Cuts begin at WJLA

[broadcastfan9751 136]

A month and a half after Sinclair closed on its purchase of Allbritton, the cuts have begun at WJLA. DCRTV reports that Doug Culver, the news director, and Dan Patrick, the assignment manager and producer, were both let go on Friday. In addition, reporter Kris Van Cleave is leaving for CBS Newspath in New York and several news producers are also leaving for jobs in other markets. And of course, Bill Lord was let go just before the purchase was completed.

 

Knowing Sinclair, this probably won't be the last of the cuts we'll see at WJLA.

[cbs2newengland 71]

They must cut jobs somewhere so they can buy new stations and cut those people too.

[sanewsguy 509]

 

A month and a half after Sinclair closed on its purchase of Allbritton, the cuts have begun at WJLA. DCRTV reports that Doug Culver, the news director, and Dan Patrick, the assignment manager and producer, were both let go on Friday.

 

These aren't cuts, this is new ownership taking out old management and installing their own people. Their positions will be filled.

 

 

In addition, reporter Kris Van Cleave is leaving for CBS Newspath in New York and several news producers are also leaving for jobs in other markets. And of course, Bill Lord was let go just before the purchase was completed.

 

Knowing Sinclair, this probably won't be the last of the cuts we'll see at WJLA.

 

WJLA was working with a very bloated news staff, I mean they had the largest local news staff in the country. I know you give it a bad rep because it's Sinclair, but I'm sure other companies would also cut from that newsroom. And Bill Lord was let go so they could bring in their own guy, Dan Mellon. Man, your post is very biased against Sinclair...

[Samantha 2878]

 

These aren't cuts, this is new ownership taking out old management and installing their own people. Their positions will be filled.

 

WJLA was working with a very bloated news staff, I mean they had the largest local news staff in the country. I know you give it a bad rep because it's Sinclair, but I'm sure other companies would also cut from that newsroom. And Bill Lord was let go so they could bring in their own guy, Dan Mellon. Man, your post is very biased against Sinclair...

 

In addition, Bill Lord left because what a GM does in Sinclair is different—it's a sales job.

 

Even Belo made cuts to KTVK when it came into possession of the station because at the time it employed 120 in news. That's a lot.

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

In addition, Bill Lord left because what a GM does in Sinclair is different—it's a sales job.

 

Even Belo made cuts to KTVK when it came into possession of the station because at the time it employed 120 in news. That's a lot.

 

I know Phoenix is a big DMA, but is it widespread? Ask WNBC how 120 ran in their newsroom. I know thats comparing Apples to PCs though.

[Breaking News 802]

 

These aren't cuts, this is new ownership taking out old management and installing their own people. Their positions will be filled.

 

WJLA was working with a very bloated news staff, I mean they had the largest local news staff in the country. I know you give it a bad rep because it's Sinclair, but I'm sure other companies would also cut from that newsroom. And Bill Lord was let go so they could bring in their own guy, Dan Mellon. Man, your post is very biased against Sinclair...

 

WJLA one the largest local news staff in the country, What about WABC, WLS, KABC, KTRK, WPVI and WSB? probably have the largest local news staff in their markets and probably in the country as well too. These stations have done well being staff heavy.

 

Yes, I get that it not 20 or 30 years ago, but a different era in time, but one would think in a market like D.C. Sinclair would at least have a large market outlet were there not going to gut their staff like a fish, but again that too much like right. Were talking about the Queen of cookie-cutter news. Next on that list will probably be Maureen & Gordon OUT! Just sit back and wait let see how the shoe will drop on the vets.

[Samantha 2878]

 

I know Phoenix is a big DMA, but is it widespread? Ask WNBC how 120 ran in their newsroom. I know thats comparing Apples to PCs though.

 

It wasn't just the size of Phoenix. KTVK under the Lewis family and Allbritton's WJLA were really similar: family-owned bell cow stations in major markets that probably got very big because of it. When you're put in a station group, even in a large DMA, that changes. Sinclair may have long coveted Washington, D.C., but WJLA is not Sinclair's bell cow.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Next on that list will probably be Maureen & Gordon OUT!

 

If that happens, WUSA will be trying to get them back. That's stations downhill turn started when both of them left.

 

Hopefully Sinclair is smart enough to know better. WJLA has made a ton of effort to be competitive and they are finally getting somewhere. Going the cookie-cutter route is a losing strategy in DC and will completely negate all the hard work the previous owners did to make the station much more competitive than it was in the past.

[Rusty Muck 4168]

WJLA one the largest local news staff in the country, What about WABC, WLS, KABC, KTRK, WPVI and WSB? probably have the largest local news staff in their markets and probably in the country as well too. These stations have done well being staff heavy.

Probably not a good idea to compare WJLA to the ABC O&Os, who are all still overstaffed to a degree.

 

And WJLA should not need to have 12 METEROLOGISTS on their staff. That is outright insane.

Next on that list will probably be Maureen & Gordon OUT! Just sit back and wait let see how the shoe will drop on the vets.

Maureen and Gordon will likely retire by their own volition very soon. Both have had long careers and pretty much control their destiny. S!nclair will not fire them.

 

Even if Maureen and Gordon leave WJLA on not-so-gentle terms, WUSA's only hope is for a 'farewell tour' for them along the lines of WBBM's farewell tour for Bill Curtis and Walter Jacobson. On paper, it sounds nice, but WUSA only would draw attention to channel 9's past glory. WBBM saw no tangible benefit from their farewell to Bill and Walter, and WUSA would be no different.

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

Probably not a good idea to compare WJLA to the ABC O&Os, who are all still overstaffed to a degree.

 

That's not a fair comparison ether, because ABC O&Os are owned by Disney which gives them a safety net (theoretically) because of their extra piles of cash.

 

And WJLA should not need to have 12 METEROLOGISTS on their staff. That is outright insane.

Well DC can get wacky weather. I don't know who the 12 folks are, are they multi decade professionals that got laid off from competing stations? Up where I am that's how WCVB has about 6 or more on air meteorologists, refugees from competing stations. Especially on weekends, a tornado watch or one that rips your metro, would you want: a) a b-crew that can't articulate like an a-crew or b ) have a b-crew work the computer when an a-crew is on the chromakey? I'd take B.

 

If any station has layabout news personnel to this day, that would be a shocker, thinking they eradicated those positions in the last 20 years or so.

[NEOMatrix 1295]

I heard that WJLA employs 240 in the newsroom according to the Washington Post. How many in the newsroom does WRC and WUSA employ? Yes, I know 5 is missing but Fox's hiring system is even wackier than Sinclair. We know that when Sinclair buys they're bound to cut but I got a feeling that these cuts will be necessary to keep WJLA/NC8 afloat.

[bobvick 9]

I know this is off topic, but I'll ask anyway. I thought I read somewhere that Sinclair would be required to change WJLA's call sign after the deal, because JLA stood for the founder of Allbrittion. Was there any truth to that?

[Rusty Muck 4168]

Well DC can get wacky weather. I don't know who the 12 folks are, are they multi decade professionals that got laid off from competing stations? Up where I am that's how WCVB has about 6 or more on air meteorologists, refugees from competing stations. Especially on weekends, a tornado watch or one that rips your metro, would you want: a) a b-crew that can't articulate like an a-crew or b ) have a b-crew work the computer when an a-crew is on the chromakey? I'd take B.

 

If any station has layabout news personnel to this day, that would be a shocker, thinking they eradicated those positions in the last 20 years or so.

Six meterologists is different from twelve meterologists.

 

WJW has six: Dick Goddard, Andre Bernier, Melissa Mack and Scott Sabol on weekdays, and AJ Colby and Angela Campos on weekends. Plus Andre's wife Sally Bernier serves as a holiday fill-in. So that's seven on a station with over 65 hours of news a week, in a market with equal amounts of wackiness.

[effseesee 101]

 

That's not a fair comparison ether, because ABC O&Os are owned by Disney which gives them a safety net (theoretically) because of their extra piles of cash.

 

 

Well DC can get wacky weather. I don't know who the 12 folks are, are they multi decade professionals that got laid off from competing stations? Up where I am that's how WCVB has about 6 or more on air meteorologists, refugees from competing stations. Especially on weekends, a tornado watch or one that rips your metro, would you want: a) a b-crew that can't articulate like an a-crew or b ) have a b-crew work the computer when an a-crew is on the chromakey? I'd take B.

 

If any station has layabout news personnel to this day, that would be a shocker, thinking they eradicated those positions in the last 20 years or so.

 

There are 12 because there are multiple platforms. Some of them are primarily on WJLA and others are on Newschannel 8. A couple of them are part timers (Ryan Miller teaches science in the Arlington County School District). WJLA/Newschannel 8 also has an agreement to provide weather reports for WTOP radio. A member of the weather team appears live on the radio station twice an hour.

[Weeters 1811]

I know this is off topic, but I'll ask anyway. I thought I read somewhere that Sinclair would be required to change WJLA's call sign after the deal, because JLA stood for the founder of Allbrittion. Was there any truth to that?

There absolutely is no FCC rule that would require this. If it was part of the sale agreement, it probably would have happened already.

[sanewsguy 509]

 

In addition, Bill Lord left because what a GM does in Sinclair is different—it's a sales job.

 

Nice to see you're eating up the BS Sinclair wants you to believe. Bill Lord left because of change of ownership and Sinclair wanting to put their own guy in place, fair and simple. Bill Lord has a sales background so he could easily do the work Sinclair wanted him to do.

 

Additionally, WHAM Rochester kept their GM, who has a news background and not sales. I understand Rochester is much smaller than Washington and that WHAM is a dominant number one. But they sacked Lord because WJLA is a crown jewel to Sinclair and they want somebody trained under Sinclair practices to run that station. I guess a smaller station they don't care so much, but to say it's a sales job is going a little far...

[rkolsen 1679]

I heard that WJLA employs 240 in the newsroom according to the Washington Post. How many in the newsroom does WRC and WUSA employ? Yes, I know 5 is missing but Fox's hiring system is even wackier than Sinclair. We know that when Sinclair buys they're bound to cut but I got a feeling that these cuts will be necessary to keep WJLA/NC8 afloat.

According to the Washington Post WJLA/NC8 employ 350 employees.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/under-new-ownership-wjla-tv-takes-a-slight-turn-to-the-right/2014/09/16/a21ffa6e-3ac8-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

[sanewsguy 509]

 

According to the Washington Post WJLA/NC8 employ 350 employees.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/under-new-ownership-wjla-tv-takes-a-slight-turn-to-the-right/2014/09/16/a21ffa6e-3ac8-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

 

Did you really need to link to that misleading story?

[rkolsen 1679]

Did you really need to link to that misleading story?

Because it provided an accurate number of employees that are employed by the two.

[rkolsen 1679]

I was thinking about the line regarding the must runs that Sinclair requires, mainly the Mark Hyman segments. Why doesn't WJLA run the segments in a low rated block that no one watches? If they need to run it that night why not place it between Sports and the final closing of the show before they go to Jimmy Kimmel? Or better yet air them right after their morning newscast in the dead space before Good Morning America? Maryland's a blue state and it's the reason why WBFF airs the must runs at 10:56pm after Sports Unlimited and before the 11PM newscast starts.

[TheRob 920]

 

I was thinking about the line regarding the must runs that Sinclair requires, mainly the Mark Hyman segments. Why doesn't WJLA run the segments in a low rated block that no one watches? If they need to run it that night why not place it between Sports and the final closing of the show before they go to Jimmy Kimmel? Or better yet air them right after their morning newscast in the dead space before Good Morning America? Maryland's a blue state and it's the reason why WBFF airs the must runs at 10:56pm after Sports Unlimited and before the 11PM newscast starts.

 

Never having seen one, is it a sponsored segment? Sinclair might require the segment to run in a certain block, selling ads based on that placement.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

I was thinking about the line regarding the must runs that Sinclair requires, mainly the Mark Hyman segments. Why doesn't WJLA run the segments in a low rated block that no one watches? If they need to run it that night why not place it between Sports and the final closing of the show before they go to Jimmy Kimmel? Or better yet air them right after their morning newscast in the dead space before Good Morning America? Maryland's a blue state and it's the reason why WBFF airs the must runs at 10:56pm after Sports Unlimited and before the 11PM newscast starts.

 

Since WJLA is the newest crown jewel for Sinclair, I think they're wanting to make the corporate-mandated segments as prominent in their newscasts as possible. But as I mentioned, if they were really that concerned about that, they'd realize that airing overtly-conservative news segments isn't going to win over viewers in a market that's fairly liberal even in the suburbs.

 

I agree, they should keep the overtly-conservative stuff as low key as possible if they want to stay competitive, otherwise they're going to lose viewers quick. But I think Hunt Valley is going to micromanage WJLA more than the rest of the stations in their group. And I think WJLA is going to lose because of that.

[TriangleTriadMediaNews 267]

 

I was thinking about the line regarding the must runs that Sinclair requires, mainly the Mark Hyman segments. Why doesn't WJLA run the segments in a low rated block that no one watches? If they need to run it that night why not place it between Sports and the final closing of the show before they go to Jimmy Kimmel? Or better yet air them right after their morning newscast in the dead space before Good Morning America? Maryland's a blue state and it's the reason why WBFF airs the must runs at 10:56pm after Sports Unlimited and before the 11PM newscast starts.

 

When WLFL in Raleigh handled their own newscasts as a WB affiliate, they always aired The Point right after sports and before the final check of weather.

[sanewsguy 509]

 

I was thinking about the line regarding the must runs that Sinclair requires, mainly the Mark Hyman segments. Why doesn't WJLA run the segments in a low rated block that no one watches? If they need to run it that night why not place it between Sports and the final closing of the show before they go to Jimmy Kimmel? Or better yet air them right after their morning newscast in the dead space before Good Morning America? Maryland's a blue state and it's the reason why WBFF airs the must runs at 10:56pm after Sports Unlimited and before the 11PM newscast starts.

 

 

Since WJLA is the newest crown jewel for Sinclair, I think they're wanting to make the corporate-mandated segments as prominent in their newscasts as possible. But as I mentioned, if they were really that concerned about that, they'd realize that airing overtly-conservative news segments isn't going to win over viewers in a market that's fairly liberal even in the suburbs.

 

I agree, they should keep the overtly-conservative stuff as low key as possible if they want to stay competitive, otherwise they're going to lose viewers quick. But I think Hunt Valley is going to micromanage WJLA more than the rest of the stations in their group. And I think WJLA is going to lose because of that.

 

 

When WLFL in Raleigh handled their own newscasts as a WB affiliate, they always aired The Point right after sports and before the final check of weather.

 

Behind the Headlines generally airs on KABB Friday or Saturday nights about 22 minutes into the newscast. They put it on those days supposedly because they rate the lowest those two days.

 

But Mrtraveler is probably right, especially with corporate right around the corner it's probably harder for them to escape.

 

I also can't believe most of the industry sites played along with the Washington Post's analysis of Sinclair. A lot of it may be true but it is definitely an attempt by the Post to smear Sinclair.

 

But it's harder for WJLA to escape the bias of the must runs because of Sinclair likely wanting to make it prominent on WJLA versus some other station which is much further from Baltimore. I just hope people won't pick up on it but unfortunately if they don't, the Post will do it for them...

[Mrtraveler01 737]

But it's harder for WJLA to escape the bias of the must runs because of Sinclair likely wanting to make it prominent on WJLA versus some other station which is much further from Baltimore. I just hope people won't pick up on it but unfortunately if they don't, the Post will do it for them...

The more they show those cartoonish Mark Hyman segments, the more people are going to catch on. Even by political pundit standards, his rants are absurd.

 

And from a business standpoint this makes absolutely no sense to me. Why risk alienating more than half of your potential market with blatantly biased political stuff like that? Just look at the political maps and you'll see that even the DC suburbs are fairly Democrat and the District itself is especially Democrat. Sinclair is setting WJLA up for failure and God help WJLA once Gordon, Maureen and Leon decide to retire or leave.