nathannah

1 minute ago, Rusty Muck said:

The 18.1 placement really doesn't matter for anything but cable carriage. Not that it matters because LPTVs are excluded from must-carry rules.

And for Comcast homes, it's not even the position they care about the most; they'll probably promote wherever they land in the HD 430s tier instead, because they know outside those who still haven't been moved to streaming/Xumo boxes, very few watch SD channels at that position, outside of DVR space saving/'stubborn olds'. It may even just take channel 431 from WPLG and they'll have to move and switch channel positions in the 430-450 tier with another station (444 is blank so that's a possibility).

But on YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo or anything else, it'll be seamless for ABC viewers, including recordings, while WPLG likely end up with having to start all over, and will find itself having to negotiate their own carriage in the future.

On 9/11/2023 at 11:51 AM, nathannah said:

Official Disney PR.

 

They'll no longer carry a number of networks whose content was already on D+ and Hulu anyways, so put Freeform, FXX/FXM, Disney Junior/XD and Nat Geo Wild on deathwatch as far as other providers. In return, Spectrum customers will eventually get D+ and ESPN+ included in their subs and the ability to have an ESPN-free cable package.

And now two years later a new deal has been reached; all those networks are actually coming back to Spectrum, along with Hulu with ads access. 

I think we can easily see that Spectrum held out and Disney realized that fewer children watching their channels did make a difference in depressing their other properties, like Elio's box office performance last week; kids are not watching interviews with the adult voice actors on Good Morning America and certainly not The View (the only real prominent promotion I saw for the film). 

1 hour ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

TMJ4 meteorologist Brendan Johnson is being bumped up from weekend mornings to weekday morings.  He replaces Tyler Moore who is leaving.  Meteorologist Kristen Kirchaine is also leaving the team.  

That story is a very interesting way to spin away from the fact that they've just lost half their weather staff, and Tyler and Kristen felt so underappreciated (you can easily argue Kristen was doing so much more work/shifts than the actual chief, and Tyler basically ran the day shift all by himself), that they just gave up and looked for other opportunities. The days of Paul Joseph and John Malan keeping that station the market's gold standard are truly over.

30 minutes ago, Samantha said:

It's giving 1994, but unlike some attempts post-New World that responded to "how can we look like we care about non-local news" (WDAF, for instance, did this for all of 12 months shortly after New World), Miami is not Kansas City. If they produce this correctly, this could actually be a useful news product. That's a big if.

The thing I dread most is if this down the line just becomes a timeslot to dump 'viral video...but around the world' content rather than being made up of quality international news. The appetite for 'it was on TikTok and Storyful authenticated it, so it's news' content is wearing out very quickly (especially with AI making it much harder to verify), and most stations already dismiss world news because it either doesn't have video, it has no hook (South Korean parliament fights), or they want stories pre-edited by a wire so they don't have to translate anything.

It feels like they want to copy WSVN's 'around the world' format, but also keep WNT's style of anchoring, which just doesn't work without someone who handles it well like David Muir who somehow makes their 'happening now' vernacular work. I just don't think Louis Aguirre has that gravitas.

(and yeah, I remember those New World years where those stations had multi-screen 'satellite centers' and promoted 'the power of CNN'...then barely used them after awhile and once FTS took over, that focus and the CNN affiliations quickly evaporated.)

Just wanted to share this for the fans of long credit closes; it's 4th of July hiatus time for the show, so this morning's Kelly & Mark was a blended repeat of several interviews with the last segments cut (i.e. Fall Fitness Week or New Year/New You) when they were still in the old studio, but appropriately the first shot in this was of the view from atop Iger, so I thought I'd fit it in here since the network/WABC usually don't linger for long on skycam network shots. Plus we rarely get to hear the full show theme these days. Enjoy!

In case you were all wondering why the fast track to get CBS out of 1515, we know now; Paramount is trying to get out of the lease so Caesars can put a casino in the building.

The funny thing is that EWTN and the Vatican have a terrible relationship because of a lot of things, including EWTN's hate of Vatican II. If Rome could start its own American operation with EWTN's carriage, they would dump them in a heartbeat.

And sadly, 'Christian television' has become just a euphemism for 'right-wing' content; the local religious station in Milwaukee airs a lot of wingnut shows and full podcasts now, including the Worldview Report, which actually gets an audience as an 'alternative' to the local newscasts at 10 p.m. and The National Desk.

The Chevron strike-down has hit the FCC's decisions; by a 6-3 party-line vote today, the Supreme Court ruled that lower courts can now decide cases without FCC input (link from my employer with their view; here's another view from Broadband Breakfast).

This was about the FCC declaring that online junk faxes didn't need to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the case they ruled on now goes back to the 9th Circuit), and though I'm not law-versed by any means (and I would appreciate more clarity), this seems like a major shift for the FCC's rulemaking process well beyond telecoms where their word is now not exactly set in stone.

Also the WBKB deal to MMM was sorely needed as the news department basically had everyone who should just be behind the scenes writing, anchoring, newsgathering and doing tech work on-set. The staff was overwhelmed and the Sinclair deal, though certainly not the best, allows them to just focus on reporting news and send off the video to Traverse City to be edited into broadcasts. It has not been shut down, just pushed to a more manageable level for a market like Alpena. Same with WBUP/WBKP/WJMN. Any result there was better than either closing a station or just selling out to spectrum speculators like Innovate/HC2 whose 'commitment' to local service is basically 'does the antenna work and will we get paid to air FAST channel offal to nobody'.

KXGN doesn't have that burden now, and is basically a free agent. They could choose to be merged into their existing Scripps MTN network (the Cowles deal for news out of Spokane is just absurd), or decide to go closer and be merged into one of the three North Dakota networks, be it KX/Nextar, KFYR/Gray or Forum/KBMY.

On 6/16/2025 at 11:12 PM, TheRolyPoly said:

 

Nothing on social media either. Thankfully, there is a site called LinkedIn.

 

According to the site, she has indeed left FOX Weather and is now a Territory Manager (whatever that means) for a company called Esperion.

Which means she manages sales for a pharmaceutial company and goes around medical facilities selling physicians on their drugs (Wikipedia says they have a chloesterol drug). Probably a lot easier money and schedule for her.

17 minutes ago, sfomspphl said:

They've become more like the layout the Today show used for decades - news desk, NY centric. When Time Square started the two living room chairs were home base, and evolved to be a desk sometime before Charlie left.

Sadly, that's just time just getting away from the model that morning news, local and national, should just start your day with light fare and very short mention of the crime roll, including a softer theme. Once the Fox/Tribune morning news model became standard, the calm model has disappeared to get you out the door like a triple Red Bull shot (remember how their ESPN counterpart Get Up had the original slogan of 'get up, get sports, and get going'? Has not been that way for years), with the light themes all but gone and just as aggressive as they are at 6pm.

It was clear when Kimmel switched from a structured duratrans background to a full screen, along with ESPN's digital center that this would be the future for all set design; less physical pieces, more screens. But even though it was from my most loathed segment, I do love how it's possible to frame each screen in the background to make it feel fuller, and create space like seen below.

I do wonder if they would do a test week with This Week; the thing I like is that the set does have adaptability with the screens, which are much better and clearer (we have yet to see the D&S nightmare palate though that goes with that segment). And it also has 'election night HQ' all over it; just a much more open space overall.

And it looks like DeMarco and Eva are gone from GMA3. Bummer on that one. Expected it, but still wanted a few more weeks with them.

On 6/14/2025 at 12:22 PM, MorningNews said:

Shifting to content for a moment, the second hour of Saturday GMA was almost entirely an infomercial. It could be for any number of reasons especially with TSS production mostly stripped but I just don’t like that. 

Watched it on Hulu...call me old-school, but your news reporters shouldn't be literally changing clothes to do fitness segments on cheap fitness junk. There used to be a line between sales and news, and there still is! Just saw it last week in Milwaukee on WTMJ where the news side kicked The Morning Blend off the set before a court verdict during a commercial break, just threw the set stools somewhere and started news coverage!

I don't care if it's Saturday and 'low expectations' and it's 'only a half-hour', don't make reporting talent do informercial/secret sale segments!

It'll be nice to look at different colors besides yellow and blue (along with those awful digital backgrounds/optical illusion blocks of the last couple years), and I suspect despite this shot, the show will not base its entire design color on a 1997 Compaq Presario.

I do hope they keep using Ray (their mascot), and there's still a couple of corners to be seen in this design, so hopefully the presentation/interview area will look nice. At least now the weekend crew isn't stuck in the dungeon set and everything's in one building.

I'm crossing my fingers the studio is named for Charlie Gibson, not only because it's so deserved, but because having to hear the announcer say 'live from Hudson Square' every day when we barely see the exterior will get generic and dull real quick.

1 hour ago, 24994J said:

As an outsider, it makes them sound like an illegitimate source. Either call them by their brand, or just stick to the calls. Be professional.

Just noticed that the writer was a former KYW sports staffer (see the bio at the bottom), so that probably explains why they're a little testy about the station now. I'd just use 'channel 3' myself, but it's Philly media and you know how they can get.

7 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

The move from fully physical sets to video walls allows for more variation of looks and could be more cost-effective in the long run.  And they give a sense of realism as opposed to a truly virtual setup with chroma keying.

Apologies for hijacking this post, but @bennettmonk, please stop with your irritating reactions; there was nothing funny about this post. You make no comments here. I don't know how else to bring sunlight to this, but these inappropriate reactions must stop, and I have all interactions with them blocked, but for some reason, their reactions cannot be blocked from view no matter what I try, and it's needless notification junk/noise if you're never going to do more than react and not contribute.

17 hours ago, 24994J said:

 

Doing well or not, the series is still happening. The first concert will close the Times Square studio.

That one is actually scheduled for tomorrow rather than Friday, but the rest are Friday concerts.

16 minutes ago, ColtFromGulfcoast said:

Looks like ABC is taking notes from 20th's former cousin in the news space.  

 

 

Please don't attack me. I had to say it. 

You're not wrong; outside of political news ABC's enterprise and investigative journalism has gone down the tubes for true crime sleaziness and 'feel-good' stories which end up not being that (people having to pay lunch debt for instance, a thing that should not exist). A news organization shouldn't be doing trial re-enactments with paid actors like they're doing now with the Sean Combs trial; that's stuff for People and Court TV to do.

Looks like Comcast wanted exclusivity for carrying CHSN; outside non-Comcast markets like Iowa, Indy and Milwaukee, CHSN is being taken off OTA as of Monday, including WJYS.

As if this cursed deal and the people around it aren't enough chaos already, Shari Redstone has thyroid cancer, so once again it's another Viacom/CBS/Paramount deal where a Redstone's health is throwing a wrench into the works.

I hope she gets well, but I'm sorry about what they're doing to your baby, Bill Paley.

The source for the above is the Daily Mail and they have no idea what they (or the anonymous source) are talking about. There's a good reason nobody usually uses a Yahoo News syndication article that's from a pink slime SEO operation. 

Also Hulu/Disney+ and Peacock have all-in marketing where everything is always marketed as being on them clearly with full-throated spending and development, while Paramount+ is still stuck on CBS All Access's tech stack and has severe underinvestment as PG cuts to the bone. Sony cooperates well with Disney already, while Peacock has been open to content from other sources.

The big thing to note here is if ratings go down OTA, especially as subscribers are able to watch shows ad-free if they have that plan. The tie-in advertisers will be just fine, but the local advertisers (which have declined to an absurd number of home remodeling services and 'we do it all [not well but we do it all!] HVAC/pluming/electric' contractors, some of which whom have farmed out ads to AI) will lose a lot of eyeballs, along with any local news promos.

But after last year's never-ending mudslinging fest with campaign ads, both services now can focus on advertising their ad-free tier as free of them, and though you'll still have the diehards that will DVR or VHS the shows, this deal will end a lot of 'where can I watch this' questions if the shows are pre-empted, just like those who watch Days of Our Lives now have a show that no breaking news will ever pre-empt.

I wish I could say I was shocked but as I've said for years, without the SEC and with CBS becoming what Moonves feared would happen under Viacom's rule, Gray wasn't going to keep paying them for a third-place product at major-market prices. They get a clean slate and now it's all CBS's problem. Like I was saying on the After Midnight thread, replacing it with Byron Allen repeats won't cause affiliates to dump the network, but underinvestment across the board and settling 'that lawsuit' and intefering with news judgement certainly doesn't help. These groups are not willing to pay for content like formless reality shows and Hollywood Squares that only a decade ago were full-on MTV2 and VH1 product.

55 minutes ago, Howard Beale said:

The loss?  Gray is doubling down on a format that is losing viewers and revenue.  Unless you’re a baby boomer who takes the prescription medicine advertised on the commercials during the evening news, you’re probably not watching local TV.  WANF’s ratings are also a distant third or fourth place.  Few people are watching.  It’s been that way ever since Meredith ran and mismanaged the station.  No amount of “more local news” and “more local sports programming” will change that.

This was where WSVN was on January 1, 1989 and I feel like this is a similar situation, where the network felt no loyalty and was happy to let them go their own way, and it really didn't work out well for CBS, which is de facto irrelevant in Miami. It's never felt like they cared any way or the other for WANF.

And yes, we're in an unknown, but TV has adjusted before. Gray has the Braves and the Hawks will eventually come to their own crossroads with FanDuel, and who knows what happens with United and Apple TV; they could offer more games from them, and I feel like in a few years if they keep on this track, they could be at parity with WSB news-wise.

Meanwhile, WUPA is just...nothing. It has call letters from a network that died twenty years ago, a lousy lineup and all of its news product has been worse than if they did nothing at all. I don't think they're going to invest a lot in Atlanta; maybe ramping up their sports coverage as the Falcons official station (speaking of cursed entities), but they'll probably do enough to look relevant and not much more than that.

1 hour ago, Rusty Muck said:

They're all Gray's to lose. KVOA can be a subchannel of KOLD, WJRT can be a subchannel of WNEM and the OW stations can be rumps of WSAW and WMTV. It's a perfect test case for the NAB begging for full dereg, especially with how much Byron completely destroyed the viability of each and every one of those stations.

Gray just got their calls for the former WYOW allocation in WNWE, so it's very much possible all of the moves of the last seven years around Wausau will lead to a flat circle and them becoming an ABC affiliate again as a new license, though with it as a sub in Wausau proper.

As for WJRT, I could see Sinclair putting WSMH in the Rincon scrapheap and trying to buy them, though honestly a Weigel purchase with WJRT carrying most of their services as subs isn't far-fetched either as they have a good ABC relationship with WBND.

If they made new episodes, that's one thing. But after last night's chintzy American Music Awards (which didn't even give out half the awards because their producer was too cheap to pay for a third hour) and just how cheap they are now and how much Shari and everyone else just want to get the deal done so they can get their money and leave?

Do we even see CBS try to fight to keep the NFL after 2029? Keeping an hour of late night just for repeats is a great way of flipping the bird at your affiliate base and making it easier for them to justify ending affiliations. At this point, their strategy seems to be spending as little as possible to justify remaining in the Big Three.