8 on the ball!

[prompter]

For all of you 8 haters out there...they crushed everyone Friday with the news that Utica's affluent Mr. Clark had an
agreement "in principle" to purchase the Rhinos. The others were reporting old news....this was the equivalent of a
Pele uncontested penalty kick. The days of 8 taking a beating on these boards, without rebuttal, are over.

 

[rocktv]

You must be joking, right?

The headline in the D&C the next day was the most accurate, "No Deal Yet."

Get over yourselves. No final deal has been reached.

 

[Mr. Kite!]

pwned.
Hopefully, the days of this board becoming one of Nexstar's free promotional outlets for News 8 Now propaganda never begin.
Yes, I'm paranoid.

 

[tvfun]

Saw 8 report that the deal was done, finished and complete. 13, 10, RNews and the D&C all reported the deal was not completed and they all quoted City officials as saying it wasn't a done deal. 8 really on the ball. Sad how they give themselves props for being inaccurate.

 

[BobRoss]

An agreement "in principle" is a lot different than an agreement "in writing." Anyone can say they've got an agreement in principle, it doesn't mean jack squat.

For the low, low cost of $500 in cash or money order, I will agree -- in principle -- to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge!

 

[The Voice of Reason]

WROC is behind the 8 Ball

The days of 8 taking a beating on these boards, without rebuttal, are over.

Put your pom-poms away for just a moment, leave the Twilight Zone and come into the real world.
For many years the owners and management at Channel 8 have either fired, or force out the door some good on and off air talent. The only “veteran” field reporter the station currently has is their former medical reporter. The rest are a bunch of kids who will stick around long enough to pad their resumes until they find a job in another market; IF they can find another job.
One of 8’s main anchors (Kevin Doran) must now do double-duty on FOX 31 because the station is too cheap to hire a new anchor.
As for morale at the station talk to some of the people who actually work there and they will confirm that morale sucks.
Unfortunately for 8 they have had a series of owners whose only interest was to bleed the station dry. And you have the audacity to get one this board and be the head cheerleader for an organization that treats its staff like a bunch a serfs? My advice is to get your resume updated because the odds are very good that once your pay scale hits a certain level, or your usefulness ends, so will your job at Channel 8; then let’s see how you will come to that station’s defense.

 

[Mr. Kite!]

For the low, low cost of $500 in cash or money order, I will agree -- in principle -- to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge!

OMFG! Call Master! We're doin' a cut-in ASAP! :

 

[rochnewsman]

I've read this site for a long time, and was trying to hold off on posting. But, after enough stupid comments, I figured I'd speak up.

"One of 8’s main anchors (Kevin Doran) must now do double-duty on FOX 31 because the station is too cheap to hire a new anchor."

Why would a television station hire a new anchor just to do a show on their sister station? Other markets in the state who have sister stations and do the 10:00 don't bring in anchors just to anchor the extra newscast. As for this market, I guess channel 13 is cheap because they didn't hire anyone to anchor the extended morning news. Channel 10 must be cheap, they didn't bring in anyone new to anchor their new 7:00 news.

"The rest are a bunch of kids who will stick around long enough to pad their resumes until they find a job in another market; IF they can find another job."

Do you realize you live in Rochester, which is market size 78. If someone can move on to a bigger market, why wouldn't they? You've got your household names here, but hey, why would I stick around if I know I'm not going anywhere at my station?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Why would a television station hire a new anchor just to do a show on their sister station? Other markets in the state who have sister stations and do the 10:00 don't bring in anchors just to anchor the extra newscast. As for this market, I guess channel 13 is cheap because they didn't hire anyone to anchor the extended morning news. Channel 10 must be cheap, they didn't bring in anyone new to anchor their new 7:00 news.

"The rest are a bunch of kids who will stick around long enough to pad their resumes until they find a job in another market; IF they can find another job."

Do you realize you live in Rochester, which is market size 78. If someone can move on to a bigger market, why wouldn't they? You've got your household names here, but hey, why would I stick around if I know I'm not going anywhere at my station?

Does Don Alhart and Ginny Ryan anchor the 5, 6 & 11pm newscasts on 13? No.
Does Janet Lomax anchor the 5,6, & 11pm newscasts on 10? No.
The extra morning anchors on 13 were field reporters promoted to the anchor positions. See unlike Channel 8, 13 and 10 actually has people with the ability to anchor. It's called multi-tasking, plus they have the staff to accompish this, where 8 is sorely lacking in experienced staff.
When 8 took over 31's news operation, which I'm sure you are aware, the station hired Lia Lando to anchor the 10 pm news on FOX. Once Lando left did 8 either hire another anchor or promote one of their field reporters to replace her? No. Instead they rotated either McGuire or Doran (on occasion they used McKinley before he left for Buffalo TV).
Of course some people will want to move on to larger markets; thats obvious. However you failed to address the dismal track record 8 has compared to the other stations when it comes to personnel turnover.

 

[rochnewsman]

"Does Don Alhart and Ginny Ryan anchor the 5, 6 & 11pm newscasts on 13? No.
Does Janet Lomax anchor the 5,6, & 11pm newscasts on 10? No."

We were talking about a 10:00 newscast, an extra newscast. If you are comparing the above to Channel 8 using the same anchor team at 5,6, and 11, remember that Channel 8 doesn't have an hour at 5, so they could get away with using one team for all 3. Perhaps one of those shows could go solo to differ it up. Again, for this market size, have someone already there anchor a 10. More responsibility, less time for dinner, oh well.

And again, I see no problem with turnover in reporters. Like I've said, where is any reporter going in this market. If they want to stay here, great, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to stay here if I could move up.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Please understand that in no way am I trying to put down the staff at Channel 8. They are trying to produce a product while both understaffed and unappreciated. It's the current and former owners that are responsible for the situation 8 finds itself in.
As for Kevin Doran, God bless him if he can manage to do an hour-and-a-half newscast on both 31 and then on 8. WROC is just stretching what little resources they have.

 

[tvnewswatcher]

WROC

Working
Reporters
On the
Cheap


'nuff said.

 

[rochnewsman]

What do you expect reporters in this market to make?

 

[Mark Giardina]

What do you expect reporters in this market to make?

I'm no expert on what the salary structure is for TV personnel, but in an attempt to answer your question I will take a guess.

New Hires: (From smaller markets) $25-30k a year to start. More if they have prior experience in a market the size of Rochester.

Veteran reporters: $40-70k a year (which may include a stipend if they fill-in as anchor)

Anchors: I believe they have an individual contract which means some could be pulling down $80-90k a year or a few of them a six-figure salary.

Now that's my guess for the Rochester market. It might be a totally different picture in Buffalo and Syracuse.

I do know that public broadcasters make less than their commercial counterparts, but on the other hand they have an excellent retirement plan with TIAA-Cref and very good health care coverage; at least they did when I worked at WXXI.