TEGNA Broadcasting and Digital General Discussion

[Breaking News 772]

17 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

Ashlee Baracy is gone from WBNS. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

 

But then again, her husband is a coach with the Baltimore Orioles. Could she be going to work for Sinclair after her non-compete is over?

Scripps, Hearst and CBS is also in the market in Baltimore. 

[DirtyHarry 716]

5 minutes ago, Breaking News said:

Scripps, Hearst and CBS is also in the market in Baltimore. 

 

Yeah, but the Sinclair corporate brain trust is in Baltimore.

 

I'm thinking that she's staying local and she's going to a competitor; that's why the secrecy. I just threw the Sinclair thing out there because either Baltimore or Washington would be a good gig if they want to live out there. But then again, coaching in pro sports is the kind of job where you move around a lot so I can see staying in Columbus.

Edited December 13, 2022 by DirtyHarry

[mre29 1262]

1 hour ago, DirtyHarry said:

But then again, her husband is a coach with the Baltimore Orioles. Could she be going to work for Sinclair after her non-compete is over?

 

What makes you think it'd be Sinclair?  Scripps, Hearst, and CBS are in Baltimore, too.

 

[DirtyHarry 716]

59 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

What makes you think it'd be Sinclair?  Scripps, Hearst, and CBS are in Baltimore, too.

 

 

Because Sinclair is based in Baltimore, her husband works in Baltimore and Columbus has always been one of that company's most important stations. 

[ttvn2000 301]

4 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

Ashlee Baracy is gone from WBNS. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

 

But then again, her husband is a coach with the Baltimore Orioles. Could she be going to work for Sinclair after her non-compete is over?

I’d say this is a loss.  Not that Baracy was a necessarily a big name - she kinda “lucked into” her role after the death of Chris Bradley followed shortly by the Mike Davis debacle.  But seriously, who’s left?  Jeff Booth left over the summer amid some mysterious circumstances. 
 

I’ve said this before, but WBNS is just SAD.  

[ttvn2000 301]

In news that doesn’t exactly require it’s own thread, TEGNA appears to be investing in the desperately needed remodeling of the WTOL newsroom. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cmm_QZQjuh4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[MidwestTV 1138]

6 hours ago, ttvn2000 said:

In news that doesn’t exactly require it’s own thread, TEGNA appears to be investing in the desperately needed remodeling of the WTOL newsroom. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cmm_QZQjuh4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

While I'm happy for them, it's probably going to be the same dated Tegna look they've been rolling out since 2017.

[Big Rollo Smokes 161]

In case anyone is interested...

 

Soo Kim will be interviewed on Roland Martin's streaming show Roland Martin Unfiltered tomorrow (1/3) and will be discussing his still-pending purchase of TEGNA.

[MidwestTV 1138]

He's trying realllll hard to get public sentiment on his side. Maybe it's a smart move. It's also risky. If he keeps going public and making big promises like this, he'll have to deliver or look like a lying a$$. But I doubt many CEO's care about that...

[ttvn2000 301]

Not really noteworthy for its own thread in the “Sets” forum, but WBNS added a row of monitors (on wheels) behind the anchors for their “home base” shot.  They also appear to have refreshed the anchor desk. A cheap way to refresh a set that debuted in October 2012…more than 10 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10 by ttvn2000

[DirtyHarry 716]

2 hours ago, ttvn2000 said:

Not really noteworthy for its own thread in the “Sets” forum, but WBNS added a row of monitors (on wheels) behind the anchors for their “home base” shot.  They also appear to have refreshed the anchor desk. A cheap way to refresh a set that debuted in October 2012…more than 10 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's still a good looking set so I can't complain too much about them keeping it. I can't believe it's been 11 years.

[ttvn2000 301]

12 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

It's still a good looking set so I can't complain too much about them keeping it. I can't believe it's been 11 years.

Likely better than what TEGNA would’ve built from scratch, for sure. 

[Rusty Muck 4018]

Unfortunately, Tegna is likely going to undergo major cutbacks and freezes regardless of what happens. Having a private equity buyout fail to this magnitude certainly doesn’t help.

[DENDude 179]

Would someone explain something to me please?   Why do so many Tegna stations have QVC, QVC2, SHOP LC, & HSN on their digital sub channels?  Does Tegna make bank off of these sub channels??  It would seem to me that something like Movies! or Weather Nation TV or Comet would do better at retaining viewers??

 

• KTVD  (SHOP LC)

• KONG (QVC)

• KING (QVC2)

• WXIA (SHOP LC)

• WATL (QVC)

• KPNX (SHOP LC)

• WOI (QVC & QVC2)

• WFAA (SHOP LC)

• KHOU (SHOP LC)

• KMPX (SHOP LC & QVC2)

• KREM (SHOP LC & QVC2)

• WZZM (QVC & SHOP LC)

• KARE (HSN)

 

[mrschimpf 1855]

4 hours ago, DENDude said:

Would someone explain something to me please?   Why do so many Tegna stations have QVC, QVC2, SHOP LC, & HSN on their digital sub channels? 

They're not the only ones; the shopping networks offer their own toll-free number/website link QR code designed for that broadcaster on-air, and the station group gets a cut of every sale made under that number or link. It's like the DRTV model, but with an entire network rather than commercials during shows. That's why the HSN and QVC over-the-air feeds specifically are called "Over the Air" rather than just a feed from a Dish box or direct consumer web feed.

 

The other thing is it's both SD and the content most of the time is nearly static of the product, so it's barely a drain on overall station bandwidth. The days of it being a kiss of death because all 6 MHz of spectrum/168 hours had to be devoted to it are long over; it's like the saturation strategy with cable where 17 channels are these same few channels all through the dial.

Edited May 10 by mrschimpf

[DirtyHarry 716]

16 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

They're not the only ones; the shopping networks offer their own toll-free number/website link QR code designed for that broadcaster on-air, and the station group gets a cut of every sale made under that number or link. It's like the DRTV model, but with an entire network rather than commercials during shows. That's why the HSN and QVC over-the-air feeds specifically are called "Over the Air" rather than just a feed from a Dish box or direct consumer web feed.

 

The other thing is it's both SD and the content most of the time is nearly static of the product, so it's barely a drain on overall station bandwidth. The days of it being a kiss of death because all 6 MHz of spectrum/168 hours had to be devoted to it are long over; it's like the saturation strategy with cable where 17 channels are these same few channels all through the dial.

 

How does anybody sit through QVC now that you can just go to the computer and search for things yourself?

[Georgie56 2972]

Appears TEGNA wants in on the sports distribution game.

[Adam MadMan 244]

3 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Appears TEGNA wants in on the sports distribution game.

I already knew they were airing Seattle Kraken preseason games on KONG-TV and select San Antonio Spurs games on KENS, so this honestly doesn't surprise me. Oh, and the Mets on WCCT, but that was grandfathered in from the former Tribune ownership.

 

Most of what they list are either NFL teams they have preseason rights to or teams with limited coverage that doesn't include live games, but with DSG in deep doo-doo and the Colorado Rockies presently homeless due to AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountains going belly up, it's obvious that Tegna's keeping their eyes peeled.

[MidwestTV 1138]

6 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Appears TEGNA wants in on the sports distribution game.

If they were really smart they'd go hard on local college teams as well, especially as realignment is still shaking up the broadcast landscape there. It'd be a great opportunity for some of their markets that are only near pro teams, but have a big variety of local college sports. Des Moines has Iowa, ISU, UNI. Louisville is near three NFL teams, but has local college teams in the Cardinals and Wildcats, and USL/NWSL soccer.

[tyrannical bastard 3249]

Unless Tegna has a duopoly partner (like in Denver & Seattle), I don't think the networks they're affiliated with would be too happy pre-empting network shows to air a local ballgame.  The network contracts are more iron-clad now and don't really allow for deviation unless it's a local news or weather emergency.  Not to mention all of the retransmission consent dollars the networks have their hand in.

 

And this includes stations like WBNS, who used to openly flaunt the OSU Buckeyes during basketball season, proudly pre-empting CBS shows to air an ESPN+ game in primetime.

Edited October 27 by tyrannical bastard

[MidwestTV 1138]

1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Unless Tegna has a duopoly partner (like in Denver & Seattle), I don't think the networks they're affiliated with would be too happy pre-empting network shows to air a local ballgame.  The network contracts are more iron-clad now and don't really allow for deviation unless it's a local news or weather emergency.  Not to mention all of the retransmission consent dollars the networks have their hand in.

 

And this includes stations like WBNS, who used to openly flaunt the OSU Buckeyes during basketball season, proudly pre-empting CBS shows to air an ESPN+ game in primetime.

Thankfully a lot of local games, especially college, run on weekends when programming isn't as big of a deal. Tegna also goes hard with its OTT channels where in-house content runs on repeat (if at all). They'd probably put the games there to encourage people to download their app to their TVs.

[compubit 643]

10 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Unless Tegna has a duopoly partner (like in Denver & Seattle), I don't think the networks they're affiliated with would be too happy pre-empting network shows to air a local ballgame.  The network contracts are more iron-clad now and don't really allow for deviation unless it's a local news or weather emergency.  Not to mention all of the retransmission consent dollars the networks have their hand in.

For pre-season NFL, those are usually Friday/Saturday games in August, and I don’t know about y’all, but can’t recall seeing any gripping network programming on a Friday night in August…

 

[…and I look at the Washington Commanders who have had their preseason matches on WRC in the past (I didn’t pay attention this year), so there’s at least one network which does it on O&O stations…]

 

J

Edited October 28 by compubit
Clarification of game days and times

[tyrannical bastard 3249]

1 hour ago, compubit said:

For pre-season NFL, those are usually Friday/Saturday games in August, and I don’t know about y’all, but can’t recall seeing any gripping network programming on a Friday night in August…

 

[…and I look at the Washington Commanders who have had their preseason matches on WRC in the past (I didn’t pay attention this year), so there’s at least one network which does it on O&O stations…]

 

J

Preseason NFL seems to be the exception because of the time of year and days of the week. 

But if they try and pursue the rights carried by the RSN's, (MLB, NHL and NBA) those games are all over the place.  Maybe if the ecosystem breaks down enough, the leagues will have to start scheduling games at more "TV-friendly" times.

 

But Tegna's potential grab may be fractional, while most games could end up on a streaming platform run by the league(s) themselves, WHEN Bally Sports collapses.

[Greggo 332]

On 10/27/2023 at 12:58 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

Unless Tegna has a duopoly partner (like in Denver & Seattle), I don't think the networks they're affiliated with would be too happy pre-empting network shows to air a local ballgame.  The network contracts are more iron-clad now and don't really allow for deviation unless it's a local news or weather emergency.  Not to mention all of the retransmission consent dollars the networks have their hand in.

 

And this includes stations like WBNS, who used to openly flaunt the OSU Buckeyes during basketball season, proudly pre-empting CBS shows to air an ESPN+ game in primetime.

They’ve got a duopoly in Houston too. KTBU airs a straight feed of Tegna’s Quest, which used to be on a KHOU (CBS) subchannel. (KTBU has aired MLS games.) A total waste of the airwaves, especially when there are a lot of syndicated shows — shows that would have higher viewership — that either aren’t shown at all in the market or are slotted overnight. No one airs Seinfeld, for example. And Court Cam, Funny You Should Ask (2x) and iCrime are relegated to 2a-4a on KPRC (NBC). 

Edited October 29 by Greggo

[SS8609 58]

On 10/28/2023 at 9:33 PM, Greggo said:

They’ve got a duopoly in Houston too. KTBU airs a straight feed of Tegna’s Quest, which used to be on a KHOU (CBS) subchannel. (KTBU has aired MLS games.) A total waste of the airwaves, especially when there are a lot of syndicated shows — shows that would have higher viewership — that either aren’t shown at all in the market or are slotted overnight. No one airs Seinfeld, for example. And Court Cam, Funny You Should Ask (2x) and iCrime are relegated to 2a-4a on KPRC (NBC). 

TEGNA is probably waiting on the syndication market to improve before they even consider the possibility of turning KTBU into a true independent similar in format to what KUBE was before it chose to go "shopping". Also important to note that Houston's sports media landscape is for the most part secure as the Astros and Rockets took over AT&T SportsNet and turned it into Space City, the Texans probably have a long-term deal with KTRK for the long haul and have for years, and the Dynamo are exclusive to Apple (for now). They may get a shot at the NHL should Space City pass them up (which may not be likely given Tilman Fertitta is the runaway favorite to own Houston's eventual NHL team and will likely want it on Space City, even if it means relegating them to a secondary feed at times).

 

As for what team is most likely to be poached by TEGNA for a sports broadcasting deal, I would say the Rockies are the favorite since they can use the closing of AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain as an opportunity to acquire the Rockies rights and build KTVD around the Rockies (perhaps even changing the calls to something more suitable), as opposed to fighting for airtime with the Nuggets and Avs on Altitude even though the overlap between MLB and NBA/NHL is relatively minimal since the start of the baseball season coincides with the winter sports' playoff schedule now almost exclusively on ESPN/TNT.