TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion

[Megatron81 278]

TEGNA putting the for sale sign up their going to be sold in the next year or 2 in my opinion. This smells what Meredith did when they made these types of cuts when Gray came and bought them.

Edited December 9, 2024 by Megatron81

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 947]

40 minutes ago, Megatron81 said:

TEGNA putting the for sale sign up their going to be sold in the next year or 2 in my opinion. This sells what Meredith did when they made these types of cuts when Gray came and bought them.

Seeing that a couple are former Hearst stations, I wonder if Hearst will pick up any?

 

[Recovering Producer 221]

24 minutes ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

Seeing that a couple are former Hearst stations, I wonder if Hearst will pick up any?

 

 

Let's not start this game again.

 

No ownership group planning to cash out of broadcasting, especially once the new administration, Congress, and FCC loosens or eliminates ownership caps on broadcast stations, will sell assets piecemeal.

 

A company looking to sell wants one transaction, the biggest possible payday, and the financial/tax benefits of doing it all at once.

 

Like every major merger we've seen in the past few years: Nexstar/Tribune, Gray/Raycom, etc... the surviving entity will divest any assets they can't legally keep to third parties. 

[Howard Beale 65]

TEGNA already has job openings listed for its cutdown version of creative services.  I see 40 jobs for “multi-market commercial producer” or “multi-market creative producer” listed.

 

Some stations have openings for both positions:

• KARE Minneapolis
• KGW Portland, OR
• KHOU Houston
• KPNX Phoenix
• KSDK St. Louis
• WFAA Dallas
• WGRZ Buffalo, NY
• WKYC Cleveland
• WTHR Indianapolis
• WUSA Washington, DC
• WXIA Atlanta

Most only have an opening for a single commercial producer:

• KENS San Antonio
• KFSM Fayetteville, AR
• KREM Spokane, WA
• KTHV Little Rock
• KTVB Boise
• KVUE Austin, TX
• KXTY Sacramento
• WBIR Knoxville, TN
• WBNS Columbus, OH
• WCSH Portland, ME
• WLBZ Bangor, ME
• WMAZ Macon, GA
• WNEP Wilkes-Barre, PA
• WTOL Toledo, OH
• WWL New Orleans

And these stations have openings for a single creative producer:

• KING Seattle
• KUSA Denver
• WCNC Charlotte

What will these jobs pay?  According to the salary listings for WGRZ — thank you New York and your salary transparency law — both jobs pay between $20 and $40.38 per hour.  Or, $41,600 to $83,990 per year.

 

In related news, one of TEGNA’s soon-to-be-former marketing directors said on LinkedIn that the company laid off at least 300 people in its creative services purge.  Yikes!

[MidwestTV 1239]

Tegna is eliminating weekend meteorologists, weekend sports anchors, and investigative units at several stations.

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 947]

28 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

Tegna is eliminating weekend meteorologists, weekend sports anchors, and investigative units at several stations.

Well it's not WZZM -- they just hired retired CM George Lessens' replacement --- for weekends...

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

Today was it for Sarah French. She has left WCNC after 8 years there and 20 in journalism.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sarahsfrench_thankyou-gratefulheart-newbeginnings-ugcPost-7271877667681972224-PnYi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

[norcalTVfan 18]

On 12/9/2024 at 10:38 AM, MidwestTV said:

Tegna is eliminating weekend meteorologists, weekend sports anchors, and investigative units at several stations.

KREM 2 in Spokane is now airing pre-recorded weekend forecasts from Denver. With this change, Meteorologist Michelle Boss, a 25-year station veteran, showed herself to the exit. The lingering question here is why Denver when their Seattle sister station has/had a large stable of weather talent.

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

WBNS Columbus has become the latest station in the country (albeit on streaming only) to offer a local weather show, even if its shorter than the 30 minutes some of the Gray stations like to do.

 

 

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

WTHR's Dave Calabro signed off and is now in retirement (will still do IMS duties) but it went unusual in his signing off—no celebration at the station, just a pre-taped message from IMS.

 

 

[ABC 7 Denver 1729]

So KUSA has repurposed the old Daily Blast Live set for local newscasts... It's not great for this, if I'm honest.

 

 

[MidwestTV 1239]

11 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

So KUSA has repurposed the old Daily Blast Live set for local newscasts... It's not great for this, if I'm honest.

 

 

 

Mentioned in the Sets & Studios section, this is only temporary for the week has they have work done on their main studio.

[ABC 7 Denver 1729]

4 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

 

Mentioned in the Sets & Studios section, this is only temporary for the week has they have work done on their main studio.

 

New floors?

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

Because TEGNA is eliminating marketing and community affairs departments across the country, it will force one Columbus news legend to say goodbye to WBNS come January 17th.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/columbus-tv-legend-angela-pace-182133572.html

[Howard Beale 65]

Today is the last day for TEGNA's creative services and marketing departments.  All are being laid off in favor of centralized creative services.  I saw an example of the new TEGNA creative services AI-driven TV ads...and wow, it's not good.  I'm sure it's cheap, and that's what matters to the bottom line, but wow it's bad.

[ABC 7 Denver 1729]

1 hour ago, Howard Beale said:

Today is the last day for TEGNA's creative services and marketing departments.  All are being laid off in favor of centralized creative services.  I saw an example of the new TEGNA creative services AI-driven TV ads...and wow, it's not good.  I'm sure it's cheap, and that's what matters to the bottom line, but wow it's bad.

 

Did TEGNA drop the design hub too?

 

Also, do you have an example of the ads? I think this will bite them in the ass, honestly.

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

One less must-run segment will be aired on TEGNA stations nationwide. They no longer have time... to Verify.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292299785804341248/

[Howard Beale 65]

Further verification:
https://thedesk.net/2025/02/tegna-lays-off-national-verify-fact-check-team/

[PTVNews 196]

On 11/22/2024 at 7:22 AM, tyrannical bastard said:

Ouch:

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2024/11/21/producers-will-punch-the-shows-at-tegna-stations

 

I can see this happening in Huntsville and Memphis, but it could be a bad move in the other markets they want to pilot this in...

 

I heard KREM debuted their new "director-less" automation today. They have clips on their Youtube but they are without graphics. 

[norcalTVfan 18]

7 hours ago, PTVNews said:

 

I heard KREM debuted their new "director-less" automation today. They have clips on their Youtube but they are without graphics. 

KREM is running blue graphics and not the colored ones typically associated with each different day part. I watched the first few minutes of the 4 PM news and it was choppy; the 5 PM seemed much better. The studio is apparently undergoing a refresh, but there have been no visible changes. The couch has been moved to the standup area, the news desk has been moved to the couch area, and the big screen seems to only be for the weather. Shots are really tight and the main anchors always appear together on camera.

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

KFAA is already home to the Mavericks. Now, they're home to the Wings as well.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/tegnas-kfaa-lands-dallas-wings-broadcast-rights/?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Tegna’s+KFAA+Lands+Dallas+Wings+Broadcast+Rights&utm_campaign=It’s+Open+Season+On+The+Media+For+Trump’s+FCC+Chair

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

Weekend morning news is now gone from WTIC.

 

Instead, a new program takes shape at 8am called Featured.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGF0vxBNAOf/?igsh=OGF4em0xY3JpOGo2

[kfc513 238]

9 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Weekend morning news is now gone from WTIC.

 

Instead, a new program takes shape at 8am called Featured.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGF0vxBNAOf/?igsh=OGF4em0xY3JpOGo2

 

And there's a typo in the announcement....

 

 

[TheRolyPoly 2556]

Now we know who will partially carry Diamondbacks games this season: KPNX Phoenix and either KMSB or KTTU Tucson.

 

https://www.12news.com/article/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/dnp-d-backs-on-deck-diamondbacks-and-12news-partnership-to-bring-games-to-viewers-baseball-arizona-mlb/75-da03b508-623b-489f-9ce8-36ef1fe7f13d

 

This article states that Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Yuma will also see games locally over-the-air from the D-Backs.

 

https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/press-release/press-release-diamondbacks-partner-with-tegna-s-12news-to-broadcast-10-over-the-air-games-during-2025-season?t=dbacks-press-releases

[NYAZSporty 141]

In addition to the D'backs, TEGNA has also secured rights to simulcast 10 games in local markets for the Colorado Rockies (KUSA/NBC Denver) & San Diego Padres (KFMB/CBS & CW on 8.2) https://www.9news.com/article/sports/mlb/colorado-rockies/watch-colorado-rockies-games-9news-ktvd/73-ddbcf589-9f61-443e-9ebc-4edb92f1fd3f https://www.cbs8.com/article/sports/mlb/padres/cbs-8-and-cw-san-diego-broadcast-padres-games-2025/509-ffaa3f54-ce7c-4b81-9bb4-ca3362865ec6