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WSFL to Launch News in 2021, produced by WPLG


who?cares

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Funny that this news hits right as the Discord was going on about how much of a dumpster fire the English language market in Miami has become. 

The line about WSFL retaining their CW affiliation reeks of wanting to put down any rumors that they'd go for the Fox affiliation. At this point even Scripps knows to not kick an old man when he's somewhat down.

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39 minutes ago, tjt24 said:

Wow. This came out of left field.

When I first heard that Scripps was getting WSFL I thought it was because they would try and get WPLG or WSVN, but obviously that doesn't appear to be the case (at least for now). I think there still may be a possibility that WSFL gets Fox or ABC in the future.

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18 minutes ago, NewsMaster said:

I think there still may be a possibility that WSFL gets Fox or ABC in the future.

 

Nope. As I've mentioned before, WSVN is FOX's strongest affiliate while WPLG has pretty much been ABC since Day 1 through its various iterations.

 

My personal thoughts... I didn't see this coming. Now, Miami will have five news operations for the first time (English-language TV, of course).

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45 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Nope. As I've mentioned before, WSVN is FOX's strongest affiliate while WPLG has pretty much been ABC since Day 1 through its various iterations.

And? WHDH in Boston was a strong affiliate. As was KTVK in Phoenix. As was KRON in the Bay Area. Doesn’t mean anything. And while I agree WSVN is a strong affiliate, where is it stated that it’s Fox’s strongest?

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As Georgie said I thought that WPTV would at least have WSFL simulcast the 10pm newscast with WFLX (and btw they might still do it as a placeholder until their full in-house news department launches next year) but what a surprise.

 

As for anyone suggesting that WSFL would join Fox, ABC or any other major network for that matter, chances of that happening is slim to none. If anything, WSFL might either stay with the CW or become an Indie.

 

Kudos to Scripps for investing in a full scale news department. This was certainly something that came out of left field.

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2 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

And? WHDH in Boston was a strong affiliate. As was KTVK in Phoenix. As was KRON in the Bay Area. Doesn’t mean anything. And while I agree WSVN is a strong affiliate, where is it stated that it’s Fox’s strongest?

 

This. So much this.

 

We know from all the newspaper reporting of the time that ABC didn't particularly feel like giving up KTVK as an affiliate, but that they had no choice in order to avoid humiliation in what were, at the time, larger markets.

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Surprised by this--it should be interesting to see how they brand their newscasts.   I'm glad they are going with something that's not cookie-cutter.

 

With that announcement, I figure it will probably be even less likely they house WSFL at WPTV.  I still wonder if they plan to hub master control at WPTV, or keep the station separate altogether.

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Something tells me though that the news department will “launch” at WPTV in the interim. There’s no way, especially since we are going into the last month of 2019, that they will even be close to being launched by even this time next year. It takes time, money, etc. to build out a news operation.

 

Look at WRDE, WJZY, WMBF for past examples of building out a news operation, it took them well over a year from start until launch.

 

The way the news release makes it sound is that they will launch in a matter of months, but it’s more likely they won’t be able to fully launch a news department at WSFL until at least 2021.

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6 minutes ago, KentBrockman said:

Something tells me though that the news department will “launch” at WPTV in the interim. There’s no way, especially since we are going into the last month of 2019, that they will even be close to being launched by even this time next year. It takes time, money, etc. to build out a news operation.

And is it still going to be out of the old Sun-Sentinel auditorium? They need a new facility meant for 2020s broadcasting, and especially for hurricane season, nobody is going to criticize a simulcast with WPTV while they find proper people to helm the weather department. I do suspect though that this news department may have Newsy-influenced touches, but not to the point where it's a Ctrl+C of the NewsFix attempt.


It's a positive though; there needs to be a 'quiet' option in Miami news, because the current four options are FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) factories, with WSVN somehow being the most 'quiet' among them all.

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5 hours ago, TheRyan said:

Surprised by this--it should be interesting to see how they brand their newscasts.   I'm glad they are going with something that's not cookie-cutter.

 

With that announcement, I figure it will probably be even less likely they house WSFL at WPTV.  I still wonder if they plan to hub master control at WPTV, or keep the station separate altogether.

Master control for all Scripps stations/Katz are hubbed in Indy at WRTV. They are working on getting the former Tribune stations hubbed out as we speak. 

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33 minutes ago, who?cares said:

Master control for all Scripps stations/Katz are hubbed in Indy at WRTV. They are working on getting the former Tribune stations hubbed out as we speak. 

 

Is this new? Last I heard, the WRTV Hub only controlled legacy stations pre-Journal merger, as it was built to operate only said stations with no room to expand.

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31 minutes ago, Weeters said:

 

Is this new? Last I heard, the WRTV Hub only controlled legacy stations pre-Journal merger, as it was built to operate only said stations with no room to expand.

They’re building stuff out right now; and expanding the part of the building the hub is housed in. 

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1 hour ago, who?cares said:

Master control for all Scripps stations/Katz are hubbed in Indy at WRTV. They are working on getting the former Tribune stations hubbed out as we speak. 

 

If there's anything positive with that, if a major hurricane ever forces evacuations at WSFL, they can remotely program coverage like they did over at WFTX a couple years ago.

 

I just hope that Scripps puts out a serious newscast that doesn't go the way WJZY went at first.  Given the article's emphasis on "strong Florida coverage" and severe weather coverage, hopefully they will.

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45 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

It doesn't sound like you would have to do a lot of heavy lifting to expand that to Miami. It's almost like creating a Miami bureau. Maybe it will originate from West Palm?

I could see a scenario where WSFL simulcasts "The Now South Florida" from WPTV, at least in the beginning.

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1 hour ago, TheOneManHerd said:

I’d like to note that Scripps owns a ton of ABC affiliates; while WPLG is Berkshire Hathaway’s only broadcast property, making it an “only child” much like KTVK was in the mid-90s. Just saying.

 

Well I doubt Scripps would make an announcement to form a news operation at WSFL, if they planned to buy WPLG (which would make the launch of a news department at WSFL not as feasible).   But that is an intriguing point you mentioned.

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2 hours ago, TheOneManHerd said:

I’d like to note that Scripps owns a ton of ABC affiliates; while WPLG is Berkshire Hathaway’s only broadcast property, making it an “only child” much like KTVK was in the mid-90s. Just saying.

 

48 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

 

Well I doubt Scripps would make an announcement to form a news operation at WSFL, if they planned to buy WPLG (which would make the launch of a news department at WSFL not as feasible).   But that is an intriguing point you mentioned.


Unfortunately, that won’t happen because Graham Media still utilizes WPLG as their graphics hub. BH is sort of an owner in-name only, Graham still pretty much handles day-to-day operations. It’s kind of like a Sinclair/Cunningham sort of arrangement. I don’t know if it was originally planned that way, but it looks like Graham has had a lot of trouble letting go and BH not used to running TV stations was like “F—- it.”

 

The other thought about this and most likely reason is Graham probably sold to BH initially with the understanding that they would still be the manager and operator of the station, probably to reduce some of their debt load.

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  • CircleSeven changed the title to WSFL to Launch News in 2021, produced by WPLG

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