NowBergen

When did this administration care about laws and Congress? That is a contributor. This smells of a back room deal with the administration putting its finger on the scale like never before.

If the lawsuits are successful and the court rules Nexstar must divest all former Tegna stations (perhaps to a trust to be sold in a group or individually), then those markets would be included. Basically the ruling undoes the merger, regardless if any duopolois, or triopolies were created. If the ruling applies only to markets where Nexstar doesn't currently operate then they are lost, but I would think the issue is undo the merger, not be selective about it. But how the AGs and DirecTV proceed, will be telling. Their claim is not just the multiple station ownership in markets, but the size of Nexstar itself and how it can screw others including networks. First step is what modifications the AGs make in their suit, and the opening briefs. Nexstar will of course claim the lawsuits should be thrown out. Hopefully this won't be before trump loyal judges like Aileen Cannon.

With the UHF discount, they say Nexstar now covers 80%. Without it, considering it is outdated in the age of digital TV, alternative viewing, etc what is the actual coverage of Nexstar now? Close to 100? That is the reality. They may own the lowest rated non MyNetwork station in NY, but it still is a NY station (I'm disregarding the bullshit Mission ownership, its Nexstar as was claimed). One media company owning at least a station in almost every market, and owning 3 in many, seems like it really flies in the face of the spirit of the law. Worse, there are markets where all stations are either Nexstar or Sinclair (e.g. Providence), networks moved to sub channels, newsrooms closed, and now provide a singular pro regime voice. Carr also references the newspaper industry in his PR message, but let's be honest here. Both Gannett (actually Gatehouse Media) and Media News Group (Alden) have bought a majority of the country's newspapers. The number of reporters and other jobs lost as a result of this consolidation is unimaginable. Most are look a like papers, with 75% of the content the same, with just a little local news with the remaining reporters, obituaries, and slimmed down sports pages. That is not good for local journalism. It is now lacking (and in many cases, due to Gannett's decisions, is reported no sooner than 48 hours after an event/issue). That is also Nexstar and Sinclair's market with canned reports, must runs etc. None of that is good. And when you have an administration that lies and misdirects all the time, who will carry out the 1st amendment requirement to. hold government accountable? That is what Sook, Carr and trump have now impacted. One concern with a judgement that reverses the merge:, Tegna no longer exists. I'm sure Nexstar will work quickly (just like moving stations to sub channels) to dismantle the entire Tegna organization and infrastructure, and claim the merger can't be reversed. The other question: where is Sook getting the money for all this consolidation? If local TV isn't making money as he claims, then who is providing the loans, and is there a risk of defaulting just like radio group consolidators have? I can't believe ABC is happy right now. After the Sinclair sham in Providence moving ABC from 6.1 to 10.2 with no separate newscast (just anchoress run of stories seen on WJAR). And putting a Sinclair digipet on 6.1 with shows found all over cable today is a waste of space (albeit cheap). And Miami - how did ABC buy into this? Did they think WSVN would replace Fox? This will be even worse unless the networks make demands to be carried on primary stations unless another national network is already in place (not counting the waste of MyNetwork).

I have a very hard time believing the FCC and DOJ approvals on the same day as the lawsuits were filed is a coincidence. Seems extremely underhanded - or should I say a corrupt administration rewarding a broadcaster that bends the knee. The real losers are viewers who lose independent voices after newsrooms are closed and consolidated.

Essentially Rhule is going back to her old time slot before the expansion of Morning Joe. Hopefully the 8 am hour of Morning Joe is live, rather than mostly taped pieces from the first two hours and other features.

That was during the GE cost cutting era. Under Comcast, NBC has invested in many of their O&Os and there has been no talk of selling actual stations publicly. What Comcast and NBCU has done is sell sports networks and NECN that seemed to become a second thought that was outside their focus. They have also grown their Telemundo O&O presence. My DMA is (except for one station - still considered a flagship though owned by a sidecar) is all network O&OS and as mentioned probably safer from many of the changes facing local TV and affiliates.

WNYW does seem the least stable and inconsistent of the NY stations.

I don't see the other O&Os expanding to an hour at 11. The second half is their pay to play lifestyle show like NY Live. It is followed by NBC News whatever (the streaming feed) and a Deadline repeat. It does leave a 2 hour gap in the middle of the afternoon (AH live and Kelly Clarkson's hour) but I'm not sure another repackaged version of the news is the right move, especially if they end up with a full hour from 7-8 pm. We'll probably won't know the plans until late summer.

The Deadline article mentioned NBCU is the first to rip the band aid off, but won't be the last.

Haven’t on WNBC. All the rest. Previously at WPRI in Providence

There are other posts on Ch. 7 board too. He also worked for WCBS2, and prior to moving to NY to work for almost every station (WNBC and PIX are the exceptions) he was at WPRI in Providence where some of us first saw him. Because he worked at so many NY stations, perhaps all further posts should go into the main NY thread?

It is typical Sinclair cheapness. Not just that they are an ABC affiliate, but, a DC station with so much going on because of those in power in DC. Another example of how the two big trump positive station groups don't really support investment in real news.

That would be stupid to get rid of a highly recognized global brand.

Interesting. Early morning MSNOW coverage of trump's attack on Iran was with the Weekend (AM) crew. At 7, it was live Morning Joe with Joe, Mika, Willie and many of their premier commentators like Peter Baker (NYT) and Richard Haas, David Rhode and others. Good move by MSNOW mgt.

Didn't they report a loss today? I would assume the amount of debt to buy Tegna is going to make things worse. Plus the reduction in journalism at the bigger market stations. I just scratch my head how the merger is a good thing....

It all has to do with ownership (direct or indirect). Nexstar is doing this at many statins. They promise investment in news but this shows that is window dressing as to what actually happens. CBS issues under Skydance Paramount are well documented. Not to say WNBC and WABC are immune from budget cuts, but it's rare to see it have such a big impact as we see at WPIX and other Nexstar stations.

As Nexstar seeks approval to buy Tegna and disregard the caps, they claim they build news, yet these actions this week across most of Nexstar's big market stations (note in violation of FCC action, WPIX is not owned directly by Nexstar, but their sidecar Mission Broadcasting only to get around station caps) shows that their claims in their FCC application are false.

So much for Nexstar's claim that they invest in journalism. Yet over and over they reduce staff, close newsrooms, etc.

I watched for 5 minutes. That was about all I could take. O'Connell seemed way out of his element covering a hard news regional crisis. He actually seemed gobsmacked after the Gov. Sherrill interview. Luckily other network stations only carried the first half hour of the network morning shows before cutting back to local coverage.

With a major storm (12+ inches) now predicted through Monday morning and early afternoon, he may not even be at the WNYW studios, as the station will be in storm mess duty. I would expect his debut will be on Tuesday, assuming he is already in town.

Isn't Ashley Banfield, who spread the rumor of Savanah's brother in law being a suspect, and evidently may still be based on the not so cordial statement from the Pima County Sheriff today, also work for Nectar's NewsNation? Seems they keep contradicting their claims in their FCC application,.....

You are talking about Nexstar here. Despite claiming to the FCC they invest in news, expand news, the reality seems to be the opposite. Luckily there is no duopoly in NYC, because elsewhere they consolidate newsrooms, and eliminate news so not to compete with themselves.

Optimum and Spectrum ended their agreements. NY1 was removed from Optimum systems. News12 removed from Charter systems.

So this is Sinclair's new way of operating. Resulting in newsroom closures as well. Less local voices in the market. Nexstar has also done this in some markets. It shows the danger of Nexstar and Sinclair executing their own it all strategy. It's not about competition as they lied in their FCC docs, it's about control of the airwaves and messages. Yet the trump FCC will allow it, as they owners bend the knee. In the end we will have a less informed public, being forced fed how to think by these two companies.

My goodness, is that a mouthful of branding that probably means nothing to viewers. Whatever happened to keeping it simple!