JRyan

Although not directly related (as of now), Sinclair's current music/graphics are getting up there in age. Perhaps Sinclair decides to move forward with Scripps' new music/graphics and expand it to other legacy Sinclair stations if they actually manage to pull off a Scripps takeover. On a different note, last time I checked Sinclair is not in the best financial shape either - which makes this situation even more bizarre.

Very hard to tell at this early stage if this deal can even be done. There was a time until very recently that I would've considered a deal like this to not only be impossible but also a downgrade for Scripps' stations. Honestly, I'm at a point that this may be marginally a good thing for the majority of the remaining Scripps' stations. While "Scrippscasting" may have been an attempt at cutting costs, it has done far more harm with watering down newscast quality and making it nearly unwatchable. Whatever Scripps had as being a premium brand has all but been thrown down the toilet by corporate consultants. It's been very sad to watch but also undeniable. I am concerned for certain markets, especially in Nashville where Sinclair already has a significant presence. I'm sure Sinclair has its own intentions with cutting costs (i.e. merging adjacent market newscasts). But Gray and Allen are also guilty of the same thing to varying degrees. I'd rather watch a newscast produced live to air with decent attempts made at covering stories of local interest. If this deal were to materialize, I hope the first order of business by Sinclair is to rescind the Scrippscasting model and put live news back where it belongs. One thing I'll add is I do see this as a downgrade for WFTS in Tampa Bay. That has been the one station that hasn't been significantly harmed by Scripps overtime. I'm not so sure that Sinclair will continue to steward WFTS as Scripps has done there.

Interesting move that they decided to keep the existing theme music for MS NOW Reports. The music still works, although I'm wondering if they might intend to swap that out later on. Keeping the music for now certainly helps for continuity sake.

To be fair, it was NBC that decided to brand as NBC10 Boston because of their position on cable. I doubt most people would get the two stations confused with one another. WJAR has historical precedent as well as having an actual full power license of its own. The only reason WBTS has full power coverage is because they have a channel share agreement with WGBX. But, knowing Sinclair, nothing would surprise me concerning moving feeds around between stations in a single market.

Bungled would be an understatement. Surely Sinclair could at the very least remap 3.2 as 15.1 to minimize confusion - at least as far as over the air viewers are concerned. Having 15.1 continue as something else while continuing to brand the NBC feed as NBC15 does nothing but further confuse viewers.

I absolutely did not see this one coming. But with NBCUniversal's forthcoming spin off of what is to be called Versant, I almost question whether that was Comcast clearing its balance sheets to make room for something such as this. I'm also curious to know how this would impact ITN and Sky News' newsgathering and production operations. I hope the two are allowed to remain separate but time will tell if this deal actually materializes.

Not one but two anchors at WTVF are leaving the station. Ben Hill and Rebecca Schleicher are both leaving effective November 14th. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2025/11/03/ben-hill-rebecca-schleicher-say-goodbye-newschannel-5-morning-show/87062379007/

I like the new KTUU logo though I'm hoping that the '2' will appear in white font instead as negative space. The Alaska News Source logo - objective speaking - looks decent as well. I feel they need to commit to one brand or the other. The Channel 2 brand, in my opinion, would be the stronger of the two. But I'll take these two logos any day over anything involving 'FIRST ALERT'.

Australia After launching the newscast in June, Australia's Network Ten is cutting 10 News+ down from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. This article claims it is in the wake of low viewership. However it is worth noting that the timing coincides with the ongoing cuts within parent company Paramount and its American counterpart CBS. https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/network-tens-the-project-replacement-10-news-trimmed-from-hourlong-runtime-to-30minute-slot-amid-poor-ratings/news-story/35ef4bfca4678d0933b9a9b66c41c074

Honestly, if that ends up as the plan, then they should cancel the Saturday program if they won't offer anything original to watch. If people want to re-watch stuff from the week, there's YouTube and the CBS website they can go to.

The reality is all news organizations have a bias - whether they are conscious of it or not, deliberate or incidental. Behind the scenes every advertisement ran during their timeslot opens the potential for outside corporate influence - not unique to CBS but it applies across the industry. The question is whether such an organization is transparent about any bias/influence and to what degree. Jim Lehrer's philosophy regarding journalism is likely the closest to perfect that I'm aware of. His list of journalistic standards are very good as a whole, though my favorite is this: "Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story." The news organizations of today - and especially CBS - could learn a lot from his example.

I liked the KCAL News brand. It was a bit jarring at first when they switched to KCAL branding full time, but I've grown to really like it. But the eventual name change to CBS News Los Angeles was probably inevitable.

The 2012 set just looked more...grounded and authoritative - yet inviting and authentic. The new set does look okay on the air. But I don't see this new set lasting more than a couple of years (and that might be generous) without more changes.

To be fair, it matches the Scrippscast format corporate is eager to push.

KNLC's sole local presence is literally its transmitter site in House Springs. Historically, they were located on Locust Street in downtown St Louis but Weigel lists its Chicago address for FCC studio address purposes. I doubt Weigel would be much interested in acquiring a studio and investing in a build out of such a facility.

Honestly I wish CBS kept the old studio 57 set from the CBS This Morning era and just enhanced that. I never quite understood why they felt the need to overhaul that. This design isn't bad though. Not sure how I feel about the "semi-virtual" look as the backdrop.

Graphics are decent - overall it's a bit better than my initial impressions when we first saw this iteration of the graphics start to roll out. Hopefully the latest Strive music updates will grow on me, but I far prefer the original 2012 cuts and especially the 2017 update cuts.

Here's the thing that bothers me about this story. I frankly do not think that Jimmy Kimmel should be fired (or at least, as yet, suspended) from ABC. For those who claim a First Amendment violation occurred in this case, that applies in the context of government interference. Which would then beg the question of whether the FCC directly or indirectly caused Jimmy Kimmel to be suspended. As noted in the attached video clip from YouTube, a ABC reporter (in a news report on Good Morning America) implied that it was the decision of Brendan Carr to suspend Jimmy Kimmel. FCC chairman Brendan Carr went on podcaster Dana Loesch's program and unequivocally denied that claim not once but twice when the question was put to him. Link to both of the aforementioned: here. The strongest case that could be made at this point is not FCC interference but rather Nexstar and Sinclair deciding to violate their contracts. I do not represent what those contracts say specifically and whether they can exercise a right to pre-empt. I've heard antidotally that Nexstar and Sinclair stations were having complaints levied toward them by viewers after his comments. At the end of the day, Nexstar and Sinclair (like any private broadcasting business) are largely modeled and funded on selling advertisements and if those people are complaining/threatening to pull their ad revenue, then you take the course of action that is necessary. I won't link it but it is being widely reported (particularly by CNN) that Jimmy Kimmel was planning to "double down" on his statements instead of apologizing. Whether or not an apology is necessary is besides the point as that is subjective and generally each political camp will respond different to that. But the fact is that ABC was not okay with him "doubling down" and, apparently, that was the final catalyst for ABC to sideline Kimmel. I don't deny that Sinclair skewing right of center and Nexstar's proposed merger with Tegna may have been contributing factors in each of them deciding to pre-empt (notably they decided that before ABC itself sidelined Kimmel). I just don't know as to what of those, if any, factored in. But I can say with confidence is that this ultimately came down to a business decision by ABC due to significant headwinds by their broadcasting partners (Nexstar and Sinclair) if they did not.

It shouldn't matter where someone stands politically. It is simply unacceptable that a commentator would use subjective and negative phrases to describe the deceased, especially when he was shot just minutes prior. He could have reserved that language for another time and it wouldn't have been so controversial. But the fact he did not showed poor judgement and the network ultimately acted appropriately in its response to it.

The FCC is "modernizing" its rules due to changes in the economy and viewer trends. The old saying still rings true "adapt or die." The industry is recognizing this. I would hardly call the incumbent FCC leadership political hacks because of this. Change was going to come regardless of who happens to sit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You can call it political but the same could be said for any administration. Back to Scripps, although they did give WFTX a new set fairly recently, the station is severely neglected. To see them divested is not a surprise to me. We will see what happens regarding its news department. Perhaps Sun Broadcasting has other plans that is best discussed on a speculation forum. Although it could go that way, I don't think it's 100% certainty that this is the end of its own news dept. I'll say that much.

If Nexstar actually tried to buy CBS, anti-trust laws would potentially come into play. I don’t see that happening in the near term if ever. I doubt that whoever made that graphic at WJZY had any special insider knowledge. It’s a poor interpretation of the corporate press release that was turned into a hastily prepared graphic. In my view, they read too much into the announcement. The official announcement is just an initial one. They should have said that Nexstar, WJZY’s parent company, has agreed to buy Tegna, which is WCNC’s parent company. And they should’ve left it at that. Anything more outside direct quotes is adding to the language of the actual announcement. I’m sure we will hear more in the coming weeks and months as to the exact scope of how this transaction will happen. The chances are high that Nexstar will need to divest some stations to get this through. Just because the rules may be adapted or relaxed, it does not mean that rule-making and laws go away. And it’s a maybe on rules changing, not a guarantee currently.

Respectfully, what does CBS' decisions on programming have anything to do with Nexstar and Tegna merging? But the day Tegna would sell was nearly inevitable for a number of years by this point. They just don't have the scale in today's economy to survive as a standalone company and operate as a large player. Nexstar would be wise to divest stations in bigger markets especially. I'm personally very concerned about Knoxville, Charlotte, and Denver. Despite the apparent lack of language in the announcement, I suspect Nexstar will need to divest some stations. And certain aspects of the current rules literally require an act of Congress to change. I don't quite see this as a done deal, but time will tell.

Many viewers have moved to Tampa Bay since they have been known as ABC Action News and will not associate the new name to the old one from the 90s. You would think they would mount an ad campaign and give viewers some time to adjust in the lead-up to such a change. This will take some getting used to.

I say give WPLG a chance with its World News broadcast. I appreciate that they didn't just throw in a syndicated show or another standard newscast - which they certainly could've chosen to do instead. The fact a local station is making an attempt at a broadcast like that to begin with deserves a chance. Personally I believe there is an audience that wants an alternative to what the networks currently offer at 6:30 but still having a national/international focus. Also, their World News show has only been on the air one day so far. With time I'm sure they will refine it and make any necessary changes to improve on a solid idea. Branding wise, I personally think the music needs to be changed out. Graphics are very solid however.