• 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

WNEP'S Obession with Schuykill county etc.

S

SteveEdwards

Guest
Serious question to ask the readers and doers of Northeastern P.A. Again for those
who may question my remarks as a unkowning person of media, just say without all the dragging on that I worked the industry for years. Very familiar with the trade. Now with that out of the way, something has eaten at me like a ripped eared cat on a pork chop bone in the garbage can on a winter's morning.

Why must WNEP continue to obbess on Schuykill County, Frackville, Pottsville, Williamsport, Lycoming County, places so far away from population, ratings books,<---that count, and areas away from the Scranton Wilkes Barre market. Lets face it Scranton and Wilkes Barre proper PAY the bill for and with the advertising for this station! Why would a television station that makes its money and income from a certain area and has a license for this market pretty much IGNORE its core audience so it can lather an area that has pretty much no population. Certainly NO advertisers, or that have the money to advertise anyways and drive all around these remote God forsaken areas and then report every cow tipping that took place?

Somehow Im trying to make my point. Are you folks getting what Im trying to express? In short, WNEP cover the area that pays your bills! Why would a Television station does such a odd thing. I have a theory and here goes, WNEP dominates Scranton and Wilkes Barre.. OWNS IT with the numbers. People will watch them no matter what is on the channel, but why?? Because WNEP knows that the DRONES in the metro will watch them, so lets try to win some cume by pretending to be in another market all together. I must stop, I beseech thee to ask of this board to give another reason, and if you cant give a valid reason, PLEASE take the time to express how much it eats away at you as well.
 
It's not just that county, its in every county. Here are several stories that could air any night on WNEP-TV:

IN COLUMBIA COUNTY, TWO ORANGEVILLE WOMEN WERE KILLED IN THIS ONE CAR CRASH, WHEN THE VICTIM'S VEHICLE LEFT THE ROAD ON ROUTE 487 JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CLEAN UP CREWS SWEPT AWAY THE PUDDLES OF BLOOD AND THE BROKEN PIECES OF GLASS IN COLUMBIA COUNTY.

IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY, THE FUNDING HAS DRIED UP FOR THE NEW VISITORS CENTER, AND TODAY COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCED A DRAMATIC CUTBACK IN OPERATING HOURS, THIS DESPITE AN INFLUX OF FUNDING FROM THE STATE. RESIDENTS AND VISITORS WONDER WHEN THE DOORS WILL SHUT IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY.

MEANTIME IN LUZERNE COUNTY, A DORRANCE MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO SKIN HIS WIFE; SHOWN HERE IS 37 YEAR OLD LESTER LUTZ, WHO IS BEING HELD WITHOUT BAIL FOR THE SLASHING INCIDENT IN LUZERNE COUNTY.


County, County, County. And they go out of their way to grab the end line of the story by the tail and bring it all back to the name of the county. Plus, the name of the county is on the bottom of the screen while the footage runs.
 
> I have a theory and here goes, WNEP dominates Scranton and Wilkes Barre.. OWNS IT with the numbers. People will watch them no matter what is on the channel, but why?? Because WNEP knows that the DRONES in the metro will watch them, so lets try to win some cume by pretending to be in another market all together. I must stop, I beseech thee to ask of this board to give another reason, and if you cant give a valid reason, PLEASE take the time to express how much it eats away at you as well.

This is not one of the things that eats away at me, nor does it keep me
up at nights. That said, I agree with your theory. They are so far ahead
in ratings that even when they've had an "off" book, they still have double
the numbers of the other two stations. There is a virtual hall of fame of
quality broadcasters and journalists who have anchored the news against them
and have come up short. Gary Essex was a weatherman while Nolan Johannes
hosted a Dialing For Dollars movie in Buffalo. These guys were the core
anchors for years at The News Station. They beat out people like Keith
Martin, Larry Sporano, Debbie Dunleavy and others schooled in the news
business. I think they do it, to, as you said, build numbers, cume so that
they will have dominant numbers. Interesting that you brought up sales, because those numbers, even in the outlying areas add weight to a sales presentation.
So even though the bulk of the local advertisers might be in Wilkes Barre/
Scranton, pulling in bigger numbers in outlying areas is a major selling
point with national advertisers.
Yonkstur
 
Re: Two things...

> 1. Who cares?
>
> 2. See if there's a www.tv-info.com. Try Google.
>
Now, now. Be nice. It's the holidays!
Yonkstur
 
Re: Two things...

> 1. Who cares?
>
> 2. See if there's a www.tv-info.com. Try Google.
>

Your a very simpled minded person - With limited ability to think deeply
And if you dont have something to ad to the subject creativly except insults
then dont.
Your terrbily obvious young fellow
 
Re: Two things...

> Your a very simpled minded person - With limited ability to
> think deeply
> And if you dont have something to ad to the subject
> creativly except insults
> then dont.
> Your terrbily obvious young fellow


Yeah, I think it's obvious I'M the "simpled minded person" here. I'll strive to "ad to the subject creativly" next time. Thanks for the advice Yoda.
 
Re: Two things...

> > 1. Who cares?
> >
> > 2. See if there's a www.tv-info.com. Try Google.
> >
> Now, now. Be nice. It's the holidays!
> Yonkstur
>

Back to the topic at hand... Schuylkill, Lycoming, Clinton, Carbon, Northumberland and the others ARE part of the television market. Yes, those people get diaries, and they watch WNEP. Why? Because "Lackawanna County's News Source" and the "official Luzerne County Courthouse" station don't cover those counties. 22/28 doesn't have the bodies to cover the ADI (area of dominant influence) so 16 goes out there, gets all the viewers, and drives more nails into the Nexstar coffin. 16 does just enough to keep WB/Scr. satisfied (it could do a lot more) but it cleans up in the boonies. 16 isn't that great, but this isn't rocket science. Why can't Nexstar figure this out?
 
Central Pennsylvania is also included as part of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton DMA. Ignoring that area is ignoring plenty of potential viewers and advertising dollars. And it's not as if WNEP is ignoring its "core audience." Last I checked, they were still in Moosic, still covering the NEPA metro areas. Besides, the news doesn't just happen in Wilkes-Barre or Scranton.
 
Re: Two things...

> > 1. Who cares?
> >
> > 2. See if there's a www.tv-info.com. Try Google.
> >
> Now, now. Be nice. It's the holidays!
> Yonkstur
>
This guy doesn't know how to be nice--he refuses to work and play well with others. Ignore him and maybe he'll go away.
 
Re: Two things...

> Now, now. Be nice. It's the holidays!
> Yonkstur

Always the calming voice of reason Yonk.

Didn't see anything pertaining to radio in the original post though, did you? So maybe Aramondo is a cantankerous sort, but he wasn't wrong, was he?
 
Re: Two things...

News! Schmooze! Booze! Cooze! This thread is about as much fun as a shotgun blast to the face!
 
Re: Two things...

News! Schmooze! Booze! Cooze! This thread is about as much
fun as a shotgun blast to the face!

Which now can be corrected with a "new" Face Transplant as done in the last few days in France.
 
Re: Two things...

> Back to the topic at hand... Schuylkill, Lycoming, Clinton,
> Carbon, Northumberland and the others ARE part of the
> television market. Yes, those people get diaries, and they
> watch WNEP. Why? Because "Lackawanna County's News Source"
> and the "official Luzerne County Courthouse" station don't
> cover those counties. 22/28 doesn't have the bodies to
> cover the ADI (area of dominant influence) so 16 goes out
> there, gets all the viewers, and drives more nails into the
> Nexstar coffin. 16 does just enough to keep WB/Scr.
> satisfied (it could do a lot more) but it cleans up in the
> boonies. 16 isn't that great, but this isn't rocket
> science. Why can't Nexstar figure this out?
>
I think it is really funny that WNEP spends as much time on Schuylkill in particular. They can't go a single newscast and not mention something about Schuylkill county. You WILL go some nights without hearing a single story on their newscast about Lackawanna and Luzerne. Recently I was heading down Rte 61 towards Reading and had to have a chuckle because all along the way in the county of WNEP's obsession they have township markers that are all sponsored by WGAL TV8 in Lancaster. These people can get Harrisburg/Lancaster and probably Allentown stations and could give two "you know what's" about the newsteam that's "Proud to Serve"
 
My Two Cents on the Subject

Well, here's another wrinkle to add to the equation. I am, in fact, a Schuylkill County resident, and there are several very rural parts of the county that don't get cable TV. People use the Dish or Direct TV. The Dish or Direct TV only give you the stations in your market and NO out-of-market stations. So while you are correct that people, especially in the southern half of the county, tend to watch Channel 8 out of Lancaster quite a bit, that's only the folks who have cable. If you have the dish, you're stuck with 16, 22, and 28. (And of course 56, which is the same thing practically as 16 when it comes to news).

Another interesting fact about TV viewership in Schuylkill. People tend to be solidly loyal to the Scranton news stations from Orwigsburg on NORTH. But those extreme southern fringe towns like Port Clinton, Deer Lake, Auburn, Summit Station, Pine Grove, New Ringold, etc. tend to have a lot of Channel 8 (Lancaster), Channel 6 (Philadelphia), and Channel 69 (Allentown) viewers, as the local cable companies usually have these channels thrown in there, as well. But recall, that is just the cable folks. Dish folks (even in these areas) are stuck with Scranton news. I guess it's just about territory given that people in that southern fringe of Schuylkill tend to work in Berks, Lehigh, or Dauphin County (different TV markets) while people from Orwigsburg on north tend to stay in Schuylkill County (or to another county to the north).

Then there's always the antenna factor. There are STILL some people in Schuylkill that use antennas on their roof. I see a lot of antennas in the southern fringe of Schuylkill pointed to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or Lancaster. VERY few towards Scranton UNTIL I get above Orwigsburg; then the antennas start pointing north. It's a fascinating science.

That all aside, I agree 100 percent about WNEP's love for Schuylkill County, but I guess that's because people in the northern and central part of the county love them. I see WNEP on in a lot of places in that part of the county. It's nice to live in a market that cares about the fringe counties of their market. Markets like Philly spend 90% of their time on Philly, and only minimal time (if it is a major story) on fringe counties.

Last note, since dropping the moniker "Lackawanna County's News Source" and the name "Channel 22" and simply becoming "WYOU News," I have noticed MUCH more mention (though not as much as WNEP) of Schuylkill County on WYOU. In fact, I've noticed some Schuylkill things on WYOU that WNEP has not mentioned (or at least I missed it).

North-east PA is an interesting market to say the least.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom