ColDayNews

On 1/28/2023 at 1:17 AM, tyrannical bastard said:

When Media General took over the 4 NBC O&Os they wanted to dump, they got in way over their heads.  They sold off KIMT, KWCH, WIAT and WDEF to make the down payment.  They later sold their smallest stations to Hoak (WMBB & KALB),  Nexstar (WJWB/WCWJ) and Morris (WTVQ) to get some more cash.  WJAR was probably the only station that didn't tank under their control.  They didn't move the needle at WNCN, and succeeded in tanking WCMH and WVTM (while WIAT climbed out of the basement for the first time EVER after their divestiture).  This, the recession, and their unholy devotion to newspapers until Soo Kim came knocking (when they unloaded them to Warren Buffett and the Tampa Tribune to another party) was what led Media General to nearly filing for bankruptcy along with a series of layoffs and furloughs, even after others recovered from the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009... 

 

While NBC treated their smaller markets like garbage, the product still outranked whatever Sinclair was putting out at the time.  And yes, WCMH got lots of hand-me-downs from NBC itself.  I believe even their studio cameras were once used for Saturday Night Live in studio 8H at 30 Rock.

 

Sinclair has always been "profitable" in Columbus.  Having the Buckeyes on WSYX (on both ABC and FOX) has been a windfall for them, and the way they engineered their dominance in the marketplace clearly gives them the edge that WCMH and WBNS have not been able to match.

From what I understand, the SNL cameras were an NBC tradition. All of the O&Os get equipment from 30 Rock as NBC replaces it over time. 

21 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Dispatch always held the advantage thanks to their early ownership of assets.  That way, they could own EVERYTHING (radio, tv, newspapers,  banks, and shoe stores) hence the WBNS call letters. 

 

By the time the FCC rolled out ownership bans on shared assets (radio/newspaper/tv), WBNS was grandfathered in and so was Taft's ownership of the WTVN stations.  That lasted until Taft's restructuring, which broke that advantage, and WTVN-TV was spun off as WSYX.  Nationwide couldn't have picked them up because of their WNCI/WRFD ownership, unless they sold them off.  They hitched their fortunes to radio and opted to sell their existing TV stations to Young.  Ironically, in the breakup of GreatAmerican/Citicasters, WKRC benefited from the union of the TV station with Jacor's radio sisters (and later Clear Channel).

 

Columbus was always under-stationed and didn't really expand beyond 4, 6 and 10 until Sinclair's predecessor signed on WTTE.  Later came WSFJ, and WWAT/WWHO.  Sinclair's aggressiveness found a way to "keep" WTTE when they bought WSYX, and later took advantage of when LIN was selling WWHO with their JSA/SSA with Manhan Media.

 

I really think Nexstar is going to take the CW with them when their agreement with WWHO (and other Sinclair stations) is up.  By putting it on 4.2, it's their chance to compete against Sinclair with another channel that can counterprogram WSYX and WBNS, and compete against "FOX 28" in primetime news.

 

Had Gannett still been the owner of the Tegna stations, I think they would be slightly better off than they are today.  WKYC is a disaster under Tegna, when under the earlier guidance of Gannett, rose to the top of the Cleveland market for the first time in decades.  Gannett instead decided to become the Nexstar of the newspaper industry, acquiring virtually all of the major newspapers in Ohio except for Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton and Youngstown.  Their consolidation (under GateHouse) really consolidated their presence in places like Akron and Columbus, buying up the community newspapers (Dix) and the Beacon Journal (from Black Press), and using their existing Gannett holdings in Central Ohio to supplement their purchase of the Dispatch from the Wolfes.

 

Or, could Nexstar purchase WWHO outright? It'd be like a mini-reunion between them and WCMH, who managed WWHO until Viacom ownership

1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Another passing to report.  John Ivanic, who was a reporter/anchor at WCMH until 2007, passed away at the age of 52.

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/remembering-former-nbc4-anchor-john-ivanic/

That newsroom has suffered a lot of loss over the last few years. Mike Bowersock, Mike Jackson's stroke, Tom McNutt, and now him. He worked with Heather Pick in Rockford and again in Columbus.

I liked him, The Mighty Ben Gelber, and Holly Hollingsworth together. They had great chemistry and you could tell they enjoyed working with eachother and genuinely liked one another. Stan Sanders stupidly split them up. 

He left in 2007 after station management cut newsroom operations down, and immediately began working for City Council.

Huge loss for Newschannel 4. RIP. 

1 hour ago, Breaking News said:

News:

 

WISN 12 News  Mike Anderson has passed away.

https://www.wisn.com/article/veteran-wisn-12-journalist-mike-anderson-passes-away/32223015

 

 

I don't know if it was discussed but Donna Deegan former news anchor in Jacksonville running for congress

https://donnadeeganforcongress.com/

He from Columbus, but can't believe he would leave FOX O&O station for Nexstar.  I guess Mike health not too good.

Jackson had a massive stroke last January-- his bio remains on the station's website as "Anchor Emeritus."

Kerry Charles is headed from Atlanta to Columbus - will replace Mike Jackson at WCMH. 

https://www.nbc4i.com/local-4-you/nbc4-announces-kerry-charles-to-anchor-6p-7p-and-11p-news/

On 10/12/2019 at 1:22 PM, jbnews said:

Yes. They did a REALLY good job. It's a nice look. The new Guardian updates are awesome, too, IMO!

Greg O’Neill was the voice of WXIX until 2013. I miss him!

8 hours ago, SoFloTVClassics said:

A treasure trove of news clips from Columbus, OH from 1996-1998

 

 

— WCMH was in the midst of a transition period from News 4 to NewsChannel 4 in the first clip. NBC had just bought them from Outlet and was tacking on the peacock and chimes in every place they could. They were still on that set as recently as 2008. I will say, I like their hybrid WNBC/WRC era — WNBC’s on air bug with WRC’s graphics. 

— WSYX was dead last in the late 1990s, yet they had such a quality team... Bob Hetherington, Terri Sullivan, Charlene Brown, Carol Luper... I like what Sinclair has done for WSYX over the last 20 years, especially post-NewsCentral. They’ve become like a second flagship for them. 

— No 10TV, save for KidsNews Network? KNN was pretty innovative for its time, though!

2 hours ago, hmaxhanson said:

A tiny bit of WMTV from November 1996, obviously inspired by WCMH from back then: 

 

The funny thing is — WCMH dumped that package and Signature a few months later for Prime News and rebranding to NewsChannel 4, this was just the placeholder from when NBC took over operations after merging with Outlet. 

WBNS coverage from 9/11 — anchors: Andrea Cambern, Angela Pace and Helen Neill. 

What is with station groups and purging veteran talent after sales close?

8 hours ago, H4UL4U said:

I'm too lazy to find the exact post about folks with 30+ years experience...Dispatch already took care of that to a degree. About a year ago they had a round of layoffs that didn't make the news. A dozen folks -- some even in sales (bad sign) were layed off or forced to retire. Others were in engineering or promotions.

 

Willing to bet that zero members of their staff are surprised by this. I did think, though, they'd at least wait until after the election.

 

EDIT: TEGNA saying they now reach 2/3 of Ohioans makes sense. WBNS is carried on cable much farther than the other Columbus stations.

10TV’s cable penetration is insane... they reach as far west as Dayton, as far south as Scioto County, as far north as the Cleveland area (on cable) and as far east as Parkersburg/Charleston, WV. 

19 minutes ago, ColumbusNewsFan said:

I Called this three years ago when they first sold The Dispatch. I knew this was coming and THIS VERY COMPANY TOO!

 

Here the thing if you are Sinclair or Nexstar this morning... Columbus has just become a WIDE OPEN MARKET where WCMH or WSYX could EASILY be #1 in the market!

I could definitely see NBC 4 getting back into #1. People know Colleen Marshall and Mark Taylor, and many in our market grew up with the former. NBC’s primetime lineup is a lot better now than it was 10 years ago as well when they lost that spot, so there is a quality lead-in now. Before NBC got their paws on WCMH they were their strongest affiliate — and later one of their strongest O&Os.

After NBC sold the station off, the news product took a huge hit with a lot of their quality reporters (i.e. Nancy Burton, Holly Hollingsworth, John Ivanic, Kyle Anderson, etc.) losing their jobs, their longtime ND (Stan Sanders) being fired, and the economic downturn. As cheap as Nexstar is, they’re slowly getting back what was there before Media General cut everything. 

28 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

The consolidation won't stop until TEGNA, Nexstar, and Sinclair are the only broadcast groups left standing.

 

Something tells me @ColDayNews won't be happy about this.

I’m sick. 

However, it was bound to happen. The paper was sold in 2014. Daily circulation for the Dispatch had significantly dropped before that. Real estate is the Wolfes’ main cash cow, not broadcasting. 

Very sad day for Columbus media.

However, my focus is more on the guys who have been working at 777 Twin Rivers Drive for 30+ years and are now in danger of losing their jobs, or being forced into retirement...

On 2/13/2019 at 11:47 AM, H4UL4U said:

Complete 6AM newscast from WBNS from Thursday, March 18, 1999. Top stories include the Buckeyes Sweet 16 game against Auburn, the ongoing search for Erica Baker, and the passing of The Longaberger Basket Company patriarch Dave Longaberger. 

 

 

Not to mention Erica Baker’s body still hasn’t been found.

Olivia Fecteau is headed to WEWS from WCMH, effective March 1. She was their morning reporter and came over from their ex-sister station WJAR in 2016. 

Olivia Fecteau is leaving WCMH and going to WEWS effective March 1. 

12 minutes ago, rkolsen said:

Let’s remember having news drives viewers.  Look at WWJ in Detroit, they don’t do news and it’s an after thought.  

CBS makes a bit of money with WWJ, seeing as they can run it as a simple pass-through. If they hadn’t been turning some sort of a profit, CBS would have unloaded it long ago and wiped their hands of that mess...

7 hours ago, JacobC said:

Sorry bad move, their NBC O&O in Boston needs to end local news due to negative reviews. I’ll ask someone to resolve the conflict 

Wow, you’re not the sharpest tool in the tool shed, are you?

NBC is not shuttering NBC Boston’s news department. Period.

Lemme explain to you why NBC is going to continue running newscasts despite “negative reviews.” MONEY!  As long as NBC Boston can sell ad rates at a decent amount and turn a profit, then ratings won't matter as much as you think. This is also why stations have slowly begun to phase out syndicated programming in daytime — they can keep all the revenue in-house rather than sharing it with syndicators. 

You sound like Mardek’s cousin from Philadelphia who seems to think that shuttering a news department fixes its problems. 

I thought Fox still represented the ex-O&Os during carriage disputes, as part of their affiliation contracts negotiated during the sale from FTS to Local TV?

14 hours ago, rkolsen said:

Maybe I missed the post but I’m surprised @ColDayNews news didn’t mention it here or on discord. WCMH was evacuated Friday morning after someone called the assignment desk saying there were pipe bombs throughout the building. Nothing was found but they were evacuated and master control was fed from WDTN. Management ordered that there be no coverage in order to prevent copy cats 

 

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/12/23/bomb-threat-at-columbus-station. 

I’d always been curious as to NBC 4’s contingencies during a disaster. Some time ago, they could use the tech center abandoned in the late 90s when NBC started to hub their stations from 30 Rock, WTVJ, Burbank, and KXAS. 

Master for Media General’s NBC stations was located at NBC4 until the sale to Nexstar. I’m not sure if the hub is still open, after the sale to Nexstar... but it was constructed in 2006 while the station was still run out of the NBC hub. 

Who were the targets, and was the suspect nabbed?

Station management made the right call not to break into programming or report on what has happened. This would also give the suspect the visibility he sought. 

5 hours ago, Hdayejr said:

You are wrong on this whole post.  He wasn't demoted. 

And FYI,  he is heading to spectrum news 1

This board looks like a kids scribble fest

 

 

Was wrong about him possibly heading back to 10TV but nothing else.

After the Wolfes folded ONN’s operations in 2012, many former ONN anchors/reporters went over to 10TV. Eric was their weekend meteorologist until 2015.

No one said anything about demotion. 

20 minutes ago, Info Junkie said:

I present news opens from another station that screams consistency. @ColDayNews

The Giant Octopus graphics are my favorite era of 10TV, mainly the 1996 opens with the theme that’d later be used for WFOR and the scrolling county names, and the 1998 open (first with TiYN) with the scrolling “wbns columbus ohio” and chopper shots of downtown. 

Lauren Clark is out at WHIO. Her last newscast was this morning. 

I’m not a big game show guy but why don’t the CBS O&Os have Wheel or J?

6 hours ago, cna247 said:

I’m happy for her, but need I remind you you were never voted spokesman or press secretary on behalf of TVNT. We are all capable of speaking on our own to congratulate her. Just worry about yourself.

Seriously, don’t be a jerk. The guy was simply offering a nice gesture. 40 years at the same television station is nothing to scoff at. 

Just relax, say your congratulations, and move on. Or if you don’t like someone’s postings; you’re always free to scroll on or hit “ignore.” It doesn’t always require a response.

Like him or not, he does a lot of great work for the site in an unofficial capacity. As does Roly with his changingnewscasts blog that you’ve criticized many times. Point is, if you don’t like someone’s posts, just don’t read them.

Aren’t you the same guy who shielded Mardek from (well-deserved) criticism, telling everyone just not to read his posts if we didn’t like them?