Scripps - General Discussion

[MediaZone4K 1509]

 

On 12/31/2023 at 6:10 PM, NowBergen said:

 I haven't been to WPB for several years.  Is this observation during this holiday period where many reporters take time off or during the past year?  It is a shame to hear about it.  

https://youtu.be/h6n4HfsIuK8?si=2JW2sNkrOWuSz49e

https://youtu.be/Iy7pMOpTKZU?si=e2wA92zKzGRuZrLw

To expand on what I was saying,  the package production is not bad at all, especially the reporters stand up in the WPTV video. They have a more corporate PR produced feel, to them, different from a standard fast following newscast package. These feel like short digital documentaries, especially because of their slower tone and camera angles. hard to explain, idk if you see similar things.

Edited January 12 by MediaZone4K

[atlnews2 557]

Dish has dropped KASW. I can only assume this is because Scripps wanted higher retrans fees for the station now that they carry Coyotes games and Dish told them to take a hike.

 

 

Edited January 18 by atlnews2

[kfc513 225]

This really flew under the radar...

 

Apparently, Florida 24 Network is no more as of this month. (according to the Logopedia pages for them and WHDT)

 

Also, florida24network.com now redirects to the Scripps News website.

 

 

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 743]

46 minutes ago, kfc513 said:

This really flew under the radar...

 

Apparently, Florida 24 Network is no more as of this month. (according to the Logopedia pages for them and WHDT)

 

Also, florida24network.com now redirects to the Scripps News website.

 

 

They are now know as "South Florida's 9"

[noggi 600]

This may have been mentioned already but I haven’t seen it before… KMTV has a nice evolution on the Scripps package (7:12 into this clip montage)

 

 

Are other stations using this look?

[who?cares 253]

That look is part of updates rolled out for the Scrippscasts and "neighborhood news initiative."

[CoopInTheHouse 63]

On 1/28/2024 at 8:16 AM, noggi said:

This may have been mentioned already but I haven’t seen it before… KMTV has a nice evolution on the Scripps package (7:12 into this clip montage)

 

 

Are other stations using this look?

I am from the Omaha area, but I only watch KMTV for gameshows and sports occasionally.. so I haven’t noticed this much lol.

[Big Rollo Smokes 180]

Over at FTVLive, a patrons-exclusive story is teasing that the dreaded "Scrippscast" (aka "news-on-the-cheap") is coming to WEWS in Cleveland.

Edited February 2 by Big Rollo Smokes

[Yankees4life 529]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:33 PM, kfc513 said:

This really flew under the radar...

 

Apparently, Florida 24 Network is no more as of this month. (according to the Logopedia pages for them and WHDT)

 

Also, florida24network.com now redirects to the Scripps News website.

 

 

Much to the surprise of absolutely no one. I'm not too sure what they were thinking with that one.

[mrschimpf 2051]

3 hours ago, Yankees4life said:

Much to the surprise of absolutely no one. I'm not too sure what they were thinking with that one.

Trying to justify the purchase of what was an HD-era experimental channel otherwise bound for HC2 irrelevancy. The entire WHDT purchase made no sense from the start at all; sure, you get an overflow station, but what else can you do with that station outside guaranteeing full coverage for your subnets? The CW isn't moving, you've got WFLX and Fox already via sidecar, and the Ion flagship is just as sidecarred. I wouldn't be surprised if the purchase came with a Mar-a-Lago membership a la WLNY.

[Megatron81 179]

Scripps cut the weekend morning Met's job Isbella Hulsizer a few weeks ago at Fox17.

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

Imagine that....

Garbage out (more Scrippscasts)....

Garbage in (lower revenue)....

https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/scripps-q4-station-revenue-drops-12/

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 743]

I really used to like Scripps... Now I think they are complete trash... They're still above Sinclair, but barely...

[Megatron81 179]

I don't get why Scripps even does news for Fox47 out in Lansing that should be Fox17 doing the newscast for WSYM for Fox47 never should've gotten rid of Gray doing the news for Fox47 a few years ago. Fox47 met Brad does the weather for Fox47 at Fox17 studios. 

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

If Scripps does decide to sell, who in their right mind would buy them with what they've done to their stations?

 

It would have to be some kind of private equity deal to keep things running, but if that ever happens, what's left to cut to make a profit on their investment?

[LexTVandRadio 412]

21 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

If Scripps does decide to sell, who in their right mind would buy them with what they've done to their stations?

 

It would have to be some kind of private equity deal to keep things running, but if that ever happens, what's left to cut to make a profit on their investment?

For me.... I always wanted WTVQ/Morris to be bought up by Hearst, but now it's WLEX/Scripps for Hearst. It wouldn't work for WCPO and others. I really thought Scripps would make WLEX even better.

[GodfreyGR 493]

21 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

If Scripps does decide to sell, who in their right mind would buy them with what they've done to their stations?

*Byron Allen has entered the chat*

[Howard Beale 13]

Big changes typically follow bad quarterly financial reports.  Scripps did an executive reorganization and placed Kate O’Brian as the top executive in charge of Scripps News, Court TV, and Scripps’ local TV stations.  The VPs at Scripps News and Court TV kept their jobs.  The VP in charge of local news, Sean McLaughlin, did not.  FTVLive hypothesizes that McLaughlin is the scapegoat for the cost-cutting changes to news broadcasts at Scripps stations in the past few months.

 

Company memo here: https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2024/2/29/the-first-show-drops-at-scripps

[mre29 1340]

On 2/28/2024 at 11:13 AM, tyrannical bastard said:

If Scripps does decide to sell, who in their right mind would buy them with what they've done to their stations?

 

It would have to be some kind of private equity deal to keep things running, but if that ever happens, what's left to cut to make a profit on their investment?

 

Or the stations could be sold to multiple owners who are established broadcasting companies.

 

[GodfreyGR 493]

55 minutes ago, CoopInTheHouse said:

Ft. Myers: WBBH 2 (NBC and Hearst) and WSVN 7 (ABC and Hearst). No Scripps.

Just to clarify, Scripps does have WFTX (Fox) in Ft. Myers. 

[Weeters 1805]

Please keep the wishcasting for a sale to Hearst in the Speculation board, please. 

 

Most of the groups seem to have reported less-than-impressive recent business results. This isn't a Scripps problem. Returning newscasts to "traditional" shows vs. Scrippscast isn't going to drastically change how people consume media, nor will it change the political landscape to drive up political advertising.

[Rusty Muck 4162]

Y'all are going to be very disappointed when Scrippscasts become the industry norm, not the exception. If there's one thing local television enjoys, it's xeroxing the heck out of each other.

[Megatron81 179]

Also seems that the staff at Scripps don't know what Kate will do thinking they will keep the Scrippscasts which were DOA from the start, if I was the CEO it be a fat NO on the Scrippscast. 

[Howard Beale 13]

1 hour ago, Megatron81 said:

Also seems that the staff at Scripps don't know what Kate will do thinking they will keep the Scrippscasts which were DOA from the start, if I was the CEO it be a fat NO on the Scrippscast. 

 

I doubt the Scrippscasts will go away.  Adam Symson made the big to-do about the "news initiative" in May of 2023 and he hinted at what was to come.  Plus, Scrippscasts are no doubt cheaper to produce.  It's too late for Scripps to hit reverse after investing so much time and effort into Symson's grand vision.

[nycnewsjunkie 1395]

On the one hand, I’ll admit there are worse ways to make cuts than by producing a Scrippscast. Given that Sinclair has resorted to shutting down entire newsrooms and pumping in a questionable product from DC, it’s not so bad by comparison. Better to have a station continue to cover local stories with less than ideal resources/production than to have a local newsroom shut down entirely.

 

However, I still don’t think that this is good for broadcast journalism. IMO, a lot of these Scrippscasts (for example, see WTXL) look hastily put together, and it seems as though they do the bare minimum to cover local stories. The national content often has little to no relevance to the viewer in that market. I’m not totally against the idea of reducing the role of the anchor to save costs, but unless that money is going into more robust local journalism and providing greater context to local issues, it’s a bit disingenuous for Scripps to frame this as a positive evolution in local news. It’s just cost cutting.

 

It certainly seems like this is the future of local news, but we don’t have to like it.