Greggo

Ever since Emily Barr left, the new leadership seems determined to torch these stations. KSAT was absolutely obliterated by the buyouts. Now the local media reporter is claiming KPRC parted ways with its morning traffic anchor … and doesn’t plan to replace her?!? How do you do news in Houston and not have a morning traffic anchor and be taken seriously? (Again, assuming the report is right …) And don’t get me started on that horrid set KPRC installed that was overseen by the ND who left just a few months after it debuted.

ARC has expanded to Beaumont too. 8am and 10am on KBTV. Weird to be have an hour-long gap, but they pull in “Daytime” from sister station KABB in San Antonio live during the 9am hour.

Looks like they tacked on a 4-430am newscast, too. Or has that been around for a bit? Bringing the 3pm back only for elections is ridiculous. Make a decision … are you going syndie or are you going local? Also … WSB is airing Judy Justice at 1 in the morning?!? No one else in the market wanted to pick that up? What a waste.

Wow! Didn’t see this one coming: KPRC/Houston is canceling its 10a newscast after less than a year. The Drew Barrymore Show, which has been airing at 3a on Nexstar’s KIAH, takes over the KPRC 10a slot as soon as the Olympics end in 2-ish weeks. https://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2024/07/kprc-2-replaces-10am-news-with-drew.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1jyb61wnrmGLopO8_mw9g9zM_nnKc9uVcjIlj7866SHhG8KU_xCoNBsuc_aem_4uxUJF846hSOEl9FEtULQg

Nexstar owns KXAN and WGN, where there‘s now an opening for another meteorologist since Tom left and Demetrius got bumped to nights from the midday shift. Maybe there?

Their story says he’s going somewhere with “very different weather,” which would seem to indicate a station in the Northeast.

Shocked they’re being her back. That was a high-profile, well-covered DWI with shocking video. Stations have dumped talent arrested for DWIs far less severe.

“The Cube” (angled video wall) and the 9-monitor array next to it are both recycled from the last set. This was done on the cheap.

COMPLETELY underwhelmed. This took 2.5 months? Did Graham do this in house? The 10a show has a unique format and is heavy on in-studio interviews so I assume we will see an interview set in the morning.

2.5 months after they moved to a temporary set right after Thanksgiving and almost an entire month past their previously stated debut target of 1/15, they are set to finally debut this thing on Monday. Main anchor Daniella Guzman posted the news on Facebook this afternoon. The set is apparently “sleek” and “cool” with huge screens that require lots of standing and walking. All her words, not mine. She has a cheesy, totally staged — but kinda cute — teaser post on her Facebook page that only shows the new studio’s green screen, nothing more, in case anyone wants to check it out. https://www.facebook.com/KPRC2Daniella

Compare this to the garbage set they gave KEYE in Austin … wow. Amazing difference.

What’s going on at Sinclair’s KUTV in SLC? They’re a rare highly-rated Sinclair station, have a nice downtown window-front studio, newscasts that don’t look small-market, etc., etc. … and yet they’ve lost several on-air folks. Now the ND is fleeing too, heading to WRAL.

Doesn’t look like it’s happening today after all. It’s a holiday — MLK Day — and there’s breaking news with the wintry weather. Maybe later in the week?

Boston 25 doesn’t tape their late news, do they? The morning and 5 opens say LIVE; the 10 open says NOW. Maybe it’s just an inconsistency…

One of their reporters posted this sneak peak on social media yesterday to mark KPRC’s 75th birthday. I realize it’s not done yet, but it’s kinda … underwhelming. Too much gray. As of now, at least, it’s a big step down from the not-very-old set it’ll be replacing. Also … based upon the multiple boxes, please tell me they’re not really ordering some set pieces from Amazon?!?

As you can see from the FB post below, KPRC moved its newscasts to the newsroom beginning today at noon while a new set is being built. It looks pretty cramped, but the newsroom provides a decent backdrop. Curious to see what’s in the works. Their current set debuted in 2016 when the station moved into its new building and has held up really well, with no significant signs of wear. One issue they have had recently is that their livestreaming show from 7a-10a has a unique format and often has kinda funky setups. Same goes for the new 10a newscast. They do a super-tight shot of the anchors for that show that shows almost none of the desk and stick a small, lucite table between the anchors. For interviews, they often put stools in front of the 3x3 video wall instead of using the designated interview area. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02WRZX3xqu12Nx16Jou75o4DPMWQibfVM5sYR7vqA9BB8ZTXtuDf2L2bfGqb7jApKyl&id=100058222113278

This Tulsa setup is clearly a test by a very desperate Sinclair. If they’re willing to torpedo a newsroom in a market that size, the sky’s the limit for them. They’ve obviously done the math and know that, even with lower ratings, they’ll come out ahead due to the cost savings from shedding all those salaries. I could totally see them doing something similar in Austin, for example, where KEYE has been in the cellar forever, moving production an hour south on I-35 to the WOAI/KABB studios in San Antonio.

They’ve got a duopoly in Houston too. KTBU airs a straight feed of Tegna’s Quest, which used to be on a KHOU (CBS) subchannel. (KTBU has aired MLS games.) A total waste of the airwaves, especially when there are a lot of syndicated shows — shows that would have higher viewership — that either aren’t shown at all in the market or are slotted overnight. No one airs Seinfeld, for example. And Court Cam, Funny You Should Ask (2x) and iCrime are relegated to 2a-4a on KPRC (NBC).

Gray’s KOSA in Midland/Odessa has been using this First Alert News branding for a bit now. They are the. No. 1 station so not really clear why they felt it necessary to rebrand. It’s super clunky and cheesy. Leave it for weather, not for news.

Another site — Radio Insight — is reporting that Scripps fired all its GMs today, replacing them with regional VPs overseeing clusters of 6-8 markets. Any Scripps insiders who can verify or offer more info?

What is the newsroom “structure” FTV is talking about when he teases small-market newscasts without anchors?

Why in the world would she go from Seattle to El Paso? Yes … I realize she will be the main anchor, but still …

Competitor KTVT gave up on that timeslot during the early days of coronavirus. And earlier this year, KPRC/Houston killed their 4:30a newscast allegedly due to a producer shortage. They’re also now airing 2 Early Todays. Not aware of any others, although I’m sure there are some more. In both markets you still have the Fox O&O starting at 4a though.

KPRC/Houston has added a third hour to its Saturday morning news: 6-7, 8-9 and now 9-10 as of this past weekend. Also, they will be replacing Dr. Phil at 3 p.m. with a 3 p.m. newscast this fall. These on-air additions — plus recently expanding their morning online stream from 7-8 a.m. to 7-9 a.m. — are all happening after they canceled their 4:30 a.m. newscast earlier this year over what they alleged at the time was a shortage of hiring and keeping producers.

KTRK doesn’t do morning traffic?!?