TheSpeedKing

On 6/13/2022 at 7:43 PM, sanewsguy said:

Tim Dadabo. I completely agree that he’s awful.

 

Rey did indeed design this.

Why the actual heck would you cheap out on a VO when you know you'd be better off not hiring one? 

Also, this is Rey's work? What? I just thought of it as an in-house Hothaus/Gray ripoff cobbled with existing Linear Drift graphics they could get for free. Woof.

On 6/12/2022 at 3:16 AM, 24994J said:

First weekend with the new look, and Phil Schwarz hasn't screwed up the logos...yet. I've gotten to know him, over the years, and I enjoy his work, but the logo and font distortion always puzzled me. He had to know that it wasn't right.

 

Indeed quite a massive upgrade, though if I had a thing to nitpick on, I wish those gradients would be smaller then they are here. Otherwise, it's looking great, and hoping for NS2K+'s return!

On 6/11/2022 at 12:25 PM, ATLNewsExpert said:

Why the hell does anyone seem to like this on YT? This is just TOO busy and inconsistent, even the lower thirds are hard to look at and don't get me started on the intro! Trust me I like 3D news opens these days but this is NOT how you do it! Who approved this and Areil, KHNL is the only station that it works with!

WBNS: "Am I a joke to you?" 

But yes, I concur. I suspect this is an in-house pack given all these unnecessary extras. This could quite be the worst in-house job a Nexstar station has done.

7 minutes ago, The Frog said:

Assuming he's still there. What are the chances of Nexstar putting one of their execs at the helm?

69420%, of course.

8 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

 

 

If the affiliations get pulled I could see them doing what they’ve done with their duopoly station in Miami, affiliate with MNTV. 

More likely than not, CBS will keep the affiliations and see what happens. Sunbeam or Scripps, I'm not so sure. What about Sinclair (WLFL or WWHO)?

On 5/3/2022 at 1:33 AM, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Running all stations like they're in Scranton and investing in them that way because you are ignorant to market size and diversity.

*Investing just like Marquee

10 hours ago, Breaking News said:

SkyCam goes back to their days in the late 70s and made the changes in the mid 90s.  Channel 6 called theirs SKY 6 from the late 80s/90s and again 2009-10. There no chopper now.

Yeah, thanks to Uncle Perry. Wasn’t the helicopter axed after he took over WCMH? 
 

But, this is the Gray thread, and we’re talking about a market that doesn’t have a Gray station and one Gray continues to ignore.

1 hour ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

I noitced that KTVK/KPHO recently switched their weather branding to First Alert Weather... I also so see WGCL did too.. is this a requirement for the former Meredith stations?? I see WNEM has yet to change (and they can since it isn't used in the Flint market)

Appearing like an O&O is my guess. But I really don't know since these are not former O&Os.

8 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

There is a DRM update coming to current tuners that will enable that, along with adding broadcast flag-like protection on network feeds (which shouldn't be a thing but we're in the age of secretary-designees and not passing FCC commissioner nominations, thus they'll try to get away with it).

I bet if you tell this to Uncle Perry, he'll think we're in the year 2200 and try to get NBC to replace whatever Scripps diginets he has and add cable networks to his NBC affiliate(s). It's actually a solid idea!

On 4/24/2022 at 3:18 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

102.5 was likely kept (for now) because of the existing Urban One deal.  Once that lapses, or Urban One makes them an offer, it's likely to remain with the Litticks for the time being.

Prior to that, 102.5 was the home of WWCD, displaced after Ohio State purchased their 101.1 frequency to start a classical music spinoff of WOSU.

 

Over the last 25 years, Columbus has had many "move-in" FM stations from the surrounding counties to supplement the ones based in and licensed to Columbus.  They would change their COL to something closer to Columbus, so they could move their signals closer.

 

TV-wise, Columbus survived having to shoehorn UPN & WB on WWHO, orginally having UPN secondary on WTTE and later the WB programs secondary on WWHO when Paramount bought WWHO,

This lasted until both networks merged into the CW, and WSYX added MyNetworkTV as a subchannel.

 

Years before, WCOM (now WMFD) tried and failed to reach Columbus with an alternative to WWAT (WWHO) and WTTE.  The station re-formed as WMFD and serves the Mansfield area to this day, being distant enough from Cleveland and Columbus to have it's own newscast and advertising base.

 

In the event that WHIZ ever loses it's NBC affiliation (which probably isn't too likely), it would likely be re-positioned towards Columbus much like WGTA out of Toccoa is.

I wonder if networks have "virtual" deals now that preclude any prospective stations from trying to start an affiliate there.  Sinclair and Tegna may be doing this to keep their presence in Zanesville.....or does being in a separate market give stations the right to start their own affiliations there?

Both WSYX and WBNS are considered "affiliates of record" for the Zanesville market, which implies that their affiliation agreements include Zanesville as part of their coverage area. Marquee may be able to add CBS once WBNS' current agreement expires, but likely won't be able to add Fox because of Sinclair's iron fist on the affiliate base.

18 hours ago, DMA said:

Good addition - it's a shame that NBC hasn't consolidated LX News with NBC News Now, that'd be a great OTA option. Unfortunately with WNBC and WNJU channel sharing with 2x 1080i and 3 480i subchannel, this addition might make the already poor picture quality even worse in NY. 

It’s why WNJU should probably go ATSC 3.0 sooner rather than later. Problem is lining up 1.0 hosts in a tightly packed market. Also maybe WCMH could replace Ion with Oxygen just so they can reduce their reliance on Scripps.

3 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

The paperwork is now up for WHIZ-TV and its radio stations. 

 

Purchase Price: $10.7M.

Looks like Henry Littick was desperate to sell. Wow that's cheap (for a few broadcast stations).

1 hour ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

 

That was always my thought, except it probably should have been done some 15 to 20 years ago.

 

On analog, WHIZ-TV on channel 18 was non-existent in Columbus. I have been going there for the last 30+ years and I have never been able to catch that station with a watchable signal, either pre- or post DTV transition. They would have to boost power/tower height, relocate the tower, and/or change the community of license if they want OTA coverage in the capital city. Getting on Spectrum, Dish and DirecTV is another story. 

 

Programming-wise? Columbus may now be Ohio's largest municipality in terms of population, and is now the state's second-largest TV market (after Cleveland). But I'm not sure if there is enough of audience or enough available quality programming for a new independent. Going with a news-intensive format like WDVM (former NBC affil WHAG-TV) in Hagerstown would be risky but it's an option. And WSYX or WBNS-TV will put up a fight if Marquee attempts to add the other networks on a WHIZ sub, as neither want to lose their Zanesville audiences. I would hate to see a legacy station like WHIZ-TV lose their network and then get turned into a wasteland for subchannels and/or informercials on 18.1 (see WMGM or KENV after each lost NBC).

 

There was barely room for two indies in the late '80s when WTTE was still a quasi-indie during Fox's early days and Chillicothe-based WWHO (then WWAT) used a low-power translator on channel 17 to get its programming into Columbus. And just to prove my CBUS street cred is legit, I can recall watching W08BV in the late '80s and early '90s with its mix of syndicated shows, movies, and MuchMusic imported from Canada. Too bad they were an LPTV.

Reception wise, I live northwest of Columbus, and I get a very faint signal (but no video or audio) from Channel 30 (WHIZ). That Channel 17 translator is now WDEM-CD, itself an HC2 wasteland. I'm thinking that WHIZ will remain the NBC affiliate for Zanesville unless Nexstar significantly downsizes and sells to NBC. Only then I can see WHIZ go independent. And yes, being a news intensive independent in that case is an option.

9 minutes ago, Yankees4life said:

Good God. Those newscasts can't get any worse. From some of the stuff I seen from Marquee, more people will be running to WCMH to keep their sanity

Just as a benchmark, WCMH is essentially the same as WVIT or WBTS but with cheap packaging (graphics, music) and high turnover. Why would anyone go there versus smaller market NBC O&Os?

10 minutes ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

The WHIZ Media Group, long controlled by the Littick family of Zanesville, has sold one of Ohio's last family-owned television outlets. NBC affiliate WHIZ-TV and its associated radio stations are going to Salisbury MD-based Marquee Broadcasting, which owns WMDT in their home market.

 

The big takeaway is what becomes of that relationship with NBC when the latest contract expires...will WCMH-TV try to claim exclusivity for NBC in all of central Ohio?

IS THIS AN APRIL FOOLS' JOKE? 

But anyways, will NBC try to do something with the WHIZ-WCMH situation?

On 4/19/2022 at 1:22 PM, Kenneth Kissel said:

I wonder when WOIO will switch to the new look. they still have the urgent look with First, Fair, Everywhere since 2019.

 

That is Gray graphics. WOIO was the first ex-Raycom station to switch out of LIM4. They're not getting new graphics at the moment, because they're not pressured to do so. 

I can’t believe it. KCBD is now the final Gray station to have LIM4.1. No update on when it will get Gray graphics. Limerick will continue to live on via Lockwood’s WFXG for the forseeable future. 

7 hours ago, EricTheEnthusiast said:

WVUE debuted the new graphics this morning. It’s no surprise .. we all guessed the package. Here are some screenshots. 

This is like going from MG’s last graphics package (WCMH, WFLA, WKRN) to Nexstar NBC graphics, a package that is the symbol of failure. Great job, Gray. 

14 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

I"m hoping the WBTV package is the one that WVUE eventually ends up with.  It's probably the most "major market" look they have right now.

Then again, it would look a lot like WGNO's package, especially with the way the lower thirds are designed.

 

Graphic packages aside, as long as it doesn't look totally awful and makes the on-air product look like garbage, WVUE should be just fine.

Not really, the WOIO and Meredith graphics are the most “large-market” looks they have.

On 3/31/2022 at 6:32 PM, Myron Falwell said:

Easiest move to make is using 19.2 as a full-power SD simulcast of WTCL 6.1.

With that crappy encoder and VHF? No way!

1 minute ago, Myron Falwell said:

That is not a ringing endorsement for a company that will supposedly own conventional network affiliates that don’t overtly program to the 65–dead demo.

Neither is local news the way it is; Cox has been one of the better chains when it came to evolving for the 21st century, but I can see Imagicomm throw all those efforts down the drain

48 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

 

 

None of us know how Imagicomm is going to run the stations, so these wild speculations of IP asset transfers, using the stations as spectrum farms and news operation shutdowns are just that… speculatory. I’ll grant you, though, that an affiliate of INSP buying these stations is extremely unusual… then again, the LDS Church does own KSL and runs it as an NBC affiliate.

That doesn't mean every station will be like that; we're talking about a 12-market chain, not two stations (KSL-FM-TV) in one market where a Godcaster can afford to run a traditional network affiliate. 

1 minute ago, mre29 said:

Huh. I've been wondering if Sinclair would do something like this to alleviate their debt situation. I didn't expect it from Coxpollo.

 

I expected it though. As a private equity firm, they only care about the monetary value of their properties; for them, everything’s an investment. Sinclair will offload their networks and maybe their flagship stations if they were to divest. There is a thread in Speculatron if you want to talk more about this in detail.

17 hours ago, ttvn2000 said:

Glad to hear Matt Quinn is in charge - I enjoy his aesthetic.  This also means the Meredith legacy stations should stay in tact for a while…

 

Hopefully, WVUE is on his radar… 

Local graphics as well. Matt Quinn and his division of Hothaus are in Cleveland, where there is a Gray station in that market (WOIO) which is how this thread started.

1 minute ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

Those three markets would add maybe 0.3% to their reach.

Fair enough. About Nexstar, I personally don’t want them to be buying stations since they’re wrecking WCMH and vicinity (aka the entire country), and they won’t be buying unless they sell. Scripps can buy, they just have to unload the Ion O&Os.