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Pay-For-Play Segments on Local Newscasts


Geoffrey

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I was wondering how many stations out there do those pay-for-play segments on their news shows. I know of KYW's "Talk Philly" and WFAA's "Good Morning Texas".

 

How do the stations get away with these? Are they clear that the segments are sponsored or do they pretend they're objective news pieces?

 

(Sorry if this is a TVNT-banned list... I just thought it would be interesting to see how many of these shows exist.)

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Depending on the segment, KHOU's "Great Day Houston" puts up a banner or host Debra Duncan verbalizes that a segment is sponsored by "x" company.

 

And as far as I know, GDH isn't produced by the news department. It's either a separate unit or falls under creative services or the advertising department.

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I remember reading several documents from the FCC on a variety of Sinclair affiliates that originated from a pay for play segment that was featured on most of their newscasts at the time. If I recall correctly Sinclair outright banned such segments on all their newscasts.

 

Normally such segments air on programs that are not news oriented or produced by news staff rather they are produced by the stations creative services department.

 

One major example of the separation between news division and the CSD departments could be Live with Kelly and Michael which itself is produced by WABC but has no ties to their news division. I would imagine that some products that air on occasional segments could be considered promotional consideration.

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That's exactly how SA Live is set up. It's produced by creative services. SA Living and Daytime at Nine on the Sinclair stations fall under their own division with the executive producer serving as the "manager" for the department. I don't think SA Live makes people pay to be on the show because KSAT is so dominant of a station, they were able to mobilize existing sponsors well in advance of the show's debut that were willing to sponsor segments or buy ad time on the show. The show therefore has more interesting segments than it's competitors which just serve as a vehicle to sell gastric bypass surgery and botox. That's not to say those companies won't appear on SA Live, but it's more constrained than the other stations.

 

KENS 5 on "Great Day SA" runs "Promotional Consideration Furnished by" with the list of companies who paid to be on the show during the end credits.

 

If you'll recall, remember how David Smith said to WJLA's staff that Sinclair's news departments basically work for the sales departments? That's very true at the duopoly here in San Antonio, and actually at all the local stations here. For instance, local grocery store giant H-E-B will get tons of media attention for the smallest events, such as a new store opening, because they advertise so much in the media. It's not pay-for-play per se, but because H-E-B advertises so much, they likely will get more play, and more positive play at that, during our local newscasts because of the amount of money they spend on advertising. The Express-News is the same way too. H-E-B is a major advertiser to them, so the E-N returns the favor with positive and frequent news coverage of the company.

 

Another example, a major car dealership here broke ground on a new dealership and all of the stations were there and covered it on the evening newscasts even though it's not news, they got the attention because they are a major advertiser on the station.

 

If negative stories came from these companies, either the media will spin it in a positive light (PR at it's finest), or ignore it all together in order to protect their advertising relationship.

 

Also, to the OP, the two examples you mentioned aren't newscasts, they're local lifestyle shows.

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KEYE has the same thing going on called 'We Are Austin' and it falls in the 9:00AM time slot. It initially was going to be produced by KEYE's CSD, but a few weeks later it was spun off into it's own department within the station that works closely with sales. They even have a producer, executive producer, and a full-time editor just for the show.

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I know there's also KUSA's "Colorado and Company," WXIA's "Atlanta and Company," WTSP's "Studio 10" and WCNC's "Charlotte Today."

 

Looks like it's a big Gannett and Belo thing... I wonder if this kind of thing is prevalent outside of those groups.

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I know there's also KUSA's "Colorado and Company," WXIA's "Atlanta and Company," WTSP's "Studio 10" and WCNC's "Charlotte Today."

 

Looks like it's a big Gannett and Belo thing... I wonder if this kind of thing is prevalent outside of those groups.

 

Once again you are getting pay for play segements on newscasts confused with local lifestyle shows. Almost always if you see those shows regardless of owner, it's a way to make more money. And it's not just Gannett, we have Sinclair and Graham Media here and they both have local lifestyle shows.
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Once again you are getting pay for play segements on newscasts confused with local lifestyle shows. Almost always if you see those shows regardless of owner, it's a way to make more money. And it's not just Gannett, we have Sinclair and Graham Media here and they both have local lifestyle shows.

Yes, but don't most local lifestyle shows feature pay for play segments? Also don't lifestyle shows often feature daily satellite interview segments? Chances are if the guest isn't promoting an upcoming network television show or movie it's a pay for play segment.

 

Now I have a question would it be considered pay for play if a show invites a frequent advertiser to do a plant or pet questions segment on their air? Here WBAL does such segments weekly during their noon newscasts where viewers will write in their plant questions (I'm amazed at how many people struggle with plants) or questions about their pets health with a veterinarian of a large animal ER in the area. Now the anchor will say "X from Y is here to answer your questions" and they continue on with the segment. No logos (other than the small one under the vets name on their scrubs) or special intros appear during the show other than the typical chyron stating their name and business. In fact none of their commercials air during the shows for which they are featured. So would this be a pay for play segment? Or could it be the newsroom initially calling up the largest nursery or best veterinary hospital in the area and saying "Can we have some one to ask questions to?" The plant questions segment has been running for at least 15+ years (long before they started frequent advertising) and the woman has since become the face of the store and a bit of a local celebrity. I would imagine they pay HER to come on and do the show.

 

I should note that other representatives from the companies make appearances on other stations.

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Yes, but don't most local lifestyle shows feature pay for play segments? Also don't lifestyle shows often feature daily satellite interview segments? Chances are if the guest isn't promoting an upcoming network television show or movie it's a pay for play segment.

 

Local lifestyle shows aren't newscasts though. I guess that's my beef, the title says "Pay-For-Play Segments on Local Newscasts" and then cites "Good Morning Texas" and "Talk Philly" as examples when those are clearly lifestyle shows. It should be common knowledge that they are nothing more than a way to sell advertising.

 

Just like he called them news shows. I'm not blaming the OP at all. I just think there needs to be a fine line there. In fact it kind of ticks me that there's stations like KEYE and KENS that use people from their newscast on their lifestyle show. I think that people who appear on lifestyle shows should only appear on those and not on a newscast and vice versa.

 

 

Here WBAL does such segments weekly during their noon newscasts where viewers will write in their plant questions (I'm amazed at how many people struggle with plants)

 

You'd be surprised. A lot of AM talk stations I listen to will have a Saturday morning gardening show where a guy will come in and talk about plants and gardening and answer listener questions for two hours. That's clearly advertising as they state such before the program begins. Not sure if what WBAL does is though, if our stations here were to do something like that, it would be on their local lifestyle programs and not on a newscast.

 

I don't think any of the Baltimore stations have a lifestyle show though so there's that and why you see a plant segment on the noon show.

 

The way TV advertising ways works mystifies me sometimes and I couldn't make a living working in sales. I mean, for instance, you have KSAT for instance who has their "Local Experts", KENS with "SA Pros", WOAI with "Ask The Expert" (they were the first), and KABB who has "Home Town Experts" which are basically advertising for local home services business like plumbers, AC repair, pest control, etc. who get frequent ad play, occasional mention during the newscast, etc.

 

When I was younger and did not know anything about TV, I thought that these so-called "experts" were truly the best of the best. But I noticed that for instance, Jon Wayne Heating and Air is the AC expert for all four so it later dawned on me this is a form of advertising, because I have heard some not so nice things about that particular business. And why would the stations endorse a business that isn't that great and overpriced? That's how I figured that one out.

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WKYC has the half-hour "Live at Lakeside" at noon (it was originally 90 minutes before Rachel Ray was moved to 11am last year to accomodate the "Bethanny" epic fail) that has a few minutes of news headlines embedded within, but the news is handled by different people.

 

And WEWS has a five-minute long sponsored segment that directly follows the conclusion of their noon newscast ("Spotlight 5," usually handled by Sally Spitz) that is clearly labeled as a paid segment.

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