Thor10

Good point. They already program their streaming channels during that hour, so why not do the same with news on the main network? Let affiliates opt-out, if they prefer to fill with local programming. Look at NBC News Daily, which took over the 1 p.m. hour about two years ago, pushing Days of our Lives to streaming. The 10 p.m. hour is probably easy to fill for duopolies with FOX, CW or My Network TV already in the mix, as many of them already provide news on those affiliates. As the economics of television get difficult, it's a move that makes sense, or should I say cents?

Sounds similar to how Tegna tried to roll out its Wake Up brand for the morning shows on many of its stations. You're right about the name; it seems like it undersells the programming and content.

Nice, clean design. Not a fan of the red or whatever color used in the texture below the monitor wall behind the main desk; it reminds me of brick. Sinclair definitely needs to update its graphics, though. They definitely haven't aged well, either.

Jerica does a great job, and Weekend News is a nice change of pace from ABC and NBC. With the sports on CBS, Weekend News is often pre-empted anyways.

I suppose a Scripps-cast is better than being outright replaced with the National News Desk.

Definitely well thought-out and sharp. Always happy to see some stations "do their own things" in an era of corporate ownership and group standardization. Reminds me of how WKYC/Cleveland tends to deviate from the Tegna-issued package.

Looking forward to the day we can see it on the affiliates and not just some of the O&Os. Some stations, especially in smaller markets, will easily take it instead of paying for syndication or investing in local programming to fill that hour. Plus, they already pay the network enough money as is.

Hate to see what was Newsy go away, but the retransmission money from the TV providers definitely helps to "prop up" the cable news networks, unlike the over-the-air (OTA) counterparts. The retrans money itself is drying up, though, so it's not a long-term answer. Look at News Nation. Viewership may be low, but Nexstar eliminated the pre-existing syndication costs, already had the "Superstation WGN" distribution, and doesn't stream it or place it OTA. There's tradeoffs; you get some money, but the audience is also limited because of the so-called "walled-garden" of TV subscribers. Too bad Scripps News just doesn't cut back on the live programming or enlist help from its stations to keep it going. Personally, I believe more news sources is good for democracy. We can always argue about news fatigue and reputation, though, which is understandable. I also wonder how well Scripps News monetized its streaming. When I watch the local stations, it's more PSAs and promotions than advertisers and programmatic to make some $$$. They don't even leverage Zeam for streaming distribution and revenue.

I just noticed WBKB in Alpena switched to the Morgan Murphy website design on BLOX Digital CMS. In Marquette, it looks like they finally redirected ABC10up.com and UPmatters.com to MyUPnow.com, although you see a quick flash of the old ABC 10 site, if you use that URL.

Being privately owned has its advantages at times, particularly for Hearst. The company seems to invest in its stations, and it's not beholden to stockholders.

Excellent catch. They mentioned some signal changes/upgrades during the My UP News announcement but didn't specify. I'm sure WJMN provides a much better signal on UHF compared to the VHF signals of WBUP and WBKP. Also, WJMN is positioned closer to Escanaba and toward the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula, so it definitely helps with over-the-air coverage. I'm told Marquette itself can be tricky, which is why WLUC has a translator there. WZMQ is the only station in the market not doing any simulcasting or using translators, from what I can tell.

That's disappointing. He was a good fit for CBS Saturday Mornings, and the ratings have been quite strong. Bounced from CBS Evening News and yet another anchor position at the network.

You can check out the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. half-hours from WBUP on Zeam. For some reason, they haven't added the morning show to the stream. The AM show is done at a round table with a monitor instead of the desk. Tom Kippen has been doing weather for all of the newscasts so far. It doesn't look like they've really added any staff at this point, other than merging teams, based on the meet the team page. The old website from Nexstar - UPmatters.com - still doesn't redirect to MyUPNow.com. ABC10UP.com throws a SSL error.

WBUP and WJMN have launched their new news product, My UP News, and website, MyUPNow.com. The old websites - abc10up.com and upmatters.com - still don't redirect to the new website. Here are the details on the talent lineups and changes. I'm assuming the "My" part of the news brand refers to the My Network TV programming that WJMN has carried since losing CBS to WZMQ. Between the graphics and website, it now looks like your typical Morgan Murphy station. WBUP's old news operation was hanging on by a thread and has now been put out of its misery.

As someone who has seen the morning news on WBUP, it has simply been a replay of the 11 p.m. news, so this is actually something more than an expansion, putting the station in direct competition with TV6. That makes WZMQ 19 the only station without a morning show. No Marquette DMA stations do any midday/noon news. The four-station news race in that market now becomes three.