MI News 26 Founder Starting National News Network

[Big Country News 435]

NewsNet also now has a wikipedia page about it with a lot of information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewsNet

[Eat News 4745]

58 minutes ago, Big Country News said:

 

NewsNet just picked up two major-market affiliates.

One in Chicago, the other in San Francisco.

Cough,Cough...

Calling KAAP "San Francisco" is what I would call really generous.

Like super, super generous...with a really big antenna on a super perfect day.

But maybe San Jose will have better results...and it's better than nothing at all.

[rkolsen 1684]

20 minutes ago, Eat News said:

Cough,Cough...

Calling KAAP "San Francisco" is what I would call really generous.

Like super, super generous...with a really big antenna on a super perfect day.

But maybe San Jose will have better results...and it's better than nothing at all.

If I could like I would so you get a (maybe I’ll keep a chart on how many each person gets and they get a reward*) . But KAAP has a decent coverage area and like you said it’s tall. About 3900 feet above sea level.

 

*like a get out of the shark tank and back into the ocean card.  But I’m sorry Eat you’ve maxed out at the number of times you can use it - 40. 

[TVIntheDesert 183]

It appears from their business model that they're going after the LD market. Speaking to a local Phoenix LD operator, and he said he's interested in NewsNet, but can't launch it on 1/1. We'll see. 

If they put out a halfway decent product, kudos to them. But, if ABC or CBS ever decides they want to turn ABC News Live or CBSN into a diginet, that would be a death blow to them.

[AJClementeFan69 477]

Lol. Even calling any of this quixotic would be kind and generous. The only reason MI News 26 has "succeeded" is because its audience is, frankly, a bunch of yokels who have no idea what news is. I've watched the product and it's not like there's a whole lot of boots-on-the-ground reporting aside from the segments that essentially amount to Nonprofit of the Day.

It looks good to a lot of people on here because a lot of people on here don't care about anything beyond nice graphics.

[rkolsen 1684]

25 minutes ago, AJClementeFan69 said:

Lol. Even calling any of this quixotic would be kind and generous. The only reason MI News 26 has "succeeded" is because its audience is, frankly, a bunch of yokels who have no idea what news is. I've watched the product and it's not like there's a whole lot of boots-on-the-ground reporting aside from the segments that essentially amount to Nonprofit of the Day.

It looks good to a lot of people on here because a lot of people on here don't care about anything beyond nice graphics.

Their articles are fairly simple as well. 

Just look at this “report”. The reporter says it’s very busy and other things but they show none of that. At the very least put some b-roll footage of the pets while the audio interview continues. 

 

 

[rkolsen 1684]

Looking at their website I’d imagine the bulk of their revenue comes from advertising and transmission fees (I’d imagine some of the smaller ones pay for carriage or are bartered) on their six diginets:

26.1 - MI News 26 - 16:9 720p

26.2 - Antenna TV 26 - 4:3 480i

26.3 - LAFF 26 - 4:3 480i

26.4 - Escape 26 - 4:3 480i

26.5 - Grit 26 - 4:3 480i

26.6 - Light TV - 4:3 480i

26.7 - Buzzr 26 - 4:3 480i

Then they have a LP analog station branded as MI TV 12.  During the day it airs CoZi and clears the two hours of MyNetwork programming. 

They claim their station:

Quote

Our signal reaches over 137,600 regular viewers, and is a 24/7 source for local news, announcements, information, and entertainment.

Which of course doesn’t meant that all 137,600 people are watching. 

Never the less it is admirable that this young man has made this relatively successful. 

I don’t mean to be critical but rather I’m thinking of the practicality of this venture.  I hope they do well.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

When the big guys don’t want to try something, someone’s got to do it. Then, even if you get moderately successful, the big guys will take your idea and run with it (see where MeTV is now compared to Retro TV). Like I said before, I commend Mr. Wotila for trying to make this work. But, Cadillac, Michigan is not New York, Atlanta, or even Chattanooga.

[T.L. Hughes 890]

On 12/1/2018 at 3:57 PM, Big Country News said:

NewsNet also now has a wikipedia page about it with a lot of information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewsNet

I actually created that page (I go by TVTonightOKC on Wikipedia). There was enough information available about NewsNet to help source an article that I chose to start one.

[TVIntheDesert 183]

10 hours ago, AJClementeFan69 said:

Lol. Even calling any of this quixotic would be kind and generous. The only reason MI News 26 has "succeeded" is because its audience is, frankly, a bunch of yokels who have no idea what news is. I've watched the product and it's not like there's a whole lot of boots-on-the-ground reporting aside from the segments that essentially amount to Nonprofit of the Day.

It looks good to a lot of people on here because a lot of people on here don't care about anything beyond nice graphics.

Even if it’s a young anchor reading AP copy while B-roll is on the screen, it’s still better programming for low power stations than Jimmy Swaggart’s Fire & Brimstone Network, or 24/7 infomercials (although the last two are major revenue generators for LD stations).

54 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

I actually created that page (I go by TVTonightOKC on Wikipedia). There was enough information available about NewsNet to help source an article that I chose to start one.

I believe the announced Palm Springs affiliate is NOT an affiliate of the far-left “Free Speech TV” though. I noticed that station’s Facebook page and the owner seems like an Alex Jones wannabe.

[TheRolyPoly 2451]

The live stream for NewsNet online is now up! News stories are also on there as well and iOS and Android apps have been launched (with the live streams on there too). Its starting to get more serious but I am excited about it.

http://yournewsnet.com/

[Weeters 1916]

Not much on the live stream unless you like watching the same two promos repeatedly between spots for medical equipment (covered by Medicare, at no cost to you!) and tax debt resolution. The live stream also keeps cutting out for me every few minutes.

It apparently uses an in-band DTMF tone based control system (judging by the four tones that aired over an ID just now) presumably to trigger things at affiliates, which I didn't know was still a thing in the year 2018. 

[TVIntheDesert 183]

12 hours ago, Weeters said:

It apparently uses an in-band DTMF tone based control system (judging by the four tones that aired over an ID just now) presumably to trigger things at affiliates, which I didn't know was still a thing in the year 2018. 

 

The Luken networks use DTMF tones. Given that many of their affiliates are LPTVs which may run some kind of Luken service (not that Luken is providing uplink services for NewsNet), that might make it more cost-efficient for the stations who want to use ad insertion.

[plnewsfan 9]

And it seems that NewsNet will run some content from CNN.  

[DENDude 217]

It will be interesting to see how quickly they can get some non low power stations.   I Think that is what could make or break them.

 

Here is a look at their studio's & HQ in Cadillac, MI.   (Image taken from GOOGLE Maps)

A

 

[Webovision 202]

On 12/1/2018 at 1:57 PM, Eat News said:

Cough,Cough...

Calling KAAP "San Francisco" is what I would call really generous.

Like super, super generous...with a really big antenna on a super perfect day.

But maybe San Jose will have better results...and it's better than nothing at all.

 

hard to take a news org seriously when they try to stretch the truth about what cities they are in...

 

KAAP has a construction permit issued that will take the signal farther away from the city than it already is...

 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/map-display#appid=2016934&call=KAAP-LD&contour=51&city=SANTA+CRUZ&state=CA&fileno=-0000054935&.map

 

would be more appropriate to say "san jose"... but that doesn't sound as cool...

 

 

[Eat News 4745]

1 hour ago, Webovision said:

 

hard to take a news org seriously when they try to stretch the truth about what cities they are in...

 

KAAP has a construction permit issued that will take the signal farther away from the city than it already is...

 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/map-display#appid=2016934&call=KAAP-LD&contour=51&city=SANTA+CRUZ&state=CA&fileno=-0000054935&.map

 

would be more appropriate to say "san jose"... but that doesn't sound as cool..

 

 

 

And according to that map I would say San Jose is a generous statement. Not even remotely close to Santa Cruz and not even in Santa Cruz county.  The Santa Cruz Mountains block the signal to Santa Cruz. Sheesh!

 

But I have good news to all those news starved residents of Morgan Hill and Gilroy....

You're getting an All News Tee-Vee Channel !!!!

 

Happy News Year S.Santa Clara County.

 

[east-tx-tv 121]

13 hours ago, DENDude said:

It will be interesting to see how quickly they can get some non low power stations.   I Think that is what could make or break them.

 

Here is a look at their studio's & HQ in Cadillac, MI.   (Image taken from GOOGLE Maps)

 

 

I guess every media empire has to start somewhere.  This looks very blink-and-miss-it.

 

NewsNet definitely needs to

* beef up its affiliate list and coverage

* do more to make themselves look more polished and less "cable-access"

* eventually have more staff

* work on a broader list of advertisers

 

I know most of the above is a takes-time thing; hopefully they can make it.

[Greggo 356]

One of their anchors is only 20 years old, according to FTV. There also supposedly is a pic on his FB page of him wearing a MAGA hat, Scott says. Not a good look for a journalist. (And yes ... I’d say the same thing if he was photographed wearing a Hillary cap.) 

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/1/2/another-national-news-service-has-launched

[T.L. Hughes 890]

17 hours ago, DENDude said:

It will be interesting to see how quickly they can get some non low power stations.   I Think that is what could make or break them.

 

Here is a look at their studio's & HQ in Cadillac, MI.   (Image taken from GOOGLE Maps)

A

 

That building seems pretty small to house even a local news department like WMNN-LD, much less a national news channel. BTW, what Stephen Arnold package is NewsNet using for its theme music, it doesn't sound very familiar among Arnold's recent work.

[TheRolyPoly 2451]

1 hour ago, T.L. Hughes said:

That building seems pretty small to house even a local news department like WMNN-LD, much less a national news channel. BTW, what Stephen Arnold package is NewsNet using for its theme music, it doesn't sound very familiar among Arnold's recent work.

 

I think its "Evolution," the package that debuted at WFTS that ended up not lasting long there. According to NMSA, its also the same package used by their sister stations WMNN-LD and WXII-LP.

[CircleSeven 1955]

3 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

I think its "Evolution," the package that debuted at WFTS that ended up not lasting long there. According to NMSA, its also the same package used by their sister stations WMNN-LD and WXII-LP.

 

It's called "Elevation".

[TVIntheDesert 183]

7 hours ago, east-tx-tv said:

 

I guess every media empire has to start somewhere.  This looks very blink-and-miss-it.

 

NewsNet definitely needs to

* beef up its affiliate list and coverage

* do more to make themselves look more polished and less "cable-access"

* eventually have more staff

* work on a broader list of advertisers

 

I know most of the above is a takes-time thing; hopefully they can make it.

 

I know the "American News Network" program designed for low-power and religious stations from 15 years ago looked less professional than NewsNet. And ANN was based in Atlanta. Has anyone seen Independent News Network (another hubbed "local news" source for smaller stations) lately?

 

Since NewsNet was designed for low-power stations, I don't expect flashy graphics and presentation right out the box.

[Yankees4life 559]

 

This don't look too good, IMO. The most promising thing about this channel is the Remington guy. That guy has SOME voice

[Weeters 1916]

The graphics are fine. It's the content and delivery that screams low budget (and has since the start.)

 

Newsnet (along with WMNN) is exactly what I would expect from "news nerds" starting their own channel. There seems to be more attention (and money) spent on presentation (graphics, music, image campaigns, live trucks, etc.) than anything else. The number of stories I've seen on WMNN that are lengthy VOs over maps or a single still image is too high to count. WMNN has switched news music packages so frequently in the few years it's existed that I imagine Eric has his Stephen Arnold rep on speed dial. Weather is still being done with Apple Keynote, but at least they have 3 ENG trucks.

 

A few months ago, WMNN published a Facebook Live stream for severe weather coverage where midway through they lose power and end up off-air. They have to run extension cords out to one of their several completely unnecessary live trucks to use its generator, when they could have probably bought a small, permanently installed natural gas/propane generator for less than one of those trucks.

 

All the money spent on Newsnet could have probably expanded WMNN into a more serious news operation, but instead now we just have a national version of it. I have checked in on this operation since the day they signed on, and all I can say is they have at least started focusing more on the little amount of news in their area. At least they have reigned in filling the wheel with "around our area" interviews with the local Goodwill store manager.

 

I really hope Newsnet isn't the point where they jumped the shark.