DirtyHarry 727 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 I was always curious about this, but why don't stations in these broadcast chains use the resources of their stations in other markets when a big news story hits? I will use the example of the Ariel Castro story in Cleveland, the kidnapper who held the three girls hostage in his house for over ten years. Columbus is close enough to the story that the Columbus stations were doing about as much coverage as the Cleveland stations were doing. I wondered why none of the Media General stations (to my knowledge) were using any of the WCMH content and were relying on national feeds. What's the point of assembling all these stations if you're not going to make the most of your resources in house? Another example would have to do with anything involving Urban Meyer. You would think WFLA and the Alabama MG stations would jump all over any content WCMH has. I would think that if any big news story or event occurs in a market where Media General, Sinclair or one of the other chains has a station, they would want their own reporters from that market providing content to the rest of their stations. Why doesn;t this happen more frequently? Is this just pride, laziness, or is it just too hard to coordinate between stations - even within the same company? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFTV 527 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Also KGO relied on KABC today instead of KGTV and they mentioned "our sister station in Los Angeles is covering the wildfires in San Diego and we now go live to our KABC Reporter..." Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-104986 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Also KGO relied on KABC today instead of KGTV and they mentioned "our sister station in Los Angeles is covering the wildfires in San Diego and we now go live to our KABC Reporter..." I think sometimes if a story is big enough the stations crews maybe a bit preoccupied filling their newscasts and not having to worry about helping others in their station group. On the opposite side of this spectrum a station group like Hearst seems to do the teamwork thing very well. I remember during Katrina news crews from WBAL were at WDSU assisting the locals. Then during the Boston Marathon Bombings WBAL sent up a few crews and producers to allow WCVB and WMUR's crews to have a rest (which appeared to be used on WCVB's air when WBAL took and simulcasted WCVBs air when NBC wasn't giving a special report) and I think they were used to then feed the other stations in the group. Another thing could be if a station is willing to spend money they may opt to send their own crew to the scene of the story, like when Newton occurred WBAL was the only local station there that afternoon (when it would have been closer to use WCVB's crews), so that your newscast has someone familiar on the air and to show your "resource" potential. It seems like at least twice a month they have a crew in Washington for an event or reaching some local angle, while for run of the mill stories they will share with WRC or use the Hearst Washington bureaux. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-104988 Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 1002 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Also KGO relied on KABC today instead of KGTV and they mentioned "our sister station in Los Angeles is covering the wildfires in San Diego and we now go live to our KABC Reporter..." KABC had Rob McMillan, KNBC had Tony Shin and KTTV had Susan Hirasuna in the San Diego County community of Carlsbad, covering the fires. I think sometimes if a story is big enough the stations crews maybe a bit preoccupied filling their newscasts and not having to worry about helping others in their station group. On the opposite side of this spectrum a station group like Hearst seems to do the teamwork thing very well. I remember during Katrina news crews from WBAL were at WDSU assisting the locals. Then during the Boston Marathon Bombings WBAL sent up a few crews and producers to allow WCVB and WMUR's crews to have a rest and I think they were used to then feed the other stations in the group. Another thing could be if a station is willing to spend money they may opt to send their own crew to the scene of the story, like when Newton occurred WBAL was the only local station there that afternoon (when it would have been closer to use WCVB's crews), so that your newscast has someone familiar on the air and to show your "resource" potential. I agree. Resources here in San Diego to cover the wildfires these past two days have been stretched thin. KGTV and KNSD (who have the largest news staff in SD) had almost every available reporter out in the field. So, I can see if they were not available to their other sister stations. When it comes to big stories in San Diego, the LA stations usually send their own crews since they're only about a 2 hour drive away so they very rarely rely on the affiliates here. I do think that the NBC O&O's could rely more on each other, since they are spread out across the country (and it gives major story in another market, a local feel since it is coming from their sister station) - maybe they'll get them to rely on their sister stations more often in the future. On a side note, ever since the McGraw Hill stations joined Scripps, I have noticed KGTV relying more on its sister stations and I like it, since we get a more in-depth report versus the standard footage/VO. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-104991 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 941 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 I was always curious about this, but why don't stations in these broadcast chains use the resources of their stations in other markets when a big news story hits? I will use the example of the Ariel Castro story in Cleveland, the kidnapper who held the three girls hostage in his house for over ten years. Columbus is close enough to the story that the Columbus stations were doing about as much coverage as the Cleveland stations were doing. I wondered why none of the Media General stations (to my knowledge) were using any of the WCMH content and were relying on national feeds. What's the point of assembling all these stations if you're not going to make the most of your resources in house? Another example would have to do with anything involving Urban Meyer. You would think WFLA and the Alabama MG stations would jump all over any content WCMH has. I would think that if any big news story or event occurs in a market where Media General, Sinclair or one of the other chains has a station, they would want their own reporters from that market providing content to the rest of their stations. Why doesn;t this happen more frequently? Is this just pride, laziness, or is it just too hard to coordinate between stations - even within the same company? When the Ariel Castro story broke WXYZ carried a few live reports from the scene using a WEWS reporter. I also saw an instance (it's on YouTube) of a WXYZ reporter on WFTS talking about Jimmy Hoffa and another on WPTV on the same subject. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-104992 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 It does happen a fair amount. Packages are shared all the time. Most every station group has an ftp portal for sharing packages. Plus, all the major network affiliates come with access to the various network sharing portals: ABC NewsOne, CBS Newspath, CNN Newssource, Fox NewsEdge and NBC News Channel. If you are speaking strictly to live shots coordination can become an issue. Custom live hits require coordinating times and getting satellite space (unless, LiveU or similar is used.) That can be hard to due sometimes. rkolson, brought up Hearst and they own their own satellite space on Galaxy 28 so, they are much more nimble in that regard as everything is "in-house." But, It happens a lot more than you think in my opinion. I think the examples you provided might speak more to MG's abilities or limits. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-104994 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 The fox o&os (and even the former o&os) are all interconnected via a dedicated fiber line. There's been a few instances lately where we've coordinated with the local assignment desk for coverage. Notably during the winter storms this year we've picked up Philly and Atlanta a couple times. A couple weeks ago we got Memphis to patch us into their live shot about Princes William and Harry visiting there for a wedding. And about a month ago, Dallas rolled on our live shot on the fiber line for a fatal accident here in Houston that had victims from north Texas. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105001 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country News 435 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 The stations in Midland/Odessa and Abilene/Sweetwater are weird. Stations will call each-other sisters, even though they aren't owned by the same people. It's also a slap in the face to KMID that when the veterans died in the Midland train accident, KTXS from AB/SW did live shots for GMA. Otherwise, KWES/KOSA worked with KTAB/KRBC. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105003 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 938 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 We do it all the time at Tribune. WXIN runs a conference call each week to share the best stories in the group. But we have easy access to each other's rundowns and video. It's the best feature of our software. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105007 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson R. 569 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 WBTV shows reports from Charleston and Wilmington a lot, via the "Raycom News Network." Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105009 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalekusa 0 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 WBTV shows reports from Charleston and Wilmington a lot, via the "Raycom News Network." Similar thing here in Alabama: Raycom owns at least one station that covers every market in this state except Mobile, and they are all part of what they call the "Raycom Alabama News Network". Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105010 Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanGuy 117 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 The former Belo stations shared content quite often as well when needed. WWL frequently got footage from the Texas stations and vice versa. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105017 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 804 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 WATN and WLMT in Memphis have been doing this a lot ever since Nexstar purchased the stations, particularly when it comes to covering news stories over in Arkansas, in which they get most of their feeds from KARK in Little Rock. If there's one thing good to say about Nexstar, it's that they know how to pool their resources well. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105020 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Even before Meredith bought KMOV, KMOV and KCTV have shared their resources numerous times before if it was a story that impacted the whole state or a big story in either market (ie: KMOV airing a story from KCTV or KCTV airing a story from KMOV). Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105041 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 829 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Sinclair as well too doing crossover stories from many of their station...Shelia Gray doing morning news on WKRC, but filing reports along with Liz Bonis as well too. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105044 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2896 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Sinclair as well too doing crossover stories from many of their station...Shelia Gray doing morning news on WKRC, but filing reports along with Liz Bonis as well too. Not to mention that Sheila Gray worked out of Dayton for the duration of her non-compete clause, producing stories that aired across the station group. Partly due to the infrastructure laid for News Central Sinclair has a large internal news service for its stations. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105045 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 511 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 KSAT will take health reports from WDIV or WPLG and have a local reporter re-voice them. I know this because I had family who was interested in a medical procedure in one of the stories they covered but they found the doctor's office was in the Miami area. But Leslie Mouton re-voiced it to make it sound local. WOAI and KABB use Sinclair sister stations A LOT like the above poster said, though they don't seem to pick up Sheila Gray's stories much. I only saw her on there once. They do like to run Kristine Frazao, Kai Jackson, and Liz Bonis from WKRC. WHP's stories seem to be a favorite of theirs too. They also use KEYE a lot, especially when the state legislature meets every two years. Before Sinclair, they used to drive to Austin to cover it themselves since Austin is less than 90 minutes away. Then in 2011 when Newport owned them they used a reporter from Texas Tribune who filed reports for WOAI over the phone due to budget constraints they couldn't drive to Austin anymore. Now, they have more resources they can use. KENS has used their sister stations ever since Belo owned them. Especially KVUE. They use them A LOT for content. KSAT doesn't really seem to draw on KPRC much. They actually partner with KTRK for stuff from Houston a lot more than KPRC. If either station has a feed of a major news story, they usually take KTRK's. Just found that interesting. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105057 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 KSAT will take health reports from WDIV or WPLG and have a local reporter re-voice them. I know this because I had family who was interested in a medical procedure in one of the stories they covered but they found the doctor's office was in the Miami area. But Leslie Mouton re-voiced it to make it sound local. WOAI and KABB use Sinclair sister stations A LOT like the above poster said, though they don't seem to pick up Sheila Gray's stories much. I only saw her on there once. They do like to run Kristine Frazao, Kai Jackson, and Liz Bonis from WKRC. WHP's stories seem to be a favorite of theirs too. They also use KEYE a lot, especially when the state legislature meets every two years. Before Sinclair, they used to drive to Austin to cover it themselves since Austin is less than 90 minutes away. Then in 2011 when Newport owned them they used a reporter from Texas Tribune who filed reports for WOAI over the phone due to budget constraints they couldn't drive to Austin anymore. God I haven't seen Kai Jackson on air in Baltimore since he last anchored WJZ's New Years Coverage - he must be under a long non compete clause because he left early (in the mid 90s his coanchor at WJZ Sally Thorner had to wait a year before she could go on air after leaving WMAR and they paid her about $250,000 to do nothing.). I and many others on the twitter sphere think Sinclair must want him to be something other than a Washington correspondent maybe he'll take over WBFF duties or WJLA as head anchor. Back to the thread at hand I can't recall WBFF ever using sister stations for local stories - most of their national reports either come from Fox Newsedge or CNN Newsource. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105060 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbc9houston 22 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 KSAT will take health reports from WDIV or WPLG and have a local reporter re-voice them. I know this because I had family who was interested in a medical procedure in one of the stories they covered but they found the doctor's office was in the Miami area. But Leslie Mouton re-voiced it to make it sound local. WOAI and KABB use Sinclair sister stations A LOT like the above poster said, though they don't seem to pick up Sheila Gray's stories much. I only saw her on there once. They do like to run Kristine Frazao, Kai Jackson, and Liz Bonis from WKRC. WHP's stories seem to be a favorite of theirs too. They also use KEYE a lot, especially when the state legislature meets every two years. Before Sinclair, they used to drive to Austin to cover it themselves since Austin is less than 90 minutes away. Then in 2011 when Newport owned them they used a reporter from Texas Tribune who filed reports for WOAI over the phone due to budget constraints they couldn't drive to Austin anymore. Now, they have more resources they can use. KENS has used their sister stations ever since Belo owned them. Especially KVUE. They use them A LOT for content. KSAT doesn't really seem to draw on KPRC much. They actually partner with KTRK for stuff from Houston a lot more than KPRC. If either station has a feed of a major news story, they usually take KTRK's. Just found that interesting. KPRC back in 2003 had a live update from a WESH reporter when Paul Hill got executed (both KPRC and WESH were owned by H&C Communications until 1994). Eight years later during the Casey Anthony trial, KHOU (then owned by Belo) aired a WKMG reporter's update involving the Casey Anthony trail (KPRC and WKMG have been under Post-Newsweek ownership since 1997). Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105098 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylephoto760 2 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Back to the current situation in San Diego, KNSD was actually utilizing KNBC crews in addition to their own crews. I imagine the reason KGO was utilizing KABC crews instead of KGTV crews is that the KGTV crews (like every other San Diego news organization) had their hands full and KABC is both close enough to come down and is also an O&O. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105100 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriangleTriadMediaNews 267 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Media General owned WNCN/NBC Raleigh will often refer to WNCT/CBS Greenville-New Bern NC (and vice versa) during breaking news as their sister station, however since Media General bought WNCN from NBC, they've not once used WITN/NBC Greenville-New Bern for any stories occurring that way. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105110 Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 I should have added my experience in Montana. The Cordillera stations in the state all share stories between them, all using the same sig-out "Montana's News Station" to make it easier. When I was at KFBB, We would occasionally run stories from the Billings Sister station (The only other Max Media station to produce news). But this didn't happen very often. About a year or so ago when the group launched the 9 PM show on the Fox sub in Missoula, they rebranded all but Billings as "ABC Montana News" and "Fox Montana News" (obviously since KULR is an NBC affiliate and doesn't have Fox on the it's sub. It wasn't included). The Great Falls, Helena bureau, Missoula and Bozeman stations Were already sharing resources prior to the rebrand. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105128 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4378 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 When the Ariel Castro story broke WXYZ carried a few live reports from the scene using a WEWS reporter. I also saw an instance (it's on YouTube) of a WXYZ reporter on WFTS talking about Jimmy Hoffa and another on WPTV on the same subject. Likewise, material from WOIO regarding the Ariel Castro story was shared on all other Raycom stations. Website and Facebook content were definitely shared. As also mentioned in a thread regarding CNN NewSource affiliations, there can be more than one CNN affiliate in a market, but footage is embargoed within a particular market that an affiliate distributes footage from. All Cleveland stations are affiliated with CNN; thus when the Castro story broke, CNN had the ability to pick and choose footage from all stations to show on the main network. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105133 Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnya2k6 171 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 In around 1985-86, then-RKO sister stations (W)WOR and KHJ did similar feature stories about the resurging game show craze; both also shared the same footage. WOR: KHJ: Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13600-using-sister-stations-for-out-of-market-news-stories/#findComment-105241 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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