Adam MadMan

Looks like you were right about that one:

Assuming the Soo Kim will even be allowed to buy them, after all the crap he's pulled trying to buy Tegna.

Comscore recently released a blog detailing TV ratings in the Atlanta market, and it seems to back up the notion of WANF beating WXIA. If you scroll down to "Top Five Broadcast Networks (by Rating), you'll see WANF in third, beaten by WSB and WAGA, but ahead of WXIA (fifth place, incidentally, went to the local MeTV affiliate rather than any of the indies or WUPA*). *Yes, I'm including WATL among the indies; MyNetworkTV is hardly a network at all, just an NBC rerun farm in all but actual ownership

Because FCC laws. Both stations are Big 4 affiliates, which generally means they rank in the top four in the local ratings, which means "No can do, buddy".

I'm honestly surprised they've held onto a lot of the small markets from the ZGS and Serestar buyouts.

I guess the fool was on @DetroitTVNews.

Didn't they say they were trying to get older audiences? Because somehow I doubt a show like that would appeal to the NCIS crowd. Then again, it's probably cheap programming, especially as a hand-me-down from David Zazlav's hatchet.

Apparently, nobody's been watching TrueReal, because Scripps is shutting that network down and merging its programing with Defy TV. The spectrum (at least on Ion/Inyo/Scripps stations) will be leased to Jewelry TV.

Broadcasting & Cable recently did an article about the news stations in Atlanta. It mentions that WANF is still in fourth place in both total viewers and the 25-54 demographic.

Honestly, even if Apple or some other streamer gets the rights, I'm not sure that would completely close the door on Scripps or another linear broadcaster getting the rights. After all, Apple's deal with the MLS allowed for a linear window, which Fox was happy to jump onto. Even Thursday Night Football runs on OTA in markets where the featured teams are subject to blackout rules. With people tightening their wallets over fears of a recession, there's certainly room for at least some major sports to air for free, even if it's more of a gateway drug for a subscription service or RSN (which seems to be the case with most sports on OTA in recent years) than anything else. After all, the RSNs are in freefall, and Pac-12 royally screwed up the handling of their own network, so there's likely to be a mix of income sources as the teams and leagues figure out how to navigate the new realities of TV.

Titan TV didn't say, but a look on Zap2it has it on Peachtree TV's schedule on the 25th. Still, the latter site is owned by Nexstar, so I'm not 100% sure how accurate it is, but listings can change over time, so we may end up finding out sooner rather than later.

There are a few key differences to consider with WFSB compared to WANF: WFSB has been with CBS since 1958, while WANF literally only joined because they were the only option besides what would become WUPA, which was at the tail end of the TV dial. WFSB has been a consistent market leader for the most part, while WANF has historically been an also-ran behind WSB, WAGA, and WXIA. WUPA, currently, the local CW station, is owned by CBS, which, as @DirtyHarry mentioned, has no such presence in Hartford-New Haven. The current CW affiliate there is WCCT, owned by Tegna. It was mentioned in another thread about Nexstar buying The CW, through a report by Scott Jones of FTVLive. While Scott spins it as being a protest against the LIV Golf deal (long story), @Myron Falwell said it was more likely that it was just CBS washing its hands of the struggling network. Also, this was technically meant to be a general thread about Gray's relaunch of an Atlanta newscast, but the rumor mill just made its way here.

NextTV posted an article yesterday about the issues in the current syndication market. Apparently, ABC really, really fought to keep Wheel and Jeopardy on its stations because Disney sees them as important, which makes perfect sense; after all, not only are they two of the most popular shows in syndication today, but ABC also runs prime time versions of both.

YouTube has signed a deal with Scripps to carry Ion, Bounce, and Scripps News on YouTube TV, which already carries Court TV, with options to add Ion Mystery, Grit, and Laff as well. Also, with YouTube planning a FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) component, Scripps existing FAST networks, which include Ion Plus, the news channels, and special feeds of Bounce and Grit, are expected to be a part of that service as well.

At least one current show's safe: All American has been renewed for a sixth season.

Here's another thing: producers, even those co-owned with the linear networks, have been moving their best/most experimental/biggest budgeted shows to streaming-only, mostly leaving the broadcast and cable channels with their scraps. Even then, the vast majority of those scraps are put on streaming services the next day, disincentivizing viewers from watching it live. It's pretty telling that Yellowstone, which doesn't stream, free or otherwise, until a few months later outside of an authenticated TV app, is one of the only scripted shows to get any significant live ratings in recent years

On a similar note, apparently the Cincinnatti USA Sports Commission is planning a new college football Bowl game that would air exclusively on The CW. Granted, the deal doesn't sound like it's been finalized, but it sounds a lot more final than the LIV Golf thing.

Nexstar recently signed a deal to air LA Clippers games on their stations in Southern California, and implied that they might try to do the same in other NBA/MLB/NHL markets. I guess Scripps was paying attention. Granted, Scripps itself has said that they're not jumping into big national deals from the get-go, but even the smaller leagues could be a boost for their stations, Ion and non-Ion, given how the Big 4's respective corporate owners have been moving all of their biggest shows to streaming for some time, to say nothing of the effective audience cannibalization of their lineups by Hulu and the like.

I've been looking at the news reports about the acquisition, and I've noticed that a few motorsports reporters (like this one) are surprisingly optimistic about the move, saying it could boost IndyCar ratings - as if that was even why The CW bought it in the first place. Let's face it, this deal exists because Nexstar is cheap and Penske was desperate.

In other cost cutting news, The CW is considering cutting license fees for dramas to $1 million across the board.

Nexstar has hired Rebekah Dopp, formerly from Google and CBS, to serve as The CW's EVP of Distribution, Strategy, and Affiliate Relations.

In other Sinclair news, they're considering launching another diginet due to growing ratings for their existing ones. (Well, Comet, Charge, and TBD are growing; Stadium looks more or less dead in the water AFAIK)

Broadcasting + Cable just posted an interesting guest article that basically says what most of us are thinking: the retransmission consent law is in desperate need of a reform.

Link here, for the "benefit" of everyone else here. But yeah, that market list doesn't inspire hope for the show's future. A lot of big markets are missing, including NY and LA, with Chicago being the largest to actually clear it. There's even entire geographical regions where the show is rare to nonexistent; in all of my native New England, for example, there's literally one market where you can watch it, Burlington-Plattsburgh, and even that's shared with upstate New York. Unless the show is really, really, really cheap, I don't see it sticking around for more than one season, if that.

I see Gray's taking a "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" approach to their advertising. It worked for Sega in the 90s, but I'm not sure if it's the right way to promote local news. In video games it's not bad, but I feel like with news, people generally expect something more professional.