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The thing is, morning television is such a communal experience. That's the wonderful thing that KTLA Morning News has been able to establish all these years and why they have been unbeatable, these news personalities become part of people's daily routine, viewers invite them into their house every single morning as they report news-weather-traffic-entertainment-and-everything-else, KTLA gave viewers a window to the world and interpersonal bonds are developed in the process -- Lynette connected with many viewers, and to have her 24 year career as a respected broadcast journalist end with a short and lackluster announcement was hurtful to loyal viewers, it's as if their family member was evicted suddenly. Listen, I totally understand the roots and protocols that human resources and management have to abide with, but it's this by-the-book nonsense that people have an issue with. All of this could have been prevented if management came to their senses and gave Lynette a dignified manner to say goodbye, just at a PR standpoint at the very least. Did Mark Mester make a mistake for going rogue on live television? Yes, putting out dirty laundry last Saturday was disrespectful and was not professional. It's an unfortunate circumstance but it makes me wonder why management did not do anything to ease or prevent the mishap. You have a coworker who is totally heartbroken that his work partner wasn't getting her dues, he posted on his public social media that he will share his view on the matter, but did management try to find a solution to resolve this issue? At the end of the day, are your employees robots or humans? There has to be a reason for this mass exodus that's happening at KTLA, Mark was probably at a boiling point. Mark's career will be fine, he's not damaged goods; the public sees this as a person who was sticking up for his fellow colleague, he will get picked up somewhere, his career is bright.

Fox 8 (WVUE) has started using a less obtrusive version of the "Gray Ticker". I wonder if this will roll out group wide or is just a temporary thing. From my vantage point, it's much easier on the eyes.

You are in a forum discussing KTLA which is in California. If you read through the link I posted you'd also know that any company that does business in California or a company outside the state that employers California residents can not enforce their non-compete clauses at all. Glad I was able to educate you. You can thank me anytime you wish.

The Flyers' first preseason game on NBC Sports Philadelphia is tonight and they trotted out this monstrosity of a scorebar. Please tell me this is temporary:

Let's remember here that BOTH NBC News Now/Daily and DOOL were both already on-air and remain that way - DOOL was NOT cancelled as some would say. The only real difference is the news product is now streaming and broadcast instead of streaming only - and the entertainment product is now streaming only instead of streaming and broadcast. Since DOOL is a Sony production with a multi-year contract the costs probably remain the same. NBC therefore should be making MORE money with this move - NBC News Now would not have brought in the numbers of new Peacock subscribers (even at a big discount) that DOOL probably has. Simply put - SAME cost + MORE revenue = BIGGER PROFITS for NBCU/Comcast. Although that is not the same for the affiliates - they are the ones taking a hit.

Not really. KTLAs expansion began under previous GM Don Corsini and ND Jason Ball. The product never suffered under their watch. Once Nextstar and GM Janeane Drafs and ND Pete Saiers is when the station began to hemmorhage talent. This hemmorhaging only began in the past two months (Pascucci, Friel, Devon, Romero and countless behind the scenes staffers). It appears that the ND is the cause of all this. He came down from Seattle which is a totally different news market than LA. Previous GM/ND had years of experience over at KCBS/KCAL which I think led to their success and revitalization of the station. Before Corsini and Ball, the station languished for years under the leadership of Vinnie Malcolm. I really hope KTLA doesn't go back to those dark days as a result of the Mester fiasco.

Well, good for Mark Mester for sticking up for not only a long-time co-anchor but one of the best, most popular and well-liked. However -- --there must have been a way for him to do so without throwing the whole station into chaos. He passionately called his employers a bunch of horrible people, dishonorable and heartless, and perhaps without even knowing it, made his boss the GM look like either a figurehead, a corporate pawn in allowing this to happen, or a hypocrite, for claiming to be Lynette's supporter and then throwing her under a train. You can't do that and expect your management to accept it. He will probably wind up hosting "Daily Mail" or something.

Let me know when the News Director is fired or reassigned to another Nexstar property.

I didn't mean to be so critical of church programming in my original post; I do agree that televised services and Mass for Shut Ins like what's done in the northeast and reasonable asks for donations...I never have an issue with that. But I just loathe the national tele-preachers who push multiple products and giving pleas onto their viewers. And for Osteen, who literally bookends his shows with Lifelock/Norton ads, nobody needs that.

No. This is not the standard. The standard is to for the station's p.r. department to release a press release thanking the employee for their service and wishing good luck in their future endeavors. Never say a word on-air if the employee is going to a cross town competitor. This started when KTLA allowed Sam Rubin to read a lengthy departure story about his co-worker on-air. Then KTLA posted it to their social media. It should have been known by management that Mark Mester was going to make a statement - he promoted it the day before - and it should have at the very least been reviewed ahead of time & monitored live. If anyone is to blame & should be suspended and in my view fired is management at KTLA. They dropped the ball themselves. I've worked at/consulted radio stations that would have cut off Mark Mester mid-sentance for criticizing management on-air and they'd instantly be fired. Clearly management doesn't follow his social media or watch him on air live. This is Los Angeles not podunk West Virginia. This was highly unprofessional from all involved at KTLA - but specifically management.

I forgot to put this up awhile ago…

And I still miss AMC.

Has anyone worked with Mester and know if he’s actually toxic or is this station brass trying to control the narrative…?

Yeah that appears to be the case. The traditional scorebar appeared a few mins ago.

Didn’t ABC see erosion across the whole day part with the cancellation of AMC and OLTL? I think it’s a lot like NBC putting Megan Kelly on at 9. It pulled downed the the fourth hour’s numbers. Just like Jay Leno at 10 p.m.

#BoycottKTLA is on Twitter. While I may not agree with how KTLA handled the Lynette situation, some of the folks on Twitter do not understand how a TV contract works. Plain and simple, Mark violated the terms and conditions of his contract, hence his departure. I really wish viewers understood how the intricacies of TV news works. I'd like to engage with some of the viewers on Twitter, but I know it would be fruitless.

That looks like the modified version of the Meredith ticker.

The logo looks similar to the one that CBS 12 (WPEC) has. They just expanded the "2"

They use a transitional sound effect which could best be described as "fairy dust sprinkle" which I really don't understand. And while you can look at the viewership as "look how many less people are watching compared to DOOL at those hours", there's also "look as all these additional eyes on top of who was already streaming NBC News Now as those hours". Who was expecting them to keep DOOL viewership numbers? You wouldn't look at next-day numbers of a station flipping from Oldies to Top 40 and go "wow, nobody's listening to them!"- give it at least a month, then bash away if/when the numbers are still dismal. I'd imagine what NBC is particularly interested in is what their ratings eventually look like compared to GMA3.

Yeah, some of us who are in the know (and some more than others), are aware of delays and tweaks, etc., but the new look has not been abandoned. I've been seeing more and more trickle out, in my home market, but most of it is not worthy of a mention.

Like the 7 o'clock shows, this is also unavailable for streaming on-demand, but it debuted today. I didn't see any of it, only finding this on Ryan's Instagram story, but there's no reason why this can't turn into a Sunday night offering, as well, since WLS is the only Chicago station not in the highlight show game. bandicam 2022-09-23 22-53-09-581_Trim.mp4

I doubt NBC affiliates are happy with the show coming in dead last in daytime. I doubt the producing two hours or news for three-quarters of a million less viewers is a cost effective as you think.

Non-competes are illegal in California https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-reminds-employers-and-workers-noncompete-agreements-are

They kept the lightning bolt in the "12" of the Storm Team 12 logo, probably the only vestige of the Media General era. That was a common theme on their "crescent-era" stations that even made it on to stations like WCMH after they were sold by NBC. I"m surprised it took so long to de-Media-Generalize this station. Now it's KAKE that still looks like an old Gray station under Lockwood... It just goes to show you how circular the ownership in Wichita has been over the years.

KTLA will be fine. It helps that their competition at KTTV happens to be in perpetual local news hell. The LA Times story to me makes Mark look like an absolute moron. Lynette declined an on-air goodbye and Mark instead aired dirty laundry that Lynette might not have wanted out herself. The awkwardness of that segment aligns with the portion of the article talking about how Mark went off script and betrayed his colleagues’ trust.

They did it again. Unbelievable

Most of the time if an anchor is signed away by a rival in the market, he or she becomes a non-person immediately, without any on-air retrospective. And any viewers contacting the station to ask what happened are met with the curt "So-and-so is no longer with the station and has decided to pursue other opportunites." In 2005 the folksy weather forecaster Johnny Mountain was bid a fond retirement farewell from his morning shift at KABC. Four months later he was at KCBS. And got big money. There was speculation Channel 7's management knew he'd be going down the street, but let him say goodbye anyway. Or maybe not.

Good and interesting points all down this latest thread. I too, as a viewer, read Scott Jones' FTVLive now and then and yes, his style can be rather juvenile and even tacky sometimes, but yup, he's got the info you don't find elsewhere.

It doesn't really shock me that somehow Sinclair would buy a show about Hot Wheels for their kids block...and then forget to keep the Hot Wheels commercials out of the Hot Wheels show! And this isn't like those cases with syndicators and Kids WB where it was mostly inadvertent and good faith just forgot to get the ad out, before broadcast automation let you see an entire log for a show. Sinclair was the producer and distributor and 100% screwed up here. This also ensnared Nexstar, but again, they have the logs and could've easily blocked them out, but just didn't. It's no wonder kid's broadcast TV doesn't go anywhere near toy franchises any longer.

If KNBC were wise they’d pick up Mester to pair with Lynette on Today in LA which is expected to be announced any minute now.

Heres a Peek at the graphics. Yeah I took it from Office Boy

I’ll concede on some of my earlier points; that’s actually true. If a departure doesn’t happen on good terms, most announcements I’ve seen are through PR, and rarely on air. I’ll agree with you that management should’ve known about the whole thing and should’ve discussed it with Mester and the rest of the staff beforehand. Also, the fact that they didn’t see his social media post is telling of how little attention/discipline KTLA management has toward its own staff. However, one should not strip Mark Mester of his own agency. His actions were not beyond his control. He could’ve said goodbye and handled any problems internally, rather than speaking for the station and blasting management (which, as it turns out, may be a violation of the terms of his employment). If you work at McDonalds, you don’t get to talk smack about your manager at the drive-thru window, no matter how horrible he/she is. It shouldn’t be any different in TV. I am certainly not defending what KTLA management did to Lynette or how they handled the aftermath, but this isn’t an either/or situation. Both the news director and Mark Mester ought to be suspended, and corporate needs to do a thorough workplace review.

The station owns the airtime and decides what they do with it. If they decide to let an anchor use it to say goodbye, then great. If they don't, then that's their decision too. Different stations and different circumstances could lead to different decisions, but ultimately, nobody is owed any airtime. You'd also be surprised to find out how little viewers actually notice or care if an anchor 'disappears.' Yes, many might notice, but most don't. What everyone in this line of work should know is that everyone, from the GM, to the anchors, to the part-time video editor, is replaceable. I am far from a Nexstar apologist, and I'm glad I don't work for that company, but unless there's a huge backstory that we're not aware of, then it sounds like a lot of the on-air people at KTLA need to be reined in and have their egos put in check. I get that KTLA is all about personality, and to a degree, that's fine, but anchors are principally hired to do a job, which is to do the news. They're not hired to do a talk or reality show, and they're not hired to sell products or a lifestyle on Instagram. It wouldn't surprise me if Mark Mester just anchored his last newscast on KTLA. What he just did is stupid. I highly doubt the GM would have approved of what he said, but the fact that he referenced her in it is enough to make it appear like she did, and that's just stupid on his part. He just put a target on his own back by doing that. I get that he must feel like some special connection with their viewers has been violated, but being the weekend AM anchor at a big market station (or an anchor at any station) is not that big of a deal. Ultimately, it's management calling the shots, and management hire people to do the news and also not make the company look bad.

A tad overlydramatic and tense. I personally don’t think that was a very good look for Mark Mester - he used the time to blast management with cryptic references to behind the scenes drama. Why not use the opportunity to look back on Lynette’s time and say thank you for her 24 years? Following his remarks, he’s not even letting his on-air colleagues speak without interrupting their thoughts. Ugh that was woeful. I understand the frustration but this is not a new phenomenon by any means. I love Lynette but in what industry would you be able to walk over to a direct competitor (KTLA Morning News vs Today in LA) and not be immediately shown the door? Hell most companies unceremoniously escort you out the door the instant you disclose that you’re leaving for a direct competitor.

Nine News has announced they will launch a dedicated 6pm bulletin for Tasmania, to be based out of the state capital of Hobart. Nine doesn't own their Tasmanian station however, WIN is the affiliate. They're essentially outsourcing the production of local news to its network partner.

The 6 and 10pm should take a harder approach with no jovial news anchors. Bring back the likes of Bill Jorgensen, Jim Watkins, Pat Harper) and used the seasoned reporters only that they have (Murphy, Harry, Ford, Rothschild) and have a news set that does not look like every other news show - have an evening news set that says ‘we mean business no fooling around’

Fun facts: Since KEYE's news department signed on at the time of the 1995 affiliation swap with KTBC they have had... 2 sets 4 owners (Granite, CBS, Four Points, Sinclair) 5 station logos 6 different brands (K-EYEwitness News, KEYE News, CBS 42 KEYE News, CBS 42 News, KEYE-TV News, CBS Austin News)

Yes, a streaming "news" channel that's basically closer to a Q-anon message board than it is to Fox News. I believe they host Steve Bannon's "show", which says about everything there is to say about them.

Are you sure KWGN double-ran J! at 2:00 and 2:30? That would mean the KDVR/KWGN duopoly carried three runs of J! total, which CBSMV doesn't offer. What does this mean? Is Conners in syndication already? And I thought WFTV was airing WOF/J! Weekend Sundays at 5:00 and 5:30 PM during football season (with WOF first instead of J! likely because they would rather WOF be the show that gets JIP'd after WNBA or MLS overrun than J!; they were reversed last season). Also, speaking of Good Doctor, it is part of the CW+ lineup weekends at 7 PM, replacing MacGyver. There appear to be two feeds of TGD similar to what they did for Schitt's Creek: one feed for markets that only air one unique ep per weekend, and one for markets that air two episodes per weekend.

WWJ-AM 950 Detroit overnight anchor Jim Matthews and his family was attacked in their home in Chesterfield Township, Ill., in a murder and attempted suicide. Jim passed away, while the other victims are still recovering from their injuries. He was 57 years old. Here's a report from Fox 2 Detroit. Here is WWJ Radio's report https://www.audacy.com/wwjnewsradio/news/local/wwj-overnight-anchor-jim-matthews-died-today-at-age-57

There old weather center is almost as old as their News department. It came in 1995, first as a tiny corner In there original rotating set. Then when that set was closed up in 2003 to get a facelift they didn’t get rid of the weather center and it never was completely redone it was a refreshed. The current weather center look has had a significant amount of updates since its 2004 refresh as the rest of the set was completely renovated was but the structural barebones of that weather center from 1995, still existed and still do today so hopefully this is a complete makeover torn down and rebuilt bare.

It’s coming Trust me… just wait there tight lipped about it.