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Why TV news?

N

nowradioguy

Does any of you know why WBZ tends to rely on news actualities from TV stations around the country, especially in cities where a former CBS O&O all-news station exists?
I understand they can hardly be expected to call upon a sister iHeart station anywhere, since almost all of their other news/talkers have no live news staff of their own. But for a city like NYC for ‘BZ to use WCBS-TV as opposed to 1010 WINS or WCBS Newsradio 880 is beyond me. Ditto for Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Philly, etc.
Is there some contractual or unwritten arrangement between Entercom and WBZ that doesn’t allow the latter to call upon its former stable mates for reports?
I generally prefer RADIO reports as opposed to TV reports, since we can’t see any accompanying visuals.
 
TheBigA said:
They're probably coming from NBC News Radio or one of the networks. That service is almost totally based on TV audio.
Click to expand...

Can’t quite buy that, especially when reports emanate from reporters of WCBS-TV, WBBM-TV, or KCBS-TV.
If they’re using, say, CBS News Radio, wouldn’t the latter be able to draw from their biggest radio affiliates? If NBC News Radio is indeed drawing from TV reports, wouldn’t those be from NBC affiliates?

I am glad ‘BZ was able to maintain a partnership with WBZ-TV, though.

Aside: I still don’t see why they singled out Channel 4’s Jon Keller to cut ties with.
 
nowradioguy said:
Can’t quite buy that, especially when reports emanate from reporters of WCBS-TV, WBBM-TV, or KCBS-TV.
If they’re using, say, CBS News Radio, wouldn’t the latter be able to draw from their biggest radio affiliates?
Click to expand...

They don't own them, so they'd have to pay for using them. They already own the TV audio. The TV side shares local TV reports, and it sounds like the radio network is just grabbing on to those same reports. There have been a lot of cutbacks at all of these news networks. I've heard the radio network has cut back on the number of exclusive radio reporters. Same with ABC News Radio.
 
TheBigA said:
They don't own them, so they'd have to pay for using them. They already own the TV audio. The TV side shares local TV reports, and it sounds like the radio network is just grabbing on to those same reports. There have been a lot of cutbacks at all of these news networks. I've heard the radio network has cut back on the number of exclusive radio reporters. Same with ABC News Radio.
Click to expand...

The connection between CBS News Radio and the local O&O CBS TV stations makes sense, A; I guess I didn't think this through well enough.

It's too bad that CBS News Radio couldn't cut some sort of deal with the former CBS O&O all news radio stations, at least.

What a weird business radio has become.
 
nowradioguy said:
It's too bad that CBS News Radio couldn't cut some sort of deal with the former CBS O&O all news radio stations, at least
Click to expand...

That's the kind of thing NPR does, if you listen to All Things Considered or Morning Edition. They'll often rely on a local "member station," as they say, to cover a story. But they have a budget for that kind of thing, and those stories go through the same editorial process as regular NPR stories.
 
early days of CNN Radio Network

When I worked in Atlanta, in the early days of CNN Headline News (with the original newsradio format)
the TV audio was split off to radio stations, in a half-hour wheel. Writers had to be careful to write copy
that did not refer to the visuals.
 
WLYNWAZNgm said:
When I worked in Atlanta, in the early days of CNN Headline News (with the original newsradio format)
the TV audio was split off to radio stations, in a half-hour wheel. Writers had to be careful to write copy
that did not refer to the visuals.
Click to expand...
Yes, I remember the old CNN Headline News well. To identify the network during the newscast, instead of saying "You're watching...", the anchor said, "This is CNN Headline News."
 
Simulcasting TV news on radio:"'If you're in this section in blue you'll be getting snow..here in green, rain."
Satellite radio has simulcasts of TV of course including Fox News, CNN etc. One night when I worked the night shift they had coverage of tsunami in Japan.

Didn't WCRN simulcast NECN or Ch 25 morning news? Ch 5 on WCAP. etc
 
WCRN was simulcasting Boston 25 news from 4-10 a.m.

It was cut back to 4-6 a.m. last September when they debuted Talk of the Commonwealth with Hank Stolz and Ben White.
 
Other stations in New England that have aired TV audio as formats in the past.

From the early 90s until 1997 (when the station was sold) we had a station here in Hartford that was a mix of CNN Headline News, ESPN Radio, and play-by-play of The Red Sox AA Minor League team The New Britain Red Sox and New England Patriots football. The station was called "News-Sports 910 CNN." And sorry for going off topic and for a couple of years the Patriots were also on WZMX 93.7 FM and they'd have this real long station ID. "You're listening to the WBCN New England Patriots Rock Radio Network on 93.7 the 70s Station WZMX Hartford and News-Sports 910 CNN WNEZ New Britain/Hartford." Since 2001 WZMX has been hip-hop formated Hot 93.7 and 910 has been Spanish Hits as La Mega 910 WLAT. 910 got an FM translator in 2017.


Then from December 2001 until February 2002 990 AM WNTY in Southington, CT aired the FOX News Channel 24/7 outside of play-by-play from Westwood One and the brokered ethnic shows on Sundays. That was just a place-holder format until their new format News/Talk/Infotainment launched. WNTY has been Oldies - evolved to Classic Hits since 2015. They got an FM translator in 2016.

Another 990 AM - WALE in the Providence market was airing the audio from ABC 6 WLNE's all news cable station for part of their broadcasting day.

1180 AM in the Westerly Market was airing the audio of CNN Headline News as WCNX. Since 2013 or 2014 they've been doing Oldies as WSKP Kool 1180. They added an FM translator in 2016 as well. They run the same exact programming as WNTY, except with their own commercials targeting Westerly/Southeast Connecticut. They run CBS news hourly while WNTY runs Westwood One News.
 
Rochester NH's WPKX 930--
>>Another sale, this time to Bear Broadcasting Company, followed in 1990.. Bear again changed the station's call letters and format, this time to WZNN and all-news, largely via a simulcast of CNN Headline News.
(Wiki.)

Later WZNN applied to move to the expanded band, at 1700 with calls WAYU
but I don't think that ever happened.
 
TheBigA said:
That's the kind of thing NPR does, if you listen to All Things Considered or Morning Edition. They'll often rely on a local "member station," as they say, to cover a story. But they have a budget for that kind of thing, and those stories go through the same editorial process as regular NPR stories.
Click to expand...

So, A, it would seem, at a first reading, that ere too long, the only broadcast operations that would have what we know as a "news organization" might be the TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox); many local TV stations, particularly network affiliates; WTOP-FM; the former CBS all news stations; NPR; Westwood One (powered by CNN); and the Associated Press.

iHeart's Total Traffic, etc. is not a news operation, and especially after the recent gutting of WBZ, which of their other news/talk stations in their stable have a news operation? Am I sounding pessimistic or asymptotically approaching the truth of the situation?
 
nowradioguy said:
iHeart's Total Traffic, etc. is not a news operation,
Click to expand...

Depends on what you call a "news operation." They call it Total Traffic & News. They do traffic reports and they read scripted news.

The coverage of news is an expensive and complicated thing. There's a reason why all 24/7 news radio doesn't exist in major cities such as Atlanta and Houston. There's a reason why Boston can only do it in the daytime. It's expensive. People cost money, and they get more expensive as they age. So if you can access the same news from reporters at other places, such as TV or a network, that's a good thing. You can have five reporters cover the same story, and they'll all pretty much give you the same basic story. How much do you want for free?

There was a time when newspapers could own radio stations. In the 70s, they passed a law forbidding that. Too bad, because in the few places where it's been allowed to happen, it's been great for news radio. Last year, the FCC attempted to repeal that law, but a citizen's group sued, and they had to reinstate it. As a result we have newspapers going out of business, and radio stations needing news. Until that situation gets fixed, the future for news radio isn't very good.
 
TheBigA said:
Depends on what you call a "news operation." They call it Total Traffic & News. They do traffic reports and they read scripted news.

The coverage of news is an expensive and complicated thing. There's a reason why all 24/7 news radio doesn't exist in major cities such as Atlanta and Houston. There's a reason why Boston can only do it in the daytime. It's expensive. People cost money, and they get more expensive as they age. So if you can access the same news from reporters at other places, such as TV or a network, that's a good thing. You can have five reporters cover the same story, and they'll all pretty much give you the same basic story. How much do you want for free?

There was a time when newspapers could own radio stations. In the 70s, they passed a law forbidding that. Too bad, because in the few places where it's been allowed to happen, it's been great for news radio. Last year, the FCC attempted to repeal that law, but a citizen's group sued, and they had to reinstate it. As a result we have newspapers going out of business, and radio stations needing news. Until that situation gets fixed, the future for news radio isn't very good.
Click to expand...

Cross-ownership of newspapers and radio and/or TV stations could breathe new life into some papers and news radio stations that are falling on hard times. The synergy alone could result in less expenses and still maintain quality coverage.

Just my $0.02-worth.
 
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