Is their any truth to the rumor that WUTR is about to relaunch a news dept. for TV 20 & Fox 33 (maybe even their UPN)?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
What's the news on news high atop Smith Hill?
- Thread starter TheREALJM1
- Start date
The rumours persist despite any signs of "spending" on completely rebuilding a newsroom. That's not to say that there may be plans in the works. Time will tell. A recent rash of new hires (including Paul Kennedy as GSM and other higher ups) seem to point in that direction, and the live 4 hour broadcast of the Boilermaker race may have been a test. There were certain technical issues (the live signal quality for one) but overall it was a good showing for a station that people say can't do local tv without a newsroom.
> The rumours persist despite any signs of "spending" on
> completely rebuilding a newsroom. That's not to say that
> there may be plans in the works. Time will tell. A recent
> rash of new hires (including Paul Kennedy as GSM and other
> higher ups) seem to point in that direction
As you said, the Boilermaker show looked pretty good for a station that doesn't have an existing news department. For the first time in several years, I have to say that WUTR did a better job than WKTV... and that says a lot considering that WUTR's on-air team doesn't have the chance to work together every single day. Since UTR closed down its news department, any live events seem to be hosted by ex-anchors who are still in the area, and willing to work on a freelance basis... they don't get to work together every day like KTV's news team does.
The fact that UTR was able to go live for the entire race, (presumably) without any help from Syracuse or Watertown as in the past, is pretty good testimony to the money Nexstar/Mission has spent on the place. Even though I've heard nothing concrete about restarting news, it would seem wasteful to spend over a million dollars (according to the GM in a promo that aired way too many times during the race) on all that equipment just to use it a few times a year.
On the other hand, WKTV, who usually does better at everything, was down the toilet. Their live coverage consisted of brief cut-ins at the start, and when the first-place finishers came into the brewery. WKTV's main coverage consisted of a simple recap from 7-9PM. This taped show was good LAST year, as nearly everything was taped on location. For the most part, the coverage looked like it was really live, and we were watching an encore presentation of earlier live coverage (even though it was never live).
But this year's coverage on WKTV was awful. Having the anchors in the studio, with suits and ties on really took away from the excitement of "being there" at the race. It was also awkward to have the sports director and expert race analyist in the studio, discussing the events as if they didn't "know" who won the race until THEY showed it, even though it all happened 12 hours earlier. My favorite "akward TV moment" was when they had Joleen Ferris on tape, getting to the starting line, running the race, looking hot, tired and sweaty, in her racing clothes and then BANG! Like magic, she's in the studio, with typical TV reporter hair, makeup and clothes. A good effort from the field reporters who did "look lives" from the race course and the post-race events, but if they knew they wouldn't really be live, they might as well have just done packages like it was a newscast. Probably wasn't their decision to make, so I can't blame them. I guess it's just disappointing to see WKTV's lackluster effort, considering we all know what they've been capable of doing in the past.
Could this be the beginning of WUTR (and its Utica.tv cohorts) turning the tables on WKTV?
> completely rebuilding a newsroom. That's not to say that
> there may be plans in the works. Time will tell. A recent
> rash of new hires (including Paul Kennedy as GSM and other
> higher ups) seem to point in that direction
As you said, the Boilermaker show looked pretty good for a station that doesn't have an existing news department. For the first time in several years, I have to say that WUTR did a better job than WKTV... and that says a lot considering that WUTR's on-air team doesn't have the chance to work together every single day. Since UTR closed down its news department, any live events seem to be hosted by ex-anchors who are still in the area, and willing to work on a freelance basis... they don't get to work together every day like KTV's news team does.
The fact that UTR was able to go live for the entire race, (presumably) without any help from Syracuse or Watertown as in the past, is pretty good testimony to the money Nexstar/Mission has spent on the place. Even though I've heard nothing concrete about restarting news, it would seem wasteful to spend over a million dollars (according to the GM in a promo that aired way too many times during the race) on all that equipment just to use it a few times a year.
On the other hand, WKTV, who usually does better at everything, was down the toilet. Their live coverage consisted of brief cut-ins at the start, and when the first-place finishers came into the brewery. WKTV's main coverage consisted of a simple recap from 7-9PM. This taped show was good LAST year, as nearly everything was taped on location. For the most part, the coverage looked like it was really live, and we were watching an encore presentation of earlier live coverage (even though it was never live).
But this year's coverage on WKTV was awful. Having the anchors in the studio, with suits and ties on really took away from the excitement of "being there" at the race. It was also awkward to have the sports director and expert race analyist in the studio, discussing the events as if they didn't "know" who won the race until THEY showed it, even though it all happened 12 hours earlier. My favorite "akward TV moment" was when they had Joleen Ferris on tape, getting to the starting line, running the race, looking hot, tired and sweaty, in her racing clothes and then BANG! Like magic, she's in the studio, with typical TV reporter hair, makeup and clothes. A good effort from the field reporters who did "look lives" from the race course and the post-race events, but if they knew they wouldn't really be live, they might as well have just done packages like it was a newscast. Probably wasn't their decision to make, so I can't blame them. I guess it's just disappointing to see WKTV's lackluster effort, considering we all know what they've been capable of doing in the past.
Could this be the beginning of WUTR (and its Utica.tv cohorts) turning the tables on WKTV?
> > The rumours persist despite any signs of "spending" on
> > completely rebuilding a newsroom. That's not to say that
> > there may be plans in the works. Time will tell. A recent
> > rash of new hires (including Paul Kennedy as GSM and other
>
> > higher ups) seem to point in that direction
I heard from a pretty reliable source that the news was going to return to WUTR and maybe the Fox station. It is only a matter of when. What they could do..is use some of the facilties of co-owned WROC in Rochester. WROC does not do a 10:00 for anyone (unfortuately for Rochester viewers), apparently the UPN station is not interested and there is no over the air WB. So maybe the Utica stations could take advantage of the exellent weather dept. of WROC. WROC is said to be understaffed as it is so maybe they wouldn't be able to help out but it would great for Utica viewers if they did.
> >
> > completely rebuilding a newsroom. That's not to say that
> > there may be plans in the works. Time will tell. A recent
> > rash of new hires (including Paul Kennedy as GSM and other
>
> > higher ups) seem to point in that direction
I heard from a pretty reliable source that the news was going to return to WUTR and maybe the Fox station. It is only a matter of when. What they could do..is use some of the facilties of co-owned WROC in Rochester. WROC does not do a 10:00 for anyone (unfortuately for Rochester viewers), apparently the UPN station is not interested and there is no over the air WB. So maybe the Utica stations could take advantage of the exellent weather dept. of WROC. WROC is said to be understaffed as it is so maybe they wouldn't be able to help out but it would great for Utica viewers if they did.
> >
What they could do..is use some of
> the facilties of co-owned WROC in Rochester. WROC does not
> do a 10:00 for anyone (unfortuately for Rochester viewers),
> apparently the UPN station is not interested and there is no
> over the air WB. So maybe the Utica stations could take
> advantage of the exellent weather dept. of WROC. WROC is
> said to be understaffed as it is so maybe they wouldn't be
> able to help out but it would great for Utica viewers if
> they did.
That would certainly be a way to get things started and started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at the same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that something that can be accomplished in this reality of cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in quality and content and has been since ClearChannel mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come in and shake things up.
> the facilties of co-owned WROC in Rochester. WROC does not
> do a 10:00 for anyone (unfortuately for Rochester viewers),
> apparently the UPN station is not interested and there is no
> over the air WB. So maybe the Utica stations could take
> advantage of the exellent weather dept. of WROC. WROC is
> said to be understaffed as it is so maybe they wouldn't be
> able to help out but it would great for Utica viewers if
> they did.
That would certainly be a way to get things started and started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at the same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that something that can be accomplished in this reality of cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in quality and content and has been since ClearChannel mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come in and shake things up.
F
fastone
Guest
>
>
> That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
> would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
> 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at the
> same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in
> quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come in
> and shake things up.
>
Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays teleconference....Nexstar CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking to shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market stations to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last time I checked....that would be Utica
>
> That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
> would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
> 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at the
> same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in
> quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come in
> and shake things up.
>
Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays teleconference....Nexstar CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking to shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market stations to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last time I checked....that would be Utica
> >
> >
> > That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> > started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
> > would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
> > 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at
> the
> > same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> > something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> > cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> > really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in
>
> > quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> > mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come
> in
> > and shake things up.
> >
> Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays teleconference....Nexstar
> CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking to
> shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market stations
> to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last
> time I checked....that would be Utica
OK, that said, I have heard a rumor that some people, formerly involved in Utica TV may be looking at running (buying)the Nexstar properties.
>
> >
> > That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> > started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
> > would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
> > 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at
> the
> > same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> > something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> > cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> > really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline in
>
> > quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> > mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to come
> in
> > and shake things up.
> >
> Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays teleconference....Nexstar
> CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking to
> shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market stations
> to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last
> time I checked....that would be Utica
OK, that said, I have heard a rumor that some people, formerly involved in Utica TV may be looking at running (buying)the Nexstar properties.
>
F
fastone
Guest
> > >
> > >
> > > That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> > > started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
>
> > > would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
>
> > > 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at
> > the
> > > same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> > > something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> > > cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> > > really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline
> in
> >
> > > quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> > > mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to
> come
> > in
> > > and shake things up.
> > >
> > Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays
> teleconference....Nexstar
> > CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking
> to
> > shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market
> stations
> > to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last
>
> > time I checked....that would be Utica
>
> OK, that said, I have heard a rumor that some people,
> formerly involved in Utica TV may be looking at running
> (buying)the Nexstar properties.
> >
> Haven't heard that...but wouldn't be suprised. It certainly would be listed as a "fixer upper".
> > >
> > > That would certainly be a way to get things started and
> > > started a little cheaper than usual. Maybe the best bet
>
> > > would be to start with just a 5p or 6p news along with a
>
> > > 10p. Morning news is important too, but adding both at
> > the
> > > same time means adding 2 full news staffs... is that
> > > something that can be accomplished in this reality of
> > > cutting back, not building up? In my humble opinion, I
> > > really think that the WKTV News is on a serious decline
> in
> >
> > > quality and content and has been since ClearChannel
> > > mercilessly chopped the news at WUTR. Someone has to
> come
> > in
> > > and shake things up.
> > >
> > Hello? Anybody home? In yesterdays
> teleconference....Nexstar
> > CEO stated for the record that they are currently looking
> to
> > shed themselves of up to 5 of their smaller market
> stations
> > to help raise money to pay down their enormous debt...last
>
> > time I checked....that would be Utica
>
> OK, that said, I have heard a rumor that some people,
> formerly involved in Utica TV may be looking at running
> (buying)the Nexstar properties.
> >
> Haven't heard that...but wouldn't be suprised. It certainly would be listed as a "fixer upper".
- Status
- This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.