mrschimpf

On 10/11/2021 at 6:53 AM, MorningNews said:

Does anyone know the reason GMA seems to prerecord so many of their first hour interviews? Whether it’s a medical expert or today’s William Shatner interview, it always seems to be prerecorded. 

How is this bad? Nobody really breaks news during publicity interviews, and maybe a few of these people just aren't morning people excited to walk into a crowd yelling at them in Times Square at 7:30 in the morning. S&P also loves it; fewer opportunities for Jane Fonda to lay a C-bomb, because it's simply edited out before it goes out.

Especially now, you need publicity tours and appearances to be a well-oiled machine. The less time someone outside a show's bubble is in the building, the better for everyone, which is how you got Taylor Swift last night on Fallon and Seth Meyers without a sweat.

47 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Holy smokes.

That bar really needs some shrinking...it looks absurd. Watching a BTN game, there's way too much empty space wasted.

25 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Another one possibly bites the dust on vaccine mandates, this time at Hearst with Kelly Frey at WTAE. It is not 100% confirmed though.

We'll know if she becomes Wendy Bell's co-host on her daily radio show (yes, she's back on the radio...in Altoona and a wacky St. Louis translator trimulcast). 

2 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

Does that also include the ex-Ion stations that are in markets that Scripps already had a station in?

Yes it does; even though it could be at Radio City with WTMJ, WPXE (along with WTPX, which WPXE previously handled studio ops for) is out of Scripps Center. Looks like more of an organizational move to have one team handle Ion issues, so what FCC stuff WTMJ has to do is confined to that. Not sure of their engineering though, since many Ion stations are still on different towers (WTMJ's is behind their building, while WPXE pretty much has to work with Fox since they're on the WITI tower).

7 hours ago, dman748 said:

Even worse (despite the tweeter forgetting to put in the extra 0's) Sinclair (yes, the whole company) is over $12.5 BILLION in debt 

When they first bought the FSNs I was thinking to myself this could sink Sinclair because it was loaded with debt, very little non-sports programming to show for, even when the providers and streamers dropped them I was still at a maybe. Now that all of this and more from a couple of weeks ago came out about the RSNs this is now enough to even sink the whole company down.

 

Something tells me that either Sinclair didn't even shift a single amount of money in debt from the company itself to Diamond or they shifted it to Diamond but the remaining debt from the RSNs has blosomed since they last did it.

I still remember when SBG almost went bankrupt the first time, but somehow survived that (and we still don't know really how!). It's obvious though that despite all appearances, their expansion beyond the Fox/CW/My tier into major affiliates hasn't really worked out outside basically leveraging ABC into being their major affiliate base. Whenever they fall, the Benedek and Combined falls are going to look like child's play once all the dominos fall.

The other worry; they're one of the corner studs holding together the tennis industry too through Tennis Channel. But their + service has been an unmitigated disaster (nobody subscribes to it), and they've angered every one of their carriage partners by forcing it for broadcast carriage. Their coverage is awful, and they took forever to convince Justin Gimelstob to leave after his domestic abuse. The future of the tennis circuit outside the Grand Slams, if there is any, looks to be a boxing-like fall where entire tours are stuck behind paywalls if Tennis Channel ends up failing with SBG, because ESPN could pick up a little along with ESPN+, but it's not the 80s where they'd air anything. It doesn't help that SBG is all-in on gambling when organized tennis is fighting to keep it out, especially on the low end nobody pays attention to where anyone on the court could be in on fixing matches.

The company's been a nightmare back to the days of the Glencairn JSAs.

6 hours ago, TexasTVNews said:

IMO, FOX should've never sold its RSNs to Sinclair in the first place. I wouldn't mind if they would've sold it to Disney. We would've had ESPN: Name here (ESPN: Southwest) and regional versions of SportsCenter.

They were pretty much the last resort; Fox had to sell off the networks to another party because the RSNs would have led to rejection to the deal if sold by Disney. And they sold them to Diamond long after they wanted them off their books.

11 hours ago, CalItalian2 said:

Live PD is the only show that would put NewsNation on the map. But like A&E was doing, many other shows related to it would be created because of it. NewsNation would have to rebuild itself around those shows. Live PD is the only show that will put NewsNation on the map.

WGNA already tried that with Dog, and it bombed because he was regarded as 'leftovers from A&E', and rightfully so (which is why outside the quick pop during the Laundrie case, he's back to irrelevancy). When A&E took off Live PD, it revealed a network over-dependent on one show that had a schedule built on nothing, and now it's struggling. Same with MTV/Ridiculousness.

The cable networks that remain strong don't depend on one show or one type of show to keep themselves going, like USA, TNT or HGTV, and right now, it's all but counting the days until finally, the A&E's, Viacoms and NBCUs can no longer justify keeping FYI, MTV2 or Oxygen going because they're throwing empty money at non-existent audiences. Nexstar is trying to mine any value out of NN they can...and they won't do that picking up another network's leftovers. Eventually, we'll see if NN is around in another couple years, or there will be a merger down the line with another low-end outfit like Real America's Voice or Newsmax, or they take on the FAST model and put their network up on Pluto, Stirr, Tubi or the smart TV channel portals.

Sorry for the double-post, but it looks like Scripps has also sped up the process of getting rid of the remaining physical studios Ion had (if you can even call them that, as they were mostly all office suites with a public file binder in them) after the FCC repeal of the Main Studio Rule. Many of the stations are now en masse 'based' out of Scripps Center in Cincinatti, though the Ion Media HQ in West Palm Beach is also seen in several public files.

Completely unheralded, but Scripps has begun to add Ion in markets where a Scripps station exists, but an Ion Media station didn't;

•For the first time, southwest Florida has over-the-air access to the network thanks to the fifth subchannel of WFTX. This was of the few places where Paxson never grabbed a station in the Sunshine State, and the network's only market to never have a network affiliate at the very least.

•Ion moved from the sixth subchannel of Gray's WBAY to the fifth subchannel of WGBA in Green Bay.

•WTVR in Richmond has it on their sixth subchannel, replacing Nexstar's WRIC-DT2.

•Down in Corpus Cristi, KRIS-DT5 was launched for Ion, taking over for Tegna's KII-DT3.

•For a bad trades-like pun, Ion is no longer KOLD in Tucson (where it was the fourth subchannel), and now is being shot out of KGUN's fifth subchannel. (ducks , and somehow a , really?! )

2 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

You'd think they'd have the oversight not to do forecasts for college football games that were played one week ago. They aired this graphic twice this morning.

Considering their Pac12, Big 12, and B1G rights, that mistake shouldn't have been made at all (along with a missed opportunity to promote Fox/FS1/B1G games).

4 hours ago, mightynine said:

I wish there would be a Local Forcast based on IP location. The best was The Weather Network’s live stream that included a LDL and a Local on the 8s-like Forecast. 

I'd assume that would start rolling out once the FTS stations start the subchannel rollout and they start adding local inserts. At this point, it's more important to get the network up and running.

5 hours ago, jase said:

I hope they do (adapt these graphics). Some O&Os could benefit from an upgraded graphics package.

I expect WITI to be among the first in line. I kind of expected whatever their new GFX would be would launch with Fox Weather, but it looks like the wait will go on a little longer.

Exactly; there are people in New York who want to be doing something at 6:30 p.m., and will stir the pot however they can to get back to work. Viacom can't get a refund on the set work done in Washington at this point, and this reads as someone's book report on 'Why Norah O'Donnell is a Big Meanie and Should Be Grounded'...and they should have been failed because a lot of this report drones on and on about Gayle King's status to fill out the column inches.

Just got a notification the app is live.

2 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

One more fired by Gray over vaccine refusal:

 

KGNS - Barbara Campos, morning anchor

 

The common thread seems to be that nearly all those who were fired were in smaller markets (very few were in markets above 100) and in very red areas. Most of them also seemed to be those with high levels of experience.

Or else they seem to be very green and didn't get proper counsel about how to proceed. As I said above with the KMOV reporter (whose management moved heaven and earth to keep her on and she still tossed the toys from the pram), all of those who have left either have plenty to live on in retirement or think the industry has short memories and will just allow them to come back once a magic 'herd immunity, you don't have to get the vaccine!' line is crossed (and it's a hindsight relief that Ben Swann was canned from WGCL well before the pandemic).

The Tegna and Scripps lines fall just before the holidays, so there may be a few holdouts who will likely capitulate for family gatherings or getting to be part of the year-end promos. I know I'll be interested locally to see how the WTMJ newsroom falls, remembering the lawsuit a couple years back where a former employee had issues with co-workers pressuring their beliefs on him.

KREM broadcast some certain images they shouldn't have on the Sunday 6 p.m. newscast through a weather center monitor, and of course, it involves police and corporate investigation, and no doubt, the FCC will be there soon. Speculation is suggesting a WDBJ-level fine, but even worse since it involved the type of nudity that's more than Cinemax-level.

15 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

KMOV's Kim St. Onge has been fired by Meredith (and would have been fired by Gray if they had not aligned their policies).

And she does happen to mention a 'non-disclosure payment', which I had a feeling the Gray folks who separated but don't go to the media are happy enough about to accept. So she agreed to full masking and testing...but not being a part of meetings except on Zoom? I'd be bouncing if I could just watch news meetings in another room and stay there.  

I hope WTMJ picks up that theme. They seem to be changing around a lot of set pieces here and there and shuffling things around (there seems to be a new full-sized array monitor finally on set instead of TVs on wheels?), although whoever designed the color during this transition chose a very blinding baby blue background that just doesn't work. 

Wendy Williams is back on next Monday...but with guest hosts as she continues to recover.

Sadly, there gets to be a point where for her affiliates, DebMerc better just name a permanent guest host or give the time back. Guest hosts rotating in and out has only made the repeats they have age worse than most.

11 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

We may see a lawsuit or two down the road, especially if they were advised by their doctor not to take the vaccine for a legitimate medical reason.  But the latter is probably your typical anti-vaxxer who's thought all along this is all a big hoax and this is the greatest infringment of their rights in this country's history.

The majority of them who did have medical reasoning probably won't ever speak, and will eventually negotiate a non-disclosure settlement from Gray because at least they have a reason and they probably had the 'I'm really sorry, I'd love to keep you but my hands are tied' conversation with their local boss, understood, and corporate is in the same position.

The only ones we seem to be hearing from probably had saner family members and lawyers advise them not to say a word, and disregarded it. And a couple (like the WLUC met) were likely out the door anyways due to age/job performance.

As for these people getting back into the industry through SBG and Nexstar...the Internet will have reputable news of their Gray firings under their station bios and LinkedIn that no reputation firm will ever wipe out. Unless they do a 180º and get the shots, the legal and HR departments for those stations are likely ready to tell them the hire isn't worth the local PR headache unless the hire has got a shelf packed with Pultizers, Morrows and Regional Emmys.

45 minutes ago, Yankees4life said:

I don't get it but I guess Weigal wants a NY station. I hope they solve the signal issues with that station (even if it means co-channeling)

WJLP is about to lose a bunch of Scripps networks to WPXN and the rest are Luken trash or oddballs which can find better homes, so it's a good purchase. It might not solve reception issues, but a cleaner channel map up to Weigel's standards will definitely help, along with having WZME now.

The lighhousing situation, whenever it hits New York, should especially help with their reception issues once they find their ATSC 1 host (if they do pursue it).

For the most part, most everyone you see on-screen on a newscast has been vaccinated because they didn't want to broadcast from home or be distant on the set any longer, and already had their celebrations of such in April and May; I know of nobody in eastern Wisconsin who has left their station outside of the regular old reasons and openly shared when their teams were all past the inoculation period.

The hold-outs seem to be that side of broadcasting that think of it as a 'calling to God' and that they can somehow convert people reporting on a five-car accident or consumer reporting (the type that seem to pack a lot of 'news/talk' conservative radio station newsrooms), and think they're just that 'one big story' away from getting on Fox News or will personally oust Raymond Arroyo or Pat Robertson. Outside a few true exceptions where they cannot actually get the shot due to medical reasons, and along with the general public, they are few and far between, but can get the news on their side since they know the emotional tricks of doing so.

The after-SNL time period where I am used to be filled in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s with either It's Showtime at the Apollo, Soul Train, or on the comedic side, Night Stand with Dick Dietrich and America's Dumbest Criminals, and of course KING-TV had Almost Live forever, and it was always a fun topper to a late night.

Now...a local church called Time of Grace bought out every post-SNL timeslot in the area (and beyond) for their 'how do you do fellow kids' ministry. It's the perfect cure for insomnia.

The Saturday night newscast on an NBC affiliate in-season is usually a dirge. You lose five minutes of show you have the rest of the week because of SNL, governments are closed, the crime roll is shorter, and it's packed with stories where you basically have to get people out to go to festivals and funruns, and network/corporate must-runs, along with weekday junk you want to burn off ahoy. You also never have the rights to the local college football team in most cases since all NBC's got is Notre Dame, so outside WMAQ and WNDU, why care beyond the highlights? Most of the audience isn't even really watching because they're out or watching football at their local favorite bar. Outside of Notre Dame nights where you pray they don't go into overtime and Uncle Lorne rages in a press release Sunday morning about starting at 12:42 a.m., there's no excitement to them (except for the one time where that Kansas anchor said 'let's get the f**k outta here!').

I admit...I laughed quite a few times at this show, and I've laughed at Mike Polk's YouTube stuff often. It is a good alternative to the umpteen football games on (which for the area outside a couple of ABC weeks, never involves an Ohio team), and so WOIO wins the night; most of that audience from 48 Hours isn't in the demographic anyways. And when Pat Tomosulu did this on WGN in the exact same time period, it seemed to be fine, but suddenly it's a network affiliate and the death of the Fifth Estate?! (shakes head) I've seen much worse weekly local content, and better this than a 'bonus' edition of the midday advertorial show 'after dark'.

I'm really not liking that they now have their ticker in primetime. Morning I can understand; primetime is a white flag saying they could cover these other scrolling stories in detail, but they won't because they need to get Dog's tacky "Where in the World is Brian Launderie?" search more airtime (and that he's kept in touch with Nexstar despite his WGNA show being cancelled).

7 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

Do we have a thread/list of all the non-vaxers that Gray jettisoned yesterday? 10 pm anchor Tom Tucker (who was just hired last month) and right-wing commentator Chris Berg are gone from KVLY/Fargo

I wonder if that Tom Tucker (since he was in Palm Springs) inspired the same of the Family Guy news anchor . Also I understand privacy concerns and all that, but you'd have to think he's re-paying his contract because he held back he wasn't compliant with their policy coming in the door and they had to waste all that money promoting him and now are starting at square one after a month.

Meanwhile Chris Berg reading that 'back story'...insufferable Al Bundy/past glory vibes . I'm sure he won't be missed at Gray, and the radio industry thanks that company for being blunt with their policies so the immuno-compromised know they need not apply there.

8 minutes ago, H-Town TV Fan said:

Same is happening in Houston, TX, on KTXH My20Vision at Midnight and 1am, proven by a promo I saw today.

In that case, has to be to get a 'big number' for The Big Leap. Even though "La Brea" seems to be the bona-fide 'winner' of the always-shaky 'America's #1 Rated New Show' title in the first week of the season (and as usual it has Nickelback 'someone actually likes this?' Syndrome), Fox seems to want to add some spare viewers to the pilot cumulative number for The Big Leap. It helps that nobody no longer cares about fast nationals and more about the 1 week/3 week/month cume as a true mark of success.

On 9/23/2021 at 3:38 PM, CLETVFan said:

Wonder if WQHS will start investing in a local news department in reaction to WOIO and the new WCLT?

Nothing is going to change with any Univision station until the Televisa sale closes (if it does, of course). They also have coverage gaps in the market due to systems preferring the revenue the local breaks the national feed offers for them over WQHS carriage, so that would also have to be addressed.

Watching The National Desk in primetime for the first time; I think it'll take a bit to get used to the format, but things like having weathercasters in each region do the weather instead of just one guy is a unique feature, and it seems a lot more focused on basic news (with the caveat of Hunt Valley's interference) than NewsNation, which is starting to feel like HLN when they began to slip away towards 'big news only'.

And while we're here; Sinclair's out of the radio business with the Seattle stations officially sold off.