KYTV, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, is taking over operations at KSPR, the ABC affiliate, two sources tell CHATTER.
Announcements were made in the stations' newsrooms on Thursday afternoon, the sources say. Some KSPR management positions have already fallen to the axe, the sources add.
KYTV is the area's top-rated television station. KSPR traditionally holds last place among the three network affiliates.
Discuss, discuss.
19 comments:
Holy Shiite, Batman! Is Ron Hearst going back to his old digs, too?
So now we'll have KY3 and KY33?
Like blobs of mercury from a broken thermometer, so goes the clumping of local television ownership.
Maybe government needs to regulate ALL media. We can call it a... let's see... "Department of..." no, let's just go ahead and call it a "Ministry of".
I love this. Might provide opportunity for good journalists to return to TV ... and build some competition ... oh, that's right, there wouldn't be a competitive edge at all .... so the advantage????
The new amalgam will be known as SPRY-333.
Is this possible? I thought there was a limit to the number of top stations that could have the same owner. KY3 already owns the UPN ... ah CW channel right?
I know CableAmerica filed a lawsuit with the FCC against the KOLR and KSFX merger saying those stations were both in the top 4 of the market and that was against the law.
So what is up with this law?
Hmmm...this is interesting. Citizens would probably benefit from having more media options (each with different owners) than less and less competition.
You can read and discuss more about media ethics at http://southwestregionnewsservice.blogspot.com/.
KOLR is owned by Nexstar broadcasting. KSFX is owned, on paper, by Mission Broadcasting I think. Technically, Nexstar provides a shared services agreement for KSFX, thus the news etc. KY3 will be providing content, sales help etc for the new 33, but the Perkins people will technically own it on paper.
Essentially, there will only be two stations in the market. Some say this is a disservice to the viewer, but money types will salivate at the earnings potential. While the 33 station may still suck at news, it will be a bonus for KY3. They'll say buy x-number of spots and we'll throw in a few on our step-child station.
I feel for the people at 33 who will soon receive their walking papers.
Dust off the resume tapes boys and girls, and tell Mom and Dad you're coming home. This will get ugly.
Sad.
Here's the deal. KY3 has been looking for a way to compete with the KSFX news at 9 for a while. This deal will only help. The question becomes what will happen to ABC primetime programming..and can they create a 9 o'clock news without violating their affiliation agreement. Hmm.
It would be well if Channel 3 would learn to produce a news cast without glitches. A good bit of the time when they cut away to someone in the field their mike isn't turned on, or the audio pops and cracks, or they run a picture of the wrong thing across the screen. Jerry and Lisa look back and forth at each other wondering what is next. Its like the Original Amateur hour quite often. Oh well, I didn't know anyone watched 33 anyway. Won't make any difference hear, I couldn't tell you what is on it now.
Drust
Bring back Tony B.
Beard Bass and all.
money, money, money. bottom line, nbc programming sucks. abc's doesn't. ky3's news is dominant. kspr's doesn't even get a rating point. good deal...
If KY3 "has been looking for a way to compete with the KSFX news at 9," wouldn't it just put a 9 o'clock news on its CW?
Why would it also want to operate the ABC affiliate?
ABC would not allow an interuption of its prime time programming without a severe penalty.
It seems most of you folks are just making up stuff.
There is opinion, then there is informed opinion.
I'm still waiting for the latter.
I have some for you:
Word from KSPR is that KY3's General Manager visited today and said the new owners would honor all KSPR contracts.
We can only imagine what a shock to the system that was.
Owners that care????
With one less independent news operation in the Ozarks, the potential viewer will no doubt be underserved as two large news entities compete for at least 50% of the marketplace.
The problem is, KSPR's news operation has drawn nothing but hashmarks for ratings for years. It was not supported by the viewers, because it was such a terrible product. But, then again, perhaps it was such a terrible product because viewers have never really supported it. Chicken or egg?
What happens when the contract with ABC News (network) runs out at KSPR... and there is no longer a legal obligation to run local news as there is now?
You'll recall that St. Louis does not have a local ABC news operation at the moment. Very very strange.
Owning/operating multiple stations is allowed through the technicality that KY3's parent company is to be the OPERATING partner ... so they can operate a third one legally .... running it through Perkin.
I worry about our TV news as a whole... there are many reporters who don't WORK for the real story ... or the facts, for that matter. Some don't really even seem to know HOW.
On a programming note: What is the
N-L's obsession with Branson? Enough already! Opps...wrong streamer ... I'm back on print.
Very interesting. 10 years ago, and perhaps still today, KSPR rented its antenna space on KOLR's tower. It's own tower was too short. One of many technical challenges there.
I used to work for KSPR. All of the comments about owners that might finally care, ring so true. I spent 11 years in television news, and I can honestly say my years at KSPR were the absolute worst. Technical conditions were terrible. Pay was pathetic. Hours were long. Mindgames continuous. Management was ignorant and at times bullyish. I can remember days when the heat didn't even work in the building. I remember the day when management removed a flourescent tube from each fixture just to save money. The worst was the day we did news in the studio, that flooded, because of a massive leak in the roof that no one would pay to have fixed. Best of all, were the days when we had no working news cars, but were expected to find some way to cover local news.
Chicken or egg? Yes, the blogger's comment above is interesting. Springfield NEVER accepted or supported KSPR. That's why the news product got so bad. At one time, it was top notch, built and ran by Lorimar Telepictures. But people in the Ozarks were stuck in their ways and told Nielsen they wouldn't accept a newcomer. Frankly, Springfield has been a two news station market for years. Ozarks viewers wanted that way. Well, you finally got what you really wanted.
Post a Comment