newscast on its MeTV subchannel.

7 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Why couldn't WBBM produce the WKBD newscast? They're the closest O&O to Detroit with a news operation.

I assume as well that it's a matter of KTVT having the infrastructure in place to do newscasts for other stations.

Years ago, before WGME did a 7PM weekday general purpose newscast, they ran a half-hour politics-themed newscast in the weeks leading up to the election. Not sure what the ratings were, but they sure vacuumed up a boatload of political ad dollars in that time slot. I wonder if that might be more of an ideal focus for this CBS venture if the goal is what everyone thinks it is. What I'm thinking is, have the originating station focus on national politics (the presidential race, balance of power in the Senate etc.) the have the MMJs focus on local and statewide races along with some local color on the presidential. Sure beats doing stand-ups at the scene of structure fires and drive-by shootings.

A year after being sidelined when she sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fall, legendary WGME anchor Kim Block is stepping aside. She was with the station nearly 40 years.
https://wgme.com/news/local/a-statement-from-cbs-13s-kim-block-to-you
https://wgme.com/news/local/a-look-back-at-kim-blocks-40-year-legacy-in-maine

It might help the A block, but I suspect that Welker will be sucked in the web of fluff that dominates morning television.

2 hours ago, MarkBRollins88_v2 said:

Ed Bark is retiring from DFW TV coverage. Now who will we get our ratings breakdowns from? 

Well, that sucks. We lost local media coverage in Maine when Al Diamon mothballed his Media Mutt column years ago, so I know firsthand how it feels to lose this vital service. It's not like anyone else is waiting in the wings to take over this beat.

WMTW expanded its weekday 12PM newscast to an hour today; WCSH and WGME remain at a half-hour. Previously WMTW aired a rerun of Access Hollywood in the 12:30PM time slot.

Weekday morning co-anchor David Charns is the second WMTW veteran to exit this week
https://www.wmtw.com/article/wmtw-says-goodbye-to-david-charns-maine/30388262