• 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

WSB-TV election coverage preemption may backfire

jal41

jal41

WSB-TV is preempting ABC primetime tonight (not news at all in itself) for election coverage at 10 PM. But this time, they are prempting a live premiere of a reality show ("The One", an American Idol rip-off). The premiere airs 2 hours from 9-11. WSB will air a Clark Howard special at 9 to fill the time. ABC is going to reair the premiere tomorrow night nationwide 8-10.

If WAGA preempted "American Idol", station management and personnel would have to go into hiding because they would be recieving death threats left and right. After their preemption scare in 1997 involving a CMN telethon and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup (which never aired in Atlanta that year), WAGA never preempted again (except for Atlanta Falcons preseason games.

A couple of weeks ago, WXIA was unable to show the Centinneal Park fireworks live after being postponed due to rain because of the premiere of "America's Got Talent". If it wasn't for the WWE last Saturday, WXIA might have broadcast the events surrounding the 10th anniversary of the 1996 Olympics live. (WXIA had their premption scare in 2003 involving the CSA's, "West Wing", and WPXA not being on satellite. I made an earlier posting involving that scare as well as the WAGA '97 scare.) Tonight, WXIA is netcasting their primetime coverage on their website.

I think that there could be a backlash for this. We have to live with the fact that WSB does not aired Jimmy Kimmel (although that may change soon). But while I am no fan of reality TV, a lot of people are.

I said it once and I will say it again, WSB-TV is unfit to be a network affiliate. I would like to know when their contract with ABC is up, so myself and other people can lobby ABC to drop WSB. WSB would do fine as an indie, especially if it puts a heavy emphasis on news. If it can work for KTVK, KRON, KCAL, and WJXT, it can work for WSB.
 
I would only call the Phoenix situation as a success for a long-time major network affiliate going independent.

KRON in San Franscisco is in bad shape since ditching NBC and WJXT in Jacksonville has seen better days. KCAL has always been independent so that is different.
 
Frankly, I don't think WSB preempts ABC nearly
as much as it did NBC; look at some of my postings
of Atlanta schedules from the '50s, '60s, and '70s.
And I don't think you'll ever get ABC to drop WSB
voluntarily; it's probably the network's strongest
major-market affiliate (I'm not counting the o&os
here), and as one ABC executive said when Channel
2 switched to ABC in 1980, "It's as good as having
another o&o." You might think NBC would take the
money from the sale of its Columbus, Providence,
Raleigh-Durham, and Birmingham properties and
buy Channel 2, but Gannett is tight with NBC and
I think both companies are happy to keep Channel
11 where it is. Nor have I seen indications that CBS
wants it, either; they are rumored to be interested
in WIAT/42 in Birmingham, the station Media General
gave up to buy former NBC o&o WVTM/13.

So you just need to tolerate a little inconvenience
now and then; obviously an election matters.
 
Likely WSB felt, since ABC was re-airing the premiere later in the week anyway, that they could pre-empt the premiere of the new (as yet, at the time of preemption, un-rated) "Idol" rip-off without suffering any undue backlash.

Being that the Georgia Lieutenant Governor's primary race was one of the most watched in the country, it makes since from a news standpoint to pre-empt.

Comparing the pre-emption of "The One" to a hypothetical "Idol" pre-emption from WAGA is a mistake. "The One" is a untested new series that is unlikely to have anywhere near the ratings impact "Idol." In fact, ratings for the show were extremely anemic (a 1.1 according to Nielsen, so bad that whatever was showing on Univision scored better).
 
True about the lieutenant governor's race; one of the
candidates was Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition.
He lost, and Time magazine covered it as well as
George Wallace Jr.'s loss in Alabama. Channel 2
obviously felt this was newsworthy enough to pre-empt
ABC. I'm sure the FCC will agree come license renewal
time.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom