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Thread Note: Since Scripps has indicated they intend to run ION Media as a separate entity from their existing (mostly) news-producing stations, ION discussion has been relocated to a new thread.

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13 hours ago, Howard Beale said:

FTVLive's Scott Jones says he believes Scripps plans to sell its Detroit station, WXYZ, based on the fact that the company is renovating the station.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2024/9/24/is-scripps-looking-to-sell

Correlation does not equal causation, yadda yadda yadda.  But in my experience, broadcasters that want to unload stations will give the place a proverbial coat of paint beforehand, to help win over any potential buyers.

EW Scripps is a mess. If they do give it to Hearst please.  I would love to see ABC (now Disney) take it again, but I don't think they're in the business of buying tv stations anymore.

On 9/9/2024 at 12:16 AM, mrschimpf said:

I will never understand how they completely missed this cost and crew efficiency opportunity;

 

Tonight in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, there were skeletal remains found and it's likely those of a child that went missing this winter. You have WGBA in the market, while WTMJ gets some coverage in the county, but certainly not in Two Rivers. There is absolutely nothing happening at 10pm in front of the Two Rivers Town Hall.


Most stations would either just mention that they're waiting for new details and send nobody out, or have someone pre-tape a report in front of the town hall for the 10pm because the only news broken is literally contained in a sheriff's department Facebook post. WBAY did send their reporter devoted to it out live, but she has been with the story since day one and you would expect she'd want to be live for any piece of breaking news arising out of it. That move I won't question.

 

Guess what the Scripps station did?

 

If you said that they both wasted gas, reporters and crew and made them wait out football, and then go live after the game's end just to say 'we know just as much as the sheriff's Facebook post', with WGBA's reporter at Two Rivers Town Hall and then the WTMJ reporter at Two Rivers City Hall...you must be a Scripps station (WTMJ) that doesn't trust their sister station (WGBA) enough to report the story in a coordinated live shot simulcast on both stations.

 

I know WGBA has really cut back, but I think they'd still know how to time a live shot with 'TMJ. That way, they didn't needlessly go 75 miles north to just read a Facebook post and get some generic 'oh I hope they found them' interviews with locals just because your station's ego is that wounded if you had to depend on your sister station to report on it.

 

I'm just shaking my head; this is beginner's stuff and they've been sister stations for twenty years now. I'm less mad at WGBA here than WTMJ because the former did have an interest in being there, but either way, this isn't a good reflection of Scripps even able to get one of their prime stations to stop treating their sister like a red-headed stepchild.

I hate pointless live shots, especially ones far away, and especially when sports pre empts programming. I don't think the audience cares about a static live shot in front of a dark building. Live shots should be reserved for an active scene, breaking news/rapidly changing info, or when there's not enough time to assemble a package. Otherwise live for live sake adds nothing to a broadcast.

 

At my old duopoly station, there was a policy that the secondary station could pretape newscasts delayed by sports. The primary station however had to go on live, even though they would just be copy and pasting the same broadcast on to both stations.  I don't think ratings will drop if the broadcast is not live. 

Edited by MediaZone4K
  • Like 3
On 8/23/2024 at 8:14 PM, LiveFromHere said:

I applaud Scripps for trying something different. Emphasis on the trying part. I just question the well of reporting talent. I fear it’s drying up. Fewer people want these jobs - a daily slog of MMJ’ing across ever-expanding newscasts, plus social media duties. If you want to still tell stories but make money and keep your sanity, you go corporate. If you want to be on camera, you become an influencer on social. Look at what Scripps is turning: neighborhood news has a why-should-I-care quality. Unless it’s your neighborhood. Making people care means finding characters and relatable facts, widening your storytelling sweep to bring in all your audience. Which takes skill. Which I’m not sure you’re getting from people new to the business or from non-traditional broadcasting backgrounds like school teaching or newspapering. Again, admirable for Scripps to be trying. But much of what they’re putting on the air or publishing is … rough. Stylistically. Editorially.

I think the news business is going to have to move away from experience obsession and move to ability. Sometimes those are mutually exclusive. There was a columnist who said news stations should hire people from their community who have the ability, and develop them because local talent is more likely to stay at the station/market rather than an experienced transplant hire.

Edited by MediaZone4K
14 minutes ago, MediaZone4K said:

EW Scripps is a mess. If they do give it to Hearst please.  I would love to see ABC (now Disney) take it again, but I don't think they're in the business of buying tv stations anymore.

I hate pointless live shots, especially ones far away, and especially when sports pre empts programming. I don't think the audience cares about a static live shot in front of a dark building. Live shots should be reserved for an active scene, breaking news/rapidly changing info, or when there's not enough time to assemble a package. Otherwise live for live sake adds nothing to a broadcast.

 

At my old duopoly station, there was a policy that the secondary station could pretape newscasts delayed by sports. The primary station however had to go on live, even though they would just be copy and pasting the same broadcast on to both stations.  I don't think ratings will drop if the broadcast is not live. 

ABC would be buying a fixer upper and I don’t mean Broadcast House itself. All those Scripps mandates have done a number on the format and presentation. I know ABC could probably fix it… I don’t know much about Hearst… are they a decent owner? 

Edited by ns8401

Scripps is now looking to sell and leaseback KNXV in Phoenix according to our friend...

I think Scripps wants to unload their biggest markets and Phoenix is their largest, followed by Tampa and Detroit... And all the stations have had a decent amount of turnover the past year or so... So I think we'll see several stations up for grabs soon...

10 minutes ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

Scripps is now looking to sell and leaseback KNXV in Phoenix according to our friend...

I think Scripps wants to unload their biggest markets and Phoenix is their largest, followed by Tampa and Detroit... And all the stations have had a decent amount of turnover the past year or so... So I think we'll see several stations up for grabs soon...

 

Selling a property and leasing it back is a common practice in business.  It offers tax benefits.  It does not mean they are selling the actual broadcast station.  Think of it as they will gain money from selling the building, have a tax benefit and then pay rent to a third party.  Reading the statement that is what it sounds like.  

  • Like 1
1 hour ago, NowBergen said:

 

Selling a property and leasing it back is a common practice in business.  It offers tax benefits.  It does not mean they are selling the actual broadcast station.  Think of it as they will gain money from selling the building, have a tax benefit and then pay rent to a third party.  Reading the statement that is what it sounds like.  

Scott is most likely referring to the real estate and physical plant, and not the station and its operations itself. If Scripps owns the property, as they likely do in Detroit and Phoenix, then WXYZ and KNXV become tenants.

 

CBS has done the same thing at Television City in Los Angeles, and possibly at the Broadcast Center in New York. It's not something I agree with, but it's apparently a new trend.

  • Like 3
25 minutes ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

Scott is most likely referring to the real estate and physical plant, and not the station and its operations itself. If Scripps owns the property, as they likely do in Detroit and Phoenix, then WXYZ and KNXV become tenants.

 

CBS has done the same thing at Television City in Los Angeles, and possibly at the Broadcast Center in New York. It's not something I agree with, but it's apparently a new trend.

They do own the property. And in fairness to Scripps WXYZ moved from Downtown Detroit to Southfield and had Broadcast House built in 1959 so you do have to do routine Maintanance and upkeep sometime. 

  • Like 3

A sale-leaseback deal may help them now, but it could come back to haunt them when that sale money runs out.

 

They will now have to pay rent to the owners of the building.  This was one of the expenses that helped bury Red Lobster because the rent was an additional expense on top of sagging sales.  If the property becomes more valuable, then the rent goes up too.

Edited by tyrannical bastard
  • Like 4
18 hours ago, ns8401 said:

ABC would be buying a fixer upper and I don’t mean Broadcast House itself. All those Scripps mandates have done a number on the format and presentation. I know ABC could probably fix it… I don’t know much about Hearst… are they a decent owner? 

Hearst stations, based on reporter feedback and posts in this thread, seem to be well run, and look good aesthetically. Their format can be a little stiff however. 

  • Like 2
On 9/25/2024 at 4:09 PM, MediaZone4K said:

Hearst stations, based on reporter feedback and posts in this thread, seem to be well run, and look good aesthetically. Their format can be a little stiff however. 

Being privately owned has its advantages at times, particularly for Hearst. The company seems to invest in its stations, and it's not beholden to stockholders.

  • Like 4

How is Adam Symson still the CEO despite everything going on with Scripps?  Scripps has cut numerous jobs, Scripps News is dead as of November 15, and the company's stock price is down by nearly 59% since this time last year.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
1 hour ago, Georgie56 said:

With this, the number of OTA 24-hour news channels will have gone from two at the start of the year to none at the end (with NewsNet—which didn’t have great affiliate distribution compared to Scripps News, nor the backing of a legacy broadcaster with news experience—having also gotten the ax).

 

Surprising no subchannel network operator has been able to successfully compete with cable news, considering the market for a 24-hour news network for people without a cable or vMVPD subscription or access to AVOD streaming services (and yes, this includes the shutdown of NBC Weather Plus, and AccuWeather and  WeatherNation shifting to pay-TV distribution within the past 16 years).

Edited by T.L. Hughes
3 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

With this, the number of OTA 24-hour news channels will have gone from two at the start of the year to none at the end (with NewsNet—which didn’t have great affiliate distribution compared to Scripps News, nor the backing of a legacy broadcaster with news experience—having also gotten the ax).

 

Surprising no subchannel network operator has been able to successfully compete with cable news, considering the market for a 24-hour news network for people without a cable or vMVPD subscription or access to AVOD streaming services (and yes, this includes the shutdown of NBC Weather Plus, and AccuWeather and  WeatherNation shifting to pay-TV distribution within the past 16 years).

Hate to see what was Newsy go away, but the retransmission money from the TV providers definitely helps to "prop up" the cable news networks, unlike the over-the-air (OTA) counterparts. The retrans money itself is drying up, though, so it's not a long-term answer.

 

Look at News Nation. Viewership may be low, but Nexstar eliminated the pre-existing syndication costs, already had the "Superstation WGN" distribution, and doesn't stream it or place it OTA. There's tradeoffs; you get some money, but the audience is also limited because of the so-called "walled-garden" of TV subscribers.

 

Too bad Scripps News just doesn't cut back on the live programming or enlist help from its stations to keep it going. Personally, I believe more news sources is good for democracy. We can always argue about news fatigue and reputation, though, which is understandable.

 

I also wonder how well Scripps News monetized its streaming. When I watch the local stations, it's more PSAs and promotions than advertisers and programmatic to make some $$$. They don't even leverage Zeam for streaming distribution and revenue.

Edited by Thor10
Added streaming/monetization aspect to post.

One of KSTU's longest-serving employees (Kerri Cronk) has left the building to follow her husband to go Down Under.

 

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/after-30-years-kerri-cronk-says-goodbye-to-good-day-utah

Edited by TheRolyPoly

The problem is Scripps News was a droplet in a swimming pool. So many other outlets already provide 24/7 national news not to mention the nationalization of local newscasts. How much of the same can exist before the bubble bursts? 

  • Like 3

I wonder if that means those that aired 30-minute block of Scripps News WXMI Fox17 airs it at 1PM to 1:30PM T-F as they put E/I on Mon, 7PM to 7:30PM M-F when Nov 18 comes around. I didn't know some of Scripps TV stations dropped some of the Scripps News for local news or syndication.  

 

Fox17 seems to have a hard time when it comes to news at 7PM they tried News feed for a year in 2020-21 then a pay for play type show 2022-23 and then Scripps News. 

  • 2 weeks later...

A lot of us are seeing Scrippscasts as this major shift to the industry, but I'm beginning to realize the anchorless newscast concept has existed for a long time. This is perhaps the first serious attempt on daily local news.

 

60 Minutes has not had a primary host for years now, and has correspondents presenting the stories themselves. 

 

I cannot find the article anywhere but IIRC a New York City newspaper wrote about a NYC station,  NBC New York Non-Stop perhaps, testing the idea of anchorless news broadcast around the late 2000s.

 

ASU Cronkite School of Journalism also put out a pretty smooth college broadcast employing the same concept. 

 

No anchor newscasts are not the end of the world especially as we shift to digital. But it poses the risk of job elimination and a plain impersonable product. I'm especially curious to see how smaller markets with more VOs than packages pull this off. I don't mind it being a method of news delivery but I don't want it to become the standard.

 

Scripps former Senior VP who was instrumental in this concept discusses it further here. Interestingly, and scarily, he has moved on to Graham. He brands himself as a "disruptor" and "innovator".

Edited by MediaZone4K
2 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

60 Minutes has not had a primary host for years now, and has correspondents presenting the stories themselves.

 

Years? More like decades. In fact, I don't remember them ever having a single primary host; the regulars simply take turns introducing stories.

 

  • Like 3
8 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Years? More like decades. In fact, I don't remember them ever having a single primary host; the regulars simply take turns introducing stories.

 

I declined to say decades because I don't recall exactly when they stopped having primary hosts like Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace were originally.

Edited by MediaZone4K
  • Like 1

WXMI Fox17 has a new weather met Kara James. I hope that mean no more Michael Fish and prerecorded forecast I was surprised a few weeks when Kevin was in studio that he didn't do the forecast and that it was Fish doing the forecast. That was night where there was some tornado warnings on MI/IN border I don't think there was a confirmed tornado not sure on that.

On 9/24/2024 at 6:24 PM, MediaZone4K said:

EW Scripps is a mess. If they do give it to Hearst please.  I would love to see ABC (now Disney) take it again, but I don't think they're in the business of buying tv stations anymore.

I hate pointless live shots, especially ones far away, and especially when sports pre empts programming. I don't think the audience cares about a static live shot in front of a dark building. Live shots should be reserved for an active scene, breaking news/rapidly changing info, or when there's not enough time to assemble a package. Otherwise live for live sake adds nothing to a broadcast.

 

At my old duopoly station, there was a policy that the secondary station could pretape newscasts delayed by sports. The primary station however had to go on live, even though they would just be copy and pasting the same broadcast on to both stations.  I don't think ratings will drop if the broadcast is not live. 

I'm down for Disney buying WXYZ-TV, so that it will be an ABC O&O once again. After all, that callsign does refer to the final four letters in the alphabet and ABC is the “Alphabet Network."

  • Like 1
6 hours ago, Megatron81 said:

WXMI Fox17 has a new weather met Kara James. I hope that mean no more Michael Fish and prerecorded forecast I was surprised a few weeks when Kevin was in studio that he didn't do the forecast and that it was Fish doing the forecast. That was night where there was some tornado warnings on MI/IN border I don't think there was a confirmed tornado not sure on that.

 

So she goes from a national presence with WeatherNation (mainly nights with Jesse Kelley) to a more local one with WXMI.

Speaking of...

 

This is a HUGE get for WXMI. Terri DeBoer is coming back to West Michigan Television in mid-November on WXMI's Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday editions of their morning news.

 

https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/meteorologist-terri-deboer-joins-fox-17-morning-news

  • Like 1

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