east-tx-tv

So far, no one (KXAS, WFAA, KTVT) has announced any plans to expand their morning shows to 4am; they all seem content for now, starting at 4:30am. I know why, but IMO, a 6-hour morning show is just overkill, really.

3pm news?!? At this rate, Houston (and likely DFW eventually) won't have to wait much longer for a 24-hour or all-day local news source.

One website? I've not seen or heard of one before. You get scattered reports from industry mags, local papers, and blogs, but it's very likely that's as much as you can hope for, for now. Especially since a certain firm named Nielsen likes to be tight-fisted with their data.

I wonder what Nexstar could do with KDAF, after their mixed approach to news up to now--and Nexstar (strangely) never having owned a station in its own area before.

Well, now, 'never' is a long time, but likely in some ways, you're right. Other than not having a general-purpose alternate like NY1 or the new Spectrum L.A. news channel, DFW does fair-to-pretty good with quality and availability of news. There should be more than the big 4 English-language/big 2 Spanish-language for news in north TX (including a WPIX/WGN/KTLA-quality CW station), but still... For DFW to not have any more than it does, you still see veteran anchors/reporters moving up the food chain to the networks from there.

It's too bad, but 4 1/2 years is a long time for a news & local show on a diginet-subchannel. Most news in the DFW area that was made for (or repeated on) an indie or subchannel there hasn't lasted very long.

He does pretty well with Pyramid, but on interviews, ehhh, not so much.

OK, you whippersnappers... try halfway through 53. You'll be wanting that 20 or 30 back, I'm sure.

Wow, not pompous or full of himself at all. Sounds like Jason is really down to earth. He would be deserving of the chair (if they let him sit ); at least he wouldn't be one of the new crop of no-name who's-that talking heads that are coming along at some stations.....

Well, at least you don't look like your avatar.... right?

Wow, amazing. A station actually *welcoming* a news veteran, and not trying to shove him out the door (rocking chair optional).... Congrats Mr. Bibb. Cleveland is lucky and fortunate to have you.

Evans retired in 1993 so it was beforehand. I didn't realize he'd been at Ch.4 that long. Sad to lose someone like him, but he had a long career, and retired on his own terms (especially without someone higher up telling him he's too old/long in the the tooth/overpaid, like what is likely happening now).

I wonder how far into other markets Start TV will get, especially those with little to no room for more diginets, and/or those affected by repacking.

Some switches *still* have some unsettled dust (Detroit and Atlanta among them). Some affected markets turned out better than others in that regard. You hear stories later on of stations that _could have_ switched and didn't but were approached about it, like KXAS was by CBS during the mid-1990s big switches. Even though there have been national ratings wins over the years by both CBS and NBC, KXAS was better off not to switch. There is something to be said for stability.

Hard to believe Tim is at a "retirement" age. He sure looked young when he did weather in DFW. Good luck to him... hope he finds something fulfilling.

I can see having 2 if there's a special/severe situation, but in regular plain-vanilla weather days, the #2 would have to do something else (a-la Samantha on KXAS) like swap out every other weather segment, or one be there while the other gets a swig of something or goes to the bathroom.

The 4am start is one thing, but the additional hour to 10am is probably a bit much. Since Kelly & Ryan will move to 10am, it will be interesting to see what KDFW does at 11am. Wendy? The Real? I guess Uncle Barky didn't know that one yet.

Hanna Battah, most recently in Bakersfield at KBAK/KBFX, has been snagged by KDFW to anchor their Saturday/Sunday Good Day newscasts. She starts June 11. http://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/article211737604.html

The way those build-ups were, I figured the station would have them doing the whole newscast. Oh well.

These posts make me think about who could "reunite" in the north TX market. The group that goes back the farthest that's all still "with us", would have to be WFAA's Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson, Troy Dungan, and Verne Lundquist. I very highly doubt that WFAA would do that kind of thing next year (their 70th), especially since they feel that Tracy Rowlett's departure was a salt-in-the-wound moment. The other stations don't have any group that goes that far back or more without someone who's passed on. So, cheers to WBZ!

I wondered if the DFW market would see 4a starts or if they would be steadfast at 4:30a. I have noticed that rush hour traffic does start picking up between 4:30a and 5a. But why change starting on a Wednesday?? Hard to believe it's been nearly 8 years since KDFW led the way to 4:30a.

I'd been hearing lately on KRLD several of the weather reports coming from KXAS' meteorologists instead of from KTVT, as well as a recent news report that came from a KXAS reporter. Too bad, but I guess it was somebody's business decision. The KTVT tie-in didn't seem like one that needed to go, but I guess having KXAS as a next choice will work out also.

Huh? A Sinclair station that's 'united' *and* is part of a 'healthy dialogue'?? Amazing.

I wonder if this news will do any better in the ratings than the KTXA newscasts did.

According to the article, $650 million.