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WHDH, "Independent" edition


kdex86

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WHDH has announced special storm coverage tomorrow; in addition to their usual 8A-11A news block, they'll have special coverage at noon and continuous coverage from 6p-11:30p. Once again leveraging their advantages as an independent. WFXT under Cox briefly made a ripple in the ratings when they first came to town with saturation Nor'easter coverage. Will history repeat itself with Channel 7?

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WHDH has announced special storm coverage tomorrow; in addition to their usual 8A-11A news block, they'll have special coverage at noon and continuous coverage from 6p-11:30p. Once again leveraging their advantages as an independent. WFXT under Cox briefly made a ripple in the ratings when they first came to town with saturation Nor'easter coverage. Will history repeat itself with Channel 7?

 

Yes because WHDH can now be on for as long as it want to without anyone telling them they have to go back and air pointless stupud shit when they can be rather airing potential life-saving weather information. Advantages of being Independent.

Spoke too soon - looks like WHDH (and WFXT) bailed out at 8PM. WCVB was all over it, though, with the A-Team of Maria and Ed and a troika of meteorologists on the set including Harvey, Wank and even JC from the end of the NFL game thru 9P. WHDH took over from there.

  • 4 weeks later...

WHDH is groaning under the strain of all those additional news hours at its current staffing levels; double shifts and six day work weeks are not uncommon. Morale and ratings are holding up, though, if this union memo is to be believed:

http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/1/31/being-run-ragged-in-boston

WHDH is groaning under the strain of all those additional news hours at its current staffing levels; double shifts and six day work weeks are not uncommon. Morale and ratings are holding up, though, if this union memo is to be believed:

http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/1/31/being-run-ragged-in-boston

 

Show me a union member that does not want the overtime hours...and these days overtime is rare in union shops.

 

Of course the ones getting screwed are the salary, mid mgmt and interns.

Are they making all those O-T hours at NBC Boston?

Well, the January numbers are out, and the news isn't good for WHDH. Of all stations, WBZ appears to have reaped the benefits of all the market upheaval.

http://www.newenglandone.com/news/local/boston/january-2017-ratings-results-for-boston.html

Well, the January numbers are out, and the news isn't good for WHDH. Of all stations, WBZ appears to have reaped the benefits of all the market upheaval.

http://www.newenglandone.com/news/local/boston/january-2017-ratings-results-for-boston.html

 

Thanks to the switch, its more now WCVB vs. WBZ. This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to WBZ in such a long time.

Thanks to the switch, its more now WCVB vs. WBZ. This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to WBZ in such a long time.

 

Here is the problem when you release daily ratings as as guide to station success...

 

It's splitting hairs!

To be totally fair you would have to show all the "split hairs" in the ratings for accuracy.

 

But ratings are never about accuracy...it's about bullshit...and spin.

 

What this does show, is that the news war is heating up in Boston on a much bigger front.

This is getting good.

 

Who will run out of money first?

Who will run out of money first?

The conventional wisdom says Ansin, naturally, but he has hired away ace political reporter Sharman Sacchetti from FOX 25, who left suddenly before the presidential election. Ex-WCVB anchor Heather Unruh is hinting at a pending career move, but it's not clear if she'll remain in-market. Stay tuned.

Here is the problem when you release daily ratings as as guide to station success...

 

It's splitting hairs!

To be totally fair you would have to show all the "split hairs" in the ratings for accuracy.

 

But ratings are never about accuracy...it's about bullshit...and spin.

 

What this does show, is that the news war is heating up in Boston on a much bigger front.

This is getting good.

 

Who will run out of money first?

 

I generally agree, especially in markets that still run on the diary. But this does at least give a rudimentary sense of WHDH's future, and those drops are pretty significant for the first month of being an independent. I would have expected them to hold their own on at least one or two of those timeslots. When KRON went independent, as I recall it took a few sweeps cycles before their ratings really cratered. Maybe viewer habits are no longer what we thought they were before.

I generally agree, especially in markets that still run on the diary. But this does at least give a rudimentary sense of WHDH's future, and those drops are pretty significant for the first month of being an independent. I would have expected them to hold their own on at least one or two of those timeslots. When KRON went independent (aka MyNetworkTV), as I recall it took a few sweeps cycles before their ratings really cratered. Maybe viewer habits are no longer what we thought they were before.

 

Fixed.

No. After losing NBC, KRON went Independent first. Then they went with MyNet in '06.

 

Oh whoops, never mind. Apologies on my end. With MyTV being nothing now, most are treating it as Independents including KRON.

A couple of boo-boos at the Circle 7 Ranch the last couple of days:

1. Last night during a report on anti-Trump protests a "F*CK DAPL" sign was in clear view.

2. Sharman Sacchetti closed one of her live shots during today's 4PM newscast with "Fox 25 News."

The virtual channel for The CW will still be mapped as "56.1", as if these were two separate channels. But since they'll be sharing the same frequency, yes the PQ will degrade. And add those two subs (This TV & Buzzr), it'll be worse.

I wonder how the picture quality will look with 7.1 at 1080p, 7.2 at 720p, and with two 480i subs (This on 7.3, Buzzr on 7.4).

Keep in mind that under ATSC 3.0 (still pending, of course, but appears headed for fast-tracking under the Pai FCC) there is a much more efficient codec that maintains picture quality with multiple subchannels. In the meantime, I wouldn't put it past WHDH to downrez 7.1 to 720p.

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