ScottJ

Sinclair won't be making the RSNs available to unauthenticated users. Per Ripley's quote, the DTC option "will allow an unauthenticated user the ability to access and even subscribe to certain content from our RSNs, as well as other unique content." I bolded the important part. Just certain content will be available to people who can't authenticate. I'm pretty sure that means MLB/NBA/NHL games won't be available that way. It'll likely be just pre/postgame shows and other studio shows/non-game programming. That's a key distinction to make.

Johnson is also going to be getting a show on Peacock.

Tegna is launching new female-focused diginet Twist this spring. The network, which features reality and lifestyle programming, will cover about 70% of households at launch. In addition to Tegna stations in 41 markets, the network will be available on Univision-owned stations in 11 markets -- including NYC, L.A., Chicago, and Philadelphia -- and HC2-owned stations in 31 markets. Tegna expects to have additional distribution lined up by the summer.

Keyword: future. OTT may be the future of TV, but it's not the present -- especially not for major sports. Until then, RSNs are necessary for teams and the cable bundle is the major leagues' best avenue for TV (other than the NFL obviously). The days of broadcast stations being a team's main broadcaster are long gone and aren't coming back.

Or perhaps he'll actually be at CNBC for more than six months and won't need to worry about changing jobs in the near future.

I wouldn't say something is going on there. Kambrich left to move to NYC, where his wife is now working. Tararache left to go into management so she could get better hours to spend more time with her family. Stackel is changing careers, and based on his announcement (which I posted in this thread a few days ago), it was also about the hours. "It's just, the two am wake-up call and the six pm bedtime became too much. There are no good hours in the news business. " All three of these seem like personal/life decisions. It's just that all three came within a short time makes it seem like more than that.

WNYT is losing a third anchor since Jim Kambrich's retirement in December. Morning co-anchor Asa Stackel announced on this morning's show that he is leaving the station, and the news business, to pursue a finance career. Friday is his last day at the station.

That's not monopolistic practices. And since the FCC approves the majority of the sales involving sidecars, they seem to be OK with it. You want the government to make changes to suit what you want to see happen. That's not going to happen. The government doesn't have that power. Face it, the station groups are only going to get bigger and thus have more leverage over the providers. It's reality. And I'm saying that as someone who thinks the UHF discount should be eliminated and companies shouldn't be able to use sharing agreements/sidecars as loopholes to get around ownership limits. But it's reality and we have to deal with it.

The station groups are all for-profit companies. Assuming they're not engaging in monopolistic practices, there is no reason for the government to step in and create unnecessary rules to lower those profits. It is a free marketplace the broadcasters can charge what the providers will pay for the stations. The providers haven't done enough to keep retransmission fees low. The government shouldn't do it for them. If they try that, broadcasters would probably sue and would probably have a strong case

Cox and AT&T have reached a new agreement, and the CMG stations are back on AT&T's platforms. https://www.whio.com/news/local/whio-tv-is-back-attdirectv-ahead-big-game/CDRWXSP74BCJNNDMPY2FHC66AE/

It's premature to say it's it's confirmed that he'll be gone at the end of the year. This is his exact quote: "So, as a result, I am going to stay and finish my current contract — which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I do expect to move on." Saying he expects to move on isn't the same as saying he will move on. Is it likely? Seems like it, but he does appear to be leaving some wiggle room to stay on longer if he decides to.

Which would take away most of the owner's leverage in negotiations, which is why it won't happen short of the FCC regulating such a thing in markets where one company has a monopoly on the major affiliates.

All of these carriage disputes are money grabs by the stations and/or providers. All these companies care about are their bottom lines. Nobody is moving the Super Bowl off of any CBS affiliates, which would violate affiliation agreements. Even if it didn't, there's no need to. The dispute involves one provider, Cox's CBS affiliates are still available OTA (to those who receive the signal) and other providers. It'll also be available to stream for free online. And if someone misses the game because DirecTV is their only option to receive their local Cox-owned CBS affiliate, it won't be the end of the world. I'm sure this wouldn't be the first time people missed the Super Bowl because of a dispute and it probably won't be the last. Those people will live despite not watching the game.

I was thinking about that today. The RSNs were first rebranded as Fox Sports Net on 11/1/96. So the networks used the Fox Sports/FSN branding for just shy of a quarter-century. An entire generation of viewers know the networks as only that, having never experienced the SportsChannel/Prime Network brands that preceded FSN. Once the rebrand officially happens it really will be the end of an era in sports television.

Which makes sense. I'm sure Bally's wants its name front and center in the logos and to stand out from the rest of the words since the company is paying for the naming rights.

It's already been announced. Here's the release from Sinclair/Bally's.

CNN is shutting down its airport network because people don't pay attention to it. Many airports offer free Wi-Fi now so travelers are watching what they want on their devices. I imagine the days of an airport news network like that are over. People have other entertainment options that they didn't have before, and the idea of such is a network seems obsolete now.

Bill Lambdin, who spent most of his 41-year career as a reporter for WNYT in Albany, died from cardiac arrest yesterday at age 69. According to the linked obituary, he "was said to have covered more stories for [WNYT] than any reporter in its history." He worked at WNYT from 1980 until he retired in 2014. Here's a (short) story from the station reporting on his death.

Just weeks after Jim Kambrich retired, WNYT is losing its 11pm female anchor. Karen Tararache's last newscast is January 8. She is returning to Spectrum News to work behind-the-scenes as a senior managing editor.

I agree that it's not necessarily a good fit, but it makes sense because FBN and CNBC rarely have live programming on the weekends so it's easier to pre-empt the repeats/infomercials they air (which probably don't get many viewers) than whatever their sister networks are airing.

The Fiesta Bowl on January 2 is Mike Golic's final assignment with ESPN.

I highly doubt it. Politicians send those types of letters to make their constituents think they're trying to end the dispute, but I doubt they do actually do anything. It's mainly just for show.

Comcast and Hearst have reached a new retrans deal covering the entire group, including the out-of-market stations that were scheduled to be dropped later this month. Those stations will remain on Comcast systems in the affected markets.

It's to make it easier for people watching on mobile devices to be able to read the graphics better. Smaller screens need bigger graphics.

But those are separate disputes. The FCC does not allow station groups to include stations they don't own in retransmission negotiations, even if they operate the stations through sharing agreements. So Nexstar can't include the sidecars in their negotiations.