J
jiminCT
Guest
Thom left the station last week. Apparently is mulling other opportunities.
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Interestingly, there was a story on the wire that Plattsburgh/Burlington Fox affiliate WFFF (channel 44) debuted a 10pm newscast on Monday night.
Ironically, competitor WCAX's website carried the story, since it must be set to automatically regurgitate anything off the NY and VT state wires. It's pretty funny, with the big headline, "Fox44 television news debuts in Colchester" across the top of the page, and in the web browser title bar.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7444538&nav=menu183_2
Neither the article nor WFFF's website mention any talent. However, I'd be surprised if Thom Hallock appeared there. I would assume WPTZ would have had him under a non-compete contract. It's also a pretty big gamble to leave a decent NBC station for a Fox startup. Then again, if the contract allowed it, and if WFFF offered enough money... anything's possible!
Do we have anyone on the board from that neck of the woods who can provide a review of the show? Even though it's a two-state market, the station is located in Colchester, VT... so there were a few posts on the New England TV board, but they were mostly speculative pre-show posts. A few people looking forward to the debut, but nobody bothered to come back online and leave their reviews. I guess the internet, like everything else in Vermont, closes at 10pm.
WFFF is owned by Smith Media LLC, the same private equity group that owns Utica's WKTV. And while it was still Smith Broadcasting, they purchased WWTI/Watertown, reviving the news operation there in the late 90s. WWTI was eventually sold to ClearChannel, but Smith still owns WKTV.
I don't believe WFFF has ever had news before, but the AP wire story mentioned they built a new newsroom and a new studio. That leads me to believe Smith is hoping to be successful, but they aren't necessarily holding a gun to everyone's heads. It's not like they've got a one-year contract with some other station to do their 10:00 news for them... where it would be easy to pull the plug if things didn't go so well.
They actually invested the money in building it all from scratch. It would be a waste of money to build all that, with a deadline of just one fiscal year to make it amazingly profitable. And knowing Smith's reputation, they likely offered decent salaries to attract talent who are just as good as their competition -- even though there isn't too much in the way of direct competition at 10pm (not counting WCAX's 10pm show on 3.2, at least not until digital TV becomes "mandatory" in 2009).
I wonder how they're handling covering news on both sides of Lake Champlain. I believe one or both of the other stations have their main studio on one side, and a bureau of some sort on the other side. Does WFFF have a bureau on the NY side of the lake, or are they stuck relying on the local ferry schedule to get crews back and forth? With only a 10pm show though, I suppose there isn't as much urgency as there is with the stations that do news at 5 and 6, as well as 11.
If their 10pm show is even modestly successful, I would expect they'll eventually expand it to a full hour. After all, there's no network programming on Fox after 10pm, so it's not like they HAVE to be off at 10:30. If the news can prove to be more profitable than whatever's currently on at 10:30, it should be pretty easy to expand to a full hour with little or no expansion of the staff. (Read: increase profit without increasing expenses.)
On a side note, my bad for identifying Hallock as a weather person earlier. For some reason, it won't let me go back and edit that. I'm admittedly only "somewhat" familiar with the Plattsburgh market and got my names mixed up for a moment!
Ironically, competitor WCAX's website carried the story, since it must be set to automatically regurgitate anything off the NY and VT state wires. It's pretty funny, with the big headline, "Fox44 television news debuts in Colchester" across the top of the page, and in the web browser title bar.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7444538&nav=menu183_2
Neither the article nor WFFF's website mention any talent. However, I'd be surprised if Thom Hallock appeared there. I would assume WPTZ would have had him under a non-compete contract. It's also a pretty big gamble to leave a decent NBC station for a Fox startup. Then again, if the contract allowed it, and if WFFF offered enough money... anything's possible!
Do we have anyone on the board from that neck of the woods who can provide a review of the show? Even though it's a two-state market, the station is located in Colchester, VT... so there were a few posts on the New England TV board, but they were mostly speculative pre-show posts. A few people looking forward to the debut, but nobody bothered to come back online and leave their reviews. I guess the internet, like everything else in Vermont, closes at 10pm.
WFFF is owned by Smith Media LLC, the same private equity group that owns Utica's WKTV. And while it was still Smith Broadcasting, they purchased WWTI/Watertown, reviving the news operation there in the late 90s. WWTI was eventually sold to ClearChannel, but Smith still owns WKTV.
I don't believe WFFF has ever had news before, but the AP wire story mentioned they built a new newsroom and a new studio. That leads me to believe Smith is hoping to be successful, but they aren't necessarily holding a gun to everyone's heads. It's not like they've got a one-year contract with some other station to do their 10:00 news for them... where it would be easy to pull the plug if things didn't go so well.
They actually invested the money in building it all from scratch. It would be a waste of money to build all that, with a deadline of just one fiscal year to make it amazingly profitable. And knowing Smith's reputation, they likely offered decent salaries to attract talent who are just as good as their competition -- even though there isn't too much in the way of direct competition at 10pm (not counting WCAX's 10pm show on 3.2, at least not until digital TV becomes "mandatory" in 2009).
I wonder how they're handling covering news on both sides of Lake Champlain. I believe one or both of the other stations have their main studio on one side, and a bureau of some sort on the other side. Does WFFF have a bureau on the NY side of the lake, or are they stuck relying on the local ferry schedule to get crews back and forth? With only a 10pm show though, I suppose there isn't as much urgency as there is with the stations that do news at 5 and 6, as well as 11.
If their 10pm show is even modestly successful, I would expect they'll eventually expand it to a full hour. After all, there's no network programming on Fox after 10pm, so it's not like they HAVE to be off at 10:30. If the news can prove to be more profitable than whatever's currently on at 10:30, it should be pretty easy to expand to a full hour with little or no expansion of the staff. (Read: increase profit without increasing expenses.)
On a side note, my bad for identifying Hallock as a weather person earlier. For some reason, it won't let me go back and edit that. I'm admittedly only "somewhat" familiar with the Plattsburgh market and got my names mixed up for a moment!
N
NO DAG
Guest
My 2 cent take is that I thought the newscast was well produced overall. Sure, there were a few glitches as nothing is ever perfect right out of the gate. They had a 'storm' to talk about, and lots of visuals. They had a "We report, you decide" type story on a proposed Home Depot in the Barre area. The reporters seemed to have knowledge of the area, no credibility crashers like mispronounced towns. Looks like a lot of capital and time was invested in making the newscast fly right, right out of the gate. Sports was good, had local teams covered nicely. Weather was good, graphics had a similar look to Channel 5's.. This newscast should eventually be able to run in the same league as 'the big boys' without stumbling. I hope Fox 44 succeeds, viewers take notice, and a new news franchise grows..
Yes WPTZ has Vermont offices which are interestingly in Colchester. I can't find NY offices for WCAX but I imagine they do. Bob that ferry service I presume is dead in winter due to lake ice, and it's a worthless LONG haul up Route 2 to get to Burlington, trust me my family has driven on it.
By the way the WGMU/WBVT site is way out of date and lists a Little Rock Arkansas addresss for contact info ???
http://www.mytv-burlington.com/My 39 Homepage.html
By the way the WGMU/WBVT site is way out of date and lists a Little Rock Arkansas addresss for contact info ???
http://www.mytv-burlington.com/My 39 Homepage.html
J
jiminCT
Guest
Actually, the South Hero-Plattsburgh ferry runs year round. Many people commute to Burlington from Plattsburgh and surrounding areas.
WCAX does not have NY studio. They do carry stories from NY...but it is really a VT centered newscast. Their signal is carried on virtually all cable systems in VT.
WCAX does not have NY studio. They do carry stories from NY...but it is really a VT centered newscast. Their signal is carried on virtually all cable systems in VT.
jiminCT said:WCAX does not have NY studio. They do carry stories from NY...but it is really a VT centered newscast. Their signal is carried on virtually all cable systems in VT.
That's one thing I've never liked about the Burlington market. Anytime I head up to Vermont for a skiing trip, I try to catch the local news (assuming I'm back from skiing and dinner in time for the earlies, or able to stay awake late enough to see the 11's) and it's like they barely acknowledge there are cities, people and events happening on the west side of Lake Champlain.
WPTZ "gets it" since their main studios are in NY. And if I were living in the area, that's probably who I would watch, since I know they're the only ones with facilities on both sides of the lake, which allows them to provide more complete coverage of both sides. In fact, the once or twice I was skiing in southern Vermont, I almost exclusively watched their satellite station WNNE 31, because of the way they have yet another studio in White River Junction, which does an insert of "superlocal" news for that region during WPTZ's newscasts. It's the only place I've ever seen something like that.
But usually, I'm watching from afar, checking their websites once in a blue moon. Hard to tell who's really "ahead" in that race just from that standpoint. Does one station clearly dominate the other in ratings? Or is it a case where one wins 5&6 while the other wins 11?
And back to our earlier discussion... how is Fox 44 looking after a few more days under their belt? Unfortunately, their website has ZERO local news content, other than a front-page mention that the 10:00pm show exists. Nothing more. They don't even have a basic page with pics/profiles on the anchors and reporters... anything from the local weather team... or even the ultra-simple APNewsCenter-generated webpage of scripts from each night's newscast. Sure, it's a pretty no-frills solution and it often includes script commands or other "lingo," but it's still better than nothing.
Hello, first time on this board.
1) Thom Hallock. Ackording to Outdoors collumnist, Dennis Aprill from Plattsburgh's Press Republican News Paper, Thom Hallock's contract was NOT renewed by WPTZ. Now, forgive me if this is verbotten on this board...but I have a bit of an unconfirmed rumor. Someone who works behind the scenes as a producer relayed that Thom Hallock's contract was not renewed due to him "fooling around" with another producer.
Again. The first part about his contract not being renewed can be confirmed. I cannot confirm the rumor as to the reason why.
2)WFFF10PM news...wasn't bad. It smacks of FOX News in it's studio and graphics design. It's co-anchored by a handsom man and a lovely young woman who stand during the reading.
3)If you have Charter Cable out of Plattsburgh...as of 31 December 2007 you will no longer get CW Channel 11 out of NYC, it will be replaced by WFFF-CW out of Burlington, VT.
1) Thom Hallock. Ackording to Outdoors collumnist, Dennis Aprill from Plattsburgh's Press Republican News Paper, Thom Hallock's contract was NOT renewed by WPTZ. Now, forgive me if this is verbotten on this board...but I have a bit of an unconfirmed rumor. Someone who works behind the scenes as a producer relayed that Thom Hallock's contract was not renewed due to him "fooling around" with another producer.
Again. The first part about his contract not being renewed can be confirmed. I cannot confirm the rumor as to the reason why.
2)WFFF10PM news...wasn't bad. It smacks of FOX News in it's studio and graphics design. It's co-anchored by a handsom man and a lovely young woman who stand during the reading.
3)If you have Charter Cable out of Plattsburgh...as of 31 December 2007 you will no longer get CW Channel 11 out of NYC, it will be replaced by WFFF-CW out of Burlington, VT.
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