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SHOCKER: Scripps and Journal to merge


Glimmer

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Why WEWS and WFTS still have 2009 graphics elements or any of the Musikvergnuegen music in their systems, I don't know.

 

Also, the video from WXYZ, WCPO and WFTS only played audio through the left channel. I also notice that KSHB and KJRH were absent.

 

WPTV's is the only part that feels like it wasn't made in five minutes.

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Why does that even exist though? It's not like adding WKBW is going to have any effect on them. The McGraw-Hill stations didn't get any type of special welcome. Plus, KMGH, WRTV and KGTV have barely been a part of Scripps. It would have made lightyears more sense if it was KSHB and KJRH in their place (but I do wonder why they weren't a part of that video?).

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Why WEWS and WFTS still have 2009 graphics elements or any of the Musikvergnuegen music in their systems, I don't know.

 

This was similar to when WJW

, because on some nights they would play that for their close. This was almost six years ago.
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Oh I love Scripps Howard always one of my favorite companies in the industry, but welcome to Scripps you will get cut. LOL I'm just joking, but ok hope Journal Stations get that welcome too... Hmmm...So my main question is why is WMAR always look like a skeleton crew vs the other shops? WMAR is the first station in Maryland. but there seems to be no investment in the station... They really need a new set, and hope they don't get that KGTV/WCPO set...

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Oh I love Scripps Howard always one of my favorite companies in the industry, but welcome to Scripps you will get cut. LOL I'm just joking, but ok hope Journal Stations get that welcome too... Hmmm...So my main question is why is WMAR always look like a skeleton crew vs the other shops? WMAR is the first station in Maryland. but there seems to be no investment in the station... They really need a new set, and hope they don't get that KGTV/WCPO set...

 

They're liked the bastard red-headed stepchild of Scripps. They've always seemed to have had the least amount of attention put on them. Dead last in their market too. Save WPTV because Olympics, they should have been the first station to get a new set when Scripps started upgrading their stations. Instead, KMGH, a station that Scripps just bought like a year ago, is getting a brand new set over them, a station Scripps has had now for decades. That must hurt and be a real head scratcher for them. And hopefully they'll get something different from the rest. That KGTV/WCPO set is about to have its own variation ending up at KSHB. Either way, WMAR just needs a complete and total 100% overhaul. Rebuild them from the ground up, literally.

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They're liked the bastard red-headed stepchild of Scripps. They've always seemed to have had the least amount of attention put on them. Dead last in their market too. Save WPTV because Olympics, they should have been the first station to get a new set when Scripps started upgrading their stations. Instead, KMGH, a station that Scripps just bought like a year ago, is getting a brand new set over them, a station Scripps has had now for decades. That must hurt and be a real head scratcher for them. And hopefully they'll get something different from the rest. That KGTV/WCPO set is about to have its own variation ending up at KSHB. Either way, WMAR just needs a complete and total 100% overhaul. Rebuild them from the ground up, literally.

 

It seems like Scripps is investing more into KGTV and KMGH than the rest of the group. Granted that those two stations were not as well taken care of under McGraw-Hill, but it's interesting that Scripps is turning their attention to these two the most, despite other stations being their portfolio a lot longer. I wonder if it also has a lot to do with the fact that both stations are doing reasonably well and are competitive in their respective markets.
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What the deal with The Wolfe Family and Scripps? Why is there all this hate with these two powerful Titans, and if they did sell I do see Gannett getting WBNS, WTHR and that funky Dispatch Newspaper which is like reading a mazagine since they've shrunk it.

It dates back to when the Scripps-owned Columbus Citizen-Journal was shuttered. Dispatch had a long-term JOA with Scripps for the Journal that they decided to end at the end of 1985 (concurrently, the Columbus Dispatch moved from afternoon to morning delivery).

 

Both sides have blamed each other for the Citizen-Journal's death ever since.

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It dates back to when the Scripps-owned Columbus Citizen-Journal was shuttered. Dispatch had a long-term JOA with Scripps for the Journal that they decided to end at the end of 1985 (concurrently, the Columbus Dispatch moved from afternoon to morning delivery).

 

Both sides have blamed each other for the Citizen-Journal's death ever since.

 

I think it goes even further than that. Remember, they had to work together for 25 years under the JOA. I don't think they worked and played well with each other and given how Scripps has run most of its newspapers into the ground, you probably have to give the Wolfes the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

I mean, I know the newspaper industry has suffered a long-term decline, but to lose that many big city properties is nothing short of corporate malpractice.

 

I think the Wolfes hate Cox too. I want to say it's because they compete in the fringes of their markets, but they got along with Avco, Gannett and Taft so there has to be more going on there. The Wolfes are traditionally Republican and the Coxes are Democrats, but you would think that the only party they care about is Green (i.e. money). Jealousy because the Coxes grew to be a bigger operation maybe?

 

 

 

 

What the deal with The Wolfe Family and Scripps? Why is there all this hate with these two powerful Titans, and if they did sell I do see Gannett getting WBNS, WTHR and that funky Dispatch Newspaper which is like reading a mazagine since they've shrunk it.

 

 

 

To me it's like reading the Columbus Messenger or Business First.

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It was a phase Scripps was going through during ABC's black-and-yellow graphic days. Thankfully, it didn't spread to the others.

 

[/sarcasm]

 

The stations got identical graphics packages from TVbD in 2002. I remember seeing WMAR on a DX site in this era and thinking how identical it was to KNXV (with one small graphic difference).

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The stations got identical graphics packages from TVbD in 2002. I remember seeing WMAR on a DX site in this era and thinking how identical it was to KNXV (with one small graphic difference).

 

Do you know which video montage NewsActive3 has the WMAR talent open from that era in? I know it's in one of them, just don't remember which part.
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Semi-related: The new Journal Media Group might be able to add even more cash to their starting balance... The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Building, current HQ for Journal Communications, has been brought up as one of the locations the new owners of the Milwaukee Bucks might want to build a new arena. Given the fact they're building a new company, and there's a lot of open office space in downtown Milwaukee, it might make more sense to build out new leased facilities and sell off the old ones.

 

The block that the Journal building sits on is actually smaller than the footprint of the current "too small" Bradley Center, so I don't know why it's being considered, but Milwaukee isn't always known for making the best choices.

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Here's a stupid video Scripps stations made welcoming WKBW and WMYD to the family. (the WPTV portion is the worst)

 

[yt]OVM6CZmxvno[/yt]

 

I wonder if they'll make one for the Journal stations as well?

That WPTV one was pathetic and it made it clear that they send out the same video to every new acquisition. It almost sounded as if it was a sales reel they send to new advertisers because no other station at Scripps cares that they produce 60 hours of news a week. Just by WPTVs mentioning made me think of it as a bullet point made by a salesman trying to convince me why I should buy air time on their channel rather than WPBF and WPEC.

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Semi-related: The new Journal Media Group might be able to add even more cash to their starting balance... The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Building, current HQ for Journal Communications, has been brought up as one of the locations the new owners of the Milwaukee Bucks might want to build a new arena. Given the fact they're building a new company, and there's a lot of open office space in downtown Milwaukee, it might make more sense to build out new leased facilities and sell off the old ones.

 

The block that the Journal building sits on is actually smaller than the footprint of the current "too small" Bradley Center, so I don't know why it's being considered, but Milwaukee isn't always known for making the best choices.

 

Perhaps the thought is that they could tear down both the Journal building and the UW Milwaukee Panthers Arena (former US Cellular Arena) and have it straddle 4th Street.

 

(I personally think they could put the arena at the corner of Michigan and James Lovell, especially if they could buy up the UMB Fund Services and Legal Aid buildings between 8th and 9th. That would give them the entire northwest corner of the Marquette Interchange. But I digress.)

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Why WEWS and WFTS still have 2009 graphics elements or any of the Musikvergnuegen music in their systems, I don't know.

Ironic you say that. KSHB used some new station ID thing at the end of their morning newscast this morning and it used the "happy" or morning version of the Musikvergnuegen signature. Maybe they all still have it. I remember people saying while ago that they should use that signature as a Scripps sign off or as as the "chime" for the company as a whole (think NBC).

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Ironic you say that. KSHB used some new station ID thing at the end of their morning newscast this morning and it used the "happy" or morning version of the Musikvergnuegen signature. Maybe they all still have it. I remember people saying while ago that they should use that signature as a Scripps sign off or as as the "chime" for the company as a whole (think NBC).

Are there any videos with the morning version that are floating around? I remember the evening version with the almost bell like sound and piano but I'm trying to jog my memory on a morning version.
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Are there any videos with the morning version that are floating around? I remember the evening version with the almost bell like sound and piano but I'm trying to jog my memory on a morning version.

I don't have a tuner. I should invest in one but they're expensive aren't they?

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I don't have a tuner. I should invest in one but they're expensive aren't they?

I just picked up a USB model for $80 at Best Buy. It's a Hauppage Win-TV-HVR-950Q and it comes with a program to record. I run windows 7 but the box said XP, Vista, 7 and 8. The files are in .TS format so I had downloaded a free converter to change them to MPEG4 so I could edit in QuickTime which is the only thing I have that can edit and it was free too. It works pretty good and I got an antenna to get the signal for $8. You have to have an over the air antenna or hook it to cable to get signal to it. It comes with a tiny antenna but it only works within 10 miles of the transmitter. The stuff on my YouTube linked below was all recorded with it.
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I just picked up a USB model for $80 at Best Buy. It's a Hauppage Win-TV-HVR-950Q and it comes with a program to record. I run windows 7 but the box said XP, Vista, 7 and 8. The files are in .TS format so I had downloaded a free converter to change them to MPEG4 so I could edit in QuickTime which is the only thing I have that can edit and it was free too. It works pretty good and I got an antenna to get the signal for $8. You have to have an over the air antenna or hook it to cable to get signal to it. It comes with a tiny antenna but it only works within 10 miles of the transmitter. The stuff on my YouTube linked below was all recorded with it.

 

I have a USB tuner from Hauppauge and I am satisfied with the product. I found that it works within about 25 miles of the transmitter on UHF. With VHF, it's about 10 miles. It also does an excellent job picking up digital LPTV's and I don't even have an external antenna.

 

I bought it when I went on vacation in Destin a few years ago but it was worthless for that purpose since the stations in both Mobile and Pensacola were too far to get a signal.

 

I have another WinTV PCI card and when you hook it up to a rooftop antenna, it DX's just as well as any other tuner. Watching crystal clear pictures from Dayton is just an awesome notion for anybody who grew up DX-ing analog as a child.

 

DX-ing WJKW in 1977:

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I have a USB tuner from Hauppauge and I am satisfied with the product. I found that it works within about 25 miles of the transmitter on UHF. With VHF, it's about 10 miles. It also does an excellent job picking up digital LPTV's and I don't even have an outdoor antenna.

 

I bought it when I went on vacation in Destin a few years ago but it was worthless for that purpose since the stations in both Mobile and Pensacola were too far to get a signal.

 

I have another WinTV PCI card and when you hook it up to a rooftop antenna, it DX's just as well as any other tuner. Watching crystal clear pictures from Dayton is just an awesome notion for anybody who grew up DX-ing analog as a child.

 

DX-ing WJKW in 1977:

 

I don't know if you're the uploader of the video, but I can't help but notice the cheesy visuals the uploader used since it was audio only.

 

I'm also reminded why I don't eat convenience store hotdogs. That hot dog did not look appetizing.

 

Anyway, this was way off topic. Carry on...

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I don't know if you're the uploader of the video, but I can't help but notice the cheesy visuals the uploader used since it was audio only.

 

I'm also reminded why I don't eat convenience store hotdogs. That hot dog did not look appetizing.

 

Anyway, this was way off topic. Carry on...

 

Except for the slick digital transitions, I think that video did a decent job capturing what you would have seen in that era. Remember, they often used slides!!! in succession back then for that type of commercial (used videotaped) ... and even using wipes from one slide to another would have been considered fancy special effects.

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...so radio and newspaper cross ownership is allowed....but newspaper and TV ownership is not?

 

I always thought that they were subject to the same rule as TV stations. What sayeth the FCC about this?

 

:bang: :bang: :bang:

 

I know there has been grandfathering in places like Columbus, Ohio (where Dispatch has the trifecta of newspaper, radio AND TV). But weren't new deals after the ban denied?

No, radio (& TV) and newspaper cross ownership is still *technically* not allowed. However, during the 90's and 00's the FCC got a little more liberal with their waiver process. Currently, the FCC has adopted a waiver process where in the top 20 DMAs the FCC presumes that a combination of a newspaper and a radio station is in the public interest. Additionally, in the top 20 DMAs The FCC also presumes that a combination of a newspaper and a TV station is in the public interest if: (1) the TV station is not ranked among the top four stations in the DMA; and (2) at least eight independently owned major media voices (major newspapers and/or full-power TV stations) would remain in the market following the transaction. In DMAs ranked 21 and smaller, the FCC presumes that a proposed newspaper/broadcast combination is not in the public interest – meaning that proposed pairings in such markets face a heavy burden in attempting to win approval.

 

If you would like to read further here is a link to the multiple ownership rules (47 CFR 73.3555) in the Code of Federal Regulations courtesy of Cornell University Law School.

 

I'm of the opinion NBCO needs to go away but, I digress. It doesn't matter in the case of the Scripps-Journal deal anyway as the newspapers and broadcast entities will be held by two separate companies.

 

 

It will be interesting to see what kind of corporate culture emerges with the new Scripps. Will they be averse to syndicated programming like Scipps? Or despise subtle graphics like Journal? Will Scripps continue their standardization as is? How will they get along with CBS and Fox?

 

I'm sure KNXV and KGUN will start cooperating a lot more; WFTX might get some help from WFTS and WPTV, as well.

If Scripps plans on growing any more, they're going to have to rethink their whole in-house syndication strategy, given the anemic performances of their in-house efforts. In Las Vegas, between them and KSNV, they may as well be handing the best shows on a silver platter to KLAS, KVVU, and the Sinclair stations.

Don't count on it. From the press release "The merger will create significant strategic and financial benefits for Scripps including....Leveraging high-quality journalism and Scripps’ original television programming across a larger geographic footprint". So, It's full steam ahead on that front.

 

From EW Scripps 10-K:

2013 compared with 2012

Programs and program licenses decreased by 5.2% during 2013 primarily due to reduced costs for syndicated programming. Syndicated programming costs decreased $5.7 million in 2013

 

2012 compared with 2011

Programs and program licenses decreased approximately 23% on a same-station basis. Syndicated programming costs decreased $14.4 million year-over-year due to decisions we made to take control of more programming on our stations and rely less on syndicated programming.

 

That isn't chump change and will only grow further as more Scripps stations jettison "costly" syndicated shows. And, it's not just Scripps a lot of the other station groups are doing the same thing....Scripps is just a little more frontal and ambitious with their plans.

 

 

If Graham is to sell their station Hearst would be the perfect fit and with WDIV and NBC would position Hearst in a good place. Yes, WPLG sold to Buffet's team, but according to Wikipedia; As part of the deal, Post-Newsweek Stations (renamed Graham Media Group in July 2014) will continue to provide services to the station for up to two years after the sale's consummation through a transitional services agreement.The sale was finalized on June 30.

 

If Hearst bought Graham and add WPLG to the mix, but I'm sure Hearst would have to sell WPBF which could get in the hands of Gannett if that were the case. KLAS still owned by Landmark and I think Gannett should also look into getting the CBS affiliate in Vegas.

What is to stop Scripps from buying Graham Holdings, and then spinning off WDIV to Buffet outright in exchange for early termination of the SSA with WPLG?

 

As for Hearst, they have been way, way too quiet during this M&A mania. I can't consider them a buyer when their total of acquired stations equals zero thus far. And I'm not so sure that Comcast wants any more NBC O&Os.

Ugh, Wikipedia is wrong. Graham Media Group doesn't "operate" WPLG nor, do they have an SSA with WPLG. Graham Media Group has zero say over the operation of WPLG. It is now an independent operation owned by BH Media. They have a "Transition Services Agreement" for up to two years.

 

The newly independent WPLG is essentially outsourcing some services (Graphics, Traffic & Digital) from Graham Media Group. These are all services that P-N/Graham centralized/hubbed within their group, Graphics/WPLG, Traffic/WJXT & Digital/WDIV. There was no way WPLG/BH Media could hire a new "in-house" team of graphic designers, web developers or traffic coordinators immediately upon closing. So, to provide some level of continuity to WPLG in the short-term Graham Media Group will provide services from their Graphics, Traffic & Digital hubs for up to two years. WPLG/BH Media can terminate any or, all services without penalty by providing 60 days notice.

 

The Graham Media Group graphics hub will remain at WPLG for now. All of the current employees of the Graham Media Group graphics hub will remain employees of Graham Media Group. Graham Media Group will lease 1,000sf of space within WPLG's building from the newly independent WPLG/BH Media for up to two years. Graham Media Group can terminate the lease without penalty by providing three months notice.

 

Bolded for emphasis. The Transition Agreement could last up to two years. However, both parties can exit their portions early by providing the appropriate notice to the other party. A Transition Services Agreement is not really equal in any way to a SSA or JSA. I don't know why people are so confused by this arrangement but, hopefully this clears things up.

 

 

As to the Scripps-Journal deal. It's definitely a creative deal and looks to be a good deal for all involved. Although, I hate all these newspapers being "sent off to pasture" at least Scripps is taking the same tact as the "old" News Corp and sending them off (mostly) debt free...the same can't be said for the Tribune newspapers.

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As to the Scripps-Journal deal. It's definitely a creative deal and looks to be a good deal for all involved. Although, I hate all these newspapers being "sent off to pasture" at least Scripps is taking the same tact as the "old" News Corp and sending them off (mostly) debt free...the same can't be said for the Tribune newspapers.

 

I think this will be good for the papers because the way things work is that Wall Street is always squeezing these companies to make their numbers. That usually results in more money being poured into electronic media, and less investment in newspapers. Look at Gannett's agreement with the Dispatch people to print their Ohio papers. The big reason they did this is so that Gannett would not have to invest money into their printing plants. As a standalone newspaper company, Gannett can focus on doing what's best for their papers as opposed to starving them to invest money into TV. Wall Street will compare them to their peers and there won't be any TV stations to cloud the picture.

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Don't count on it. From the press release "The merger will create significant strategic and financial benefits for Scripps including....Leveraging high-quality journalism and Scripps’ original television programming across a larger geographic footprint". So, It's full steam ahead on that front.

 

I can understand "The List" and "The Now" since those are totally in-house. But how is paying Telepictures to produce "Let's Ask America" any cheaper than syndication? Isn't Telepictures a syndication company as well? Why would they produce a program for a company that is moving away from syndication?
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I can understand "The List" and "The Now" since those are totally in-house. But how is paying Telepictures to produce "Let's Ask America" any cheaper than syndication? Isn't Telepictures a syndication company as well? Why would they produce a program for a company that is moving away from syndication?

 

Telepictures is one of the producing arms of Warner Bros. And notice how hypocritical they are when they were bitching paying all those expansive license fees to Sony, prior to dropping Wheel & Jeopardy.

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