mrschimpf

There is, but it would be downright embarrassing (and would get all the FCC action, especially in Atlanta) to sell out to someone like HC2 or TCT. I will say Cox having 2 and 69 in Atlanta would be amusing just to see if their creative department would come with a slogan for being on both ends of the dial. Their only non-Plus main channel affiliates (all from the Cordillera deal) are one legacy Journal station, and two former Tribunes and a Nexstar divested as part of that merger (not counting the WPIX stewardship). They have never taken a CW affiliation on their own volition, and I don't think they'll start adding new stations now.

Scripps dumped MNTV clearly to extend WXYZ's news reach and flee from a filler network in MNTV and the station's Granite-era failures post-WB. They're not going to abandon that strategy if there's a shot to get the Pistons, Red Wings and/or Tigers on their air to boost their own news product, and I think Nexstar will end up sucking it up and dealing with WADL because it's that or HC2 in the Detroit market for them. I can definitely see a fair battle between Scripps and CBS to get the Red Wings/Tigers and/or Pistons though (Red Wings and Tigers will not be separated by Illich Holdings).

A little less important thing here is with the 'Columbia' part of the 'Columbia-Warner Network' out of the equation (at least station-wise), do we see a rebrand coming for the network itself like The NX, NexTV, or SookNet (I'm not serious on the last one)? As for the ratings outside whatever Nexstar keeps out of this year's schedule (so far just All-American and the Saturday/Sunday night reality filler blocks), it doesn't really matter. Whatever Nexstar throws on, it's basically just going to be like Heartland, which fills any timeslot without a pulse on weekends and has no particular loyalty outside a small viewerbase that finds handholding to be a break of morals, or CanCon/international content that most anyone who was already a fan long ago found much easier/ad-free (or with more interesting ads) via a VPN. CBSNS will not only be fine, but likely to be glad to be rid of the branding yoke. And Hearst will likely offer additional Go Time filler to help these stations, as CBS made the contract for OMM, not Nexstar.

And that answers the question about why KMCC hasn't gotten rid of those old calls for KINV or something like that since the Scripps purchase. The Golden Knights are the true local and homegrown team, so this is nothing but good news for Scripps and viewers; within the ATTRM territory, SLC, Montana and Boise have Scripps stations to spare, and it won't be hard to find a Reno affiliate (Wyoming may be an issue because that market is a complete mess of distant uncaring owners outside of Gray, though there for not of lack of trying).

The only issue that lost WPGA its affiliation in the first place was a knob of an owner who wanted the pre-Three's Company ABC on his station (as in culturally stuck in 1978, and maybe even earlier) and terrible cable negotiation skills. He also expected Big Three RTC rates for his ego-stroke of a lazy morning radio show simulcast, Telco crap, and Retro TV at its most flailing state, and to the end when he was arrested for equipment theft after his radio stations were taken over by a debtor-in-possession who sold it off, was completely insufferable. Full network carriage, a proper newscast, no crazy old man as an owner, and calm RTC negotiations may be enough for ABC to move here.

In the immortal words of Don Meredith...Turn out the lights...the party's over.

They moved to KPTH as part of SInclair's 2021 shell game to move affiliations off sidecars, so at least for that station (the only CBS sidecar move), that bill could come due one day. KBOI will likely stay if only because that is truly the reddest market SBG does have; poorly in Boise itself where the numbers are, but they figure the outstate does just fine with those must-runs.

It's like those dumb "Brand Power" ads...the segments don't feel natural, don't match the tone intended, and are usually just a signal to roll around the channels for a bit while some guy in suburban Maryland tries and fails to appeal to someone who just wants to know the local news, not some minor thing on the other side of the country they don't care about.

Also don't forget that the Suns/Mercury had to go through an acrimonious ownership change this winter, so there may have been a nullification clause that Mat Ishiba exercised to build overall market goodwill; before Bally, the Suns had been associated with Fox (including their UPN/MNTV station, KUTP) for years, and they were likely unhappy that their viewership didn't have any increase (and BSA lost carriage) even after a Finals run under new management.

And the judge and lawyer involved will just say 'so you can totally pay for those rights, correct'? DS has no legal ground to stand on.

KRCR had taken up more of the slack for them after the Bonton deal brought them under the SBG banner since KOBI and KDRV are the giants there.

The zombie shells of WNWO/Toledo and KTVL/Medford, OR''s outsourced 'news' ops (mainly now just weather and a couple MMJs) are being wound down...

Exactly that; you're being transferred from the local station over to the network feed, where the curtain is being raised on both the network programming, and then a presentation produced by the network itself in that show. It's the same reason it originated even in the days of radio where you had 'The National Broadcasting Company presents...' lead into a show.

As of Monday, the title of Afternoon Focus has been (and smartly) re-titled as The UpSide from Scripps News.

It's within Charlotte, so it's not a surprise that SBN would go after them. But really sad that their Hickory-specific newscast is likely gone because of this.

So you're saying they shouldn't have given Lemon aid and served Meade instead. Bad jokes aside, he will not be missed at all.

It actually launched a few months back, just around Thanksgiving, and just in time for Bridge News to buy out even more do-nothing ex-Equity/TBN sub farms to put it on.

The last thing the industry needs is yet another 'token' company operating a few do-nothing TV stations for another broadcaster which is being operated just to round clear caps and otherwise owns perennial cellar dwellers (somehow they've managed the impossible and made WLNE much worse). More Center Citys fighting against RTC laws for good and positive Black management are needed, and many fewer White Knights, Vaughns and Deerfields should exist, whose minority ownership's biggest role is to sign FCC statements and nothing else, outside having to convince providers that the $4/month for a low-power Baton Rouge indie Nexstar wants is a proper rate. Glad this deal is dying.

Friday at 10 is the official CNN Death Slot (it's where Rachel Nicols was burned off when CNN decided to stop covering sports), so...not a very good sign.

Yes, I have no problem with the studio dancers (which is still odd)...but there at least you have professional floor direction in the studio. The home segments all look like "Mommy/Daddy's first TikTok" or like the worst sext of all time to the most mid music of all time.

Eh, the tabloids have said that since like 1989 (if the Enquirer didn't have a "REGIS IN DISGUST" story that week, they just plain forgot to write one), but the show's still on, Mark's guested so many times already, and the DM just searches "kelly mark sucks" to write an article summarizing it and calls it a day. If Disney didn't think works any longer it would've been gone years ago. Instead it's evolved, the copycats have all died, and every advertorial going against it just goes in knowing they don't have a chance. It'll be the same when Ali Wentworth (once part of one of those copycats) inevitably takes over for Kelly. The only thing I'd cut is the weird 'home dancer' segment from trivia; sometimes they choose dance videos from people who have no business being filmed, much less on a national morning show (one from some 50-ish woman looked like the most uncomfortable striptease was about to happen).

I am shocked, I tell you, shocked that FF is filling more Sinclair timeslots!

DMTV used WPIX's main studio, which has since been redone and is still for WPIX; the most they had to do is put up a couple of Command hooks or something to put up their logo in Styrofoam.

That and 780/105.9 has all the news tradition; best to leave the calls with them and just try to get away from any call/numerical branding and wipe the slate; don't forget there the channel number and reception issues have been a curse, along with there being a UHF WMEU simulcast, since the 2000's management and NY decided to stick them digitally on miserable VHF 12 (and even worse 3 pre-2009).

This was done for technical reasons to prevent co-channel interference on cable systems between the cable frequency and over-the-air frequency. It's not that it was irrelevant, but for overall picture quality.