Breaking: Cox/Fox swap stations, KTVU to become Fox O&O

[Mrtraveler01 737]

Another thing I was wondering is whether or not the simulcast of the 10 O'Clock News will continue on stations in Eureka, Redding and Salinas/Monterey.

 

It used to be on in Reno too until Cox sold their Fox affiliate there to Sinclair. But I wonder if FTSG would allow the simulcast to continue.

[Jess 1110]

 

Not sure if anyone has noticed this, but for every night there has been a World Series game, KTVU has been producing live news at 11pm on KICU. The Ten O'Clock News will swipe over to KICU at 11pm and the first 15 minute block will be more live coverage, then after the commercial break, they will slip back into the rerun of the 10pm show.

 

While I'm sure they're probably doing this to hopefully grab people away from the other 11pm broadcasts, I also wonder if this is a test to see what kind of ratings they might get for an 11pm live show. Fox loves venturing into 11pm on most O&Os it seems like.

 

Actually, if anything they're retreating. Some of the ex-New Worlds might still be doing 11pm/10pm broadcasts, but in the top four markets they've either cancelled the 11pm/10pm (KTTV/KCOP and WFLD), only did it for a trial run (WTXF), or never even did one in the first place (WNYW). Granted, KTVU is a special case, and could probably pull off an 11pm no problem, but you can also make the case for keeping Modern Family on at 11.

[William1111 41]

I've been watching this thread for the past few weeks since the announcement, decided to make an account and share this big development i noticed.

 

I've been noticing the logos and styling slightly change over the past few weeks, but

was definitely the biggest change Cox has made since it's purchase of WFXT (sorry for the bad quality). As of this morning, they were still using the Chyron Axis graphics.

[Samantha 2878]

 

I've been watching this thread for the past few weeks since the announcement, decided to make an account and share this big development i noticed.

 

I've been noticing the logos and styling slightly change over the past few weeks, but

was definitely the biggest change Cox has made since it's purchase of WFXT (sorry for the bad quality). As of this morning, they were still using the Chyron Axis graphics.

 

Even the O&Os sometimes have unusual 3D. If you look at KSAZ's opens the 3D graphics and theme are

. (I don't think this is the original Fusion News either — it's certainly custom work and debuted with the 3D stuff).

[24994J 5269]

Yeah, as of late, WFLD's 9pm open is a dead ringer for that WFXT logo animation.

[Weeters 1806]

WFXT is still getting graphics from the FOX hub. They are nowhere close to having their own art department yet. There won't be any major changes for at least several months.

[cg41386 131]

Nah, KGO's 5pm/6pm numbers tanked after they lost Oprah and added the 4pm show. The 4pm news is not doing well at all, but ABC doesn't have anything better to put in that timeslot so it's not going anywhere. Pretty sure KTVU is in the top spot at 5pm and 6pm, with KNTV coming in second thanks to the Ellen lead-in.

 

 

 

Should be interesting to see how KTVU steps up its World Series coverage under Fox and the new GM and ND. I thought it was a little understated in 2010 and 2012, with Mark Ibanez solo-anchoring a postgame newscast from the Oakland studio and a few reporters out in the field. It always felt like it was an event that deserved a larger on-location presence, so I'm eager to see what's on tap for the home games next week.

 

Regardless, let's go Giants!

According to that Katz Media thing with ratings, KGO was #1 at 5 and 6 at least during a week in September.

[broadcastfan9751 136]

According to the FCC database, "KTVU, LLC" has been renamed "Cox Media Group Northeast, LLC".

 

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=6463

 

and

 

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=12521

[cbs2newengland 71]

Not sure who's making the calls today, but the Fox 25 Morning News is on this morning - on a Sunday, covering mostly the late longest serving Mayor in Boston, Thomas Menino. Today he's down in Fanuell Hall for remembrance - not the big services, funeral etc. The funeral will be tomorrow (if I am not mistaken) and according to my EPG on my set top, WCVB, and others are airing it from 11 am to 3pm tomorrow.

 

What's more odd is they called in Gene Lavanchy and Maria Stephanos. Not that they would want to be in today (given their tenure in this market), but like I said already - this morning isn't the real tear jerker of coverage of programming.

[caliwxdude 252]

Surprised you guys haven't picked up on this yet: the new WorldNow-powered KTVU.com launched yesterday. The new site uses the standard MyFox template, but the associated graphics are still in the current KTVU look and feel. It also appears that the KTVU smartphone apps will be transitioning over to the standard Fox offering today as well.

 

And so it begins!

[C Block 1487]

It's also worth noting that the new news director got around to changing her Twitter name. It's a small change, but perhaps it's a sign that the Fox 2 will be the preferred brand going forward.

[bammy9 26]

 

It's also worth noting that the new news director got around to changing her Twitter name. It's a small change, but perhaps it's a sign that the Fox 2 will be the preferred brand going forward.

 

Maybe. If you look at their Facebook cover, the 2000 FOX 2 logo can be seen.. Don't know how long they've been doing it though...

[detroiter313 178]

 

Surprised you guys haven't picked up on this yet: the new WorldNow-powered KTVU.com launched yesterday. The new site uses the standard MyFox template, but the associated graphics are still in the current KTVU look and feel. It also appears that the KTVU smartphone apps will be transitioning over to the standard Fox offering today as well.

 

And so it begins!

 

At least they didn't brand the site as "MyFoxBayArea" or "MyFoxSF", that would've been unnecessary.

[William1111 41]

 

Not sure who's making the calls today, but the Fox 25 Morning News is on this morning - on a Sunday, covering mostly the late longest serving Mayor in Boston, Thomas Menino. Today he's down in Fanuell Hall for remembrance - not the big services, funeral etc. The funeral will be tomorrow (if I am not mistaken) and according to my EPG on my set top, WCVB, and others are airing it from 11 am to 3pm tomorrow.

 

What's more odd is they called in Gene Lavanchy and Maria Stephanos. Not that they would want to be in today (given their tenure in this market), but like I said already - this morning isn't the real tear jerker of coverage of programming.

 

Yeah, i noticed that too. Not only was it just the Mayor coverage, but it seemed like it was a regular newscast as well, Shiri Spear (ewwww) was also on that day forecasting the weather. This seemed like Cox's trial of Sunday morning news. If i recall correctly, Fox25 *did* actually have a Sunday morning newscast a few years back, however it was different staff compared to the weekday.

 

 

Surprised you guys haven't picked up on this yet: the new WorldNow-powered KTVU.com launched yesterday. The new site uses the standard MyFox template, but the associated graphics are still in the current KTVU look and feel. It also appears that the KTVU smartphone apps will be transitioning over to the standard Fox offering today as well.

 

And so it begins!

 

Yeah i happened to coincidentally go to the KTVU website last night. I was just browsing around a few minutes ago, and along with that twitter handle mentioned above me, i found this FAQ page referring KTVU as "Fox 2"

 

 

At least they didn't brand the site as "MyFoxBayArea" or "MyFoxSF", that would've been unnecessary.

 

"myfoxbayarea.com" does exist, registered by Fox in 2007, along with myfoxsanfrancisco.com which was registered by Fox in 2005, but it was updated on October 28 of this year (post swap). Interesting at the least.

[Rusty Muck 4164]

At least they didn't brand the site as "MyFoxBayArea" or "MyFoxSF", that would've been unnecessary.

Considering that KSAZ has effectively abandoned the "MyFox" website URL brand, I don't expect to see a "MyFox" address as the primary URL for KTVU.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Yeah i happened to coincidentally go to the KTVU website last night. I was just browsing around a few minutes ago, and along with that twitter handle mentioned above me, i found this FAQ page referring KTVU as "Fox 2"

 

Actually they've referred themselves as KTVU Fox 2 for quite a while outside of their newscasts. That FAQ page carried over from the Cox webpage. Case in point:

 

 

: What is the relationship between KTVU, Cox, and Fox? A: KTVU/Fox 2 is owned by Cox Enterprises, a family-owned media company. KTVU has an affiliation agreement with the Fox Television Network, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Even though the names Cox and Fox look and sound alike, the two companies have no connection to each other.

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

Yeah, i noticed that too. Not only was it just the Mayor coverage, but it seemed like it was a regular newscast as well, Shiri Spear (ewwww) was also on that day forecasting the weather. This seemed like Cox's trial of Sunday morning news. If i recall correctly, Fox25 *did* actually have a Sunday morning newscast a few years back, however it was different staff compared to the weekday.

 

First off, I like Shri, second I think the weekday crew was on because of the event. I didn't think Sunday morning needed to be on wall to wall, WCVB did a special one hour On the Record going back and forth between discussing the election, and the memorial service at Fanuell Hall. What is so wall to wall material for a memorial service? I had no objection to the funeral coverage, it was like a holiday, the local politicos just stopped and stared at the set all day long in respect to Tom Menino. It was an end of an era for the regional politics.

 

OTTH, the last time Fox 25 tried a weekend morning news was back before Molly Line joined Fox News Edge or FNC, so that was like almost 10 years ago. She would anchor I think Sunday morning and I don't think they did a Saturday and it was sandwiched between a religious program and FNS.

[compubit 670]

Actually they've referred themselves as KTVU Fox 2 for quite a while outside of their newscasts. That FAQ page carried over from the Cox webpage. Case in point:

Oops! Noticed that when visiting the FAQs page, but you beat me to it!

 

J

[sanewsguy 509]

Commentator Out at Former FOX Owned Station in Boston

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media_marketing/2014/11/fox_s_vb_i_had_a_good_run

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

Commentator Out at Former FOX Owned Station in Boston

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media_marketing/2014/11/fox_s_vb_i_had_a_good_run

 

Wow, Doug Goudie wasn't that bad for a commentator, some call him a conservative, but recently people calling onto the local talk radio, and posting on blogs claims he was become more liberal.

 

I'm not going to discuss the political views with the new owners, but maybe he can join with his old radio bad boy Howie Carr as it appears he may go on a digital path once his $7m contract with Entercom ends this month.

[cbs2newengland 71]

I wished Cox would fix the problems plagued by the mismanagment at the Fox O&Os. I used to watch this station religiously back when they would beat WBZ's 11:00 with their 10:00 newscast. This station had the best image packages, with strong focus on news quality, sexy like WHDH, but had personality which that station isn't their priority. The best days were before the original O&O mandate, the news from 5:00-9:00 in the mornings, a 5:00pm and a 10:00 show. Rupert put a lot into that station which was why I was really shocked to see the station being traded in the summer. His investment kinda got fizzled when the O&O mandate + that Jack Abernathy cutting across the entire group, and whoever was running the department a few years ago when they were so damn high strung (wide awake) at night and so slow (put to sleep) in the morning. Not good for the average viewer.

 

I can't remember the last time I watched 25, its too much of the same story, the same package rolled out a number of times on a single wheel. The morning news is horrible to watch, because its the same story over and over and all the light segments was pushed to the 9:00, in a rushed form as opposed to running all of those segments throughout the morning. Evening is just as bad, way too high strung, and just an overkill. That's just the format not even talking about lame graphics.

 

I think KTVU East is coming, and I am not sure if its going to be a good thing or bad. Whats good or bad is if the ratings change. It's only a matter of time if we see a KTVU 2 and a reversed 2 to make the Fox 25 logo.

[Samantha 2878]

Fox sacrificed Boston on the altar of football. It's not terribly surprising.

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

Fox sacrificed Boston on the altar of football.

 

that was already mentioned before.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Wow, Doug Goudie wasn't that bad for a commentator, some call him a conservative, but recently people calling onto the local talk radio, and posting on blogs claims he was become more liberal.

 

I'm not going to discuss the political views with the new owners, but maybe he can join with his old radio bad boy Howie Carr as it appears he may go on a digital path once his $7m contract with Entercom ends this month.

 

It has nothing to do with Cox's politics. They just don't believe in opinion or commentary when it comes to their TV stations, Doug pretty much came out and said that's what they told him. Cox keeps the opinion and commentaries to their AM/FM news talk stations. Just watch WSB, WHIO, or WFTV and notice that they don't have any commentaries or opinion based segments in their newscasts.

 

Sounds like they tried to find another place for him but he didn't want to. They both split up on good terms.

[cbs2newengland 71]

 

It has nothing to do with Cox's politics. They just don't believe in opinion or commentary when it comes to their TV stations, Doug pretty much came out and said that's what they told him. Cox keeps the opinion and commentaries to their AM/FM news talk stations. Just watch WSB, WHIO, or WFTV and notice that they don't have any commentaries or opinion based segments in their newscasts.

 

Sounds like they tried to find another place for him but he didn't want to. They both split up on good terms.

 

Ok, so lets take the opinions/politics/etc out of the equation and I have to say Cox will have a hard time to fill up the wheels. They got well over 60 hours of news a week and getting rid of things one by one is not the solution. If they know whats best for their viewers, they wouldn't be doing this mass exedous of what was once Fox 25. What's next the Zip Trip because they want to isolate the news personnel from their loyal viewers because afterall, wasn't sanewsguy that compared the KTVU anchors as robotic or lack personality?

 

As a former viewer to this station, I'd say the viewers have a lot to worry about. I've seen multiple bits of KTVU and I can say, it won't work for Boston, err New England. Just talking about the format here.

 

I think Cox is better off eliminating the 4:00 and 9:00 am slots, the 5:00 and 6:00 weekend programs.

 

If I come off as defensive, don't take it that I work for them, get paid by them or act as their spokesperson. I just don't like the direction, just as a viewer.