Station to Station
Station to Station covers the odds, ends, ups and downs of the local television business across America
Baltimore Will Wait for LPMs
A tricky shift to digital-only television means the Baltimore stations will have to wait a few more days for Local People Meters, reports MediaPost. Nielsen just launched the controversial LPMs in Pittsburgh and Portland, Ore. Baltimore was on the launch list too, but will now have to wait. A “very difficult conversion to digital television” in Charm City means Nielsen will hold ...... Read More
Comments (0)Beware the Bogus KLMT
It appears a get-rich-quick outfit is looking to capitalize on the trust people seem to have with local news. Lost Remote unearths a fictional “KLMT” station website, where a “35-year-old news veteran” by the name of Katie Wilson reports on how some people make enough money from Google’s AdSense program to quit their jobs and work solely from home. The would-be s ...... Read More
Comments (5)KIRO, KCCI Among Major Murrow Winners
The list of 2009 Edward R. Murrow awards winners is out. Cox’s KIRO Seattle claimed Overall Excellence for large-market stations, while Hearst’s KCCI Des Moines got the the same distinction among the small-market stations. The Overall Excellence prize frequently ends up in Seattle. KIRO won it in 2000, KING got it in 2006, and KOMO got it last year. Among other major mark ...... Read More
Comments (0)Huffington's Local Play
Arianna Huffington launched a New York version of her localized Huffington Post, which she describes as an “Internet Newspaper”, this week. The Gotham page joins Chicago in terms of her local microsites. HuffPo New York has commentary from columnists such as Fox News Channel’s Ellis Henican and former Seinfeld scribe Peter Mehlman, news items–both aggregated and origina ...... Read More
Comments (0)WFXT Shifts 5 P to 6
WFXT Boston will end its struggling 5 p.m. news this fall and debut a 6, reports the Boston Herald, paving a yellow brick road for Dr. Oz at 5. The Fox O&O’s 5 p news is an hour; the 6 p will be 30 minutes. TMZ moves to 6:30. Reports the Herald: “There’s a big appetite for news at six and we’re looking forward to going head to head with our competitors at 6 p.m.,&#x ...... Read More
Comments (0)Fox's NY Duop Cuts 20
Twenty staffers at WNYW/WWOR New York lost their jobs Friday, reports the NY Daily News. The paper says the cuts came in the production, sales, facilities, finance and public affairs departments, and were not unexpected. Richard Huff reports: The reductions…come after months of talks with unions and buyout offers to off-camera workers. The word is that 15 of those let go were at Ch. 5, the ...... Read More
Comments (0)Hot Time For Digital Channels
Dispatch’s WBNS Columbus has announced its new weather-themed digital channel, Doppler 10 Now, airing on the Wow! and Insight cable systems in central Ohio. Doppler 10 is a partnership with AccuWeather. WBNS President/GM Tom Griesdorn told me earlier this week that his viewers research constantly comes back with two clear messages: “Weather, weather weather, and local, local, local,& ...... Read More
Comments (0)Sunbeam's Boston Station's Signal Problems
While Boston is said to have had among the smoothest transitions to fully digital television, Sunbeam’s WHDH continues to struggle with signal strength, reports the Boston Globe. Some parts of the DMA have not been getting the WHDH signal since last Friday. The NBC affiliate had planned to discontinue airing on channel 42 as of the analog shutoff, but is now simulcasting its signal on both ...... Read More
Comments (1)Rescanning Not Helping Some DC Viewers
A shift from UHF to VHF last week for WUSA and WJLA has resulted in a substantial number of viewers no longer getting the stations, reports the Washington Post. The paper says the number of affected viewers is in the thousands, and rescanning their converter boxes–the typical fix for most displaced viewers nationwide–doesn’t seem to be working. Allbritton’s WJLA got 350 ...... Read More
Comments (1)Columnist: TV As We Know It is Dead
The traditional television business right now is akin to the newspaper business six or so years ago, reports Silicon Alley Insider columnist Henry Blodget: In denial about its long-term fate. Blodget envisions an all-Web distribution model no more than 5-10 years away–a world where good content creators still thrive, and traditional distributors are cut out of the equation. He writes of TV& ...... Read More
Comments (0)SHVERA/Ross Bill Heat Up in DC
The SHVERA issue and market modification matters related to Congressman Mike Ross’s proposed bill are really heating up in Washington. A few dozen leaders from the Fox affiliates community are in Washington later this week to plead their case–that making it easier for cable and satellite to import out of market signals into a given market–will be a crushing blow for broadcasti ...... Read More
Comments (0)Boston Aces DTV Test
With an exceptionally wired populace and strong participation in the Nightlight program, the Boston market glided through D(TV) Day with a minimal percent of the market claiming digital TV issues. Despite some hiccups with digitally equipped viewers getting a blank screen instead of Sunbeam WHDH, one broadcasting exec called Boston’s analog shutoff “the ultimate yawn.” The #7 ...... Read More
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