TheRob 920 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I heard rumors at the end of last week, on my end in Kansas City anyway, that the NOW would be going on temporary hiatus in favor of standard news. Third-hand news, FWIW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I heard rumors at the end of last week, on my end in Kansas City anyway, that the NOW would be going on temporary hiatus in favor of standard news. Third-hand news, FWIW I'm elated if this is true. But my question is, if true, why only a hiatus? To overhaul the show or to see if their ratings improve with a standard newscast in its place? KSHB rates so poorly at 4pm now that if they're trying to see if a standard newscast will do better, it probably won't be given enough time to prove itself. Wouldn't be surprised if they jumped to the conclusion that the problem is KSHB and not the NOW, even though their woes started after the NOW was implemented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 238 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm elated if this is true. But my question is, if true, why only a hiatus? To overhaul the show or to see if their ratings improve with a standard newscast in its place? KSHB rates so poorly at 4pm now that if they're trying to see if a standard newscast will do better, it probably won't be given enough time to prove itself. Wouldn't be surprised if they jumped to the conclusion that the problem is KSHB and not the NOW, even though their woes started after the NOW was implemented. One idea I could see them doing is having a traditional newscast at 4 leading into an abbreviated/revamped The NOW at 4:30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamTheJ 87 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm so delighted to see this is failing. We here in West Palm Beach, FL, lets just hope that they make WPTV News Channel 5 run non-stop from 4:00-6:30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnuts6 89 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 One thing about the Scripps /Journal deal that will be status quo.. WSYM FOX47NEWS will still be done at the Gray Broadcasting owned NBC Lansing station WILX TV, however I dont know if Fox 47 will be using the scripps look or continues with the Gray look in both news and ads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1811 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I heard rumors at the end of last week, on my end in Kansas City anyway, that the NOW would be going on temporary hiatus in favor of standard news. Third-hand news, FWIW Retooling it for the Journal stations, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Retooling it for the Journal stations, perhaps? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that? One would think any retooling wouldn't effect the other stations in any way. There is not as much centralized (hardly any in fact) about the now as we were led to believe last summer. So adapting it to the journal stations should see no effect on anything else. If this is happening it's because Scripps has noticed it doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4169 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 IMO, if KSHB is putting The NOW on "hiatus," that is more than likely a nice way of saying, "it's cancelled, but it isn't cancelled." Especially if the replacement traditional newscast at 4pm fares much better in the ratings, and it will. The "hiatus" term is a face-saving move for Scripps corporate. As The NOW hasn't done as badly in Detroit and Cleveland, I'd be shocked if those went on hiatus. And I'd be shocked if it doesn't wind up on WKBW this summer or fall. But it's obvious that KSHB is in a massive ratings crisis. Step one is admitting that you have a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEOMatrix 1295 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 IMO, if KSHB is putting The NOW on "hiatus," that is more than likely a nice way of saying, "it's cancelled, but it isn't cancelled." Especially if the replacement traditional newscast at 4pm fares much better in the ratings, and it will. The "hiatus" term is a face-saving move for Scripps corporate. As The NOW hasn't done as badly in Detroit and Cleveland, I'd be shocked if those went on hiatus. And I'd be shocked if it doesn't wind up on WKBW this summer or fall. But it's obvious that KSHB is in a massive ratings crisis. Step one is admitting that you have a problem. I wonder how well "The NOW" rates on WEWS compared to WJW or WOIO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that? One would think any retooling wouldn't effect the other stations in any way. There is not as much centralized (hardly any in fact) about the now as we were led to believe last summer. So adapting it to the journal stations should see no effect on anything else. If this is happening it's because Scripps has noticed it doesn't work. Not only that, KSHB and KMGH were the test markets. It was evident then it wasn't working and Scripps had the opportunity to "retool," but didn't. But it's obvious that KSHB is in a massive ratings crisis. And once you recall the fact that KSHB was #2 at 4pm and consistently #1 and 2 at 5 and 6pm before the NOW was implemented, it's obvious that the show ruined their ratings. However Scripps couldn't just back track on the show after one or two months. They made an investment in it and had to stick with it. Didn't they even admit that the show was hurting their stations but that they were convinced it would find its footing and develop its own audience, or was that for their new syndicated programming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 That quote predates the now and referred to the syndication, but even then "original programming" which "The Now" sort of is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3471 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 ...and "Let's Ask America" is coming to an end this season. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/83946 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVIntheDesert 183 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 ...and "Let's Ask America" is coming to an end this season. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/83946 In other news, it looks like Bob Sullivan is taking his "homegrown" programming approach and will soon be applying it to Gannett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVIntheDesert 183 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Was this broadcast on TV or is this just a blurb on their website? Whatever the answer may be it definitely appears to be a conflict of interest. The article appears to be the type that you would read on Patch.com (is that still around?) or a free local newspaper. I guess they felt the need to promote this "award" given how much money the dealership spends on sponsored segments. This makes me wonder what would they do if the dealership were involved in a scandal? They would definitely have to walk a fine line between exposing wrong doing and maintaining an advertiser. I assume their response would be proportional to the scandal and whether or not they could afford to lose the sponsor. I believe this story was only published on their website. And it does read like a press release instead of a legitimate news story. I wonder how the other Ford dealers in town feel about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 ...and "Let's Ask America" is coming to an end this season. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/83946 Well there goes that... The List and The Now are supposedly safe for now with more stuff in development. Good luck to Ganett... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3471 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 They better have a bang-up plan for access time come this fall. It's not a glaring problem for their central/mountain stations, but it's a big gaping hole that needs to be filled for their east coast stations. A 7pm newscast, RTM or even an abbreviated version of The Now seem to be the only options, unless they relent to syndicated fare, or even dusting off the "Andy Griffith" episodes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 They better have a bang-up plan for access time come this fall. It's not a glaring problem for their central/mountain stations, but it's a big gaping hole that needs to be filled for their east coast stations. A 7pm newscast, RTM or even an abbreviated version of The Now seem to be the only options, unless they relent to syndicated fare, or even dusting off the "Andy Griffith" episodes... Thank God for our 7pm news... WMYD will need something though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Wow! It's almost as if Scripps being cheap and trying to create their own shows has actually started to backfire on them! Wait, you mean it IS? Wow! Before this announcement, Scripps also decided to revamp The List and end the local segments, which were arguably the best part of the show. They better have a bang-up plan for access time come this fall. It's not a glaring problem for their central/mountain stations, but it's a big gaping hole that needs to be filled for their east coast stations. A 7pm newscast, RTM or even an abbreviated version of The Now seem to be the only options, unless they relent to syndicated fare, or even dusting off the "Andy Griffith" episodes... I'd be really worried if I was KSHB. First The Now is (rumored to be) put on hiatus until further notice and now Let's Ask America is being canceled. Then again, both shows don't rate that well. Sarcasm aside, it's just perplexing that they say they're committed to their shows and will continue to produce for their stations, when everything they've produced so far has been a failure. It's also ironic that they say they're committed, yet one of their stations is temporarily taking the Now off air... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I think they may be saving face while they decide what to do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Wow! It's almost as if Scripps being cheap and trying to create their own shows has actually started to backfire on them! Wait, you mean it IS? Wow! Before this announcement, Scripps also decided to revamp The List and end the local segments, which were arguably the best part of the show. I'd be really worried if I was KSHB. First The Now is (rumored to be) put on hiatus until further notice and now Let's Ask America is being canceled. Then again, both shows don't rate that well. Sarcasm aside, it's just perplexing that they say they're committed to their shows and will continue to produce for their stations, when everything they've produced so far has been a failure. It's also ironic that they say they're committed, yet one of their stations is temporarily taking the Now off air... They could run 3, 4 hours of continuous newscasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 So if they do axe The Now, will all those people who they hired exclusively for it lose their jobs? Do The Now reporters also file reports for the regular newscasts too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3471 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 And all of this is happening right before the Journal stations are taken over... This all makes Sinclair look like an extremely well-run company. They have their share of irresponsible, selfish and bad motives, but they haven't been as destructive and foolish as the ones Scripps has been pulling off as of late. When a company is laying off people when others are doing just fine, something is VERY wrong. It's either sheer incompetence or they are facing a financial crisis that they brought on themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 So if they do axe The Now, will all those people who they hired exclusively for it lose their jobs? Do The Now reporters also file reports for the regular newscasts too? At least here in Detroit "The Now" never had any reporters of it's own... it simply uses the regular folks and kicks off the evening news an hour earlier than it did. They'd be better off just calling it "7 Action News At 4". That's what it is anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1811 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that? One would think any retooling wouldn't effect the other stations in any way. There is not as much centralized (hardly any in fact) about the now as we were led to believe last summer. So adapting it to the journal stations should see no effect on anything else. If this is happening it's because Scripps has noticed it doesn't work. Well that's the thing. They're about to add 9 more newsrooms to their collection, two of which are in key markets for entertainment news (Vegas and Nashville). KTNV already has an afternoon show ("Valley View Live") which seems like it'd be easy to retool into "The Now Las Vegas". They even have similar segments. As has been brought up, it's a strange coincidence that rumors of a hiatus spring up around the same time the Journal stations are coming into the fold. I think Scripps knows it's not working, and they're going to opt to shelve it for a while so they can firstly focus on Scrippsifying their new newsrooms and then launch an improved version of the show in their new markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns8401 846 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Well that's the thing. They're about to add 9 more newsrooms to their collection, two of which are in key markets for entertainment news (Vegas and Nashville). KTNV already has an afternoon show ("Valley View Live") which seems like it'd be easy to retool into "The Now Las Vegas". They even have similar segments. As has been brought up, it's a strange coincidence that rumors of a hiatus spring up around the same time the Journal stations are coming into the fold. I think Scripps knows it's not working, and they're going to opt to shelve it for a while so they can firstly focus on Scrippsifying their new newsrooms and then launch an improved version of the show in their new markets. Ok that makes more sense.... I think it'll continue on in the markets they've launched it in though, they can implement changes to the 8 existing shows over time without much trouble as they bring the Journal stations into the fold. Simple steals is one of the 2 segments that aren't done at WXYZ (I assume the same goes for the other 7 stations) by the way. The other segment is a report from The Now National Desk. So 5 minutes tops not originating locally... That'd be easy to fill from the station end if they want to shelve their national stuff and keep the name intact for continuity. I'm all for changing the name and never using it again though. The biggest problem the show has is the idea from Scripps that it isn't a newscast and is "original programming". It most certainly is just another newscast, same people, same stories and even teases for "next hour at 5 we'll have more..." Lead anchors have even hosted it as fill ins, the only real difference is the handheld camera in the Newsroom for the whole show. But that doesn't make it innovative... It just makes viewers seasick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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