News@10PM(various markets questions)

[dustintv]

Just curious, has WHAM made any annoucements of adding a 10PM newscast to CW WHAM yet, since they expanded their morning news to 9 on the station?

In Syracuse, is there another 10pm newscast in WSYT's future? Would WSYR be interested in doing one for either WSYT or WNYS?

Finally in Albany WRGB had to end relations with WNYA because WRGB's owners bought WCWN. Will any other station step in with WNYA? Also WRGB like WHAM has morning news on WCWN but not at 10. Any chance they'll add one in the near future?

 

[BobRoss]

Just curious, has WHAM made any annoucements of adding a 10PM newscast to CW WHAM yet, since they expanded their morning news to 9 on the station?

In Syracuse, is there another 10pm newscast in WSYT's future? Would WSYR be interested in doing one for either WSYT or WNYS?

As for Rochester, I think 10PM news on CW-WHAM could happen eventually. It's still fairly new, so they may be waiting to see how well the ratings are, how many people are catching on to its existence. Right now, you either need to have cable, or DTV to see it. I don't know what the latest numbers are in Rochester, in terms of how many people have either. Perhaps they'll wait until more people get DTV, and give it a go when they feel the number of potential viewers is high enough.

In Syracuse, it doesn't matter if WSYR is interested... WSYT or WNYS would have to be the ones to initiate that conversation. I believe WSYT only started a 10pm news when Rupert Murdoch basically "required" Fox affiliates to do so. That requirement was lifted sometime in the middle of WSYT's latest contract with WTVH... and when it expired, it was not renewed. That would lead me to believe it wasn't profitable enough to WSYT... otherwise, they would have kept it going. If Sinclair doesn't want 10pm news on WSYT, I highly doubt they'd go for it on WNYS.

However, just as WHAM is using its CW channel to replay news, Syracuse seems to be replaying news on its own 9.2 channel recently. They don't seem to be promoting it, but if and when they do, that could eventually be their ticket into the 10pm news game.

 

[dustintv]

I knew that WTVH produced the news on 68, but did 68 ever have the News Central format that Sinclair tried on WNYO and WUHF? Interestingly enough in Buffalo Sinclair owns both WUTV and WNYO, but WUTV, the Fox station has never had news. WNYO, the WB/MyNetwork station had their own newscast WB49 News with that infamous format, but now the news at ten is produced by WGRZ, while WUHF's newscast is now done by WROC.

So Sinclair has reached out to other stations in other markets, but I suppose what works in one market won't work in another.

 

[BobRoss]

I knew that WTVH produced the news on 68, but did 68 ever have the News Central format that Sinclair tried on WNYO and WUHF?

To the best of my knowledge, NewsCentral was never seen on WSYT. I believe Sinclair only forced it upon stations that had their very own news staff, in-house. In Syracuse, WSYT always outsourced their news completely -- first to WSTM, then later to WTVH. At first, WSTM provided the 10pm show with its own staff, sort of. They had 2 anchors, a News Director and I think their own sports guy. News shooters/reporters and weather were all WSTM folks.

When it moved to WTVH, they just did it as another WTVH show. Different graphics and music, but all the same talent.

I think the NewsCentral idea was intended to allow Sinclair-owned stations to trim their staff. If the station wasn't owned by Sinclair, I guess it was optional. They did, however, air those editorials from the Sinclair CEO or President or whoever the heck he is/was.

 

[dustintv]

When did WKTV stop producing a 10 PM newscast? I was in Utica recently and noticed the CW station no longer carries it.

 

[BobRoss]

When did WKTV stop producing a 10 PM newscast? I was in Utica recently and noticed the CW station no longer carries it.

Huh? I thought they were still doing it. WKTV owns the Utica CW, so it's not like there's contract negotations happening between the two.

*checking....*

Hmm. WKTV's website doesn't seem to offer much of a program schedule beyond a tiny section of their homepage where they list tonight's NBC primetime lineup. (Was hoping for a "Titan TV" like page with listings for both stations... no dice.) I clicked the link to the CW's website, and they seem to have Will & Grace listed in the 10pm slot. Not sure if that's just a "national" lineup for all CW affiliates (the ones too small to operate their own website) or if it is indeed the Utica CW schedule now.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch's website didn't turn up anything when I searched for WKTV. Neither did Google News (just in case any stories were run in other papers or trades). Usually the paper reports things like this, so I'd be surprised if the newscast disappeared without getting any ink.

But cancelling their 10pm show isn't completely out of the question. The Utica CW is only viewable by customers of what used to be Adelphia Cable. That's Utica and the immediately-surrounding towns only. (And maybe TW in Herkimer/Ilion, but I don't know for sure... even if it is, that's small potatoes.) In other words, only a small percentage of WKTV viewers are able to watch Utica CW. Now, out of the people who CAN watch it, how many actually DO watch it? It's very possible that network-supplied reruns of "Will and Grace" would do just as well (if not better) and save WKTV's staff the pressure, stress and frustration of cranking out an extra newscast. Why make the effort if nobody's watching?

 

[e-dawg]

If Sinclair didn't own WUTV, WUHF, or WSYT then they will have their own newsdepartment instead of "NEWSCENTRAL" format or outsourcing their news to another competitive tv station.

 

[artie fufkin]

I believe WSYT only started a 10pm news when Rupert Murdoch basically "required" Fox affiliates to do so. That requirement was lifted sometime in the middle of WSYT's latest contract with WTVH... and when it expired, it was not renewed. That would lead me to believe it wasn't profitable enough to WSYT... otherwise, they would have kept it going. If Sinclair doesn't want 10pm news on WSYT, I highly doubt they'd go for it on WNYS.

It was WTVH, not WSYT, that decided not renew the contract to provide news. WTVH felt the 10 pm news on WSYT took away viewers from their own 11 pm show. Sinclair wanted to continue to have news; but since WSYR wasn't interested in doing it for them, and WSTM already has a 10 pm show on CW, they were out of luck.

All FOX network contracts mandate at least a 30 minute news program after the prime time block. Those FOX affiliates that do not provide news must either pay an additional fee to the network or negotiate a waiver.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Just curious, has WHAM made any annoucements of adding a 10PM newscast to CW WHAM yet, since they expanded their morning news to 9 on the station?

At one time I thought that 13 might jump into the 10:00 news foray but now I have my doubts considering what I've heard about the new owners. And another thing, anyone want to take bets how long 31 will carry their 10 pm news? Personally I think that if Nexstar continues to operate 8 and 31 that the management will just dump the 10 o'clock news. Why? Because their resources are already stretched thin and also it will depend on how much revenue FOX 31's news brings to the station. As for ratings, Nexstar is only interested in the bottom line.

 

[oldschooler1]

And another thing, anyone want to take bets how long 31 will carry their 10 pm news? Personally I think that if Nexstar continues to operate 8 and 31 that the management will just dump the 10 o'clock news. Why? Because their resources are already stretched thin and also it will depend on how much revenue FOX 31's news brings to the station.

Resources have almost nothing to do with it. Stations in medium and small markets have been adding newscasts over the decades without adding more than one or two staff members to handle them. No one in management gives a piece of excrement about how many people it takes to put on the 10PM news beyond what those bodies signify on a spreadsheet. Just be sure you have someone in master who can click the mouse and ensure that the spots play on schedule. That is all that matters to them. With all the staffing shortages at nexstar, management is likely to be saying "you're getting it on the air, aren't you? So, what's the problem? Why do you need to fill those positions?" If they're in a contract to do the 10PM news, then they're in a contract. Period. No one is going to say "gee, we don't have enough people to do the 10PM news." Management (the people upstairs) wouldn't care, or know the difference, if someone read wire copy for a half-hour.

 

[BobRoss]

Exactly right. Here's the thing. A rerun of "Jerry Springer" might get more viewers than someone reading wire copy. But at least half of the commercials during Jerry Springer come with the show itself, because that's how Springer's team makes their money. Syndicated shows only leave a portion of commercial time open for the local station to sell for itself. You can't add more local spots, because the show would run over 30 minutes.

On the other hand, every single spot during a newscast is a spot sold by the station's own sales department. Even if Springer would get better ratings, the solitary fact that every newscast spot generates local revenue is what can make the mediocre newscast more profitable for the station.


=== Warning: Math Content! ===

For example, let's say Station X can make $1000 per ratings point on any given :30 spot.
(I know it's not that simple in the real world but I don't want the math to get too far out of hand... lol)

Springer gets a "3" rating.
Springer allows Station X to insert five :30's per show.
That's $15,000 for Station X

In the same timeslot, news only gets a "1" rating.
News has 4 breaks and each break has five :30 spots, for a total of twenty spots.
That's $20,000 for Station X

=== End Math Content ===


This is why management doesn't care if 10pm news gets only a third of the audience Springer would get. And that example doesn't include billboards, in-show promotional opportunities, or the occasional "extra spot" that runs for a week here or there, because the sales department oversold their inventory.

In this case, local news actually makes more money in the end. And it's usually at very little expense. If the 10pm news is produced by an outfit that already does an 11pm news, most of the staff and equipment is already on hand. The only "new expense" at most stations is the (usually cheap) salary to add a 10pm producer. In the example of Station X above, the revenue difference between Springer and local news could pay that producer's salary in less than 2 weeks. The revenue generated during the other 49 weeks of the year is pure gravy.