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Cable6 News Changes

B

bilvihur

MIDDLETOWN — A consolidation in the Time Warner local news operations means a change of faces for Cable 6 News, the cable channel the company provides in its Hudson Valley franchises.

Ten people got notices Monday that they're out of work, as Time Warner has decided to consolidate production to its Albany hub.

Anchorman Tracy Baxter, who has been with the channel since 1982, and co-anchor Paula Mitchell, who has been there since 2005, are out, along with eight other people based at the Middletown facility.
It wasn't a fancy set, nor were they the most glamorous reporters, but I enjoyed the way they delivered the local news to those of us in the Hudson Valley for many years. I wish them all the best of luck in future endeavors.
 
Assuming "Time Warner has decided to consolidate production to its Albany hub" would mean they're going to be piping in Capital News 9 instead?

Sure, Cap 9 looks more polished and it runs 24/7, but how well will it actually serve the Hudson Valley? If they really axed everyone in the Middletown newsroom, I'd take that to mean there won't even be a skeleton staff for a bureau to cover Hudson Valley news and send the material up to Albany. That's a loss for Hudson Valley viewers.

Think about it: why did local cable newsrooms spring up in places like Middletown and Wappingers Falls so early in the 1980s in the first place? Because the cable companies back then understood that the Hudson Valley is truly deserving of its own local TV news coverage. There are enough people and enough events for the Hudson Valley to be more than just the "no man's land" between Albany and NYC that rarely garners the attention of TV news crews from either market. The networks would never stand for the creation of a new Hudson Valley market, since it would mean giving up a significant number of possible viewers from NYC and Albany, so cable came to the rescue, providing the local news coverage neither "real" market could offer.

Can't blame the Albany or NYC stations -- it's too far to be sending crews to the Hudson Valley every single day for "typical" news, which their core audiences frankly won't care about. It's reasonable to expect Albany or NYC to care only when there's a really hot scandal or something involving fatalities. At the same time, it's a slap in the face to Hudson Valley dwellers, who will see their one source of truly local TV news replaced by another channel out of another market, where the "local" news really isn't that local. And how much will their cable bills increase come the first of the year?
 
:mad: Cable6 News SURE has changed. This week it's been presenting Electronic Gift List, and Italian Beauty, in place of the evening news. What the hell were they thinking when they fired the local staff?
 
I just don't understand the Cable6 schedule. On Mon, Tues, Wed they have local Hudson Valley news, but on Thurs and Fri they broadcast the HSN, and NYS news. I'm getting fed-up with their scheduling. Is this going to be the norm? :mad:
 
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