l_miro

Euronews style - voice behind the camera and jumping from story to story. Makes sense - fewer people are watching overall, especially in a small market like Tulsa. I'm more surprised they didn't just simulcast KOKI and call it a day

stations are going into a holding company owned by Standard Media to be overseen by their CEO. Parkin has also reneged on buying Standard Media (KLKN, WLNE, KBSI, WDKA), and Sinclair stations (WVTV, WICS, WICD, KHQA, KTVO) that was announced in July 2025. Allegedly, his financing fell through (bridge loans, operating income for 3 months post closing per FCC rules, refi into a permanent deb), and Standard Media is said to have no interest, they want out asap. If he was 'warehousing' the stations the lenders probably balked at giving him money for a bridge or permanent refi

Todd Parkin sold his equity, and notified the FCC on Tuesday stations will be transferred to what looks like a holding company. Allegedly, Sinclair is expected to buy the stations, KOKI etc, soon-ish https://thedesk.net/2026/03/ex-bally-sports-executive-cancels-plan-to-acquire-tv-stations/

Nexstar has responded to the TRO but the filling is under seal. We may or may not find out what they argued, or if we do, it will be heavily redacted. California et. al. filed copies of Nexstar SEC disclosures where the company told investors almost all of the $300 mil. in synergies will be due to higher retrans fees Tegna stations will be collecting - it is customary for a retrans contract to have a clause that automatically increases the retrans fee to bring it up to par with what the new owner receives. Nexstar counsel argued over email with the deputy AG, that they're bringing the case up at midnight, asking for a 3pm meeting, and mentions other plaintiffs - the other states - having had access to evidence she participated in regulatory review for a year, none of them raised issues with Nexstar privately. He's asking her why they waited so long. In the memorandum Plaintiff States assert they contacted Nexstar on 3/10 to work on timing and were ignored He mentions the TRO was filed by California claiming immediate harm but the FCC has an order preventing retrans fees from increasing until November. And that the relief California wants would be harmful to the company. TRO will probably fail as local rules require immediate harm, plaintiffs were aware of evidence for months thus no emergency Now California et al have till 3/26 to respond

wen Cornhole Olympics?

Docket says Nexstar notified the court on 3/20 they'll file opposition. Judge gave them 3/24 to respond, and California et.al. 3/26 to respond, if they want to Alexander Okuliar will be lead attorney for Nexstar. Big antitrust lawyer, former DOJ antitrust lawyer and deputy AG, brought in US vs Google for the feds, worked with Microsoft on GitHub aquisition. Case went to Chief District Judge Troy L. Nunley - Obama appointee; generally "rigid" (could go both ways); reads more like he would be concurring with a Scalia/Thomas textual reading than go looking for "elephants hidden in statutes"; "very demanding about evidence of harm" - probably not good for California et. al., they will have to convince him of imminent and irreversible harm to the Sacramento market. so March 27 through next week, for arguments and ruling on the TRO. - TRO denied = Nexstar is free to absorb Tegna; a later trial (if it gets that far) will decide either way; possible 9th circuit appeal who "tend to be flexible in antitrust issues" - might grant a stay while reviewing the denial - TRO denied but hold separate order = judge thinks there's some merit in the argument California et. al. made; not going to shake Nexstar up - TRO granted - merger is frozen; injunction hearing etc looks like a pivot by Okuliar, Nexstar's counsel. The judge in the case allegedly has preference for maintaining status quo, and the "midnight closing" uncle Perry did could have left the judge thinking Nexstar were trying to tie his hands up, so they're leaking to the press and massaging the gears

Aside: The fcc has a formula for the audience reach - {Reach} = (DMA % of U.S. Households} x {Technical Discount}) It looks like Nexstar got around the cap by divesting the stations to be at 39% + uhf discount WTHR, WCTX, are VHF so their reach will be a 100% deduction. The other stations will be 50% deductible from cap. Multiple stations in the same market are counted as one.

this is looking from the north, from Miramar parkway. that big opening on the 2nd floor will be staff the dining/lounge, with prep kitchen and a regular kitchen, large balcony with seating. Red rd view, headed south. engineering/sales-traffic offices Right side lobby

that is false. - the Bonta lawsuit was merely filed on 3/18, nothing more - His TRO plead is from 3/20/2026, after the decision (https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/2026.03.20 Memorandum of Points and Authorities ISO TRO.pdf) - there is no requirement to stay the approval of a merger due to pending lawsuits - unless a federal judge in those lawsuits invoked a TRO or preliminary injuction - the FCC used their administrative waiver power, given to them in the Communications Act of 1934, to pass the merger: Section 309(a) (47 U.S.C. § 309(a)), Section 303(r) (47 U.S.C.§ 303(r)) the Yale Journal on Regulation is even more clear: The bipartisan act of congress in 2004 set the ownership cap at 39% and created a legal vacuum. It fails to define: what 'national audience reach' means in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, what the UHF discount is and how it's calculated; how the FCC discretionary (waiver) power applies to the 39% cap, whether it's a one-time adjustment, among many other things. Shortly after it passed the FCC asked congress if the UHF discount can be clarified, congress ignored them, and left the courts to guess what congress meant, for 22 years. Congress could have chosen clarity in 2004. Instead they chose violence and now we're here.

They're split testing. Or something broke

Media Consultants:"the focus group hated the newsroom backdrop" *sends a dozen charts showing why video wall backdrops are a must

Was reading up on the ownership cap. It was statutory 35% in the telecommunications act of 1996 but instructed the Fcc to review and change it periodically so in 2004 the Fcc decided to make it 45% and bipartisan pushback ensued resulting in the CAA of 2004 39%. Congress froze the cap but didn't define Fcc authority on related rules to it, making it appear as a rule not a statute. Said nothing about the UHF discount, calculated the 39% cap with it in place, and prevented CBS and FOX from having to divest stations. When Chairman Powell then issued a public notice asking for comments whether Congress's silence on the discount meant the FCC can eliminate it, congress never responded formally. Courts later determined that the CAA of 2004 insulated the discount from change during ownership reviews. And now we're here

There are many ways to unscramble the egg. For now Plaintiffs would move to get an injunction from a federal judge, if granted Tegna will continue to operate as is while the trial makes its way through the system. If they're merged at some point while in active litigation and Nexstar loses, they'll divest under court ordered conditions

They Can't demand less even if they wanted to. They need the cash to pay the networks' reverse comp fee, sports licensing, and plug up the massive drop in ad dollars that is coming. The projections for linear broadcast call for a ~$20 billion drop in ad dollars by 2029-2030. The only time retrans feedrops is when a station loses big 4 affiliation. YouTube is supposedly paying the big 4 about $5/mth per subscriber altogether, cable companies are at $50/mth in some areas by now

Hopefully Bonta doesn't butcher the appeal with his propensity to blow hot air out of his holes just to end up with a PR settlement. Two things: The cap waiver was challenged by the Free Press in 2017, two Obama judges and one by Trump decided public interest groups had no standing because they couldn't prove their members weren't injured by it. Carr is selling this using buzz words line "evolutionary" and "purposive", sentiment finds in a 5-3 SCOTUS case MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. AT&T (1994). An infamous Antonin Scalia case where in his 288 page opinion he admonished the FCC for trying to override the Communications Act by using dictionaries from 1934, arguing over 4 pages that the meaning of word "modify" remains unchanged. Clarence Thomas concurred. the 3 liberal judges on this case dissented, and argued the FCC should be flexible, able to bend the law, not have to abide by old rules, prioritize purpose over procedure - pretty much how Carr is selling the approval.

"we need to be approachable and relatable" How? "the kids like podcasts so make it all look like a podcast"

Around 2008 , early 2009 NBC considered selling their entire o&o group. Certainly wanted to offload Wtvj to wplg/Graham, I was part of an effort to block that, and the other non top ten station they have. WTVJ were left to survive on their own until about 2011-2012, NBC hollowed them out while Hoping someone will step up with an offer. Ed Ansin toured the Wtvj building in Miramar but Graham made an offer first and he declined to go in a bidding war, then the Fcc blocked the sale. Retrans is the biggest reason networks aren't unloading o&o, and sports, thanks to the Fcc rules forcing cable/satellite to negotiate "in good faith" (and UHF auction). Why you see broadcasters want that rule applied to YouTube and all streamers so bad

That might be a licensing nightmare We might end up seeing shows originally on Netflix air on broadcast linear, this year through 2030 a lot of the rights to Netflix "originals" from its growth spur are starting to expire and they probably have limited monetization potential but enough to fill airtime

rumor has it BDI swapped some of the ceiling projectors with tanning lights just for uncle Dallas

Because when Bob Iger was brought back to do damage control, he said after the internal review that "linear generates significant advertising and subscription revenue" helping Disney amortize content costs. They'll dump the stations when this is no longer true. Broadcast is said to get about $28B in ads by 2029, currently $49b. so a sale may not be that far off there's a persistent rumor of a UHF auction in the next 3-4 years, and that is allegedly uncle Perry'S grand exit. Assuming the mobile carriers have appetite

also, depreciation and amortization

I don't know if Scripps knows but since courts nuked the ban on owning 2 stations that are in the top 4 why not. $15.8 mil and they'll provide WTVQ with services, so $$$ for Scripps. Stripping out the news department is further savings so there's upside for not a lot of money

the FCC isn't looking at regulating streaming, you are not reading. It's literally in https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-188A1.pdf It's asking if the antitrust exemptions the leagues get is a threat to local public interest and how it's affecting broadcast TV financially. The FCC points to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, when the government allowed the NFL and other leages a defacto monopoly to negotiate rights collectively without triggering the Sherman Antitrust Act. That same year the NFL made an attempt to negotiate broadcast rights with CBS for all teams, it got sued and the court invoked the Sherman Antitrust Act saying the league is restricting competition. The NFL commissioner at the time went on a lobbying blitz arguing large teams like the NY Giants selling their rights individually would make them rich while someone like the Green Bay Packers would barely get anything potentially causing smaller teams to cease existing. Congress passed the act in mere weeks. SBA permits the leagues (actually the carveout is written as football, baseball, basketball, and hockey) to sell rights as a package without being considered an antitrust violation, which it would normally be that. As a condition of that, the money from the rights is split evenly among teams regardless of size, popularity, etc. It prohibits airing of games on Fridays and Saturdays to protect college and high school attendance/viewership. College sports (NCAA) and NASCAR, are not afforded this privelege. Soccer funny enough being football to us Europeans is also not exempt so the MLS had to own all the teams. NCAA are lobbying for the Safe Act for that reason so they too can negotiate rights as a pool. The FCC is asking if the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB are abusing their exclusive privlege to paywall games and make more money. Whether the antitrust exemption should apply today when games are moving to exlcusive distribution while at the same time eating up so much of the revenue local stations need for news and other content. Particularly in light of two things happening: courts have already ruled that the SBA does not apply to pay TV. And the NFL currently facing a class action lawsuit by almost 50,000 businesses and 2,400,000 subscribers over the 'Sunday Ticket' bundle arguing it's overcharging people by bundling, it costs ~$400 per season. This trial exposed internal emails showing the NFL denied ESPN's offer to sell Sunday Ticket for $70 to protect TV ratings of CBS and FOX. The jury found the NFL guitly, ordered $4.7B fine which trebled to $14.1B because it's an antitrust case, but the judge struck the amount down on grounds the jury was irrationally calculating damages based on flawed expertise. It's now pending at the 9th circuit wtih argument set March 9, the judge agreed plaintiffs might still win an injuction, so the monetary damages might stay and teams will have to negotiate on their own. Retrans (which has been rising because of sports) is another thing the FCC are looking at. You can leave a public comment on MB Docket No. 26-45. Just make a cogent, reasoned argument or the leagues could end up using it as evidence

the listing on TVGuide said "ABC 7 News" with a space. It's also Channel 7 News on Zeam and "Ch. 7 News at___" on their webiste . There's no standard per se, it just depends who typed the schedule and hit send.

Progress as of 3 months ago with layout now more obvious Red - overall newsroom space Blue - news /empty area to the left Deco/Sports edit bays and offices Teal - Deco/weather green wall Green - anchor desk / stand up areas with monitors on each side of it Dark purple - weather desk Yellow rectangle - weather office Yellow line - sports set White lines - desks/newsplex area Orange line - BAM (big ass monitor) wall Solid Yellow rectangle - news desk/live stand up area Not drawn behind the BAM news anchor offices