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Not sure why people are debating what time slots “work” for news. This has nothing to do with ratings or trying to “win”.

 

It’s the midterm elections this fall. That is why they are doing this.

 

After the elections, a lot of these newscasts will likely go away. They will not “fail”, they accomplished their mission to bring in political ad revenue. Previous “failed” newscasts in these time slots? Look closer, they probably happened during an election year.

 

It’s all about the money. It’s always about the money.

IIRC, WXIA put a 7pm newscast on WATL to get political money from the special Georgia congressional election back in 2017.

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Not sure why people are debating what time slots “work” for news. This has nothing to do with ratings or trying to “win”.

 

It’s the midterm elections this fall. That is why they are doing this.

 

After the elections, a lot of these newscasts will likely go away.

 

Truth be told, I'm not quite certain that will happen, albeit for the same reasons cited.

 

Think of how early the 2016 campaign started. Despite Trump saying he will run again, Mueller's investigation could put that in doubt. It could be a free-for-all right after the midterms, depending on how that shakes out.

 

If these extra shows are cash grabs, I see no reason why they couldn't last to the end of 2020 in the current political climate.

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  • 2 months later...

KSAZ is promoting its new newscasts in local avails. The 4pm hour will be anchored by John Hook and Kari Lake. The KUTP 7pm show, the station's first regular newscast, is being anchored by Marc Martinez and Christina Carilla, KSAZ's first outside weeknight news anchor hire in nearly two decades.

 

Carilla comes to Phoenix from the Waterman duopoly in Fort Myers. She was WZVN's morning anchor until being reassigned in April to be a reporter and evening live desk anchor for WBBH.

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  • 2 weeks later...
A newscast with a 0.4 rating can still make a profit. And 9.9/10 times no extra staffing would be needed. The Golden Age of syndication is long since over, so if anything more news or locally-produced lifestyle shows will take their place.

Jim Rogers saw that coming almost a decade ago and tried to make KSNV as news-heavy as an NBC affiliate could possibly get (not unlike what NBC did with KCNC prior to trading it to CBS).

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  • 2 weeks later...
Jim Rogers saw that coming almost a decade ago and tried to make KSNV as news-heavy as an NBC affiliate could possibly get (not unlike what NBC did with KCNC prior to trading it to CBS).

And of course, that didn't work out the way Mr. Rogers hoped it would

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Not sure why people are debating what time slots “work” for news. This has nothing to do with ratings or trying to “win”.

 

It’s the midterm elections this fall. That is why they are doing this.

 

After the elections, a lot of these newscasts will likely go away. They will not “fail”, they accomplished their mission to bring in political ad revenue. Previous “failed” newscasts in these time slots? Look closer, they probably happened during an election year.

 

It’s all about the money. It’s always about the money.

 

Yep.

 

If you're wondering why so many Hearst stations have primetime newscasts on freakin' MeTV (particularly on KETV and KCCI, both of which reach Iowa) or the Raycom stations with news on Bounce...this is almost certainly why.

 

Politicians will spend money on anything that's a newscast.

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Yep.

 

If you're wondering why so many Hearst stations have primetime newscasts on freakin' MeTV (particularly on KETV and KCCI, both of which reach Iowa) or the Raycom stations with news on Bounce...this is almost certainly why.

 

Politicians will spend money on anything that's a newscast.

AND... the more newscasts you have, the more money you're going to make from political ad leading up to Election Day, and that's a proven fact

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[quote name='oknewsguy']AND... the more newscasts you have, the more money you're going to make from political ad leading up to Election Day, and that's a proven fact[/QUOTE] Please excuse me @oknewsguy, because this is a good jumping off point for something where there are some broadcasting mis-conceptions [B]The KBEX-TV GSM and his Sales Weasels respond...[/B] If that was a proven fact... Every station would just go news 24/7 during elex cycles. Just because you have lots of inventory it don't meant it gets sold to the politicos. First... I have to sell ads to legit FEDERAL candidates at the lowest rate class on the "rate card" (not really a card)... If I have a hot local race I can pick and choose who I sell to, but most of us just sell to all candidates in that race. We all want to be fair, beside the love of taking all your money. There are more and more rules that have to be followed that God forbid we screw up one little rule...and we get sued, or piss-off the FCC or somebody. Note: Never a good idea for political parties to sue tv stations over ad issues. Second... Not all markets are considered "battle grounds" most the time. Sure there are 'Hot" races and some good "battle ground states" out there, but there are also many that suck and do not produce large political ad buys. Once every 4 years most stations will score some large buys...but that better carry you at least 2 to 4 more years if that's all you depend on for station income. I have other advertisers that are super loyal, and they don't want to be bumped or denied the regular slot they been getting on the 5 and 11 newscast for the last 50 years. I'm not pissing off my loyal regulars for the sake of politics. That car dealer has been with us longer than Joe Blow(d) running for "Animal Control and Behavior Specialist" aka Dog catcher. It's also a bad practice to grow and deflate your news department staffing based on you projected political advertising. Scripps does that and it's very demoralizing to the news staffers one the elex cycle runs. Not a good way to run any business. So political ads are very nice, but they are flighty, the reps are mostly hacks who demand way too much time from the sales teams. And just ask any GSM in CA, or NY and they will tell you how great the last "run" was...but the GM will tell you that the profits from the run was eaten up by new skyhigh state and local taxes...Not the Federal...go figure. Remember folks... There is a place in the front of the TV station called the "Sales Department" it's closest to the lobby and has really good parking...and the air conditioning always works. Those guys really call the shots in the world of TV. "Money First...Ratings Second." (tv sales credo)
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  • 1 month later...

After enduring false start date announcements, WJBK properly expanded to 4 AM today. Thanks to outsourced master controls, the bug reserved for syndicated programs appeared on this newscast, with the proper news bug not fading in until 4:05 AM.

 

They're using the same people who are already doing the 4:30 AM.

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If you're wondering why so many Hearst stations have primetime newscasts on freakin' MeTV

 

Now what's wrong with MeTV??? It's a GREAT place for classic TV shows (on free TV, no less)!! It's also an opportunity for stations to make extra money (in my market, local ads run throughout the day on the channel)....

 

Just saying....

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If that was a proven fact...

Every station would just go news 24/7 during elex cycles.

 

We're damn close in some markets...

 

But you are right about the ebb and flow of political money. How often have we seen layoffs at stations and station groups (not just Scripps mind) in off-cycle years?

 

You'd hope the ad rates being on the lowest rung of the card would stave off that kind of policy. But the season is still huge. I wonder how long it is before candidates realize you basically need a Twitter account and targeted ads on social media to be successful without blowing campaign contribution dollars - it could well put local TV in trouble.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Now what's wrong with MeTV??? It's a GREAT place for classic TV shows (on free TV, no less)!! It's also an opportunity for stations to make extra money (in my market, local ads run throughout the day on the channel)....

 

Just saying....

 

I'm not passing judgement on the network's quality -- but it's a digital subchannel that you always get on satellite, which is a big chunk of viewers. Number two, it's likely buried on cable in most markets. Three, the demographics aren't exactly 25-54.

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It’s a political season = ad dollars.

 

Many many years ago — WCMH here in Columbus launched NewsChannel 4 Later Today at 10:00am in September 2002. By January it was gone. It was intended to rake in political ad dollars and to piggyback off the Today Show’s dominance at the time. NBC launched 10am shows on the other O&Os at the time too.

 

WCMH also took iVillage Live/In the Loop with iVillage at 10am back in 2007 even though it was no longer owned by NBC, mainly to give the station control of the political ad dollars which were raking in, in anticipation for 2008.

 

Newscasts in untraditional timeslots are nothing new. Stations often launch them to take advantage of the ad revenue or to piggyback off of a popular TV show’s audience.

 

With that being said — I wouldn’t be too shocked if the O&Os became local versions of FNC by significantly beefing up their news product after 20th Television is sold to Disney as part of the deal. The stations group has largely dropped much of 20th’s syndicated output (Divorce Court, Cops, Simpsons reruns, etc.) so there won’t be much real change in what they air.

Edited by ColDayNews
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It’s a political season = ad dollars.

 

Many many years ago — WCMH here in Columbus launched NewsChannel 4 Later Today at 10:00am in September 2002. By January it was gone. It was intended to rake in political ad dollars and to piggyback off the Today Show’s dominance at the time. NBC launched 10am shows on the other O&Os at the time too.

 

WCMH also took iVillage Live/In the Loop with iVillage at 10am back in 2007 even though it was no longer owned by NBC, mainly to give the station control of the political ad dollars which were raking in, in anticipation for 2008.

 

Newscasts in untraditional timeslots are nothing new. Stations often launch them to take advantage of the ad revenue or to piggyback off of a popular TV show’s audience.

 

With that being said — I wouldn’t be too shocked if the O&Os became local versions of FNC after 20th Television is sold to Disney as part of the deal. The stations group has largely dropped much of 20th’s syndicated output (Divorce Court, Cops, Simpsons reruns, etc.) so there won’t be much real change in what they air.

 

I think 20th will still provide programming to the O&Os after the Disney deal. A lot of Fox and MyNet O&Os have Family Feud. No way FTS would mandate their stations to emulate FNC.

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  • 2 weeks later...
No wonder Fox wants KCPQ/KZJO and KSTU -- that map has a large chunk that's not covered in station logos! ;)

 

I wouldn’t mind seeing Fox get a Midwestern cluster. WFLD/WPWR in Chicago — WXIN in Indianapolis — WJW in Cleveland and WXIX in Cincinnati (which covers Indiana/Ohio/KY)

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  • 2 weeks later...
I wouldn’t mind seeing Fox get a Midwestern cluster. WFLD/WPWR in Chicago — WXIN in Indianapolis — WJW in Cleveland and WXIX in Cincinnati (which covers Indiana/Ohio/KY)

If Gray (post-Raycom) ultimately decides to sell WXIX, don't be surprised if WVUE (another NFL market Fox does not have) was to be included in the deal.

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  • 8 months later...

I didn't know where to post this on this side of the forum.

However, WTTG started their 4PM newscast yesterday and they BOMBED BADLY.  According to FTV. (I believe it too)

Angie Goff from WRC and Blake McCoy from NBC News- Chicago Bureau are the lead anchors for the 4PM news.

I mean not all debuts of a 4PM newscast will look flawless. However, the newscast suffered some technical difficulties, an misspell on an reporter doing reporting in Potomac with the dangerous mass floods which crippled most of the city yesterday. 

Plain and simple.. It's Day 1 and they got tons of work to do. Beating the other DC metro stations are no easy fate as most watch WRC News 4 at 4, 5,6, and 11 and WUSA Channel 9 at 5.

Edited by Spintech33
DC TV.
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1 hour ago, Spintech33 said:

I didn't know where to post this on this side of the forum.

However, WTTG started their 4PM newscast yesterday and they BOMBED BADLY.  According to FTV. (I believe it too)

Day one of anything (outside of already awful media product that can't be saved) isn't a cause to call it a 'bomb'. You've got staff getting used to a new workflow and probably some new formats to deal with on-air, and technical issues can happen at anything. And it's nigh doubtful that a mere spelling error in a rare breaking news situation is enough to portend the downfall of an entire news operation (and who on earth besides news people follow news directors on Twitter?!).

 

As long as viewers are watching and advertisers are spending their money, the show is fine. It didn't have the best launch. As long as this isn't its MO going into October, everything will be fine.

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2 hours ago, Spintech33 said:

I didn't know where to post this on this side of the forum.

However, WTTG started their 4PM newscast yesterday and they BOMBED BADLY.  According to FTV. (I believe it too)

Angie Goff from WRC and Blake McCoy from NBC News- Chicago Bureau are the lead anchors for the 4PM news.

I mean not all debuts of a 4PM newscast will look flawless. However, the newscast suffered some technical difficulties, an misspell on an reporter doing reporting in Potomac with the dangerous mass floods which crippled most of the city yesterday. 

Plain and simple.. It's Day 1 and they got tons of work to do. Beating the other DC metro stations are no easy fate as most watch WRC News 4 at 4, 5,6, and 11 and WUSA Channel 9 at 5.

 

Fixed. WRC is outright the leader from 4-7 and 11pm. Other stations just struggle. Period.

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