Mrtraveler01 738 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I guess there is no double standard after all! I expect a lot of negative comments here. The FCC is finally catching on? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87406 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 39 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 TVEx-KENSer hired to run WOAI, KABB news; has ideas for 'fresher look'BY JEANNE JAKLE : AUGUST 13, 2013 : Updated: August 14, 2013 6:04am Comments 0 E-mail Print Photo By Our Lord and Savior Broadcast Group Blaise Labbe will oversee news operations for both WOAI and KABB. MORE INFORMATION Our Lord and Savior Broadcast Group btw, Our Lord and Savior Broadcasting Group! hmmm...like the name, but wheres the photo shoot of David Smith, Our Lord and Savior Broadcasting group name is quite hilarious! :rofl!: sounds like an church organization to me. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87413 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 39 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 The FCC is finally catching on? hmmm...I'll ask the obvious question here, where was the FCC when they bought newport's six stations? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87419 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 hmmm...I'll ask the obvious question here, where was the FCC when they bought newport's six stations? Asleep at the wheel apparently. I'm actually shocked that the FCC is stepping in on these. Usually they've just been a rubber stamp to these acquisitions in the past. These are almost as shocking as the DOJ stepping in on the American/US Airways merger. Although the cynic in me thinks nothing will happen and it will just lengthen the acquisition process. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87429 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVIntheDesert 183 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Asleep at the wheel apparently. I'm actually shocked that the FCC is stepping in on these. Usually they've just been a rubber stamp to these acquisitions in the past. These are almost as shocking as the DOJ stepping in on the American/US Airways merger. Although the cynic in me thinks nothing will happen and it will just lengthen the acquisition process. They're finally learning SBG's pattern...buy Barrington, sell existing stations in conflicting markets to shells. Buy Allbritton, sell existing stations in conflicting markets to same shells...rinse, repeat. It's like a game of "Monopoly," but instead of swapping houses for a hotel, they find a way to keep them both. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87433 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 39 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 They're finally learning SBG's pattern...buy Barrington, sell existing stations in conflicting markets to shells. Buy Allbritton, sell existing stations in conflicting markets to same shells...rinse, repeat. It's like a game of "Monopoly," but instead of swapping houses for a hotel, they find a way to keep them both. well, apparently the FCC is figuring out who is Armstrong Williams and Howard Stirk Holdings, LLC and his connections to Sinclair Broadcasting Group a/k/a Our Lord and Savior Broadcasting Group. Talk about having an M.O. when they have bought Newport/Allbrittion/Titan/Fisher/Barrington/Cox must be the bait and switch concepts that the FCC is setting up now for them to force divestitures on TV stations that Our Lord and Savior completely owns besides having agreements with Cunningham, Manhan Media and Deerfield Media and Howard Stirk Holdings. I guess there is no double standard after all! I expect a lot of negative comments here. well, here's your first one, What was David Smith Thinking when he bought Allbrittion/Barrington/Titan/Cox/Newport? was he praticing his MO to grab more TV stations? maybe. just maybe wanting more and more stations when he should not be on a Texas Style-Shopping Spree with TV stations all aboard. He could be budgeting less for HD for the newscasts that the stations that he already owns and or operates through shell corporations and/or owned outright and is expecting Our Lord and Savior to be the money makers. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87441 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2895 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I just filed this public comment with the FCC. It's just three pages but it drives a point home: http://goo.gl/mNR5hg Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87444 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4374 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 hmmm...I'll ask the obvious question here, where was the FCC when they bought newport's six stations? The Newport stations were split between S!nclair and Nexstar, so it was easier to get that to fly "under the radar." Just an educated guess. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87461 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3951 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Things could be very different should Newport have done the opposite in Little Rock and Mobile.... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87466 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4374 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 well, apparently the FCC is figuring out who is Armstrong Williams and Howard Stirk Holdings, LLC and his connections to S!nclair Broadcasting Group a/k/a S!nclair Broadcasting Group. Talk about having an M.O. when they have bought Newport/Allbrittion/Titan/Fisher/Barrington/Cox must be the bait and switch concepts that the FCC is setting up now for them to force divestitures on TV stations that S!nclair completely owns besides having agreements with Cunningham, Manhan Media and Deerfield Media and Howard Stirk Holdings. well, here's your first one, What was David Smith Thinking when he bought Allbrittion/Barrington/Titan/Cox/Newport? was he praticing his MO to grab more TV stations? maybe. just maybe wanting more and more stations when he should not be on a Texas Style-Shopping Spree with TV stations all aboard. He could be budgeting less for HD for the newscasts that the stations that he already owns and or operates through shell corporations and/or owned outright and is expecting Our Lord and Savior to be the money makers. Remember that the FCC still is in transition mode, with a new chairman in place... a former lobbyist, no less (which really makes this recent spate of dockets surprising to me). The S!nclair-Fisher deal was made, and pretty much rubber-stamped, prior to Julius Genachowski's departure. Who knows what's really going on here. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87468 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hathawaynson2 39 Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Remember that the FCC still is in transition mode, with a new chairman in place... a former lobbyist, no less (which really makes this recent spate of dockets surprising to me). The S!nclair-Fisher deal was made, and pretty much rubber-stamped, prior to Julius Genachowski's departure. Who knows what's really going on here. I personally have to agree with you on the S!nclair deal with Fisher first hand and I now remember that the FCC is in Transition Mode! second of all, I'm glad this former lobbyist has decided to make a difference of filing dockets regarding Allbrittion's sale to Our Lord and Savior while transition to a new chairman at the same time. By the way whoever came up with the Our Lord and Savior Broadcasting Group name, It is quite funny to me and can it be a nickname for Sinclair If so, I find it quite funny. :rofl!: Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87488 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 And its Sinclairs fault for following the law? If the government doesn't want something to happen its THEIR responsibility to pass laws restricting acts isn't it? I don't think the problem is with the duopolies. I think the problem may be with all the 3 and 4 opolies we're seeing and that might be where the FCC wants to slow things down. But at the end of the day Sinclair is following the rules. You can't hang them for being smart. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87538 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 511 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 And its Our Lord and Saviors fault for following the law? If the government doesn't want something to happen its THEIR responsibility to pass laws restricting acts isn't it? I don't think the problem is with the duopolies. I think the problem may be with all the 3 and 4 opolies we're seeing and that might be where the FCC wants to slow things down. But at the end of the day Our Lord and Savior is following the rules. You can't hang them for being smart. Finally someone who gets it. Another point I want to add: why do people oppose Sinnclair buying low-rated CW/MyNet affiliates (SA is a great example with WOAI/KABB/KMYS)? And then saying if Sinnclair buys these stations they are eliminating a voice in the market. Really? They don't have a voice, they're a CW affiliate. The only time I really oppose these is when there is news operations involved because that is the only time these stations have a voice. You could argue retrans I guess but my counterargument is to just cancel cable because there is nothing worth watching on cable anyways, not even Duck Dynasty. Syracuse is a great example. There's people arguing and complaining that SBG will own five stations in Syracuse. And? Two of them are low-rated CW/My Net affils. One's a Fox with no news. The other's a CBS who's owners OUTSOURCE to Barrington/SBG. Really, SBG owns one station and is servicing four others under owners who rightfully control the stations but don't want to deal with the pain of having to operate the station and that is where SBG comes in. They don't mind operating the stations and they make a pretty penny off of it too. So it definitely helps. Yes, they're selling WSYT to Brian Brady but that's not relevant to the topic at hand. Here's something to consider: No matter how hard you try to convince some of the other posters on here about SBG not breaking the law or whatever, people are entitled to their own opinion and you can't change it. There's always going to be people who think (or will find a way) to show that SBG is breaking the law. Most just hate them because they're the biggest. If Hearst, or Cox, or whoever else, was the biggest, I'm sure we'd all be criticizing them instead of SBG. I do not necessarily like SBG, but I know several people who work at their stations, who have no problem with them. especially when it's a job that pays and puts bread on the table. I don't like SBG, not because of their intention to be big, or their politics, but because of their lack of investment in some of the smaller stations and a potential non-investment in WJLA. SBG does not have a bottomless pit of money, they do have to cut, like any smart business person does. And if you're wondering where they get some of their money, they have a ton of non-broadcast related entities as well. Hell, there are stations that SBG ownership would greatly benefit. I won't name 'em because I'm sure you can, but SBG has been good to most of their stations. And I refuse to call them that name due to personal beliefs. I'm no fan of Sinnclair but really, the name calling accomplishes nothing... :rant: Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87540 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Agree with sanewsguy on most points, especially the one about The CW/MyNet stations and big four stations without news operations. Does anybody watch those stations? And who cares if Sinnclair (I also agree that we should refrain from being blasphemous) wants to LMA or run those stations for others? Broadcasting is a mature industry. What you're seeing right now is the same thing that happened to newspapers and radio stations. For that matter, it's also the same thing that happened to grocery stores, discount stores, department stores and auto manufacturers. When there are too many competitors and the pie is shrinking, the only way to stay in business is to consolidate. That happens in every industry and it is happening in broadcasting. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87542 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 P.S. There are something like 2000 TV stations in the United States if memory serves. Sinnclair owns 150 of them which is less than 10 percent of the total. I don't see what the problem is. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87544 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Hanna-Barbera Land you don't see it as world domination...There was a time where the FCC said one owner per market and there was a limit on how many stations you can own... When the $$$ get funny at Sinclair expect layoffs, but nothing good comes from The Smith Bros... Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87557 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Hanna-Barbera Land you don't see it as world domination...There was a time where the FCC said one owner per market and there was a limit on how many stations you can own... When the $$$ get funny at Our Lord and Savior expect layoffs, but nothing good comes from The Smith Bros... But it kind of is what it is. Think back to the time when most cities had a few different department stores ... then chains started buying them up. Then the chains started merging. Now what you have is basically Macy's, Dillards and a few others. Likewise when most cities had four daily newspapers. Then a few merged. Then you were down to two papers. Then the two papers did a JOA. Then down to one paper ... now the local paper is on the way out. They wouldn't have survived this long if they didn't do that and many didn't. Same thing going on here. In a world with hundreds of channels and multicasting, I question whether markets need six local signals running syndicated talk, courtroom and reality shows. Add in all the LPTV stations, YouTube, Netflix, and the crappy content on most local TV stations these days, and I don't see how you can do anything other than duopolies these days, especially with CW or MyNet stations! I mean, we live in a world where Fox just yanked the news from WWOR-TV because it wasn't making money!!! In New York!!! If you can't make money in New York, how are you going to make money in Syracuse? And if you didn't need four local newspapers, do you really need four local TV news operations? So, don't blame the Smiths. They are basically the Lazaruses of television ... and by "the Lazaruses" I mean the Lazarus family ... the people who basically put together Federated Department Stores, now known as Macy's Inc. The last man standing (or among the last few) in the department store business. They were the ones who gobbled up the Foley's, Marshall Fields, Broadway, May Company and all the other nameplates until they finally gobbled up Macy's and then took its name. And while this was happening, those department stores were cutting one department after another from (records, books, TV's, sporting goods) to become one big clothing store. Now that I think about it, this isn't a bad analogy. Sears or Macy's has a branch in most markets. What's wrong with Sinnclair being the Sears or Macy's of television? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87560 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 To me Our Lord and Savior is a lackluster company that see the bottom line, and if your going to invest in all your stations you should place the correct people in management to on-air talent and the whole nine. Yes every broadcasting company has streamline their business because the business model has changed. Even though Belo sold to Gannett, but look at certain companies like Belo, Gannett, Cox, Hearst, Scripps, etc those have set the tone for what a company should be and of course many of those companies have strong roots. To me Our Lord and Savior could be an ok company if they didn't want to be greedy.. You do have to say ok is this greed or what? Who would want to owned 150-200 stations? Talk about too big too fail, and why do you need to have shell companies to get around so many loopholes. Their tactics are very questionable, and ok their conservative or have strong conservative beliefs. That ok, but you should be telling both sides of the story instead of trying to sway your audience about what the company wants you to believe in. I will say to a degree there been some change in some of their stations on-air look, but most Our Lord and Savior stations are very cookie cutter and again this is my opinion they are a wanna be broadcasting company. They want to make huge moves, but they will never be in the caliber of these other companies that have been around for a century or more. I just wonder how KOMO 4 product going to change. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87561 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 For argument's sake, here's what the Baltimore Sun says about Sinnclair: Five things you need to know about Sinnclair in wake of Allbritton, WJLA deal July 29, 2013|By David Zurawik | The Baltimore Sun You have to admire the financial muscle if nothing else of Baltimore's Sinnclair Broadcast Group. How many companies in Baltimore can pony up just under a billion dollars and become headquarters to a high-visibility Washington media institution like WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in the nation's capital? ... Here are five things I consider worth thinking about as Sinnclair moves up into bigger journalistic and political leagues with this deal. They are based on two decades of watching Sinnclair operate. 1. WBFF (Fox 45), the Sinnclair-owned station in Baltimore. consistently delivers some of the best investigative, enterprise and government watchdog journalism in Baltimore and Maryland. (You can read one of my pieces here about the way one of its investigative teams righteously dogged Baltimore's City Hall last year over contracts for IT services and consulting). That's something you won't hear about from advocacy bloggers and talking heads on the left. They offer a simple-minded, black-and-white critique of Sinnclair as a right-wing ideology machine. But, as a journalist who prides himself on being down the middle, I am here to tell you that the news operation does some very good work. Think of it as a mini-Fox-News. Sean Hannity is right-wing crazy almost every night of the week. But Washington-based correspondents like James Rosen and anchors like Bret Baier are delivering the journalistic goods. ... 3. Don't get carried away with the talk of a national cable channel for Sinnclair. ... Sinnclair will have a 24/7 news channel, but it will use it to program portions of the day on many of the smaller broadcast stations it owns and manages. That's just the kind of thing that impresses Wall Street analysts. Instead of paying huge syndication fees, Sinnclair can program the news off its cable news channel in Tulsa, say, from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays -- with maybe just an hour of local news in the mix. That's economies of scale writ large. Same thing from 5 to 7 a.m. and mid-day. ========= Full article: google link in case the blasphemous reference screws up the original page linked below: http://goo.gl/0ZW71r original link: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-07-29/entertainment/bal-baltimore-sinclair-wjla-allbritton-deal-20130729_1_lyme-disease-jeff-barnd-allbritton Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87563 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 yeah I saw that article, but they will be what 4 Billion dollars in debt...Hope everybody has a job in the future...I'm just sayin' Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87564 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 yeah I saw that article, but they will be what 4 Billion dollars in debt...Hope everybody has a job in the future...I'm just sayin' Yeah, but you didn't answer my question. Almost any decent sized city at one time had three or four newspapers, and now there is just one (barely). If you don't need three newspapers, do you really need three boring TV news operations saying the same thing? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87565 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 What wrong with competition? I like competition, because you get (3) (4) (5) different voices...Just having one news organization in a market would suck! I say yes you do need 3-4 stations in the market; but each station has their own niche. Station-A is all about hard news Station-B is the On Your Side/Working 4 You Station-C is we do less blood & guts but warm & fuzzy stories, feel good stories Station-D is we have hot chicks low cut tops and fluff stories, younger fresh reporters at the end of the day the audience get to decide their choice for local news, and you have choices so you get to chose what you want. I'm all about competition and fighting hard with the competition for the top prize. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87567 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 727 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 What wrong with competition? I like competition, because you get (3) (4) (5) different voices...Just having one news organization in a market would suck! I say yes you do need 3-4 stations in the market; but each station has their own niche. Station-A is all about hard news Station-B is the On Your Side/Working 4 You Station-C is we do less blood & guts but warm & fuzzy stories, feel good stories Station-D is we have hot chicks low cut tops and fluff stories, younger fresh reporters at the end of the day the audience get to decide their choice for local news, and you have choices so you get to chose what you want. I'm all about competition and fighting hard with the competition for the top prize. Competition is great as long as you have enough business to pay the bills. When there were three channels on TV, they had enough advertising dollars to pay for three news operations. Now the same eyeballs are split over hundreds of different places and there will come a time and place where TV news will end up being like the local newspaper. That's what it's looking like, anyway. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87568 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2895 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Competition is great as long as you have enough business to pay the bills. When there was three channels on TV, they had enough advertising dollars to pay for three news operations. Now the same eyeballs are split over hundreds of different places and there will come a time and place where TV news will end up being like the local newspaper. That's what it's looking like, anyway. And that's the case in some markets, especially small ones. The JSA-SSA activity in places like Idaho Falls/Pocatello, Grand Junction and Yuma/El Centro is because of that. The KSWT failing station waiver request, for instance, says that 49% of TV households have satellite and 36% have cable. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87569 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Everything moving from television to the web there will still be local news, and there will be strong competition. The smaller markets will of course change much faster to the big and medium size markets. The day we see WABC & WCBS come together than that when the handwriting is on the wall, but everybody been talking about the death of local news, and owners will continue to find away to make $$$ off it. To me it all hog wash- Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/12568-sinclairagain/page/28/#findComment-87571 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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