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WKTV Getting New CG
- Thread starter cnymike
- Start date
Are they still running shoulder boxes and full-screen stillstores out of the same machine? It's always a good laugh when they have a box shot, and they just let the stillstore "key" the fullscreen over the anchor. People at home probably can't tell the difference, but TV people can spot an el-cheapo move like that a mile away.
Hopefully they were smart enough to get a CG that's HD-ready, even though local origination of HD-anything-else is still probably several more years away for any station in that market. Heck, even Syracuse doesn't have it's act together yet.
Hopefully they were smart enough to get a CG that's HD-ready, even though local origination of HD-anything-else is still probably several more years away for any station in that market. Heck, even Syracuse doesn't have it's act together yet.
Speaking of graphics, I don't know if this is still the case, but when I watched WWNY/WNYF Watertown, I noticed that their graphics have "missing pixels". You can see the video underneath their lower third graphics in small speckles. This is also true for some of their promos that display the station's logo. I had a screencap of it around here somewhere. If I locate it, I'll post it.
Don't expect a new CG system for WKTV. I hear that's an end of the year project at best. I do want to point something out. The crew at WKTV is given the task of stretching very little resource into more local news that anyone would expect for a market the size of Utica. Things get rough around the edges thanks to parkervision, but for what they are given, they turn out a great deal.
To do turn out a great deal, but they turned out a great deal better before Boston Ventures bought their parent company. There was a time when WKTV's product was waaaaay ahead of where it should have been. Today, I'd say it's sunk down, not just to where it should be, but actually a little below.
Without Bill Worden and Vic Vetters, it would be just another small-market station full of 20-somethings on their way elsewhere, plus Joleen Ferris.
Even though they still do a lot, the effort just isn't as strong as it would be, if there were a competitor in town. I'm not even really sure News 10 Now can be considered a competitor. Once Uticans realize it's just a wheel of the same crap every hour, the novelty will wear off and WKTV can get lazy again.
Without Bill Worden and Vic Vetters, it would be just another small-market station full of 20-somethings on their way elsewhere, plus Joleen Ferris.
Even though they still do a lot, the effort just isn't as strong as it would be, if there were a competitor in town. I'm not even really sure News 10 Now can be considered a competitor. Once Uticans realize it's just a wheel of the same crap every hour, the novelty will wear off and WKTV can get lazy again.
Yeah...Boston Ventures won't sell them anytime soon. They provide the bread & butter $$ for the group.
uticatvguy said:Yeah...Boston Ventures won't sell them anytime soon. They provide the bread & butter $$ for the group.
That's too bad for WKTV -- at least in terms of being the "successful" station who gets rewarded for its efforts by having its profits used to subsidize some group of clueless morons in a crappy station elsewhere. Considering how long WKTV has been using their current set, music and graphics, they're overdue for brand new everything. (And I wish they'd go back to having their news opens done outside, rather than the cheesy in-house opens they've been using for the past few years. Dreaming, I know, but I had to say it.)
Even if WKTV were for sale, I'd NEVER put money on Hearst-Argyle. Of the 26 TV stations they own, all but two are in the top 100 markets. Beyond that, they own in markets 102 and 124. I highly doubt they'd be interested in market #169.
Just to Be Fair...
I understand the WKTV's product has declined in the past few years, but what about their revenues? I know that radio in Utica-Rome has devolved financially to the level of penny-stocks. Has TV fared better? How does TV revenue there compare to the levels of 10 years ago?
I understand the WKTV's product has declined in the past few years, but what about their revenues? I know that radio in Utica-Rome has devolved financially to the level of penny-stocks. Has TV fared better? How does TV revenue there compare to the levels of 10 years ago?
Well, it's not that cut and dry. Just because WKTV is the only Utica station with local news doesn't mean they've got a license to print money -- or at least to print as much as they could 10-15 years ago.
All TV stations are feeling more and more of the pinch from both cable/satellite and the internet. The more choices people have, the harder it is for local TV stations to keep their audiences intact. It was bad enough when cable had 36 channels, then 72... and now you have hundreds of competitors with digital cable and satellite.
Yes, WKTV is still the clear leader in local news -- but that's only because they're the only choice. Even though they've eliminated a lot of expenses by installing ParkerVision, eliminating several of their most experienced (and highly-paid) off-camera positions, and replacing outgoing talent with cheaper, less-experienced rookies... I think the shoddier product is also turning viewers away. Where I live, both Syracuse and Utica locals are offered on cable, and given the choice, I'd much rather watch Syracuse. Ten years ago, however, and I would have put WKTV on equal (or very close to it) footing with Syracuse. If were right in Utica, without access to WSTM or WSYR... I'd probably wind up just not watching the news unless there was something specific I wanted to see.
Prime time is another ballgame. The trends there go back and forth. Affiliates have no control over how good or bad their network programming is. NBC had those killer Thursday nights back in the days of Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld and ER. Nowadays, it's Fox cleaning house with American Idol. I would hope WFXV is doing all they can to milk Idol's success for all it's worth while the going is still good -- the novelty wore off for me after one season, and I'm still hoping the rest of the nation will get sick of it too, someday.
As for radio going into penny-stocks... I don't think Utica is to blame. In Regent's latest quarterly report, the head honcho said Utica's revenue was up over last year. Regent's problem lies in the fact they paid a ton of money to buy a cluster of stations in Buffalo, when they probably shouldn't have. Just goes back to the same thing I said about WKTV yesterday -- no matter how well you do in your own market, there's always a chance you'll suffer anyway, thanks to poor performance by some other cluster elsewhere.
All TV stations are feeling more and more of the pinch from both cable/satellite and the internet. The more choices people have, the harder it is for local TV stations to keep their audiences intact. It was bad enough when cable had 36 channels, then 72... and now you have hundreds of competitors with digital cable and satellite.
Yes, WKTV is still the clear leader in local news -- but that's only because they're the only choice. Even though they've eliminated a lot of expenses by installing ParkerVision, eliminating several of their most experienced (and highly-paid) off-camera positions, and replacing outgoing talent with cheaper, less-experienced rookies... I think the shoddier product is also turning viewers away. Where I live, both Syracuse and Utica locals are offered on cable, and given the choice, I'd much rather watch Syracuse. Ten years ago, however, and I would have put WKTV on equal (or very close to it) footing with Syracuse. If were right in Utica, without access to WSTM or WSYR... I'd probably wind up just not watching the news unless there was something specific I wanted to see.
Prime time is another ballgame. The trends there go back and forth. Affiliates have no control over how good or bad their network programming is. NBC had those killer Thursday nights back in the days of Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld and ER. Nowadays, it's Fox cleaning house with American Idol. I would hope WFXV is doing all they can to milk Idol's success for all it's worth while the going is still good -- the novelty wore off for me after one season, and I'm still hoping the rest of the nation will get sick of it too, someday.
As for radio going into penny-stocks... I don't think Utica is to blame. In Regent's latest quarterly report, the head honcho said Utica's revenue was up over last year. Regent's problem lies in the fact they paid a ton of money to buy a cluster of stations in Buffalo, when they probably shouldn't have. Just goes back to the same thing I said about WKTV yesterday -- no matter how well you do in your own market, there's always a chance you'll suffer anyway, thanks to poor performance by some other cluster elsewhere.
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