BREAKING: Ed Ansin dead at 84

[Georgie56 2975]

https://www.nexttv.com/news/sunbeam-tv-chief-ansin-dead-at-84

[Samantha 2857]

Very sorry to hear this. Ansin had a knack for TV and reshaped the news business in quite a few ways. He will most certainly be missed. A few tributes from former and current Sunbeam staff and media reporters:

 

 

[TexasTVNews 1360]

A difficult weekend in the world of local and national TV, Regis gone and now 'HDH/'SVN's owner Ed Ansin. Godspeed to both of them. Now the main question is what's the future hold for WSVN/Miami and WHDH/Boston now that Ansin is gone.

 

There's no mention of Ansin's death on both 7 News websites (Miami and Boston), but his death will be mentioned on their local news tonight.

[RCA TK47 271]

Add to that list former KCRA/KQCA Sacramento & KCPQ Seattle owner Jon Kelly of the now defunct Kelly Broadcasting Company.  We are losing the pioneers of local TV.  Not a good weekend at all.

 

https://www.kcra.com/article/former-kcra-3-owner-jon-kelly-dead-at-84/33423844

[Rusty Muck 4019]

1 hour ago, TexasTVNews said:

Now the main question is what's the future hold for WSVN/Miami and WHDH/Boston now that Ansin is gone.

 

Can we please not for at least 24 hours?

[Mrtraveler01 730]

WSVN starting off their 10pm with an announcement of his death and a look back on his life at the station. Both anchors seem really choked up. He was at the station as late as Friday which is why the station seems so shocked about this.

[ColumbusNewsFan 209]

7 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

 

Can we please not for at least 24 hours?

Unfortunately, That is the big question here. What will happen now? They just lost one of the strongest independent TV station owners in the nation in Ansin who believed in Local TV in a time even large TV companies really don't anymore.

 

His lost all of a sudden puts a lot of balls in the air. What will happen to WHDH and WSVN two of the most unique stations around and news pioneer. Heck, FOX News whole look is just WSVN on steroids.

[Samantha 2857]

Just now, ColumbusNewsFan said:

Unfortunately, That is the big question here. What will happen now? They just lost one of the strongest independent TV station owners in the nation in Ansin who believed in Local TV in a time even large TV companies really don't anymore.

 

There will come a time and venue to debate this. Right now, people are still mourning, especially those who worked for him.

[Mrtraveler01 730]

6 minutes ago, Samantha said:

 

There will come a time and venue to debate this. Right now, people are still mourning, especially those who worked for him.

 

Yeah I'm watching WSVN right now. Belkys Nerey (10pm anchor) is tearing up as she shared stories about him. They spent the first 12 minutes of their newscast on this.

 

There is a time for speculation and now isn't it.

[ColumbusNewsFan 209]

3 minutes ago, Samantha said:

 

There will come a time and venue to debate this. Right now, people are still mourning, especially those who worked for him.

I know this and this is without debate here Ed Ansin changed Television, his impact is felt everyday and his lost leaves a Monster hole in TV ownership.

[Rusty Muck 4019]

Ed Ansin was in the same pedestal as Jerry Lee in Philadelphia and Saul Levine in LA; a lone wolf broadcaster who entered the stage in the early 1960s, outlasted in spite of the odds and lasted for decades.

 

A lion has departed the stage. You'll never see anyone like Ed ever again, and more's the pity.

[ColDayNews 436]

BIG loss for the television news industry... he will be sorely missed.

[detroiter313 178]

One of the great mavericks of local TV, he will be truly missed by those not only in Boston and Miami, but also the television industry as well.

[TennTV1983 716]

The man was defiant, and ruffled a lot of feathers with network executives along the way. But he was also a pioneer when it came to hard, in-your-face news on the local level.

 

Ansin will be greatly missed. Godspeed.

[SoFloTVClassics 871]

2 hours ago, TexasTVNews said:

A difficult weekend in the world of local and national TV, Regis gone and now 'HDH/'SVN's owner Ed Ansin. Godspeed to both of them. Now the main question is what's the future hold for WSVN/Miami and WHDH/Boston now that Ansin is gone.

 

There's no mention of Ansin's death on both 7 News websites (Miami and Boston), but his death will be mentioned on their local news tonight.

Now there is.

https://wsvn.com/news/local/loss-of-a-leader-ed-ansin/

 

Hope this answers most of your questions. As WSVN will pay a weeklong tribute to his remarkable career.

[Rusty Muck 4019]

11 minutes ago, SoFloTVClassics said:

Now there is.

https://wsvn.com/news/local/loss-of-a-leader-ed-ansin/

 

Hope this answers most of your questions. As WSVN will pay a weeklong tribute to his remarkable career.

For Ed, a weeklong tribute is more than worth it. He was THAT influential.

[tyrannical bastard 3257]

As he proclaimed himself, Ed Ansin "died with his boots on", owning his two stations until the very end.  

 

Even with his recent presence at WSVN several days ago shows the importance of an owner who is in it with his employees, that cannot be said for a mega-company that has 150+ stations that may see a regional VP fly into once or twice a year.

 

With both of his stations, he took situations that would have crippled others and used them to redefine how we watch local TV.  Losing NBC at WSVN led to a news-intensive approach as a Fox affiliate that many stations have adopted today.  And his ownership of WHDH got him back with NBC (when Westinghouse sent them packing), only to lose them over 20 years later to the network itself, for whatever the heck "NBC Boston" is.

 

As a result of his stewardship, WHDH has grown along with WSVN turning a disadvantage into a major opportunity.  So much so, that the FOX station in Boston pales in comparison to what WHDH puts out, and NBC lost out big with their gaggle of stations under their direct control.

 

 

[NEOMatrix 1284]

I say it bluntly: Ed Ansin died with a smile, knowing he made the best lemonade out of lemons. He made WSVN and WHDH into what they are, while the NBC O&Os in both markets are flailing like dead fish. So kudos to him and may he RIP!

[Mrtraveler01 730]

The Boston Globe has a nice article about him.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/26/metro/ed-ansin-local-television-news-pioneer-owner-channel-7-dies-he-was-84/

 

Still waiting for something similar from the Miami Herald.

[TexasTVNews 1360]

'HDH has a tribute to Ansin on their website as well.

https://whdh.com/news/whdh-wsvn-owner-ed-ansin-passes-away-at-84/

[jerseyfla 185]

Ed Ansin was a maverick. He had balls. He pretty much told NBC GFY when they bought WTVJ on the cusp of one of NBC’s biggest years with their hit prime time shows, 1988 Summer Olympics, and the World Series and the network asked to take the affiliation away over a year before the agreement was to expire. He made them honor their contract! And then NBC turned around begging him to take their network for WHDH when Westinghouse/CBS took WBZ away from them only for NBC to screw Ed over again when they decided to create their own station in Boston. With his son Andy in the family business, I think the 7s will be fine! Ed was the last of a dying breed of truly local TV station owners. RIP Ed Ansin. 

[AaronQ 254]

My condolences to WSVN, WHDH/WLVI, and to Ed Ansin's family during this difficult time. He really changed the TV news landscape in Miami, and in Boston, especially when both stations lost their affiliation with NBC (and changed significantly with WHDH when they lost their NBC affiliation back in 2017).

[Georgie56 2975]

Mr. Ansin changed the way local news was presented, and was a defiant owner of television stations. He and Joel Cheatwood have Fox affiliates a model to build off of and helped launch the career of one Shepard Smith. Despite his flaws, he's a legend in the industry and will be sorely missed.

 

RIP.

[Megatron81 166]

RIP Ed Ansin never sold his TV stations changed the way of local TV news.

[Action Newsroom 1111]

Nothing but respect to a guy who forged his own path in local news, reaching and securing major successes with the stations he owned and maintained to the very end. Condolences to his family and colleagues. May he Rest in Peace.

 

Damn, 2020.