KevCor

The story everyone knew: Mika and Joe are sharing more than just coffee in the AM (they're engaged), as confirmed by MSNBC. I don't see the show lasting too much longer -- dynamically speaking, the show has always supposed to have a vibe of opposition between Mika and Joe, but with an impending marriage, that's clearly changing.

For what it's worth, while MSNBC's ratings may "lag" behind that of CNN US, it is probably because they don't openly air 24 hours of Political WWE matches. Every hour on CNN is a 4x4 screen of "CNN Political Commentators" (aka paid lackeys) shouting over each other. In addition, they seem to have picked the most extreme of the pundits they could find, on both sides. MSNBC, on the other hand seems more nuanced and academic during their panel discussions, as they tend to source in other journalists and opinion writers for their analysis instead of former two-term politicians and campaign chairmen. CNN seems to be looking for the ratings grab at any cost ("The idea that politics is sport is undeniable, and we understood that and approached it that way"), which is what you get when you hire a Network TV executive whose network success thrived on reality television to run your news channel.

Nexstar: We're the biggest station group! Sinclair: Oh yeah? Well we've got three shells. and they all have their own website!

UPDATE: Inbound, Nexstar! [MEDIA=twitter]829442201763581954[/MEDIA]

In market #43 -- WVEC's Lasalle Blanks is leaving the station for a job somewhere "up north"... http://pilotonline.com/news/local/lasalle-blanks-of-wvec-leaving-after-years/article_732e57fe-98a7-5888-94ce-a3c0aedc96d8.html

When I was stationed down there, I always wondered why Sinclair did not run those stations and share a news brand. Yeah, I know WEAR covers Pensacola and WPMI covers Mobile, but still, the way Sinclair hides money, that, IMO looked like a pretty easy cost saving measure.

Neat little tidbit of information: Out of the lower 48 states -- Nexstar now has an audience/voice in 45. Wyoming, Idaho and Maine are the ONLY three states where a Nexstar signal does not reach. (WWLP reaches the southern fringes of NH according to the FCC's contour map)

I just checked out the livestream replays for at least four different ex-MG markets, and each one is using their new, customized close tag this morning. (I'm guessing the sale/consummation was at 11:59pm last night since none of them used it on their 11pm shows). I screencap'd WAVY's from their morning show this am Anyway, I guess we figured out what they've been doing for the last year...

No time was wasted either -- all the old LIN/MG stations now proudly present the new Nexstar logo in their copyright sections

Maybe not for the stations, but big TEGNA is getting money -- remember Oprah picked the show up for OWN.

On the bright side, I have purchased milk multiple times since 2003. Thank God I was stationed in California.

The KASA subchannels are also moving to other "new" Nexstar Media Group properties -- the CoziTV sub (2.2) is going to KWBQ as 19.4 while the Ion sub (2.3) is moving to KASY as 50.4. KRQE is also dumping its GetTV(13.2) sub to KASY (50.3), presumably to allow the multiplexing of CBS and Fox in HD.

Short answer: WTKR would, hands down, with their new graphics and studio investment, and being the only direct competitor during "eyeball getter" primetime and morning news hours. Long version: I'm a fan of WVEC's product, and while they appear to be heir apparent (last I checked they were #2 in most slots), they have absolutely no more room to grow in the market. Remember that WAVY and WTKR are the only two stations with extended morning news from 7-9 AND the only two with primetime news (WTKR has a 7pm, and both have a 10pm). WVEC can't compete with either station beyond 7am or in the early evening, because there is nowhere for them to actually go or broadcast. All they really have is the longevity in talent (the longest on air broadcast team in the market at the traditional 5,6 & 11), but if TEGNA keeps cutting senior market folks...they definitely will lose too. So, if WAVY were to fall from grace. WVEC might win a couple of "traditional" slots at 5, 6 & 11, but WTKR would be the clear cut winner in every other slot. The eyeballs would just migrate to the only other product available in town at those hours --WTKR. So with TKR has ALL the chips really in their basket.

They're feeling the heat from Nexstar already!;)

More than the graphics and music and branding (which all will suffer if New Nexstar goes Old Nexstar), WAVY has a lot to lose if the axe comes down too hard. Those names (give or take Andy, lol) are a lot of high-quality on-air talent. Losing even one of them would be almost immediately detrimental to their product. Too many changes, and I predict you'll see the cratering of their ratings dominance.

Fortunately, most of the 7 Cities also have a modicum of FiOS, plus a decent penetration of satellite TV as well. But, the reason you aren't seeing a BIG kerfuffle is because for the four markets affected, there is a (somewhat) reasonable alternative (other than satellite TV and OTA) because of Cox's low footprint nationwide. NOLA would be the biggest loss by market and MVPD coverage -- Cox is the only provider (sans satellite) in New Orleans proper and most other areas south and east of Lake Ponchartrain. Most of immediate Phoenix and the northern parts of the market have Centurylink as a competitor, as well as Mediacom w/ a small sliver too in eastern parts. Western parts (towards Vegas) have Frontier. Macon is really the only one with no other MVPD in immediate area (Frontier and Mediacom are on the northern fringes). But even then -- Mediacom actually has a small sliver in some spots of Macon proper.

Apparently, TEGNA and Cox (the cable TV division) are about to go through a retrans battle -- the "Cox Customers Click Here" banner is up on station pages saying their retrans consent agreement ends at 11:59 on January 13, 2017: However, it only affects four stations out of their group: KPNX/Phoenix, WMAX/Macon, WWL/New Orleans and WVEC/Norfolk, so the lobbying efforts arent that big, yet. UPDATE: Apparently, WUSA/Washington will also lose customers on the southern end of their market, albeit not in a large area. Apparently, all Fairfax County (excluding the city of Fairfax) is the only county in Northern VA where Comcast doesn't have a stranglehold or monopoly franchise agreement, and where Cox is the sole provider (sans satellite).

If they were to attempt to shake off James Spann....

What is that, like the third or fourth on-air talent in the last six months? The revolving door is spinning wildly...

From the Columbia Journal Review, it seems like TEGNA is going to continue to push "original" digital content and longer series features for their stations. SN: I'd venture to say TEGNA's "cost-cutting" on personnel costs over the last couple of year is what's helping fund this foray.

Yup. I mentioned those a few weeks back. So far they've been limited to KXTV but the color palletes matches the new "sliding box" background I've seen on other TEGNA stations.

Those Verify segments that have popped up in a good chunk of the TEGNA stations appear to have been inspired by none other than WFAA (and TEGNA money): http://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/tv_fake_news_fact_check.php

Depends. Who's footing the bill for that cable channel? IIRC, it's just replays of WWL, so I'm sure the MVDO is paying the most costs...

Nobody should be surprised by this -- the way TEGNA is cost-cutting in the face of their $4billion debt...