dustintv said:
Syracuse: Man oh man is this market ever a mess these days. I could devote much time to how WTVH has fallen so far to the point of it now having its news done by WSTM.
You're right-on, it's an abomination. I remember often being disgusted at WSTM putting reporters "live in Syracuse" to tag a story, when in fact, they were really just standing outside the station's front door with James Street in the background. And now that WSTM and WTVH have basically fallen off the radar, WSYR-TV is also cutting back, to the point they had a reporter at 11pm a few nights ago "live in East Syracuse" -- you got it, right in channel 9's own parking lot.
Classic case of how the lack of competition winds up hurting the overall quality, even from the leader. Corporate ownership at Newport TV knows they don't have to spend a ton of money to remain competitive in Syracuse anymore, so they aren't.
Back to WTVH -- anyone go the auction they had a couple months ago? Couldn't go because of work, but I saw a video clip posted on WSYR's website. A framed, large portrait of Ron Curtis opened at $75 and then the auctioneer had to bring it down to $5 before anyone would bid. The frame alone was probably worth at least $50. I bet Ron Curtis was rolling in his grave, and I can't imagine how the family must have felt -- not only to see that lack of bids, but the fact that they weren't just
given the portrait in the first place.
dustintv said:
Utica: Is this even a market these days?
Another example where lack of competition has made things boring. Clear Channel did a major disservice to this market by shutting down the WUTR newsroom in 2002 just to make the station more attractive to buyers. For the past several years, WKTV has just been "blah." But since they were already so dominant in the market for decades anyway, they continue to do well. And despite the talk of all sorts of cost-cutting in recent years, they still manage to keep quite a few people around longer than you might expect for a small market. But still, no obvious "heir apparent" to become the lead anchor whenever Bill Worden decides to pack it up.
Recent cable competition from News 10 Now has helped WKTV to shape up somewhat, but being based in Syracuse, I don't think News 10 Now is really stealing anyone away (similar to WTVH being on Utica cable). If Time Warner were ever to create a separate Utica feed of N10N (like they have for the Southern Tier) we might see some more effort from WKTV. Even moreso, if WUTR still had news. Even though WUTR never pulled big numbers, they were still seen as a viable threat. WKTV never took their big numbers for granted. Once upon a time, Utica was strictly a 6 and 11pm market. WUTR was first to start news at noon, at 5pm, and in the morning, and in each case, WKTV eventually followed because they saw there was potential for WUTR to gain ground. In some cases, WKTV even managed to "steal" talent away from WUTR (ie. Stacey Simms, Steve McMurray, Don Shipman, perhaps others I can't remember at the moment).
Frankly, I think it's a shame Nexstar doesn't revive news at WUTR. The same crew who does the 5/6/11 could also produce 10pm news for WFXV. And WFXV is carried on many more cable systems than WKTV's "CW11" station. Likewise, the WUTR morning news crew could do 5-7a on WUTR and then 7-9a on Fox. Since I work at 9am, I have no reason to be up before 7 -- and I don't care for the network shows like Today or GMA. I'd love to see local news on
after 7am. Until someone does it live, the tape-replay on WSYR 9.2 suffices.
Most importantly, competition would prod WKTV to up their game. For a small market, they were a very good station in the mid to late 1990s, when WUTR was at its own peak. But when you don't have a competitor motivating you to work harder... when you know the ratings are just going to fall into your lap no matter what you put on the air because the viewers have no alternative... "same crap, different day" takes over.
Overall - It's a shame to see what's happened to TV in these markets and all across the rest of upstate New York. Even moreso when you consider the impact on the rest of the industry. Small markets like Utica, Watertown and Bingo are where many people get their start in this business... where they learn that the real-world is not what your textbooks and classes led you to believe it would be. Where they build the basic foundation of experience they'll use throughout the rest of their careers. Where they can make their mistakes (nobody's perfect) and hopefully they're only seen by a few thousand people, rather than hundreds of thousands, or millions.
With TV news jobs disappearing significantly in these cities, but journalism schools still recruiting like there's no tomorrow, we're going to wind up with a glut of people who have degrees in this business, but no room to get in. And of those who
are lucky enough to get in, a fair amount will wind up starting farther up the market ladder than they should be -- just because they
look good on TV and/or they are willing to work for less money than someone with more experience. But when their inexperience shows on the air, that station loses viewers, and possibly winds up cutting back, or shutting down news. In fact, I'd say this process already started a few years ago, no?
What can reverse this trend? Obviously, the networks aren't in a place to require non-news stations to bring back news... especially if they aren't going to help pay for it. And as long as the economy remains in the tank, I don't expect anyone to revive a dead newsroom. Anyone else have any ideas?
