Jump to content

MY 53 (KMSG, Fresno) using unlicensed music?


Recommended Posts

With all due respect to the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” here’s two more salient phrases that more appropriately apply here, and they run hand-in-hand:

 

1. You will never get a second chance to make a great first impression.

 

2. Perception is reality.

 

If you live in Fresno, and you stumbled upon that debut newscast and saw it looked no-budget with stories lifted from other stations, a Podcaster doing sports, and a setup that sure as hell lent credence to Scott Jones’s slam (which, considering Scott’s irrationally absurd hatred of Dave Lougee, sure doesn’t mean much), you’re likely not going to tune back to that newscast ever again.

 

If the perception is that it’s an cheap newscast with no effort or care put into it whatsoever, then good luck changing that. Other options exist in the Fresno market, including a freaking O&O. Watch them instead.

 

The fact this debut newscast already went viral is a testament to both sayings. Few will watch that second newscast in comparison to the debut. It’s how things work.

Edited by Myron Falwell
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Yankees4life said:

Yeah...this newscast is brutal to watch. I don't blame Austin too much. I blame Cocola as this was his call. It might've been more worth it to renew the newsharing agreement with KFSN. This is...not working

 

Three days in and you want to say that? This is what bootstrapping a newscast looks like. Ctmajka shared this great video from '98 for Floyd Kalber's retirement from WLS. He launched KMTV's news department.
 

 

What Austin is doing is similar. It's even more impressive and gutsy in a market like Fresno.

  • Like 3
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, @ABC 7 Denver

One thing I noticed is how absolutely hyper-critical this fandom tends to be without actually taking a step back and trying to understand the "How"s & "Why"s behind changes in news products. Are some graphics actually bad? Yes. Some are. Is EVERY SINGLE aspect of a graphics package bad simply because you personally don't like one aspect of it? No. That's absolutely not the case. These absolute statements and severe judgements based on a few minutes of witnessing something new just leads to drama, and I'm personally getting kind of sick of it.

It's not everybody, but I just find the irony kind of amazing that the whole thing behind news is being objective, yet we let our personal feelings dictate definitively that something is "bad". Not everything is 100% "Bad"

MY53's news department is a one-man-band with the budget of $12 and a ham sandwich. The product will get better over time.  There will be a lot of testing & figuring it out, and he deserves our support for taking on a project like this.

Bottom line is, Austin is one of us. He's a total news nerd just like we are, and he's a damn good journalist. He has a challenge ahead of him that he willingly took on. We really should, as a community, be in his corner to support him, and not completely rip apart his product on the first night.

In fact, we really need to learn how to sit back and observe things for a few nights before we draw our conclusions, weighing all pros & cons of certain things instead of just crapping on something the first time we see it just because it's different. 

TLDR: Guys, we really need to step it up and do better, instead of turning everything into a bitch-fest.

 

Edited by ctmajka
  • Like 18
  • Thanks 1
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, ctmajka said:

Thank you, @ABC 7 Denver

One thing I noticed is how absolutely hyper-critical this fandom tends to be without actually taking a step back and trying to understand the "How"s & "Why"s behind changes in news products. Are some graphics actually bad? Yes. Some are. Is EVERY SINGLE aspect of a graphics package bad simply because you personally don't like one aspect of it? No. That's absolutely not the case. These absolute statements and severe judgements based on a few minutes of witnessing something new just leads to drama, and I'm personally getting kind of sick of it.

It's not everybody, but I just find the irony kind of amazing that the whole thing behind news is being objective, yet we let our personal feelings dictate definitively that something is "bad". Not everything is 100% "Bad"

MY58's news department is a one-man-band with the budget of $12 and a ham sandwich. The product will get better over time.  There will be a lot of testing & figuring it out, and he deserves our support for taking on a project like this.

Bottom line is, Austin is one of us. He's a total news nerd just like we are, and he's a damn good journalist. He has a challenge ahead of him that he willingly took on. We really should, as a community, be in his corner to support him, and not completely rip apart his product on the first night.

In fact, we really need to learn how to sit back and observe things for a few nights before we draw our conclusions, weighing all pros & cons of certain things instead of just crapping on something the first time we see it just because it's different. 

TLDR: Guys, we really need to step it up and do better, instead of turning everything into a bitch-fest.

 

VERY WELL SAID ❤️❤️❤️

  • Thanks 2
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This really makes Ed Agre's work at KXGN all the more impressive. He was a literal one-man band with no computers and barely any internet access and yet he put out a damn good product, good enough to get that Real Sports shout-out.

 

It's also easy to mock WSVI over their No Budget News but in those videos I linked above, it's also evident that Jerome Agean and Wes Small made an effort. I can absolutely respect them for that.

 

This debut newscast should never have gone over the air. It should have been one of many audition tapes so technical issues could be ironed out prior to the debut. In this case I absolutely fault the station over Austin.

Edited by Myron Falwell
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It might be in everyone’s best interests for the program to be put on hiatus indefinitely and retooled outright.

 

If it got canceled or ended by Austin’s volition, well, I again fault the station for not doing a darn thing to help the product at launch. They failed him.

Edited by Myron Falwell
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, sanewsguy said:

My53 did not broadcast an original broadcast tonight — instead repeating Monday night's broadcast. I hope Austin didn't just give up all of a sudden.

I think he's doing it weekly on Mondays only for now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

It might be in everyone’s best interests for the program to be put on hiatus indefinitely and retooled outright.

 

If it got canceled or ended by Austin’s volition, well, I again fault the station for not doing a darn thing to help the product at launch. They failed him.

Not cancelled… 

 

2 hours ago, RGSJenkins said:

I think he's doing it weekly on Mondays only for now.

Not airing only Mondays. 

 

Assuming there was some technical difficulties last night, but he was back at it full force tonight with more improvements!

 

Also go to enjoy a long cut of News One at the close of his newscast!
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm telling you guys, it's only going to continue to improve. It's not about ratings right now, it's about establishing a product, and allowing the audience to grow with that product. Hopefully this will continue to grow into competative news operation.

In a time where big companies are shutting down newsrooms and outsourcing the newscasts to be produced from stations in neighboring markets (sometimes markets from all the way on the other side of the country), it's extremely rare to see a start up news operation, especially from a small broadcaster that doesn't have the resources that a big corporation does. Once again, there really should be nothing but support here.

I think it's easy to forget that local news at its core is a public service, and that';s exactly what's being provided here; a public service.

 

Edited by ctmajka
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
  • Confused 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The cold truth is that news is a public service, but broadcasting is a moneymaking profession. That’s why both have been at odds with each other since Edward R. Murrow interviewed celebrities on See It Now and chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs was a sidekick on Today.

 

Look, maybe the program could improve. But there is no excuse in the world why that debut newscast should have made it to air in the first place. It set back whatever goals Austin wanted to meet, and needlessly so. Fresno is too big a market to have such a fiasco happen. Hell, Glendive and Alpena MI are too big a market.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ctmajka said:

I'm telling you guys, it's only going to continue to improve. It's not about ratings right now, it's about establishing a product, and allowing the audience to grow with that product. Hopefully this will continue to grow into competative news operation.

Completely agree. I will probably post a follow-up video on Friday to show my audience the improvements he has made, and to be fair. I don't want people to just see the first show, think I was there just to post it because it was bad, and move on. If he's making a true effort, which he is, I will spotlight that. For a one-person operation he is trying. I believe in being fair and equitable in my uploads (as the person who brought attention to this - I doubt we'd all be here talking about this if I didn't make that upload, and to be honest I almost passed on it, so I'm glad I did end up going for it). Not every station is going to be WPVI or WRC — conversely not every station is going to be WBKB or The Delta News. It's important to provide as wide of a variety as possible.

Is this product better than what KFSN was providing them? No, but nobody is claiming that either (I don't even like KFSN's product to begin with - too tabloidy for me). This is the same market who has bestowed the world with TikTok/IG stars Caroline Collins and Liv Johnson (KSEE/KGPE), remember. Fresno is not exactly the mecca of quality storytelling. I think Austin is making a legitimate effort to provide a serious newscast. Like I said, he is looking around for a graphics package and so it will start to look more polished with time.

If you want to blame anybody here, blame Cocola. They are a notoriously cheap company and have been since day one (they are still using outdated EAS equipment in 2022). I'm surprised they even picked up the KAIL lineup to begin with. I'm not surprised they didn't renew the KFSN agreement. I will give them credit for at least wanting to keep some type of 8pm newscast going when they could've just plugged in syndicated or paid programming (and the Cocola stations air a lot of that).

I have seen much, much worse, and I will defend Austin because he is at least taking people's concerns to heart and trying to improve. He is more than aware that his product doesn't look like the O&O in town, but I'm sure if he had the money, he would.

I don't think he is doing this for ratings or to make money, but doing it because he is truly passionate about it. And in this day and age when many people are exiting the industry and not missing it one bit, Austin should be commended for continuing to truly have a burning passion for journalism and local news.

Edited by sanewsguy
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My problem isn't with potentially ripping off the news music, which seems to be the main gripe here, though a superficial one. The problem is with the content. There wasn't a single original story and not a frame of newsworthy video he or anyone else shot outside of a studio. If he tried to shoot and put together his own story (or two) like a proper reporter and then put in a few "pacer" stories from police, press releases and other material that don't require too many resources, then he'd probably be able to come up with a decent 15-minute newscast. Throw in a longer interview or two and you might be able to stretch it to 30. That would be a better use of his time and his viewers' time than an hour of old content ripped from other news outlets from YouTube. Go out into the world, talk to people, and do your own story instead of repackaging everyone else's.

Edited by C Block
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOLOL at all the apologists and shills on here (and you know you are) for something that is in reality a non-factor in the Fresno market and never will be a factor. It’s almost like you want Austin to credit you as a “Consulting Producer” at the end of his newscast.

 

I don’t think anyone at KFSN or KMPH is even aware this newscast even exists, let alone thinking it poses anything close to a “threat”.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, I’m rather new here, but I figured I might as well start by giving my two cents on this.

 

I commend Austin for being willing to even start an independent local newscast in this day and age. It’s especially commendable that he’s doing so in a market like Fresno, where there are only two competing outlets (and one of them employs TikTok wannabes.) I understand gripes about the music and presentation, but considering that we’re talking about a one-man band on a shoestring budget, these things are to be expected. However, I have two bigger issues with this newscast: lack of local/original content and a limited platform. I understand that the budget isn’t there for a full news department (blame that on the owner of the station,) but I’ll echo C Block’s point about running local stories that don’t take as much manpower to start out.

 

I don’t think people supporting Austin are “apologists and shills” for a non-factor (given the budget, there’s nothing to shill for anyway.) However, the newscast is a non-factor for the same reason that KFSN’s newscast was: the lone platform is a low-power station no one watches. Even if this was the most well-produced newscast with the best graphics/music/etc, this would still be an issue. If this is going to be a serious news operation in the future, there needs to be an online presence (and there arguably should’ve been one prior to launch.) That said, I wish Austin well.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were at one point standards for production that the industry was somewhat holding themselves to, but those have long since been thrown out the window. A one man band with a YouTube account, iPhone and a ring light pulls in millions more viewers than most local newscasts ever will. And good for them.

 

Here's an unpopular opinion: local news doesn't have to be exclusively delivered to an audience via over-the-air television broadcasts. Fresno seems like a journalism desert, a great place for a digital local news startup. It would be much easier to churn out a few local stories daily for a digital presence than trying to figure out how to make 60 minutes of engaging television. There are fully-staffed newsrooms across the country that can't even pull this off. Honestly... it would probably be easier to find too. Meet your audience where they are. I don't think it's 8pm on MyNetworkTV.  

 

But if this is about rebuilding a personal brand, getting one's face out there and building a reel, or having a sandbox to play in - why not? No reason to be jealous about it. 

 

 

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just amused Warner licensed the package in the same market KFSN used it for 20 years. 

 

I guess exclusivity formally ends when the license isn't renewed. 

 

Clever choice - it's familiar music to a lot of Fresno residents. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aside from all the other issues, I'm still confused about the music situation.

 

So it seems to be confirmed that they're licensed to use News One, but that doesn't account for the other music packages that they used (though they all seem to be published through Warner-Chappell) which were also ripped from NewsMusicNow!

 

Not to mention the video that Ianman linked to earlier (but now the video is private for some reason) where the intro used the "Community" cut from the 2000s Hearst-Argyle music (which last I checked was made exclusively for those stations). It's not even from the same publisher! (Newsmusic Central)

Edited by kfc513
Corrections
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, kfc513 said:

Aside from all the other issues, I'm still confused about the music situation.

 

So it seems to be confirmed that they're licensed to use News One, but that doesn't account for the other music packages that they used (though they all seem to be published through Warner-Chappell) which were also ripped from NewsMusicNow!

Simple: he was caught with his pants down and moved to quickly scrub the use of the stuff ripped from News Music Now once it was exposed to the right people that he was doing that. He probably made it private hoping nobody else would see that he was doing that.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that he had probably hoped nobody would ever catch him doing this, and it worked, almost. Kind of an odd logic to have when you boast about being seen in over 115 million households.

 

He also started to scrub the NMN stuff from his other show, "The Reed Report" and now uses some random YouTube music: 

 

 

It looks like he was doing this with his other show too, "Valley View with Austin Reed" (how many shows does this guy have?). That one is/was using the old TXCN music and Impact in a sponsor bump. Again, I think once Austin realized what he was doing was not cool, he corrected this. That said, he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/7/2022 at 7:43 AM, Myron Falwell said:

LOLOL at all the apologists and shills on here (and you know you are) for something that is in reality a non-factor in the Fresno market and never will be a factor. It’s almost like you want Austin to credit you as a “Consulting Producer” at the end of his newscast.

 

I don’t think anyone at KFSN or KMPH is even aware this newscast even exists, let alone thinking it poses anything close to a “threat”.

My guy, your attitude about, and position on this topic is absolute trash.

  • Like 7
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/10/2022 at 3:31 PM, sanewsguy said:

Simple: he was caught with his pants down and moved to quickly scrub the use of the stuff ripped from News Music Now once it was exposed to the right people that he was doing that. He probably made it private hoping nobody else would see that he was doing that.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that he had probably hoped nobody would ever catch him doing this, and it worked, almost. Kind of an odd logic to have when you boast about being seen in over 115 million households.

 

He also started to scrub the NMN stuff from his other show, "The Reed Report" and now uses some random YouTube music: 

 

 

It looks like he was doing this with his other show too, "Valley View with Austin Reed" (how many shows does this guy have?). That one is/was using the old TXCN music and Impact in a sponsor bump. Again, I think once Austin realized what he was doing was not cool, he corrected this. That said, he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. 

 

Forget the music… it looks like he’s spreading himself WAY too thin here. Again, I appreciate that he’s at least providing an alternative in a market where there’s really only one good station (KFSN), but when his main newscast alone is a bare bones show with limited local news on a low power station, he’d be better off doing one thing at a time. There comes a point where you can’t do it all yourself and expect the eyeballs to roll in. Also, naming your operation after yourself seems a bit off-putting imho, but I guess you could chalk that up to me being particular.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

There comes a point where you can’t do it all yourself and expect the eyeballs to roll in. Also, naming your operation after yourself seems a bit off-putting imho, but I guess you could chalk that up to me being particular.

 

He's worked at other "major" stations before so the question must be asked why is he doing this? Didn't make it there so trying to do it on his own? I know his health may have been a factor at one point. But making a TV newscast on your own isn't gonna happen. I get the feeling he just likes being on TV or thinks it's impressive to others that he puts out videos....but anyone can do that nowadays with the internet. It was impressive what he did when he was young  but why does it seem like he is doing the same type of thing?

 

As others have said, many Youtubers with basic equipment can put out compelling high quality content. Why doesn't he try that instead? He needs to put himself in the shoes of potential viewers and what would be interesting to them. Low quality stolen clips from competitor newscasts is not it.

 

The ratings may never be great, but you could do some interesting stuff. I saw a "drone 53" in one of his videos. If he actually has one, why not take it out daily and broadcast a 5-10 minute flight over an area. That's 10 minutes right there of unique local content which beats out what he's currently doing. That's just one of many ideas I'm randomly thinking of as I write this.

 

If "news" is what he wants to stick to though, why not go to an event of the day and do a 15 minute story on it, even if it's just a long straight interview. At least it'd be on-site and not in "the basement".

 

Use a smartphone to record HD, an external mic, and stabilizer, and the quality right there should be quite good. Wouldn't be too hard to edit in some b-roll, etc to elevate it. 

 

I can root for him like others want to, but there are also expectations that someone with his "experience" level (if we can call it that?), should be able to put out better content than this at this point in his career. Which brings us back to the question of....why is he doing this?

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/13/2022 at 5:22 AM, PTVNews said:

 

He's worked at other "major" stations before so the question must be asked why is he doing this? Didn't make it there so trying to do it on his own? I know his health may have been a factor at one point. But making a TV newscast on your own isn't gonna happen. I get the feeling he just likes being on TV or thinks it's impressive to others that he puts out videos....but anyone can do that nowadays with the internet. It was impressive what he did when he was young  but why does it seem like he is doing the same type of thing?

 

As others have said, many Youtubers with basic equipment can put out compelling high quality content. Why doesn't he try that instead? He needs to put himself in the shoes of potential viewers and what would be interesting to them. Low quality stolen clips from competitor newscasts is not it.

 

The ratings may never be great, but you could do some interesting stuff. I saw a "drone 53" in one of his videos. If he actually has one, why not take it out daily and broadcast a 5-10 minute flight over an area. That's 10 minutes right there of unique local content which beats out what he's currently doing. That's just one of many ideas I'm randomly thinking of as I write this.

 

If "news" is what he wants to stick to though, why not go to an event of the day and do a 15 minute story on it, even if it's just a long straight interview. At least it'd be on-site and not in "the basement".

 

Use a smartphone to record HD, an external mic, and stabilizer, and the quality right there should be quite good. Wouldn't be too hard to edit in some b-roll, etc to elevate it. 

 

I can root for him like others want to, but there are also expectations that someone with his "experience" level (if we can call it that?), should be able to put out better content than this at this point in his career. Which brings us back to the question of....why is he doing this?

Amen, amen, amen! There should be a niche that Austin could fill and give KMSG something of value for the community. Even if it was a long-form newsmagazine I’d respect it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

Amen, amen, amen! There should be a niche that Austin could fill and give KMSG something of value for the community. Even if it was a long-form newsmagazine I’d respect it.

I think that a long-form news magazine would actually be significantly better than a regular newscast at this point, because it would allow the operation to develop while also having a greater potential to attract a viewership. As it goes on, a more complete newscast could evolve naturally from there.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using TVNewsTalk you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.