TSSZNews

It was, arguably, the ABC O&O's formula for success in the 90s: Copying WPVI. I think only WTVG, WJRT, and WTVD were doing anything resembling a deviation at the time. Even today, all the major O&Os have their video wall backdrops and what do they do? For most it's just a still image of the skyline. If any of them could find a way to make the blue wall look attractive on a monitor bank today, they'd probably do it!

Wowwwwwwwwwwwww And they can get away with it too—combined they only cover 24 percent of the US! Definitely thread-worthy.

Isn't their new building an old bowling alley? They probably kept it from there!

Why would they? 1) They're probably cooking one of their own up anyway if the Trib acquisition goes through, 2) For the moment it's more profitable for the stations impacted by such a thing to run syndie programming or local news.

Consider both the EP of Evening News and the current president of CBS News have past backgrounds at FOX News Channel--versus Steve Capus, who previously was at NBC. We're probably seeing at least a form of what a FOX national newscast would look like, had it come to proper fruition. Make of that what you will.

Now that Nexstar's corporate lawyers are involved, I am honestly very, very concerned this could end up like Hogan / Thiel / Gawker. Hope Scott knows when to quit...

Look what I found today! Seems 6 was considering hiring the animator behind the recent Tribune package before taking the rebrand in-house!

Unless they're pre-taping the third hour, they pretty much have to. This isn't local news.

Truth be told, I'm shocked they didn't just order daily versions of Match Game and Pyramid for 1PM instead. The nighttime versions are solid, they both tape in New York and I have to think it's cheaper than hiring a whole new crew at ABC News for this.

I...what? This only makes sense if it's straight 7-10AM or the third hour is at 10AM after Kelly/Ryan. They could DOMINATE AM programming in most markets if they did that. This feels like a Good Afternoon America revival. While there likely is a need to toss The Chew thanks to Mario Batali being a creep, this isn't the way to replace that hour of programming.

Consider Bloomberg's target demo--who definitely can pay for it--and they can prolly get away with this. They're not even the worst ones. SemiAccurate.com is selling yearly full access subs for $1,000!

I don't even know who Scripps could be sold to at this point without a couple significant conflicts--*maybe* Nexstar?

--What a weird call to put the 9 in a box. Only reason I could think for them to do it is because a consultant told them to. How competitive is KC now ratings-wise? EDIT: Wait--"Today's KMBC 9?" That SCREAMS "consultant."

Truth be told, I'm not quite certain that will happen, albeit for the same reasons cited. Think of how early the 2016 campaign started. Despite Trump saying he will run again, Mueller's investigation could put that in doubt. It could be a free-for-all right after the midterms, depending on how that shakes out. If these extra shows are cash grabs, I see no reason why they couldn't last to the end of 2020 in the current political climate.

It would not surprise me to see the O&Os become de facto local news channels after the Disney-FOX deal. It is downright SCARY how little they're relying on syndie programming these days--even from what's basically their own bench (Wendy, The Real, court shows, etc.)

Spoiler: Most sets behind the scenes *are* a hot mess. 10's one in particular is probably even more so because IIRC that weather area was built back when they were still using the two-story Schwaid era news set--before they went HD!

I can buy the #1 at 10p counterpoint--I would certainly hope they are given they're more established there and it's the signature newscast--but as I understand it is close between them and 17 some, if not most days. I could also buy the beating KYW at 11 argument because, unfortunately, 3's product is just so dire now (Ukee deserves way better IMO--as much as I love an attempt at WCCO East you just can't do that in Philly.) If they're #3 at 5, that would actually be a decline--I can remember when that news clocked in second place, backed by Judy, which still does quite well at 4PM.

I wish they had stolen the rest of their package.

Welp--

Stranger things have happened--like TEGNA starting up standalone newscasts on their way smaller market FOX affiliates in San Angelo and Abilene... Though it's probably easier to just do the shared agreement with KOLD.

I'll be damned if that isn't a one-off Arnold remix of News One!

Re: Feb, No way that’s accurate for anything but the demo—and even then, it’s probably #2 until 9AM. The #1 demo spot for 9-10a is old hat.

It wouldn't totally shock me - between the boiling point that seems to be happening over gun violence in the wake of Florida and things appearing to accelerate with Mueller's investigation, it's probably not the worst idea.

So, um....Mark Hyman has a brain tumor...

Devil's advocate: It's entirely possible the control room had that called up in their playlist, and the updated L3 didn't populate through Viz in time.