TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion

[jbnews 344]

That video looked pretty good. It looks like TEGNA is a cool company to work for.

I know, right? I REALLY want to know what went down at that content summit, what was discussed. A summit dedicated to innovating their product is a great idea.

[TheRolyPoly 2395]

That video looked pretty good. It looks like TEGNA is a cool company to work for.

 

I know, right? I REALLY want to know what went down at that content summit, what was discussed. A summit dedicated to innovating their product is a great idea.

 

Except they're turning their stations into complete crap! Look at WUSA for example and soon with KSDK and their "STL at Night" concept. WWL is going down the tubes and WXIA will soon be last in Atlanta.

 

Like my god. The company was better under Gannett, period!

[jbnews 344]

Except they're turning their stations into complete crap! Look at WUSA for example and soon with KSDK and their "STL at Night" concept. WWL is going down the tubes and WXIA will soon be last in Atlanta.

 

Like my god. The company was better under Gannett, period!

Yes, some stations have gone down ratings wise. But, that is on the station, not the company. The news director and executives at each station are the people making the day-to-day decisions.

 

A lot of these concepts are different for sure. But, TEGNA is pushing it so TV news will survive. A lot of these concepts and new ideas have captured the audiences they were intended to (young people). TEGNA's new graphics and music packages have outperformed the previous, and KUSA's "Next with Kyle Clark" is now the top rated newscast in all of Denver in any time period. So, yes, these are different ways of doing the news, but they're working.

[Al-SA-TX 54]

I'm not sure how to tell y'all this, but corporate doesn't come in and make anyone do anything. *GASPS*

 

It's all on local management.

[jbnews 344]

I'm not sure how to tell y'all this, but corporate doesn't come in and make anyone do anything. *GASPS*

 

It's all on local management.

I know, that's what I said.

[TSSZNews 1051]

A lot of these concepts and new ideas have captured the audiences they were intended to (young people). TEGNA's new graphics and music packages have outperformed the previous, and KUSA's "Next with Kyle Clark" is now the top rated newscast in all of Denver in any time period. So, yes, these are different ways of doing the news, but they're working.

 

I may have said this here before, but I firmly, truly believe that if TEGNA's smart, they will roll out a Next clone in every market they own a television station.

 

Copy the format and get personable, young-ish talent to man it. There's no need to reinvent news on broadcast TV when they already have that successful formula.

 

Seriously. Just...do that!

[H4UL4U 127]

I'm not too familiar with the company, other than I see a lot of people on here and a certain TV news blog complain about TEGNA. I live in a state with a TEGNA station (now two, actually, thanks to the Gray-Raycom merger). If they have rolled out their changes it hasn't affected this station's ratings. Old Gannett poured a lot of money into this station and it became a relevant player in the market and has stayed there for the better parts of two decades. There is not a tremendous amount of turnover at this station, and most of their on-air staff are older and I would assume well paid, which supposedly are the target of TEGNA's implosion of their stations (again, not my opinion). Like someone else said, it's all the local management. Same goes for all TV stations, and really every place of business.

[GoldenShine9 1513]

I'm not too familiar with the company, other than I see a lot of people on here and a certain TV news blog complain about TEGNA. I live in a state with a TEGNA station (now two, actually, thanks to the Gray-Raycom merger). If they have rolled out their changes it hasn't affected this station's ratings. Old Gannett poured a lot of money into this station and it became a relevant player in the market and has stayed there for the better parts of two decades. There is not a tremendous amount of turnover at this station, and most of their on-air staff are older and I would assume well paid, which supposedly are the target of TEGNA's implosion of their stations (again, not my opinion). Like someone else said, it's all the local management. Same goes for all TV stations, and really every place of business.

 

TEGNA IS old Gannett, though...and most of the moves started in those days...

[mark 55]

While obviously local management plays a large role in how a station is run, if you think corporate ownership doesn't make a difference, you're badly mistaken. I say this as someone who works in local TV. And TEGNA isn't considered a top choice company for most TV professionals.

 

From my observation, I see TEGNA as a company trying almost too hard to innovate. They often roll out silly, social media driven, experimental newscasts to multiple stations before such concept has even been successful on one station. Sure, there have been some successes here and there (like the intelligent and thoughtful Next at KUSA), but those have been rare. More often, cheap beats intelligent, thoughtful production.

 

Yes, that's the direction local TV is headed, but the company seems to take pride in driving the industry there even faster by proclaiming things like "Change isn't an option." I think in some ways the company outsmarts itself with its commitment to the theoretical without the tangible results. Just my thoughts.

[Al-SA-TX 54]

While obviously local management plays a large role in how a station is run, if you think corporate ownership doesn't make a difference, you're badly mistaken. I say this as someone who works in local TV. And TEGNA isn't considered a top choice company for most TV professionals.

 

From my observation, I see TEGNA as a company trying almost too hard to innovate. They often roll out silly, social media driven, experimental newscasts to multiple stations before such concept has even been successful on one station. Sure, there have been some successes here and there (like the intelligent and thoughtful Next at KUSA), but those have been rare. More often, cheap beats intelligent, thoughtful production.

 

Yes, that's the direction local TV is headed, but the company seems to take pride in driving the industry there even faster by proclaiming things like "Change isn't an option." I think in some ways the company outsmarts itself with its commitment to the theoretical without the tangible results. Just my thoughts.

 

I'm not sure what company you work for, but I also work in the business and disagree with a couple of things here. Full disclosure, I was at a management level position for a TEGNA station a couple of years ago when the company spun off of Gannett. Not once did I ever encounter anything along the lines of "Corporate is making us do so and so" (Nor has this occurred at my current station). Standardized graphics you say? Nonsense. If a CSD really wanted to, they could launch their own package, but most stations these days do not have a graphics department to support the every day needs of the news department.

 

TEGNA may encourage their business units to think outside of the box, but they aren't forcing anyone's hand here. That said, I would work for them again given the opportunity.

 

Secondly, again, those social media driven/experimental newscasts are coming from local management. If it was corporate, you'd see something like that on it's entire television portfolio. In this case, some GM/ND came up with the idea and others started running with it. I guarantee you whoever first pitched the idea was someone from sales who found their way into a GM/ND position. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in this business.

[mark 55]

I'm not sure what company you work for, but I also work in the business and disagree with a couple of things here. Full disclosure, I was at a management level position for a TEGNA station a couple of years ago when the company spun off of Gannett. Not once did I ever encounter anything along the lines of "Corporate is making us do so and so" (Nor has this occurred at my current station). Standardized graphics you say? Nonsense. If a CSD really wanted to, they could launch their own package, but most stations these days do not have a graphics department to support the every day needs of the news department.

 

TEGNA may encourage their business units to think outside of the box, but they aren't forcing anyone's hand here. That said, I would work for them again given the opportunity.

 

Secondly, again, those social media driven/experimental newscasts are coming from local management. If it was corporate, you'd see something like that on it's entire television portfolio. In this case, some GM/ND came up with the idea and others started running with it. I guarantee you whoever first pitched the idea was someone from sales who found their way into a GM/ND position. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in this business.

 

I don't work for Tegna, so I'm obviously not an expert on what goes on inside its newsrooms so I appreciate your insight there.

 

My position isn't really that "corporate forces stations to do xyz." I just think saying "It's all on local management" seems like a bit of an overstatement. While corporate my not force anything, there's no doubt it encourages some things. You need look no further than the fact that so many of its stations are run so similarly. Many of the stations run with ideas that just aren't seen anywhere else. I think if you walk into any given Tegna newsroom, you're likely to find a lot of consistencies.

 

Lastly, I think that's a very good point about GMs with sales backgrounds. It is all too common and I really hadn't thought of that being at play with some of the sillier ideas.

[H4UL4U 127]

I'm not sure what company you work for, but I also work in the business and disagree with a couple of things here. Full disclosure, I was at a management level position for a TEGNA station a couple of years ago when the company spun off of Gannett. Not once did I ever encounter anything along the lines of "Corporate is making us do so and so" (Nor has this occurred at my current station). Standardized graphics you say? Nonsense. If a CSD really wanted to, they could launch their own package, but most stations these days do not have a graphics department to support the every day needs of the news department.

 

TEGNA may encourage their business units to think outside of the box, but they aren't forcing anyone's hand here. That said, I would work for them again given the opportunity.

 

Secondly, again, those social media driven/experimental newscasts are coming from local management. If it was corporate, you'd see something like that on it's entire television portfolio. In this case, some GM/ND came up with the idea and others started running with it. I guarantee you whoever first pitched the idea was someone from sales who found their way into a GM/ND position. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in this business.

Appreciate the perspective of someone who has been there. Again, just from my observations here and other places, it seems the TEGNA stations that are struggling with new format(s) are stations that were already the dog station in town (or certainly not in 1st place). So in essence they are trying to change things up because they have nothing left to lose, and they probably had inept management to begin with (rampant everywhere, not just in TV). I think people who don't work in the industry have any idea just how much sales can influence the news product of a station. I'm not saying it's right, it's just the way it is. Also, wasn't Belo notoriously slow to embrace new trends and technology in the industry? It certainly seemed like they were. Going from a company stuck in the old ways to a company that encourages change is going to have some growing pains.

[Georgie56 3303]

Well, here in Texas, WFAA and KHOU have adopted the social media format for their morning newscasts. KVUE is more traditional.

[NEOMatrix 1299]

Without going into a list, WKYC has largely stayed away from any social-media drivel. Instead, they're traditional mainly because it's keeping WJW from being absolute #1 in Cleveland. Hell, it was Gannett that made WKYC relevant after NBC ran it as a basement-dweller from the 70s until 2000.

[news89 468]

Without going into a list, WKYC has largely stayed away from any social-media drivel. Instead, they're traditional mainly because it's keeping WJW from being absolute #1 in Cleveland. Hell, it was Gannett that made WKYC relevant after NBC ran it as a basement-dweller from the 70s until 2000.

 

I agree WKYC has kept to itself staying away from social media style newscasts. I still the miss the customized open for the 7pm newscast which honestly I watch.

[Eat News 4745]

Yes, some stations have gone down ratings wise. But, that is on the station, not the company. The news director and executives at each station are the people making the day-to-day decisions.

 

A lot of these concepts are different for sure. But, TEGNA is pushing it so TV news will survive. A lot of these concepts and new ideas have captured the audiences they were intended to (young people). TEGNA's new graphics and music packages have outperformed the previous, and KUSA's "Next with Kyle Clark" is now the top rated newscast in all of Denver in any time period. So, yes, these are different ways of doing the news, but they're working.

 

 

Any station that relays on social media for it's content is on a path to failure.

 

Show me ONE success story of a newscast based on SM.

 

Now take a look at a station that doesn't use SM as a crutch or a starting point for its coverage...a station that gets very solid ratings and has higher billing than any other local station including all the network affils locally.

 

It's KUSI.

[H4UL4U 127]

Without going into a list, WKYC has largely stayed away from any social-media drivel. Instead, they're traditional mainly because it's keeping WJW from being absolute #1 in Cleveland. Hell, it was Gannett that made WKYC relevant after NBC ran it as a basement-dweller from the 70s until 2000.

Don't forget Dr. Phil!

[C Block 1566]

I've never worked for Tegna either, and I've never worked on the management level yet, but IME it's a two-way street as to what influences the editorial direction.

 

The corporate level of any station group will bring in consultants to try to guide local management into what they think is the best way to make a profitable newscast, and local management will then figure out how to do that on the more granular level. Tegna didn't hire Joel Cheatwood to just sit around. (Or on second thought, maybe they did.)

 

Corporate doesn't give station management carte blanche to do whatever they want, but corporate also doesn't "force" stations to do much either (at most companies, anyway.) WVEC backpedaled really fast on their 11pm experiment, and I'm sure that was a local decision.

 

I don't think you can pin these experiments on just corporate or local management. I know I posted on here a while ago an interview with Kyle Clark and Tegna's CEO, who was KUSA's news director in the 90s. I remember him saying that they're proud of trying all kinds of different ideas in multiple markets because every station and every market is different.

 

I don't think it's as easy as saying "every station needs to produce its own version of Next" because not every station is KUSA with strong management, not every anchor is Kyle Clark, and not every newsroom may want to commit to setting up such a specialized team for one newscast.

 

Also, a GM with a sales background sounds bad until you work for a GM with a news background who won't let the news director do his/her job.

[CLETVFan 367]

Tegna's syndicated Daily Blast Live is off to a bit of a rough start. Two of the show's host got into a disagreement that went viral for the wrong reasons. So much so that producers have been trying to stop footage from going viral. Too late.

 

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-this-painfully-brutal-panel-show-exchange-you-are-the-living-embodiment-of-white-privilege/

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/daily-blast-white-privilege_us_5b9abfd5e4b0b64a336d12a3

[Rusty Muck 4366]

Without going into a list, WKYC has largely stayed away from any social-media drivel. Instead, they're traditional mainly because it's keeping WJW from being absolute #1 in Cleveland. Hell, it was Gannett that made WKYC relevant after NBC ran it as a basement-dweller from the 70s until 2000.

That, and Russ Mitchell was given a lot of pull when he defected from CBS.

 

Don't forget Dr. Phil!

WKYC has long effectively counter-programmed with Ellen and Dr. Phil, so much so there's absolutely no need for them to have local news at 4 and 5. Which is remarkable for a big four affiliate nowadays.

[Greggo 354]

Well, here in Texas, WFAA and KHOU have adopted the social media format for their morning newscasts. KVUE is more traditional.

 

Here's why: KVUE is #1 in the mornings in Austin. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the only time period where they consistently beat KXAN. WFAA meanwhile is typically 3rd in the mornings in Dallas and KHOU slides back and forth between 3rd and 4th place in the Houston morning news race.

[J1975am 208]

Here's why: KVUE is #1 in the mornings in Austin. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the only time period where they consistently beat KXAN. WFAA meanwhile is typically 3rd in the mornings in Dallas and KHOU slides back and forth between 3rd and 4th place in the Houston morning news race.

 

I'm curious: If KHOU is 3rd or sometimes 4th in the morning in Houston, what other station in the market would be #2 at the time (behind KTRK)??

[Greggo 354]

I'm curious: If KHOU is 3rd or sometimes 4th in the morning in Houston, what other station in the market would be #2 at the time (behind KTRK)??

 

KPRC is first in the mornings. (And most of the rest of the day now, too.) Then KTRK. Then KHOU and KRIV fight for third.

[mre29 1514]

KPRC is first in the mornings. (And most of the rest of the day now, too.)

 

That's a pretty far cry from the days when people on forums were begging NBC to buy the station and make it good again. Good work, KPRC.

[CLETVFan 367]

Does anyone know the national ratings for Daily Blast LIVE? Even the ones for each markets? I'm curious how the show's doing, but the new season's a turn off after they started having two of the hosts engage more in split-screen fights.