Brain 81 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Wow, SJL/Lilly were the first in Erie to broadcast in high definition last year. They beat WJET. They were second to start just a few months ago. I'm still a bit disappointed at how it took so long for both station owners in this market to cross the finish line. Even for it's size, it was way overdue. WJET even went through a second new graphics package when they started HD broadcasting. They use the standard blue HD Nexstar package. (There has already been a WICU/WSEE thread, I'm just making an observation to spark conversation.) http://www.yourerie.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Wow, SJL/Lilly were the first in Erie to broadcast in high definition last year. They beat WJET. They were second to start just a few months ago. I'm still a bit disappointed at how it took so long for both station owners in this market to cross the finish line. Even for it's size, it was way overdue. WJET even went through a second new graphics package when they started HD broadcasting. They use the standard blue HD Nexstar package. (There has already been a WICU/WSEE thread, I'm just making an observation to spark conversation.) http://www.yourerie.com Well, it's nearly 2 months later and still no signs of ANY of the Peoria stations upgrading their newscasts to HD, and Peoria is a bigger DMA (#116) than Erie. In fact, I don't know of any other DMA that's quite as big but with only 2 surviving news operations and neither being in HD. We are a Nexstar-Granite dominated market. Our CBS affiliate, WMBD, is owned by Nexstar, which also controls our Fox affiliate, WYZZ, which is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting. And our remaining 3 stations are all controlled by Granite Braodcasting. Their WEEK-TV, our NBC affiliate, controls WAOE, our Mynetwork affiliate, and as of 2009, WHOI, our ABC affiliate, when they were still owned by Barrington. Also, when they acquired WHOI, they aquired our local CW cable Channel for control of 4 of 6 networks. And despite WEEK's continued status of being the #1 overrated Peoria powerhouse, the master controls for all 4 of these Granite-operated stations are in Granite's Ft. Wayne Hub. Granite had also tried outsourcing the weekend weather to their Ft. Wayne Hub, and faught AFTRA for permission to outsource to outsource any of WEEK's newsteam in the future. WEEK has had the same dated stuidios since 1996 and there's just no sign of them wanting to make any real investements. In fact, to date, only one Granite station has converted it's newscast, locally, and under it's own control, and that was it's Ft. Wayne cluster just a little over a year ago. I don't know of any company who runs their stations worse than Granite. In fact, WEEK didn't even go into stereo until 2001, which is more than a decade after any other NBC stations I know of, and I know NBC wasn't very happy with them. The only upside to Granite is all of their stations have been broadcasting in digital widescreen since 2010, although that is not true HD and it's high time they finally finish things instead of going halfway everhwhere. And their continuing to boast their " now in digital widescreen" status in 2014 is starting to get annoying. Also, WEEK has Accuweather's Cinema Live HD, though not too bad, no compentantly-ran station in a market this size still messes with AccuWX. Also, WEEK recently got rid of their 24/7 weather subchannel. Again, I've never seen an NBC station in a market this size that no longer runs a subchannel. WMBD/WYZZ, though they revamped their look a couple of times since WEEK, they are still broadcasting local programming in 4:3 480i. And my research has found that they are among the last few Nexstar stations to do so. This has me concerned about the future of WMBD and it is a testament to what happens in an area where there is no competition. I've asked WMBD about this and they just ignore me as it is Nexstar policy to not answer technical questions. WEEK, on the other hand, does respond, however, they were rude, lied through their teeth, and pretty much accused me of being an idiot who knows nothing of what I'm talking about. Just 1 year ago, they tried to tell me that nobody else is converting their newscasts to HD and not to believe what I read on the internet. But they ended up treating me a little better when I proved it by flooded their Facebook page with links to all of these other stations. I'll watch the news channels in an adjascent market until Peoria stations get back back up to speed and stop with their homogenized crap. There have been recent rumours that Granite Broadcasting is nearing an end, and that is the best news I've heard for Peoria thus far. They have been a poor corporation with some of the worst decision-making in media history ever since their inception in 1988. They can't compete and will not compete. It's just time for them to go. But rumor has it that one of the corporations interested in buying Granite is Nexstar. I don't like this as WMBD's newscast will probably consolidate with WEEK, but anything would be better than Granite, and I'm sure Nexstar would finally convert their local facility to full HD since WEEK & WMBD rank first and second of the Peoria stations. Wherever Nexstar has been doing these mergers, they have been doing it right in recent years. And WHOI was recently bought by Sinclair, which says they will not renew the agreement with Granite to continue to operate WHOI. Since one of Sinclair's shell corporations owns WYZZ, it is expected that either the abandoned WHOI studios or the also-abandoned WYZZ studios will be revamped for a WHOI/WYZZ duopoly, which if some company other than Sinclair or Nexstar acquired WEEK, should bring a third independent news operation back to Peoria. We'd have WHOI/WYZZ, WEEK/WAOE & WMBD as a stand-alone. That would bring competition back into the market. But if Nexstar buys granite, than we'll have WHOI/WYZZ & WEEK/WMBD/WAOE, which would still be better than how things are right now becase Granite would be out of the picture. But yeah, Peoria TV is currently the absolute worst crap in existance. They claim there's not enough money. But if Erie can do it, than so can they. 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Bayarea_tv 3 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I always wondered why WFXP Fox 66 didn't use their 66.2 or 66.3 for the MyNetwork programming. Erie is one of the only markets that never persuaded having that secondary Fox Network. I believe Buffalo, Youngstown, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have the My Network programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brain 81 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 And Peoria's WMBD is controlled by Nexstar. No wonder they have such crap going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 In Peoria, if there was a third operation, I am sure they would be dominant in ratings in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I've asked WMBD about this and they just ignore me as it is Nexstar policy to not answer technical questions. Translation: We don't really want to answer your question. "Nexstar policy" my ass... WEEK, on the other hand, does respond, however, they were rude, lied through their teeth, and pretty much accused me of being an idiot who knows nothing of what I'm talking about. Just 1 year ago, they tried to tell me that nobody else is converting their newscasts to HD and not to believe what I read on the internet. Translation: We really don't want to answer your question so we'll make stuff up so you'll shut up... Gotta love the media. They go out and ask the tough questions like it's their business but when you ask them a question they will either decline comment or lie... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4167 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I always wondered why WFXP Fox 66 didn't use their 66.2 or 66.3 for the MyNetwork programming. Erie is one of the only markets that never persuaded having that secondary Fox Network. I believe Buffalo, Youngstown, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have the My Network programming. "Law and Order: SVU" reruns can be seen virtually anywhere. It might have made sense to clear the network when they had **original** atrocious telenovelas. (Or would it?) WUAB is still a My affil, but you couldn't tell so by their logo... I guess you could call this C Les? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElliotJones 52 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 WEEK, on the other hand, does respond, however, they were rude, lied through their teeth, and pretty much accused me of being an idiot who knows nothing of what I'm talking about. Just 1 year ago, they tried to tell me that nobody else is converting their newscasts to HD and not to believe what I read on the internet. But they ended up treating me a little better when I proved it by flooded their Facebook page with links to all of these other stations. Out of curiosity, who did you speak with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsMaster 226 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Wow. I used to live near the Wheeling/Steubenville market (not in it, but near it) and both WTRF and WTOV are in HD. Shocking to see a market higher-ranked than that market with no HD newscasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 And Peoria's WMBD is controlled by Nexstar. No wonder they have such crap going on. :agree: though crap is a little too mild of a word to describe it. In Peoria, if there was a third operation, I am sure they would be dominant in ratings in no time. We might finally get that third operation now. Earlier in the year, Quincy Newspapers moved to Purchase WEEK, along with a few other Granite stations. However, it has been quite some time and I've yet to see where it has been approved by the FCC. I'm positive that WEEK will be upgraded to an HD newscast if aquired by Quincy as I believe every single Quincy Newspaper's staton has an HD newscast. Sinclair has also announced they will terminate the SSA bewteen WEEK & WHOI within 9 months of WEEK's ownership changeover. However, I know that Quincy Newspapers was wanting control of WHOI as well, so I'm hoping they will still be interested in WEEK without WHOI as they would still be operating WAOE. I know Sinclair, along with Nexstar, are not the most beloved networks. But I also know that Sinclair spent over $1billion gobbling up stations. And with their conservative viewpoints and their strong desire to share those viewpoints with markets where they present, what's another 1-2 million to spiff up an old studio. I strongly believe Sinclair will launch a WHOI/WYZZ duopoly within the next few years, regardless of what happens to WEEK, and I believe it will be a state-of-the-art studio. And this means WMBD will have to stand alone. And though I prefer WMBD news over WEEK, I still find it pathetic how badly Nexstar is neglecting WMBD/WYZZ. Not only do they still lack the ability to show syndicated programming in HD, but they are the only mid-market stations I'm aware of that are still broadcasting news in 4:3 480i. At least WEEK/WHOI offer syndicated programming in HD and broadcast news in Widescreen 480p. Since Nexstar has fully upgraded all of their stations surrounding WMBD, I'm afraid they're planning on outsourcing WMBD's operations to either WCIA or WHBF, which are both CBS stations, Nexstar-owned and adjascent to Peoria. I don't know what else could explain the reason for the horrible neglect. It's almost as if Nexstar is making 0 invesements in WMBD while they're continuing to invest in the majoirty of their other stations. Translation: We don't really want to answer your question. "Nexstar policy" my ass... Translation: We really don't want to answer your question so we'll make stuff up so you'll shut up... Gotta love the media. They go out and ask the tough questions like it's their business but when you ask them a question they will either decline comment or lie... LOL I know right? And I've basically given up on them. They used to be fairly honest once upon a time, but not anymore. I know it's a financial hardship, and I know it takes some effort. WMBD simply doesn't respond, WEEK will only continue to waste my time. And on various forums, it seems like all I can do is run into people who say that WMBD is a sinking ship and simply can't afford to switch while others say that Peoria is just too broke & poor to support such upgrades. I know this is all BS as there are several smaller and poorer markets with stations that have made the change quite some time ago. It can't be easy to spend 1-2 million in upgrades, but I can't help but see that almost every other station in other markets have made the change. The Peoria TV stations reaks of poor planning and incopetent mismanagement. Out of curiosity, who did you speak with? Mark DeSantis, who also tole me that WHOI was supposed to receive an updated weather graphics system by the end of 2013, but as of today, they're still running with the Galileo. And when I asked him again about it a few months ago, I got silence, of course. Furthermore, in response to the Quincy Nespapers deal, he made it a point to basically tell me that WEEK was being ran perfectly and there was absolutley nothing about it that needed to be improved. If he believes what he says, than he's living in an alternate universe. But than again, so does much of Peoria. I've pretty much given up on them until we start to see some owneship changeover. In the meantime, I watch the Davanport/Moline/Rock Island stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Well, it appears now that the Peoria area will go at least another 2 years without a single HD newscast. It also apepars that Quincy Newspapers may not aquire our NBC affiliate. Also, it appears one of our only 2 remaining news operations will go on broadcasting their local programming in 4:3 480i. I am so disgusted with Nexstar and the horrible, stagnant state of our Peoria TV stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvcg66b3r 97 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Well, it appears now that the Peoria area will go at least another 2 years without a single HD newscast. It also apepars that Quincy Newspapers may not aquire our NBC affiliate. Also, it appears one of our only 2 remaining news operations will go on broadcasting their local programming in 4:3 480i. I am so disgusted with Nexstar and the horrible, stagnant state of our Peoria TV stations. You can say Peoria is a cursed market. The conversation continues on my thread on RadioDiscussions: http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?661087-Cursed-TV-Markets&p=6011310&viewfull=1#post6011310 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Well, it appears now that the Peoria area will go at least another 2 years without a single HD newscast. It also apepars that Quincy Newspapers may not aquire our NBC affiliate. Also, it appears one of our only 2 remaining news operations will go on broadcasting their local programming in 4:3 480i. I am so disgusted with Nexstar and the horrible, stagnant state of our Peoria TV stations. No, Quincy wants WEEK. The deal is still pending, awaiting for the FCC greenlight. I find it shocking that the DOJ/FTC cleared the deal within weeks after the announcement, and it's stil waiting for the greenlight from the FCC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsMaster 226 Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 No, Quincy wants WEEK. The deal is still pending, awaiting for the FCC greenlight. I find it shocking that the DOJ/FTC cleared the deal within weeks after the announcement, and it's stil waiting for the greenlight from the FCC. And the problem isn't WEEK, it's WPTA/WISE and KBJR/KDLH. WHOI will almost certainly be a separate entity from WEEK soon, much like what happened with KDBC in El Paso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 And the problem isn't WEEK, it's WPTA/WISE and KBJR/KDLH. WHOI will almost certainly be a separate entity from WEEK soon, much like what happened with KDBC in El Paso. The proposed sharing arrangements in this deal are the likely factor for the delay. Back in May, the FCC asked questions regarding the Quincy/Granite deal. They asked how the deal is being financed, and the situation regarding Peoria, where they have JSAs of two other stations. Quincy stated that they will end the WHOI JSA, within 9 months after closing, and they're going to end the WAOE JSA by the end of this year. But as you see, they're still waiting for the FCC greenlight. They didn't asked about the situation in Fort Wayne or Duluth, but after seeing that conditional grant was made in Phoenix for the KASW deal, it certainly didn't help Quincy/SagamoreHill in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I certainly hope something starts moving in Peoria, but nothing will start before the market is finally rid of Granite Broadcasting for good. Until than, Granite will continue to run WEEK/WHOI into the ground and Nexstar will be perfectly happy to leave the WMBD/WYZZ dupoly in it's current, laughable state. WMBD did get new weather graphics last week. They look nice. But since their graphics didn't come with an HD presentnation, new set, or anything else, I'm sure it will be at least 2 more years if nothing else changes. Furthermore, I have a sneaking suspicion Nexstar may be looking to hub WMBD news to future regional hubs at either WHBF or WCIA. I just hope I am not right. Truth is I know nothing of Nexstar's plans for WMBD. Also, their ongoing policy to continue ignoring complaints from several viewers is frustrating. I'm sorry, but there's no reason why a station in this area should still be broadcasting their local pogramming in 480i. And WEEK? There's no reason a #1 station in a market this size should still be using an 18 y/o set, use Accu WX graphics, and constantly looking for ways to farm out more of their operation. Though they do broadcast in digital widescreen, I find it appauling they are not locally HD by now. I heard it was Sinclair who announced the termination of the WHOI/WEEK JSA. I have also heard that Sinclair has a conservative sland as well as a strong desire to have their opinions known. Yet the Peoria market is the only area where Sinclair is present without any news being produced directly by a Sinclair station. And given a corporation that just spent 10 digits in station aquisitions last year, I'm sure they can handle the 1~2 million it would cost to revamp either the WHOI or WYZZ studios. I know Sinclair are bean counters, but they do spend big money where they feel it is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 WMBD did get new weather graphics last week. They look nice. But since their graphics didn't come with an HD presentnation, new set, or anything else, I'm sure it will be at least 2 more years if nothing else changes. Looks like it's the package that Nexstar has been sending out to other stations like WVNY. Hopefully it's not too much longer before they push the package out to the rest of the newscast, the transition between the new weather graphics and the regular newscast graphics is very awkward. http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/weather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 With over three quarters of Nexstar stations broadcasting news in HD, I would have thought WMBD would already be there by now. But this is all encouraging. They also have to be aware that major changes could be in store for WEEK and/or WHOI once Quincy takes over WEEK and WHOI seperates. If they are acting now, they should beat them to the punch by at least 9 months. But only time will tell. This is WMBD we're talking about. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokinjer1 1 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 With their 6:00 newscast, WMBD began broadcasting from a temporary set. Could if finally be so? Hope has been restored. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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