TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion

[TheRyan 560]

18 minutes ago, KevCor said:

I've been meaning to say this for a while now:

 

There are many things to argue about with these station groups: inherent editorial biases, incompetent newsrooms/production, even graphical presentation can be considered. But if you're simply griping about news music -- arguably about a total of 30 seconds to 1 minute of a 30-minute broadcast -- you're overreacting.

 

Now while C Clarity is not a traditional "news" package, but it's not a bad package by any stretch of the imagination. Granted those longer lived packages are synonymous with the stations they are with, they are aged DO age, and they show their age. The music is fine. It's just modern, and everyone loves to hate anything modern.  Just imagine if everyone was still using the music they used in 1970 -- every market would be suffering with a WJZ 1987 - 2017. sound.

 

As an aside: NONE of those packages you mention are widely used: Signature is in use by six stations nationwide, all in sub-100 TV markets, Primetime News is used by one broadcast and a handful of cable stations, and we all know who uses MCTYW. Eyewitness News is the exception, which most likely occurs because it's a staple in the three largest markets in the country on stations O&O'd by The Mouse (except of course the one who uses MCTYW) and that weird Fresno market . The ONLY other station still using EWN is Standard Media's are also sub-100 DMA stations.

 

 

You missed my point.  I was trying to say that you have packages that were created using actual musical talent.  C Clarity has nothing of actual music.  I tend to think of C Clarity as "noise", instead of news music.   It's full of emotion but little or no substance on most cuts.    As for your point about my aforementioned music pkgs mostly not used anymore, the stations still use an assortment of music pkgs that sound nothing like that "noise."    And I'll also add that stations in the Top-5 markets set the standard for the industry, not the other way around.  

 

If they had kept "This Is Home" with the new gfx, I wouldn't be quite as repulsed by the Tegna branding--notwithstanding the ridiculous show brands they've debuted (H Town Rush, Wake Up ____, etc.)

 

I'm a 20-something guy, and the way Tegna thinks my generation wants forced ingenuine shows that are irrelevant is not smart.   If I'm taking time to watch a newscast, I want a newscast with real substance.  And I'm saying that being as tech-savvy as anyone my age.

Edited December 19, 2019 by TheRyan

[dman748 1256]

24 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

You missed my point.  I was trying to say that you have packages that were created using actual musical talent.  C Clarity has nothing of actual music.  I tend to think of C Clarity as "noise", instead of news music.   It's full of emotion but little or no substance on most cuts.    As for your point about my aforementioned music pkgs mostly not used anymore, the stations still use an assortment of music pkgs that sound nothing like that "noise."    And I'll also add that stations in the Top-5 markets set the standard for the industry, not the other way around.  

 

If they had kept "This Is Home" with the new gfx, I wouldn't be quite as repulsed by the Tegna branding--notwithstanding the ridiculous show brands they've debuted (H Town Rush, Wake Up ____, etc.)

 

I'm a 20-something guy, and the way Tegna thinks my generation wants forced ingenuine shows that are irrelevant is not smart.   If I'm taking time to watch a newscast, I want a newscast with real substance.  And I'm saying that being as tech-savvy as anyone my age.

1000% agreed.

 

I'll just say that if Tegna had any brains and ANY resemblence of common sense, we wouldn't see stations like WFAA, and WWL fall off the way they have (sure WFAA in the November sweeps are #1 at 6/10 but WFAA is no longer the dominating force it once was). Also we wouldn't see names like H-Town Rush, etc.

 

And finally, Tegna could've done better with the usage of C Clarity, instead they chose to not only go with pure garbage but in the process destroy stations that was likeable, had personally, also had resemblence of common sense.

 

One more thing, (and this is sort of off-topic but is still on topic since we're talking about Tegna) the whole KTHV "Wake Up Central" thing is just absolutely ridiculous but, what else do you expect out of Tegna.

Edited December 19, 2019 by oknewsguy

[KevCor 344]

1 hour ago, oknewsguy said:

Providence, RI is NOT a sub 100 market (they're in DMA #53).

 

Correct, I did miss WLNE. In addition, I did miss a few other markets in my quest for glory and antagonism, which I also now included.

 

But to reiterate my point: If people are turning away, it's because the CONTENT of the broadcast -- the stories within the newscast and the way the new age MMJ are presenting the content. I am able to accept the argument of the CONTENT and PRODUCTION of the broadcasts being a part of declining ratings, even to go as so far as to allow a discussion of the social-media branding of the productions (I don't agree with that notion that social-media marketing they are using is inherently negative or hurting the stations to be honest, but it's worthy of a discussion).

 

But again, arguing to me that the music is in and of itself, a key factor of repulsion, that's a pretty superficial way of criticizing something that you could actually put a critical thought behind, IF you so chose to.

 

Quote

I'm a 20-something guy, and the way Tegna thinks my generation wants forced ingenuine shows that are irrelevant is not smart.   If I'm taking time to watch a newscast, I want a newscast with real substance.  And I'm saying that being as tech-savvy as anyone my age.

If you're taking the time to watch a newscast and you're in Generation Z (or Gen X/Millennial(GenY) like me), you're in the minority, according to a study by Oxford and Reuters Institute.

Edited December 19, 2019 by KevCor

[MarkBRollins88_v2 350]

12 hours ago, KevCor said:

I've been meaning to say this for a while now:

 

There are many things to argue about with these station groups: inherent editorial biases, incompetent newsrooms/production, even graphical presentation can be considered. But if you're simply griping about news music -- arguably about a total of 30 seconds to 1 minute of a 30-minute broadcast -- you're overreacting.

 

Now while C Clarity is not a traditional "news" package, but it's not a bad package by any stretch of the imagination. Granted those longer lived packages are synonymous with the stations they are with, they are aged DO age, and they show their age. The music is fine. It's just modern, and everyone loves to hate anything modern.  Just imagine if everyone was still using the music they used in 1970 -- every market would be suffering with a WJZ 1987 - 2017. sound.

 

As an aside: NONE of those packages you mention are widely used: Signature is in use by six stations nationwide, all in sub-100 TV markets, Primetime News is used by one broadcast and a handful of cable stations, and we all know who uses MCTYW. Eyewitness News is the exception, which most likely occurs because it's a staple in the three largest markets in the country on stations O&O'd by The Mouse, except of course the one who uses MCTYW and that weird Fresno market . The ONLY other broadcast stations still using EWN are WLNE Providence, WJRT Flint,  WBAY Green Bay and also a handful of sub-100 DMA stations.

 

Believe me C Clairty is just the icing on the cake. My problems with Tegna run much deeper than music—that I can assure you. 

12 hours ago, TheRyan said:

 

You missed my point.  I was trying to say that you have packages that were created using actual musical talent.  C Clarity has nothing of actual music.  I tend to think of C Clarity as "noise", instead of news music.   It's full of emotion but little or no substance on most cuts.    As for your point about my aforementioned music pkgs mostly not used anymore, the stations still use an assortment of music pkgs that sound nothing like that "noise."    And I'll also add that stations in the Top-5 markets set the standard for the industry, not the other way around.  

 

If they had kept "This Is Home" with the new gfx, I wouldn't be quite as repulsed by the Tegna branding--notwithstanding the ridiculous show brands they've debuted (H Town Rush, Wake Up ____, etc.)

 

I'm a 20-something guy, and the way Tegna thinks my generation wants forced ingenuine shows that are irrelevant is not smart.   If I'm taking time to watch a newscast, I want a newscast with real substance.  And I'm saying that being as tech-savvy as anyone my age.

As a fellow 20-something guy, I concur. (I think I’ve made that evident by now). 
 

Tegna is the “hello fellow kids” of ownership groups.

 

11 hours ago, KevCor said:

 

Correct, I did miss WLNE. In addition, I did miss a few other markets in my quest for glory and antagonism, which I also now included.

 

But to reiterate my point: If people are turning away, it's because the CONTENT of the broadcast -- the stories within the newscast and the way the new age MMJ are presenting the content. I am able to accept the argument of the CONTENT and PRODUCTION of the broadcasts being a part of declining ratings, even to go as so far as to allow a discussion of the social-media branding of the productions (I don't agree with that notion that social-media marketing they are using is inherently negative or hurting the stations to be honest, but it's worthy of a discussion).

 

But again, arguing to me that the music is in and of itself, a key factor of repulsion, that's a pretty superficial way of criticizing something that you could actually put a critical thought behind, IF you so chose to.

 

If you're taking the time to watch a newscast and you're in Generation Z (or Gen X/Millennial(GenY) like me), you're in the minority, according to a study by Oxford and Reuters Institute.

Depending on who you ask I could fall under Generation Y or Z (born right on the cusp). The problem is I don’t know anyone else my age (who is not also in the business) that actually watches tv news with any regularity. That’s a departure from previous generations when they were the same age. 
 

And believe me, I slowly made the switch away from WFAA as Tegnitis set in. This was before C Clarity. The transition from Buttoned-up Belo to Tricked-up Tegna is rather jarring. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by MarkBRollins88_v2

[hankthetank23 15]

Let’s just hope that WTHR and WBNS aren’t messed up too much. I highly doubt that the 9000 pound gorilla that is WTHR will drop in the ratings, but I don’t know about WBNS.

Edited December 20, 2019 by 24994J

[scrabbleship 429]

It looks like Daily Blast Live is slowly being picked up by the ex-Tribune/Nexstar stations. Looking at a schedule for the Hartford market, WTIC has picked up at 12:30 AM which is perhaps the best it can do unless they cut DailyMailTV (3:00/3:30 PM), Two and a Half Men reruns (6:00/6:30 PM), or Big Bang Theory reruns (7:00/7:30 PM) to a single rerun.

 

From the looks of it, WNEP and WPMT haven't picked up so WTIC may be the first to do so.

[dman748 1256]

1 hour ago, scrabbleship said:

It looks like Daily Blast Live is slowly being picked up by the ex-Tribune/Nexstar stations. Looking at a schedule for the Hartford market, WTIC has picked up at 12:30 AM which is perhaps the best it can do unless they cut DailyMailTV (3:00/3:30 PM), Two and a Half Men reruns (6:00/6:30 PM), or Big Bang Theory reruns (7:00/7:30 PM) to a single rerun.

 

From the looks of it, WNEP and WPMT haven't picked up so WTIC may be the first to do so.

KFSM in Fort Smith/Fayetteville has picked up DBL as well and they too are running that overnight

Edited December 23, 2019 by oknewsguy

[MidwestTV 1229]

Overnight is where DBL belongs. It cannot be doing well.

[nathannah 2402]

5 hours ago, scrabbleship said:

It looks like Daily Blast Live is slowly being picked up by the ex-Tribune/Nexstar stations. Looking at a schedule for the Hartford market, WTIC has picked up at 12:30 AM which is perhaps the best it can do unless they cut DailyMailTV (3:00/3:30 PM), Two and a Half Men reruns (6:00/6:30 PM), or Big Bang Theory reruns (7:00/7:30 PM) to a single rerun.

It could have easily been thrown at 2am on WTXX to do nothing; DBL should be lucky they even got a slot on the better station.

[newsbot 271]

I assume that these overnight clearances for DBL are just until legacy syndication deals are over and done with then they'll clear it in early fringe eventually. Here in Portland WCSH isn't very aggressive in the syndication market so they clear DBL at 12:30PM and from 4-5P on weekdays. Likewise, they cleared Harry in afternoons and overnights when that was a thing.

Edited December 23, 2019 by newsbot

[ThatSowislander 52]

Joel Cheatwood out at Tegna! The reserve course may have started to begun...

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/12/23/breaking-look-whos-leaving-tegna

(via ftv)

This come months after Tegna was looking to dump the millennial experiment and get back to news....

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/6/is-tegna-ending-the-experiment

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/8/at-east-tegna-tried

Edited December 23, 2019 by mposeymil

[newsbot 271]

Cheatwood's time came and went with Sunbeam. I feel badly for all the Tegna stations that lost all that institutional knowledge through early retirements in pursuit of that elusive millennial audience (to say nothing of the veteran talent who were traded out for cheap, fresh out of J-School MMJs.)

Edited December 24, 2019 by newsbot

[dman748 1256]

Maybe it was because Tegna entered into a market that clearly is not going to put up with their Millennial ideas (which is the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton DMA).

 

For stations like KFSM, WTHR, WBNS and WNEP they may have been saved.

 

For stations like KING, KXTV, WFAA, KHOU, WXIA and WTSP among others it's gonna take a lot of work to reverse the damage that has been done to those stations for the last several years

[abric 178]

Don't forget WKYC too.

[TexasTVNews 1377]

3 hours ago, mposeymil said:

Joel Cheatwood out at Tegna! The reserve course may have started to begun...

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/12/23/breaking-look-whos-leaving-tegna

(via ftv)

This come months after Tegna was looking to dump the millennial experiment and get back to news....

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/6/is-tegna-ending-the-experiment

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/8/at-east-tegna-tried

 

This is the BEST Christmas present we ever gotten! Time for Tegna to start fresh in '20!

[TheRolyPoly 2362]

53 minutes ago, TexasTVNews said:

 

This is the BEST Christmas present we ever gotten! Time for Tegna to start fresh in '20!

 

I ain't celebrating until I actually see the changes for myself.

[TheRyan 560]

We can maybe hope that Tegna is at least considering going to go back to actual news, but like @TheRolyPoly said I'll reserve celebrating until we see changes towards actual news coverage.  And given the fact that ridiculous rebrand at WKYC took effect just this year and they just doubled down on it, I'm not yet convinced Tegna is going to be smart going forward.  Time will tell what direction Tegna heads.  But in whatever case, please dump C Clarity.

[dman748 1256]

12 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

We can maybe hope that Tegna is at least considering going to go back to actual news, but like @TheRolyPoly said I'll reserve celebrating until we see changes towards actual news coverage.  And given the fact that ridiculous rebrand at WKYC took effect just this year and they just doubled down on it, I'm not yet convinced Tegna is going to be smart going forward.  Time will tell what direction Tegna heads.  But in whatever case, please dump C Clarity.

1000% agreed, I'm not ready to celebrate yet because we don't know what Tegna is going to do but what I can say is for the former Dispatch, Tribune and Nexstar stations now at Tegna, there is a little bit of hope that Tegna won't mess things up a whole lot.

 

But at the same time, I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch with a company like Tegna. But it is at least a good starting point and now we're just taking baby steps to retain the things that make stations like WBNS, and WNEP so special while perhaps taking baby steps to restore what stations like KING, WFAA and WWL used to be. But again this is baby steps and keep in mind that this is something that's absolutely not gonna happen overnight (in particular for stations like WXIA, WTSP and KXTV) I think those 3 aforementioned stations have a LONG way to go especially in markets where stations like KCRA, WSB and WTVT are all the powerhouse stations in those particular markets

Edited December 24, 2019 by oknewsguy

[detroiter313 179]

6 hours ago, mposeymil said:

Joel Cheatwood out at Tegna! The reserve course may have started to begun...

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/12/23/breaking-look-whos-leaving-tegna

(via ftv)

This come months after Tegna was looking to dump the millennial experiment and get back to news....

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/6/is-tegna-ending-the-experiment

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/10/8/at-east-tegna-tried

Isn't this the same Joel Cheatwood who originated the tabloid concept now in use at Sunbeam WHDH & WSVN?

[TexasTVNews 1377]

3 minutes ago, detroiter313 said:

Isn't this the same Joel Cheatwood who originated the tabloid concept now in use at Sunbeam WHDH & WSVN?

 

Right on the button, yes!

[TheRyan 560]

If true change is going to take place it first needs to happen at the top...which is what appears to have just happened.  This is a good change for Tegna, in my opinion.  But they need to clean out the rot underneath the top job at Tegna's corporate offices.   I want to see qualified and experienced journalists take the helm and steer the ship back on course.   

 

And I agree with FTVlive in this matter that Tegna has become something more of a punchline.  Any honest person with a brain understands that Tegna's idea of a millennial-style newscast only make people like me (a 20-something guy) want to reach for the remote because it looks low quality and ridiculous.   It's not just C Clarity that needs to be shown the trash can--the stupid newscast titles and their overly silly presentation style must go.   

 

It really makes stations like those owned by Nexstar, Hearst, Gray, and Sinclair look like world-class quality because at the least they strive to put on an intelligent newscast.  And is it any wonder that people like me prefers the newscasts from those station groups instead?  If I want silly, I'll go to Facebook.  If I want serious, I'll watch a newscast.  It's that simple.

[dman748 1256]

11 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

If true change is going to take place it first needs to happen at the top...which is what appears to have just happened.  This is a good change for Tegna, in my opinion.  But they need to clean out the rot underneath the top job at Tegna's corporate offices.   I want to see qualified and experienced journalists take the helm and steer the ship back on course.   

 

And I agree with FTVlive in this matter that Tegna has become something more of a punchline.  Any honest person with a brain understands that Tegna's idea of a millennial-style newscast only make people like me (a 20-something guy) want to reach for the remote because it looks low quality and ridiculous.   It's not just C Clarity that needs to be shown the trash can--the stupid newscast titles and their overly silly presentation style must go.   

 

It really makes stations like those owned by Nexstar, Hearst, Gray, and Sinclair look like world-class quality because at the least they strive to put on an intelligent newscast.  And is it any wonder that people like me prefers the newscasts from those station groups instead?  If I want silly, I'll go to Facebook.  If I want serious, I'll watch a newscast.  It's that simple.

1000% agreed.

 

Cheatwood may no longer work for Tegna but there are more problems within Tegna beyond just a Cheatwood problem, although Cheatwood himself was the root cause of the problems at Tegna's stations.

 

It's gonna take Tegna rebuilding that trust and respect the stations once had with viewers before they even think about returning to the dominance the stations once had and it all starts at the top at Tegna's corporate offices, and certainly with the General Managers that are forcing this garbage on the stations.

Edited December 24, 2019 by oknewsguy

[TheRyan 560]

1 hour ago, oknewsguy said:

1000% agreed.

 

Cheatwood may no longer work for Tegna but there are more problems within Tegna beyond just a Cheatwood problem, although Cheatwood himself was the root cause of the problems at Tegna's stations.

 

It's gonna take Tegna rebuilding that trust and respect the stations once had with viewers before they even think about returning to the dominance the stations once had and it all starts at the top at Tegna's corporate offices, and certainly with the General Managers that are forcing this garbage on the stations.

 

I agree that it will take a good while to rebuild trust.  First, Tegna needs to assume the posture of doing serious news.  If they even halfway resemble newscasts by Hearst, for example, they will be in a very good place 5 years from now. 

 

Do I think that will actually happen?  I'm not yet convinced more so than not, but I have the smallest glimmer of hope for Tegna with this change.

[dman748 1256]

7 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

I agree that it will take a good while to rebuild trust.  First, Tegna needs to assume the posture of doing serious news.  If they even halfway resemble newscasts by Hearst, for example, they will be in a very good place 5 years from now. 

 

Do I think that will actually happen?  I'm not yet convinced more so than not, but I have the smallest glimmer of hope for Tegna with this change.

IF (and a big IF might I add) Tegna does anything that resembles half of what groups like Hearst and even Meredith are in terms of doing real, serious news, then that'll do some good for a bunch of the Tegna stations.

 

I'm still holding out hope that Tegna will make changes that'll be for the good of their stations but I'll believe it when I see it

Edited December 24, 2019 by oknewsguy

[newsbot 271]

19 hours ago, detroiter313 said:

Isn't this the same Joel Cheatwood who originated the tabloid concept now in use at Sunbeam WHDH & WSVN?

Yes, with the important caveat that WHDH's transformation was very watered-down compared to WSVN's and tailored to the sensibilities of the market.

Edited December 24, 2019 by newsbot