C Block 1484 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 It always amuses me when people act like Tribune hasn't "ruined" stations itself. NewsFix anyone? WPIX still isn't anywhere close to where it used to be, either. And outside of a handful of stations (WGN, KTLA,) Tribune stations are largely mediocre as is. The ex-KWGN staff says hello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 The ex-KWGN staff says hello. KPLR too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 It always amuses me when people act like Tribune hasn't "ruined" stations itself. NewsFix anyone? WPIX still isn't anywhere close to where it used to be, either. And outside of a handful of stations (WGN, KTLA,) Tribune stations are largely mediocre as is. And even then, Tribune has been seriously stretching the resources of WGN, WJW and KTLA through their continuous rounds of news expansions. WJW doesn't have as much of a syndicated programming inventory as they really should, and the current ownership limbo isn't helping matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrschimpf 2050 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 NewsFix anyone? WPIX still isn't anywhere close to where it used to be, either. And outside of a handful of stations (WGN, KTLA,) Tribune stations are largely mediocre as is. WITI is the template for "Tribune mediocre". I held out a lot of hope for improvements having an owner 90 miles away when they bought Local TV. All they really did was get rid of the bulky Newscenter set and give the weather department a much better studio/weather deck, but other than that except for graphics/music, a 2004 WITI newscast has the same feel as it does in 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Tribune has been rudderless and adrift for years. The WB going away and the Times Mirror merger not panning out seems to have really messed them up, in addition to Zell's LBO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Tribune has been rudderless and adrift for years. The WB going away and the Times Mirror merger not panning out seems to have really messed them up, in addition to Zell's LBO. The Zell fiasco brought aboard Randy Michaels, whose attempt to turn WGN 720 into a literal clone of 700 WLW (the talk radio behemoth that was, and remains, his most notable success story) backfired horrendously. And lest I forget the classic tales of salacious behavior that took place in Randy's office. Really, ever since the Tribune stations lined up with the CW, it's been mistake after mistake. Even buying LocalTV was a mistake as it made them into a broadcast chain composed of large-market (and news-intensive) CW affils, mid-market Fox affils (including the majority of O&Os spun off by the network a decade ago), and a chain of small-market big four affils once owned by the New York Times. And remember, LocalTV was assembled by... Randy Michaels, right before he took the job at Tribune. IIRC, he didn't immediately relinquish control of the chain, right as the mergers with KTVI-KPLR and KWGN-KDVR took place. That would be like selling one of your key stations to a car dealership you contr-- HEY WAIT A MINUTE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Buying Local TV seems to have created a weird hodgepodge. It feels like Tribune ought to pick one specialty and stick with it. Having those big-market stations would be great if they could tap into that effectively. They are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place though. If they dumped the big-market stations it's likely that most of them would be sucked into duopolies and they'd never get them back. If they dumped the smaller stations, well, they'd end up beholden to the networks like the other big chains are. I can't imagine Tribune would really miss WPHL, KDAF, WDCW, KIAH, WSFL or KRCW that much though. (I know Miami and Portland aren't in the top ten but they're still millstone-y netlet stations) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1338 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Really, ever since the Tribune stations lined up with the CW, it's been mistake after mistake. Please tell me you're not trying to blame Tribune's woes on the CW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie56 3059 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Please tell me you're not trying to blame Tribune's woes on the CW. Honestly, without Tribune, The CW wouldn’t even have a presence in most of the top 10 markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Honestly, without Tribune, The CW wouldn’t even have a presence in most of the top 10 markets. Well......maybe they could. Just move it to those independent stations CBS owns in a couple and bring in other groups for the rest. I could see KTXH as one station that could have picked up CW. But that's a conversation for another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrschimpf 2050 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Honestly, without Tribune, The CW wouldn’t even have a presence in most of the top 10 markets. And Equity's dumb stubbornness to not associate with the CW at all (along with their bizarre decision to build analog television stations out without digital simulcasts six years before the format was killed) did them in. I read these theories about how the CW did in Pappas and borked Tribune and...they're not true, really. Tribune is still around just fine, while Pappas was a dinosaur overloaded with debt. The CW programs 20 hours (formerly 21) a week out of 168. Stations still have to fill 88% of the rest of the broadcast week. Tribune didn't adjust the right way, and along with their backbiting BTS, that screwed them up more than a bad CW season ever could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1675 Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 And Equity's dumb stubbornness to not associate with the CW at all (along with their bizarre decision to build analog television stations out without digital simulcasts six years before the format was killed) did them in. The sign on with an analog channel could be technically limited based on bandwidth. I forget at one point they weren’t allowing stations to sign on with both - it was one or the other. If it’s true that they signed on several years before the conversion there may not have been enough DTV viewers at the time to sign on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Please tell me you're not trying to blame Tribune's woes on the CW. Not even. The network wasn't and isn't the problem, and could be argued that it was a major boost to the company overall. Tribune's issues (on both the broadcast and newspaper side) go far deeper, and they started to come home to roost, especially with Zell's disastrous LBO in 2008. When they had to unload WLVI months after signing the groupwide CW affiliation pact, that should have been seen as a sign of trouble afoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 The FCC's Inspector General has cleared Chairman Pai on any allegations of favoritism towards Sinclair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie56 3059 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 The FCC's Inspector General has cleared Chairman Pai on any allegations of favoritism towards Sinclair. Doesn’t matter now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eat News 4738 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 The FCC's Inspector General has cleared Chairman Pai on any allegations of favoritism towards Sinclair. But will Sinclair ever forgive Chairman Pai??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 The FCC's Inspector General has cleared Chairman Pai on any allegations of favoritism towards Sinclair. Pai is a buffoon, but he kicked Sinclair in the groin and went against his own “boss” in the process. I can’t fault the IG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dman748 1250 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Pai is a buffoon, but he kicked Sinclair in the groin and went against his own “boss” in the process. I can’t fault the IG. So, in other words, if Pai had approved Sinclair-Tribune deal then the IG would've founded that Pai was making dereg moves to benefit Sinclair. But, since how the merger is now dead, the IG has decided that there was no evidence that Pai was giving favorable treatment to Sinclair Is this true or is it false? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 So, in other words, if Pai had approved Sinclair-Tribune deal then the IG would've founded that Pai was making dereg moves to benefit Sinclair. But, since how the merger is now dead, the IG has decided that there was no evidence that Pai was giving favorable treatment to Sinclair Is this true or is it false? If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Sinclair has fired back at Tribune with a countersuit of their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRolyPoly 1843 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Sinclair has fired back at Tribune with a countersuit of their own. At the end of the day, it'll be Tribune 2 (1 for getting out of that disastrous deal to merge) - Sinclair 0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4157 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Sinclair has fired back at Tribune with a countersuit of their own. Oh my god Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie56 3059 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Sinclair has fired back at Tribune with a countersuit of their own. This is just stupid. It’s Sinclair’s own fault for lying to and deceiving the FCC and Pai. Tribune held up their end of the deal. This counterclaim will be thrown out quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterlingNorth 33 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 So, the geniuses at Sinclair want to go to court to defend the negotiations strategy that managed to land them a Zonk in the most merger-friendly regulatory environment in broadcast history. Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFromGulfcoast 695 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 If you can't complete a merger when everyone (ranging from President Trump (who's still salty about this) to Ajit Pai of the got-damn FCC, who you still lied to in spite of the fact that this is a republican-led FCC) was rooting for you and doing everything they could to ensure that your merger gets completed, that's your own fucking fault. Sinclair, get the heck over it. How about not lying next time unless that's too difficult for y'all to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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