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End Of The Line For Sinclair's "News Central"??

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
A few years back, Sinclair Broadcasting launched "News Central" (a part-local, part-national newscast) on many of it's Fox or WB-affiliated stations. Although on some stations, "News Central" represented that station's first local newscast; there were other markets where "News Central" replaced an existing local newscast, resulting in a loss of some jobs.

But I'm beginning to think Sinclair may be about to pull the plug on "News Central" for these reasons:

* "News Central" in Rochester, New York went off the air last Fall; "News Central" in Pittsburgh will be going off the air at the end of this month. In both cases, it has been or will be replaced by newscasts produced by other stations in the market.

* There has been much speculation on both Newsblues.com and in local newspapers (as appearing on the papers' websites) that Sinclair may be about to pull the plug on "News Central" operations in Buffalo and Milwaukee.

* Many consider "News Central"'s part-local/part-national format to be (to term it kindly) a joke, and that such a hybrid format can't work. It should be noted that some years ago, when Tom Brokaw was still NBC's evening news anchorman, the network had explored the idea of replacing "Nightly News" with a part-local, part-national newscast similar to what "News Central" eventually became. The network dropped the idea after it concluded that there was no way to make such a format work.

* And in markets where "News Central" faces competition at 10 P.M. (9 Central/Mountain), the competition usually wins big.

Given that Sinclair has pulled the plug on "News Central" in some markets and may be about to do the same in at least two others, could Sinclair indeed be planning to pull the plug on the "News Central" concept?? And if so, in how many markets might Sinclair be able to get another local TV station to produce a 10 P.M. (CT/MT) local newscast to replace "News Central"??
 
> * Many consider "News Central"'s part-local/part-national
> format to be (to term it kindly) a joke, and that such a
> hybrid format can't work. It should be noted that some years
> ago, when Tom Brokaw was still NBC's evening news anchorman,
> the network had explored the idea of replacing "Nightly
> News" with a part-local, part-national newscast similar to
> what "News Central" eventually became. The network dropped
> the idea after it concluded that there was no way to make
> such a format work.
>
For those of us who have never seen the format, why won't it work. Sounds like a good idea. I know that often times, good ideas are good on paper and not in practice. But what about the format is bad?<P ID="signature">______________
Once I figured out the meaning of life....Then I forgot to write it down.</P>
 
> * "News Central" in Rochester, New York went off the air
> last Fall; "News Central" in Pittsburgh will be going off
> the air at the end of this month. In both cases, it has been
> or will be replaced by newscasts produced by other stations
> in the market.

It was sort of laughed off the air here in Rochester when the ratings crashed. Imagine that, viewers weren't fooled by a fakecast that relied on news out of Baltimore. Now the local CBS affiliate produces Channel 31's 10pm news, but is still forced to carry Sinclair's ridiculous commentaries, but sneaks them in after the news is over and the credits rolled. People are spared from the rantings because they probably already changed channels.

> * Many consider "News Central"'s part-local/part-national
> format to be (to term it kindly) a joke, and that such a
> hybrid format can't work. It should be noted that some years
> ago, when Tom Brokaw was still NBC's evening news anchorman,
> the network had explored the idea of replacing "Nightly
> News" with a part-local, part-national newscast similar to
> what "News Central" eventually became. The network dropped
> the idea after it concluded that there was no way to make
> such a format work.

Sinclair did News Central so they could run a Dollar Tree news operation at cut rate prices. They fired the real talent and found whatever reporter would work for the lowest wages to "anchor" whatever was left of the local news. Again, viewers weren't fooled by news reports that were obviously not filmed anywhere near our state. My favorites were the "local" news reports that were filmed when the trees were in full bloom in Baltimore and there was still snow on the ground here in Rochester.

> Given that Sinclair has pulled the plug on "News Central" in
> some markets and may be about to do the same in at least two
> others, could Sinclair indeed be planning to pull the plug
> on the "News Central" concept?? And if so, in how many
> markets might Sinclair be able to get another local TV
> station to produce a 10 P.M. (CT/MT) local newscast to
> replace "News Central"??

My view is, either do real news or run M*A*S*H reruns. Don't run a bargain basement operation and expect people to waste their time with it. They won't.
 
Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

Look at it this way... they farm out the actual work of newscasts to a competitor, and still get to tag it with Hy Hyman and "The Point."
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FloridaBear1776 on 01/19/06 05:32 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> For those of us who have never seen the format, why won't it
> work. Sounds like a good idea. I know that often times, good
> ideas are good on paper and not in practice. But what about
> the format is bad?
>
It might have worked had the format been better. I've seen at least 5 examples from across the country (Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Birmingham, Greensboro, Oklahoma City), and in each case, something wasn't quite right.

What wasn't quite right is that the divide between the local portion and the national portion was so blatently OBVIOUS. Yes, the graphics, music, and news sets looked almost seemless, but a majority of viewers could tell that Morris Jones was not anchoring out of the same facility as the local anchor. There was absolutely no flow between local and Baltimore portions of the news. It also doesn't help when the Baltimore-based weather forecast for Oklahoma City is hours old and fails to mention that Tornado spotted downtown.

Most producers would 'stack' a newscast with stories in an order of importance (i.e. the top story), followed by lesser items of the day, or at least would try to connect stories by a related topic (i.e. a national package on Medicare, tied in with a local story on how area seniors are affected). From the NewsCentral broadcasts I saw, there was none of this. A majority of the local productions were in fact produced fairly well, but everything came to a breaking halt once the Baltimore portion took over. National stories were often mixed in with packages that had no relevance to local viewers (such as a yard sale story from Sinclair's Asheville, NC station playing to audiences in Las Vegas). And then you had "The Point" thrown in (I won't even go there).

So basically, the program isn't well produced. At least the hour-long versions I've seen. I haven't watched any of the half-hour versions, reportedly one of which has seen an uptick in viewership (Buffalo).

But to paraphrase Dennis Miller-that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Also-you can see the news open and some graphics of at least a couple of NewsCentral operations at http://www.flnewscenter.com

The Tampa section has Sinclair's WTTA/WB 38. The "Beyond Florida" section includes NewsCentral clips from Las Vegas (KVWB). Though it should be noted that these clips mainly feature the graphic-look of NewsCentral, rather than actual news content (they're also in Quicktime format, which may take a while to load on slower connections).<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Stitch on 01/19/06 05:40 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

> Look at it this way... they farm out the actual work of
> newscasts to a competitor, and still get to tag it with Hy
> Hyman and "The Point."
>
Which was probably the whole point. Not so much to cover news as to get their opinions a place to air.

BTW Milwaukee's News Central (WVTV 18) already cut back from an hour to a half-hour and newspaper reports there say it's headed for the porcelain facility.

Can a mixed local/network newscast work? Maybe ... but people want a complete local newscast, complete in the sense that they want to believe every important story is covered. Sinclair's cheapo operation never gave that impression.
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

> Can a mixed local/network newscast work? Maybe ... but
> people want a complete local newscast, complete in the sense
> that they want to believe every important story is covered.
> Sinclair's cheapo operation never gave that impression.
>
The only newscast of the type that was successful was CBC's "Canada Now", but instead of mixing the coverage up and using identical sets, they had two distinct halves with distinct studios -- a national segment from Vancouver at 6PM and a regional segment from the regional stations at 6:30PM (some stations had this flip-flopped). Launched in 2000, this ended earlier this month when they introduced "CBC News at 6" for the local newscasts, with "Canada Now" strictly national news.
 
> For those of us who have never seen the format, why won't it
> work. Sounds like a good idea. I know that often times, good
> ideas are good on paper and not in practice. But what about
> the format is bad?
>
At the least, it's the weather and sports, which all originate from Baltimore and taped in advance. Meaning that weather bulletins and late scores don't make the newscast. Also the use of identical sets for the local and national segments, passing national news off as local, and, of course, "The Point" doomed News Central to failure.
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

I have seen online BBC-1 television newscasts. Most of the newscast is national, but a few minutes before the end, the presenter (anchor) will say "Now for news from your region", and there is a section devoted to local/regional news.

At the beginning of a BBC-1 newscast, the national anchor will read several top headlines, then for a few seconds, the local segment anchor will read the top headline in his/her area, then the opening theme music and animation, with the time of the day (i.e. "10" for the 10 P.M. news). On newscasts streamed on-line, you'll see the local anchor in London briefly at the start of the newscast.

If BBC's website streams the entire newscast (sometimes, they include just the local portion), you would again be seeing the local news segments for Metropolitan London.

And there is just one local news cut-away in each BBC-1 evening television newscast.

And the way NBC wanted to blend local and national segments would have clearly defined local and national segments. "Local" news, sports and weather were to have remained the responsibility of local affiliates. Local anchors were to have introduced the national segments, while the national anchor would have ended his egments by saying "And now, more local news from your area...".

But it could have led to situations like the following, which is one reason (of many) why I think NBC dropped the "news wheel" idea:

Local Anchor: Time may be running out for an American reportter kidnapped in Iraq. For that, we join NBC's Brian Williams in New York...

(end of local segment)

(start of national segment)

Brian Williams: An American journalist may be executed in less than 24 hours unless the kidnappers' demands are met. For more on that, we go to Richard Engel in Baghdad.

Richard Engel: Brian, while there have been pleas to spare the life of kidnapped Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll, it is now less than 24 hours before the kidnappers' deadline.......

Valuable seconds would have been wasted in introducing the story.

And that may have been only the tip of the iceberg as regards the problems in trying to make such a format work.
 
> > * Many consider "News Central"'s part-local/part-national
> > format to be (to term it kindly) a joke, and that such a
> > hybrid format can't work. It should be noted that some
> years
> > ago, when Tom Brokaw was still NBC's evening news
> anchorman,
> > the network had explored the idea of replacing "Nightly
> > News" with a part-local, part-national newscast similar to
> > what "News Central" eventually became. The network dropped
> > the idea after it concluded that there was no way to make
> > such a format work.
> >
> For those of us who have never seen the format, why won't it
> work. Sounds like a good idea. I know that often times, good
> ideas are good on paper and not in practice. But what about
> the format is bad?

This sounds like a good idea, and it would lead to some great economies of scale which would lead to better profits for the company. Why would it fail?
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

> And the way NBC wanted to blend local and national segments
> would have clearly defined local and national segments.
> "Local" news, sports and weather were to have remained the
> responsibility of local affiliates. Local anchors were to
> have introduced the national segments, while the national
> anchor would have ended his egments by saying "And now, more
> local news from your area...".
-----------
And, what about NBC affiliates without local news?<P ID="signature">______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!</P>
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

> The only newscast of the type that was successful was CBC's
> "Canada Now", but instead of mixing the coverage up and
> using identical sets, they had two distinct halves with
> distinct studios -- a national segment from Vancouver at 6PM
> and a regional segment from the regional stations at 6:30PM
> (some stations had this flip-flopped). Launched in 2000,
> this ended earlier this month when they introduced "CBC News
> at 6" for the local newscasts, with "Canada Now" strictly
> national news.
-----------
CTV has been moving in that direction since the rest of their stations went generic in October. They now have national/local hybrid updates in the evening, where following the national update Lloyd Robertson says "then at 11:30". Following the local update, Lloyd comes back and says "Tonight, on CTV National and Local News" or something like that. There is still separations between the national and local newscasts (possibly because a few stations run locally branded newscasts afterwards, namely NTV), but Lloyd now says "for many of you, CTV local news is coming up. Other anchors, namely Tom Clark, simply say "local news".

Global has a similar setup with Global National with Kevin Newman. In particular, in the Maritimes, CIHF has local news at 11, Global National at 11:15, then more local news at 11:45. For both CTV and Global though, the separation is much clearer than the Canada Now format. Didn't the BBC have a Canada Now type setup at one time, known as 60 Minutes?

With Global putting Global National with Kevin Newman at 5:30 PM (6:30 AT, eliminating the odd setup on CIHF) next month, I wouldn't be surprised if CTV added a national newscast at 5:30 (but leaving CTV National News at 11), and blended it a bit with a 6 PM local newscast. <P ID="signature">______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by mjlarochelle on 01/20/06 04:05 PM.</FONT></P>
 
>
> This sounds like a good idea, and it would lead to some
> great economies of scale which would lead to better profits
> for the company. Why would it fail?
>
All the accounts of the news product being horrible, I concur with. I had a chance to view NewsCentral on WTTO-TV "WB 21", a Sinclair-owned station in Birmingham, AL. It was awful, you just had to see it. <P ID="signature">______________
"I have the feeling about 60% of what you say is crap."--David Letterman underestimates Bill O'Reilly</P>
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

M.J. Larochelle asked:

> And, what about NBC affiliates without local news?

Although there are a couple of ABC affiliates and a couple of CBS affiliates that don't do any local news, I don't think there are any NBC affiliates without any local news, although there may be some very-small-market stations that don't do any weekend newscasts, an early-evening newscast on weekends, weekday noon newscasts, weekday early-morning newscasts, or any combination of the above.

As far as I know, every NBC affiliate, even in the smallest market, does at least a half-hour early-evening local newscast and a half-hour late-evening newscast every weeknight. Most affiliates do far more local news.
 
An NBC Affiliate Without Local News (was Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?)

> M.J. Larochelle asked:
>
> > And, what about NBC affiliates without local news?
>
> Although there are a couple of ABC affiliates and a couple
> of CBS affiliates that don't do any local news, I don't
> think there are any NBC affiliates without any local news,
> although there may be some very-small-market stations that
> don't do any weekend newscasts, an early-evening newscast on
> weekends, weekday noon newscasts, weekday early-morning
> newscasts, or any combination of the above.
>
> As far as I know, every NBC affiliate, even in the smallest
> market, does at least a half-hour early-evening local
> newscast and a half-hour late-evening newscast every
> weeknight. Most affiliates do far more local news.
>
I know of at least one NBC affiliate without local news -- WNKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky (DMA #183), a UHF station that affiliated with NBC only after it was expelled from the Fox network a few years ago. Since WNKY's only direct competitor is an ABC-affiliated VHF station with a long-established news operation, it's easy to understand why WNKY (<a target="_blank" href=http://nbc40.tv>http://nbc40.tv</a>) has steered clear of trying to split the local news audience in a market so small (and also a market where cable systems routinely carry highly-watched news stations from Nashville and/or Louisville). In fact, the only local newscasts I can recall watching on WNKY were simulcasts of Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV's 10 P.M. news, and WNKY discontinued those simulcasts in 2003, IIRC.

Oddly enough, while WNKY lacks any local news programming, it does produce its own weather forecasts (utilizing the resources of AccuWeather, no less) and has its own staff of local weather forecasters. At 10 P.M., when most Central Time Zone NBC affiliates begin their late local newscasts, WNKY airs a local weather forecast (five minutes long on each weeknight) and then goes to a sitcom rerun. (It wouldn't surprise me if WNKY has long weather cut-ins during the Today show's local news windows, too.)

Unfortunately, if Sinclair were to buy WNKY (which is unlikely, as Sinclair currently seems very focused on markets where it can amass duopolies), the local weather staff would almost certainly be shown the door and the weather forecasts would probably give way to ad nauseam (sp?) airings of "The Point" -- an act of ratings suicide even in a state as "red" as Kentucky. (Hey, this thread needs to get at least partially back on topic somehow!)<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P>
 
Re: An NBC Affiliate Without Local News (was Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?)

> > M.J. Larochelle asked:
> >
> > > And, what about NBC affiliates without local news?
> >
> > Although there are a couple of ABC affiliates and a couple
>
> > of CBS affiliates that don't do any local news, I don't
> > think there are any NBC affiliates without any local news,
>
> > although there may be some very-small-market stations that
>
> > don't do any weekend newscasts, an early-evening newscast
> on
> > weekends, weekday noon newscasts, weekday early-morning
> > newscasts, or any combination of the above.
> >
> > As far as I know, every NBC affiliate, even in the
> smallest
> > market, does at least a half-hour early-evening local
> > newscast and a half-hour late-evening newscast every
> > weeknight. Most affiliates do far more local news.
> >
> I know of at least one NBC affiliate without local news --
> WNKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky (DMA #183), a UHF station
> that affiliated with NBC only after it was expelled from the
> Fox network a few years ago.

There's also WTWC/40 in Tallahassee, FL (which happens to be a Sinclair station) and WVLA/33 in Baton Rouge, LA (which had a limited news presence in the morning before pulling the plug on that last year).<P ID="signature">______________
Derek
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.tvvancouver.cjb.net>TV.Vancouver</a>: Covering TV stations in Vancouver, BC</P>
 
Re: An NBC Affiliate Without Local News (was Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?)

> > I know of at least one NBC affiliate without local news --
>
> > WNKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky (DMA #183)...
>
> There's also WTWC/40 in Tallahassee, FL (which happens to be
> a Sinclair station)...


WTWC tried local news twice since signing on in 1982 -- once under Holt Robinson ownership in the late-1980s; and again under Guy Gannett / Sinclair ownership in the 1990s. Both Flopped. I think WTWC scotched their newscast after Sinclair LMA'd local ABC affiliate WTXL ch.27. Even though WTXL isn't owned by Sinclair (just run by them) and it's a real newscast, the intro reeks "News Central".

Another NBC affil that probably has no local news is KVEO ch.23 in Bro2wnsville, TX. Don't know if they ever had local news.
 
Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?

> As far as I know, every NBC affiliate, even in the smallest
> market, does at least a half-hour early-evening local
> newscast and a half-hour late-evening newscast every
> weeknight. Most affiliates do far more local news.
>
There may be one or two as has been noted. But I remember that when Fox switched stations in Green Bay from WGBA to WLUK and NBC ended up on WGBA, it did so with a requirement that the station start local news coverage. (The switch came in '94, the newscast started in '96 on the first day of the Atlanta Olympics.) For what it's worth, the 'cast is still No. 4 in the market.
 
Re: An NBC Affiliate Without Local News (was Re: Best of both worlds for Sinclair?)

> Another NBC affil that probably has no local news is KVEO
> ch.23 in Bro2wnsville, TX. Don't know if they ever had local
> news.

They did, in the 1980s, according to a website featuring TV Newscast Titles.

Yet another NBC affiliate that has no local news is WLTZ 38 in Columbus, Ga. They did have morning news and a midday news/public affairs show a few years back IIRC.
 
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