ScottJ

The station groups are all for-profit companies. Assuming they're not engaging in monopolistic practices, there is no reason for the government to step in and create unnecessary rules to lower those profits. It is a free marketplace the broadcasters can charge what the providers will pay for the stations. The providers haven't done enough to keep retransmission fees low. The government shouldn't do it for them. If they try that, broadcasters would probably sue and would probably have a strong case

Cox and AT&T have reached a new agreement, and the CMG stations are back on AT&T's platforms. https://www.whio.com/news/local/whio-tv-is-back-attdirectv-ahead-big-game/CDRWXSP74BCJNNDMPY2FHC66AE/

It's premature to say it's it's confirmed that he'll be gone at the end of the year. This is his exact quote: "So, as a result, I am going to stay and finish my current contract — which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I do expect to move on." Saying he expects to move on isn't the same as saying he will move on. Is it likely? Seems like it, but he does appear to be leaving some wiggle room to stay on longer if he decides to.

Which would take away most of the owner's leverage in negotiations, which is why it won't happen short of the FCC regulating such a thing in markets where one company has a monopoly on the major affiliates.

All of these carriage disputes are money grabs by the stations and/or providers. All these companies care about are their bottom lines. Nobody is moving the Super Bowl off of any CBS affiliates, which would violate affiliation agreements. Even if it didn't, there's no need to. The dispute involves one provider, Cox's CBS affiliates are still available OTA (to those who receive the signal) and other providers. It'll also be available to stream for free online. And if someone misses the game because DirecTV is their only option to receive their local Cox-owned CBS affiliate, it won't be the end of the world. I'm sure this wouldn't be the first time people missed the Super Bowl because of a dispute and it probably won't be the last. Those people will live despite not watching the game.

I was thinking about that today. The RSNs were first rebranded as Fox Sports Net on 11/1/96. So the networks used the Fox Sports/FSN branding for just shy of a quarter-century. An entire generation of viewers know the networks as only that, having never experienced the SportsChannel/Prime Network brands that preceded FSN. Once the rebrand officially happens it really will be the end of an era in sports television.

Which makes sense. I'm sure Bally's wants its name front and center in the logos and to stand out from the rest of the words since the company is paying for the naming rights.

It's already been announced. Here's the release from Sinclair/Bally's.

CNN is shutting down its airport network because people don't pay attention to it. Many airports offer free Wi-Fi now so travelers are watching what they want on their devices. I imagine the days of an airport news network like that are over. People have other entertainment options that they didn't have before, and the idea of such is a network seems obsolete now.

Bill Lambdin, who spent most of his 41-year career as a reporter for WNYT in Albany, died from cardiac arrest yesterday at age 69. According to the linked obituary, he "was said to have covered more stories for [WNYT] than any reporter in its history." He worked at WNYT from 1980 until he retired in 2014. Here's a (short) story from the station reporting on his death.

Just weeks after Jim Kambrich retired, WNYT is losing its 11pm female anchor. Karen Tararache's last newscast is January 8. She is returning to Spectrum News to work behind-the-scenes as a senior managing editor.

I agree that it's not necessarily a good fit, but it makes sense because FBN and CNBC rarely have live programming on the weekends so it's easier to pre-empt the repeats/infomercials they air (which probably don't get many viewers) than whatever their sister networks are airing.

The Fiesta Bowl on January 2 is Mike Golic's final assignment with ESPN.

I highly doubt it. Politicians send those types of letters to make their constituents think they're trying to end the dispute, but I doubt they do actually do anything. It's mainly just for show.

Comcast and Hearst have reached a new retrans deal covering the entire group, including the out-of-market stations that were scheduled to be dropped later this month. Those stations will remain on Comcast systems in the affected markets.

It's to make it easier for people watching on mobile devices to be able to read the graphics better. Smaller screens need bigger graphics.

But those are separate disputes. The FCC does not allow station groups to include stations they don't own in retransmission negotiations, even if they operate the stations through sharing agreements. So Nexstar can't include the sidecars in their negotiations.

On Jim's last day at WNYT, reporter Mark Mulholland confirms he will slide into Jim's chair on the 5 and 6pm newscasts. I haven't seen information about who will take over the 11.

ATTSN Pittsburgh is back on Fios as of yesterday. The sides have agreed to a "long-term deal."

There are much more important things to worry about than Sinclair, net neutrality being top of the list IMO.

I love how you just write stuff like that without anything to back it up. According to the lawsuit he filed against AT&T, DirecTV stopped paying retransmission fees as soon as Circle City bought the stations. If true, wanting to get the money the previous owner got for the same stations seems like being a good businessman to me, not "a greedy idiot."

Jim Kambrich is retiring after 41 years in broadcasting, the last 26 years at WNYT; December 4 will be his last day at the station. His wife started a new job in NYC in July and has been going back and forth between there and the Albany area since, so they will be moving to NYC full-time. Here's the video of his announcement via WNYT's Facebook page.

I also haven't seen it on Fire TV as of the last time I checked a couple days ago. It must be a slow rollout.

How was it a "big mistake" for the Royals to re-sign with FSKC? The team still gets paid its rights fees, even when providers drop the network. It's Sinclair and the rest of the ownership group taking all the risk regarding carriage. As for the Royals having their own RSN, been there done that. It lasted four years before going dark and signing with FSKC.

Just came across this video when going down a '90s WVIT rabbit hole on YouTube. Was going to post it here but I see I don't have to. I was shocked to see this totally random newscast today. The townhouse fire at the end of the clip was in the complex my family lived in at the time, we were two townhouses down from the one that caught fire. And that's my dad who Tom Monahan asked if the neighbor was a smoker. I remember that from when it aired back then, but I definitely wasn't expecting to see that clip on YouTube almost 23 years later. Pretty cool.