WPLG & ABC Parting Ways

[TVNewsLover 774]

I also wonder if the ABC sub channel does indeed simulcast the newscasts, is the network gonna be all right with the morning program, Today in Florida, having the TODAY name in it?
 

[atlnews2 591]

20 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

I remember the last major breaking news story WSVN carried... they used CNN, *NOT* FOX. The station is more allegiant towards CNN Newsource than FOX NewsEdge.

I can remember a time when there was a breaking news story in south Florida (think is was the parkland shooting) Fox News decided to jump in and carry WSVN’s coverage…and a minute after than WSVN decided to listen in on CNN’s coverage, causing FNC to quickly switch away. 

[MediaZone4K 2158]

17 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I also wonder if the ABC sub channel does indeed simulcast the newscasts, is the network gonna be all right with the morning program, Today in Florida, having the TODAY name in it?
 

That shouldn't matter. WSVN still uses Today in Florida which (correct me if I'm wrong) was a title it got during its NBC affiliation days. WTVJ calls their AM newscast NBC 6 News Today to differentiate.

4 hours ago, atlnews2 said:

I can remember a time when there was a breaking news story in south Florida (think is was the parkland shooting) Fox News decided to jump in and carry WSVN’s coverage…and a minute after than WSVN decided to listen in on CNN’s coverage, causing FNC to quickly switch away. 

It's ironic that WSVN is often called the model Fox affiliate despite distancing itself from the Fox brand.

 

Yes the business is changing... but as people have said before, I don't see ABC being content on a sub channel long-term in a top 20 market. If this were a smaller market, the CW or My Network TV, perhaps. 

 

We may be looking at another shake up in the next few years.

Edited March 22 by MediaZone4K

[mre29 1513]

32 minutes ago, MediaZone4K said:

Yes the business is changing... but as people have said before, I don't see ABC being content on a sub channel long-term in a top 20 market. If this were a smaller market, the CW or My Network TV perhaps. 

 

We may be looking at another shake up in the next few years.

 

Yeah, this feels like a stopgap measure. A bandage, even.

 

[TheRolyPoly 2362]

1 hour ago, MediaZone4K said:

That shouldn't matter. WSVN still uses Today in Florida which (correct me if I'm wrong) was a title it got during its NBC affiliation days.

 Bingo. Correct. I believe WSVN started their morning news in 1983 as Today in Florida at 6:30 a.m., six years before they would later lose NBC.

[MediaZone4K 2158]

1 hour ago, mre29 said:

 

Yeah, this feels like a stopgap measure. A bandage, even.

 

 

19 hours ago, GraphicsMan said:

One scenario could be FOX ends up purchasing WPLG. And WSVN becomes a full time ABC affiliate...

Part of the reason I question if WSVN will eventually go for a full ABC affiliation, is the thought that a big three affiliation is greater/more prominent than a Fox. Does that still hold true (especially for CBS after the 1994 realignments)?

[TVLurker 198]

18 minutes ago, MediaZone4K said:

 

Part of the reason I question if WSVN will eventually go for a full ABC affiliation, is the thought that a big three affiliation is greater/more prominent than a Fox. Does that still hold true (especially for CBS after the 1994 realignments)?

FOX used to be equivalent to a big 3 before they sold off the movie studio. Now it's more like The CW except they put more effort into programming original animation, reality and sports.

 

The sports is the only thing keeping FOX afloat IMO.

[nomadcowatbk 149]

1 hour ago, TVLurker said:

 

 

The sports is the only thing keeping FOX afloat IMO.

isn't sports the only thing keeping linear TV in general afloat? 

In STL, would ABC be happier on a subchannel of KSDK, KTVI, KPLR, or KMOV instead of a station with no news dept? But maybe Sinclair has more leverage than Scripps 

[atlnews2 591]

2 hours ago, TVLurker said:

FOX used to be equivalent to a big 3 before they sold off the movie studio. Now it's more like The CW except they put more effort into programming original animation, reality and sports.

 

The sports is the only thing keeping FOX afloat IMO.

the NFL is the only think keeping Fox in “big 4” status. They’ve really deemphasized scripted programming in recent years to the point where they’re not really trying anymore 

[nathannah 2402]

I just don't see WSVN and Fox parting ways, especially now that the Dolphins get many more games on 7 with cross-flexing and the snowbird crowd happy with their college sports coverage, along with the rare Marlins game (and don't forget the World Baseball Classic, whose de facto championship home site is Marlins Park). There's no benefit for Fox to go to the Scripps pair on 35 or 39 at all, WSVN provides them enough resources in the market, and you know very well that promotions department is beyond psyched to put a new spin on a "Power of Two" marketing campaign, especially in football season. And simply I don't see WSVN interested in individual team rights for the other sports like WSFL is.

 

And I disagree about Fox's lack of scripted programming, they're just more judicious and selective now about what shows they roll out (Doc and The Cleaning Lady are both pretty good and perfectly tuned for a Miami Fox station). They know they don't need to compete with Netflix and that's how their primetime feels like; we're still far from a subpar lineup comparable to UPN or MyNetworkTV.

Edited March 23 by nathannah

[tyrannical bastard 3933]

1 hour ago, nomadcowatbk said:

isn't sports the only thing keeping linear TV in general afloat? 

In STL, would ABC be happier on a subchannel of KSDK, KTVI, KPLR, or KMOV instead of a station with no news dept? But maybe Sinclair has more leverage than Scripps 

It's the sad truth.  It's very apparent with Fox and CW going all in on sporting events at all hours.  I'm getting tired of Fox putting crap sports events on a Friday night simply to drive viewership because it's consistently pre-empting newscasts that haven't usually been touched before, aside from events like the World Series.

 

Don't even get me started on the UFL...

It's literally a league invented by the networks to put crap sports on TV.

[newsteam13 394]

WPLG and ABC stayed married for 69 years. Through it all, this marriage between network (ABC) and affiliate (WPLG) survived all the craziness with WSVN, WTVJ and WCIX/WFOR going on in both 1989 and 1995. Together, Channel 10 and ABC were (as the network's late 70s campaign said it) STILL THE ONE in South Florida!

 

That was, until this week, when WPLG filed for divorce from ABC. The nearly 70 years of marriage is over.

All because ABC was demanding more money from WPLG and its parent company Berkshire Hathaway. A quote fulled from the article in the Miami Herald - “[It] became clear that if we accepted the deal ABC was proposing, we too would have been forced to lay off employees in order to pay the hefty price the network was demanding.”

 

[TVNewsLover 774]

8 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 Bingo. Correct. I believe WSVN started their morning news in 1983 as Today in Florida at 6:30 a.m., six years before they would later lose NBC.

 

10 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

That shouldn't matter. WSVN still uses Today in Florida which (correct me if I'm wrong) was a title it got during its NBC affiliation days. WTVJ calls their AM newscast NBC 6 News Today to differentiate.

It's ironic that WSVN is often called the model Fox affiliate despite distancing itself from the Fox brand.

 

 

It wasn’t a big deal for Fox because they don’t have a national morning show competing against TODAY. ABC does have a national morning show, GMA, who often is neck and neck with the TODAY show in the ratings. That’s the difference here. 

 

Also, the morning program on 6 used to be referred to as NBC6 News Today in South Florida. 

[MediaZone4K 2158]

4 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

 

It wasn’t a big deal for Fox because they don’t have a national morning show competing against TODAY. ABC does have a national morning show, GMA, who often is neck and neck with the TODAY show in the ratings. That’s the difference here. 

 

Also, the morning program on 6 used to be referred to as NBC6 News Today in South Florida. 

First Coast News uses Good Morning Jacksonville despite the NBC station being their lead product which simulcasts on ABC. WABC calls its 10am newscast Eyewitness News Mornings at 10, despite Mornings being CBS's AM branding.

 

While it's common practice for local stations to brand their morning newscast in line with the national AM newscast, I don't think it's a requirement or an expectation.

 

[Megatron81 256]

I didn't see WPLG losing ABC to WSVN I guess ABC or Scripps didn't want ABC on WSFL which would have to build a newsroom from the bottom up and their woes as a hole at Scripps HQ. WSVN was ABC's better choice in Miami in my opinion on a subchannel, and maybe FOX moves in Miami when the deal comes up with WSVN in the next few years maybe FOX buys WPLG or stays with WSVN.  

[tyrannical bastard 3933]

We're getting closer to the days when the local affiliate is no longer necessary for network television.

 

Case in point, my local CBS and CW stations are not on YouTube TV at the moment (but still on the air otherwise).  YTTV just pops up a network feed that fills in the local slots with CBS News programming and PSAs, and on the CW, their eastern feed.

 

Given the garbage that passes off as network television these days, I'd prefer a hyper-local station that doesn't have to pre-empt things for whatever crap sports or garbage programming is being sent to the affiliates to run.

[nathannah 2402]

12 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

We're getting closer to the days when the local affiliate is no longer necessary for network television.

 

Case in point, my local CBS and CW stations are not on YouTube TV at the moment (but still on the air otherwise).  YTTV just pops up a network feed that fills in the local slots with CBS News programming and PSAs, and on the CW, their eastern feed.

Whenever Fox starts their streaming service (and since WITI is Fox-owned, they basically carry everything non-network outside the TMZ shows and Fox First Run filler on FoxLocal...and said filler is on Tubi anyways) and Disney decides to offer an ABC feed to Hulu subscribers without a Live TV add-on, it feels like we're marching towards that inevitability. And unless you're a Harvey-era Feud superfan who must watch all 12 episodes offered daily, why does the CW need stations in the first place outside of propping Perry's ego?

 

I can get NBC through Peacock and CBS through Paramount+ and if Spectrum gets tired of paying Scripps more money for "YouTube playlist" news and advertorials, I'd be fine if those stations go away. TV stations really just need to get into a 50s radio mindset and begin to adjust to a world where scripted programming is in the past and the networks will only offer reality, news and sports content from hereon out. That seems to be WPLG's mindset now, where there's little upside when ABC seems to be spending less on affiliates and more on being a barker channel for Disney+ and Hulu.

[mre29 1513]

3 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Given the garbage that passes off as network television these days, I'd prefer a hyper-local station that doesn't have to pre-empt things for whatever crap sports or garbage programming is being sent to the affiliates to run.

 

Instead, they'll live off of syndicated crap game shows or garbage programming.

 

 

3 hours ago, nathannah said:

And unless you're a Harvey-era Feud superfan who must watch all 12 episodes offered daily, why does the CW need stations in the first place outside of propping Perry's ego?

 

Hey, someone has to push the trash talkers and court shows on the unwashed masses.   (Also, are there actually twelve episodes of Family Feud every day?)

 

 

3 hours ago, nathannah said:

I can get NBC through Peacock and CBS through Paramount+ and if Spectrum gets tired of paying Scripps more money for "YouTube playlist" news and advertorials, I'd be fine if those stations go away. TV stations really just need to get into a 50s radio mindset and begin to adjust to a world where scripted programming is in the past and the networks will only offer reality, news and sports content from hereon out. That seems to be WPLG's mindset now, where there's little upside when ABC seems to be spending less on affiliates and more on being a barker channel for Disney+ and Hulu.

 

Scripted programming is not in the past; it just often ends up on streaming services because the broadcast networks generally only want shows that have the broadest appeal. Sports and reality shows succeed at that, partly because they're focused on physical ability (sports), competition (most reality shows on the networks), or relationship drama (the farmer wants a wife? Good for him, but absolutely none of my business). On the scripted side, these means a lot of procedurals, both police/crime-solving (CSI, NCIS, the entire Dick Wolf multiverse) and medical (The Pitt, Doc, House, etc.). The more intellectually-stimulating scripted shows wouldn't have a chance of being picked up by the broadcast networks, and cable channels are not grabbing as many of them as they used to as they themselves are dumbing their content down to widen their appeal. (Why do you think BBC America shows Law & Order repeats?)

 

 

[MediaZone4K 2158]

2 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Instead, they'll live off of syndicated crap game shows or garbage programming.

 

 

 

Hey, someone has to push the trash talkers and court shows on the unwashed masses.   (Also, are there actually twelve episodes of Family Feud every day?)

 

 

 

Scripted programming is not in the past; it just often ends up on streaming services because the broadcast networks generally only want shows that have the broadest appeal. Sports and reality shows succeed at that, partly because they're focused on physical ability (sports), competition (most reality shows on the networks), or relationship drama (the farmer wants a wife? Good for him, but absolutely none of my business). On the scripted side, these means a lot of procedurals, both police/crime-solving (CSI, NCIS, the entire Dick Wolf multiverse) and medical (The Pitt, Doc, House, etc.). The more intellectually-stimulating scripted shows wouldn't have a chance of being picked up by the broadcast networks, and cable channels are not grabbing as many of them as they used to as they themselves are dumbing their content down to widen their appeal. (Why do you think BBC America shows Law & Order repeats?)

 

You beat me to it. Syndicated options aren't much better. Cheap Byron Allen Court shows like The Verdict with Judge Hatchett, countless Family Feud reruns, Pictionary? Some stations have stooped as low as having paid programming blocks on weekdays. 

 

I totally agree that all the good stuff is on streaming while broadcast primetime goes for the generic procedural types. When I overcome my cynicism and actually watch some broadcast primetime shows they're not half bad. ABC's Doctor Odyssey for example. The problem is, shows like that don't encourage me to give them a chance to begin with, because they look like recycled crap.

Edited March 25 by MediaZone4K

[SDHIll1980 99]

3 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Instead, they'll live off of syndicated crap game shows or garbage programming.

 

 

 

Hey, someone has to push the trash talkers and court shows on the unwashed masses.   (Also, are there actually twelve episodes of Family Feud every day?)

 

 

 

Scripted programming is not in the past; it just often ends up on streaming services because the broadcast networks generally only want shows that have the broadest appeal. Sports and reality shows succeed at that, partly because they're focused on physical ability (sports), competition (most reality shows on the networks), or relationship drama (the farmer wants a wife? Good for him, but absolutely none of my business). On the scripted side, these means a lot of procedurals, both police/crime-solving (CSI, NCIS, the entire Dick Wolf multiverse) and medical (The Pitt, Doc, House, etc.). The more intellectually-stimulating scripted shows wouldn't have a chance of being picked up by the broadcast networks, and cable channels are not grabbing as many of them as they used to as they themselves are dumbing their content down to widen their appeal. (Why do you think BBC America shows Law & Order repeats?)

 

 

 

If you're of a certain age, you can remember the glut of first-run syndicated dramas, sitcoms, and musical/talent shows that were around during the 1980s and '90s...a lot of that had to do with more TV stations signing on the air during that aforementioned time (thus needing the programming, besides old off-network reruns and whatever live sports they could cobble up), and already-established stations having more control over their programming inventory.  

 

Over time, with the launch of Fox, and later The WB and UPN, plus the growth of cable TV (both in terms of subscribers and the number of networks), a lot of these same kind of shows that would be meant for first-run syndication eventually migrated to those outlets, and now 25-30 years later, much of that same type of content has migrated to streaming.  The more I think about it, these local stations (including the likes of WPLG) may have to try "re-invent the wheel" in order for them to survive in the long-term...going wall-to-wall news (like a certain CW station in my home city) may not cut it everywhere.

[nomadcowatbk 149]

how do the news heavy indies do in prime time?

[tyrannical bastard 3933]

The nice thing about syndication is that it's scheduled and it doesn't preempt news programming. 

 

However, with all the crap sports that Fox (and CW) are introducing to their lineups, It's pre-empting newscasts that are pretty much exclusive to their time slots.  

 

It's expected on the weekends with the network affiliates but with these it's becoming commonplace on Friday nights.

Edited March 25 by tyrannical bastard

[GodfreyGR 650]

33 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

but with these it's becoming commonplace on Friday nights.

Can't speak for the other affiliates, but I've noticed that KMSP and KVRR have begun treating the Friday night news like the weekend- with weeknight anchors/mets working Sunday-Thurs and the Weekend crew on Friday/Saturday. Is it reactionary to the network? Fox does have a decently strong Sunday with the Animation Domination block as lead-ins compared to the Friday/Pre-emption situations.

[mre29 1513]

13 hours ago, SDHIll1980 said:

If you're of a certain age, you can remember the glut of first-run syndicated dramas, sitcoms, and musical/talent shows that were around during the 1980s and '90s...a lot of that had to do with more TV stations signing on the air during that aforementioned time (thus needing the programming, besides old off-network reruns and whatever live sports they could cobble up), and already-established stations having more control over their programming inventory. 

 

I grew up during that era, so I watched a number of syndicated shows (mostly sci-fi and fantasy), though little of it regularly as there usually wasn't a TV available in the house when I wanted one. The thing that always annoyed about syndicated programming was that it'd end up in weird time slots such as late at night or weekend afternoons. Even the most of indie stations would do that, saving the 8-11pm hours for movies. I remember being down in Florida one summer and discovering that one station was showing either Hercules or Xena during primetime hours on a Tuesday night. 

 

[tyrannical bastard 3933]

5 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

Can't speak for the other affiliates, but I've noticed that KMSP and KVRR have begun treating the Friday night news like the weekend- with weeknight anchors/mets working Sunday-Thurs and the Weekend crew on Friday/Saturday. Is it reactionary to the network? Fox does have a decently strong Sunday with the Animation Domination block as lead-ins compared to the Friday/Pre-emption situations.

Friday and Saturday are the weakest TV nights of the week, so that does make sense to use the "B" team then as opposed to the standard M-F and weekend teams.

Some ABC affiliates tended to do this in the past when they had strong shows back then...