From the previous post about the imminent announcement of a WTVJ buyer someone left this comment:
Companies that are out:
Sunbeam (bid was too low)
Gannett (WTVJ GM said the buyer will be a company she never worked for before, so they are out)
Media General (financial trouble)
Hearst-Argyle (Company has no CEO & no money)
FOX (Pulled out)
Disney-ABC (not buying anymore TV stations)The split is still an option. While Sunbeam couldn’t afford to buy WTVJ, Post-Newsweek still could. Other possible contenders include COX and Tribune.
Jodie:
It needs to be Belo or Cox, for the sake of WTVJ, its employees and it legacy.
Several other visitors have echoed the sentiment that Cox and Belo would be the best thing to happen to WTVJ.
I’ve read a few things about Belo and it looked to me like they run their stations well. KHOU (Houston), WFAA (Dallas) and KING (Seattle) are at the top of the ratings and come off as pretty serious, newsy, stations. If they were to buy NBC6 it would be interesting to see if their approach works in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale market
update 7/2: someone sent this Broadcasting & Cable blog post from May 28th which says Hearst-Argyle and some private equity companies were looking at WVIT in Hartford, CT which NBC put out for sale in March along with WTVJ.
If Belo buy WTVJ, I am sure they will get rid of the major problem that is killing NBC6: the people who run the place. They need to fire the news director, the GM, several producers and most of the executive producers. They also need to fire the managing editor and restaff the entire assignment desk with people who know how to find good stories and run the ship. NBC will never be number 1 again until they get experience back in the newsroom. They also need to fire some of the inexperienced reporters..I;m sure you all know who they are. Then, they need to promote people who have brought ratings to the table: i.e. Amata Sone, Joel Conable, Pam Gigante, Jeff Burnside, Ari Odzer. These are the peole who bring a different look to NBC and make stories interesting while many other pole there just do the status quo. WTVJ sucks becasue of bad management and also becasue of bad primetime shows. It can be number one again, but you first have to get real news people to understand what makes a great news station,
hearst isn’t broke and i understand they are a real contender… makes sense.. they have WPBF in W Palm and WESH in orlando… would beef up florida for them.. allowing them to consolidate resources…
also have strong stations like WCVB boston, WBAL baltimore, KCRA sacramento, those 3 all winners in their cities… also WDSU new orleans, WYFF greenville, and a couple of small ones…
Hearst-Argyle has a CEO. Hearst Corporation (owns 80% of HA) just lost their CEO. Hearst-Argyle has cash, and so does Hearst. Poster has no idea what they are talking about.
Now, will Hearst-Argyle buy WTVJ? No idea. But my money is on a private company. Could be wrong though…only a few really know.
bgerran brings up good points. wtvj’s newsroom has to be, and most likely will be gutted. i don’t think they “suck” but the people there aren’t getting the job done and have had plenty of time now. they do have some good reporters to build on and i think they should bring tony segreto back in a more visible, prominent position. how in the world they made jackie nespral their number one anchor, and solo???!! at 11:00 i’ll never know. Tony is likeable, fast on his feet, and a seasoned pro who has always taken the job very seriously. you’re also right about wtvj suffering from nbc’s mediocre lineup. someone please fire jeff zucker now! lastly wtvj has to innovate and stop trying to copy channel 7. joel cheatwood ruined south florida television by pandering to the lowest common denominator and channel 7 has happily followed that path ever since. wtvj should try taking the high road and see if it can’t find a niche. give people a compelling reason to watch tv, give them something they can’t get on the internet. what that is i don’t know, but when someone figures it out, they will be the ones to save the local news business.
ANON is right. WTVJ needs to get rid of Nespral. She is pretty but nothing more. Why isn’t there a good anchor who has news experience with her? They put that Demarco guy at 7 with here, but he’s a tool. He acts juyst like a news anchor and it doesn’t seem like he has any understanding of the South Florida market. Maybe he needs time, but he shouldn’t be anchoring yet. Tony is going to retire. He has to. He’s been there for years. I would think Bob Mayer would too. I saw Pam Gigante anchoring the six and seven. She was great… hot too. What if they put her with thst Joel guy? Tow good looking peoiple with experience. Didn’t Joel come from Los Angeles or New York? Amara Sohn should do a newscast as well. Maybe Demarco can anchor with her to gain experience. It seems like black people move up a little too fast at NBC.
I enjoy seeing Tony Segreto do the news. He just seems like one of those cool guys you could drink a beer with.
I gave up on NBC 6 ages ago. It’s a shame.
If Belo (or Cox) were to acquire WTVJ… I could picture sweeping changes. Again, I believe either company could give the station the turn-around it needs… attempt to rid WTVJ of its “bottom dweller” ratings status.
I could picture the 5PM news making a come-back, the 7PM news remaining intact… reshuffled anchor teams (Jackie Nespral has got to go)… etc.
My dream NBC 6 anchor teams…
Morning & Midday news: Bob Mayer & Kelly Craig
5PM & 7PM news: Julia Yarbough & Joel Connable
6PM, 10PM, & 11PM news: Tony Segreto & Pam Giganti
Weekend mornings: undecided at the moment
Weekend evenings: Amara Sohn & Demarco Morgan
Just my thoughts.
Here’s the way things should be at WTVJ:
Bob Mayer and Tony Segreto will retire soon.
Morning and Mid-day – Pam Gigante and Joel Conable
5pm will come back with Julia and Jackie
6pm will be Julia
7pm will be cancelled – veyr low ratings and dropping fast
11pm – Jackie
Weeekends nights – Demarco Morgan
Weekend Mornings – Amara Sohn
Based on what? Get it straight–Jackie is ratings poison, and she isn’t very good! Pretty yes, but really now…how many more cellar-dwelling books do you need? Jackie needs to go, along with the other dead wood, especially Willard Shepard, who should fly jets fulltime. All the other folks have screen presence and varying degrees of gravitas, so they should try Pam in prime time (I’ll miss waking up to her) and keep Patricia Andreu in AM with Bob, who should have a seat as long as he wants because, unlike Jackie and apparently some of you producers, Bob knows a fact when it bites him on the rear. It’s not only the delivery of your product that needs shaping up, but the content. This market does not need another 7, and maybe if one station tried a little journalism instead of an endless onslaught of self-promotion and cross-promotion, they might be surprised at the results.
Amen Chuck, you nailed it. with perhaps the exception of patrisha. i don’t see her as anchor material, but i agree 100% with everything else. why does it seem so obvious to us but the people in charge don’t get it?
Because the suits have a “vision” and since they have that “vision” they must go with it. If its not as they like it, the whole place is shit and they won’t be satisfied untill its completed. TVJ really shot themselves in the foot with the automation system. To this day, people are getting trained, they still don’t know what they’re doing.
The execs at WTVJ love Jackie. They always tell us that she is the best known on air talent in Miami. Tat’s why she is the main anchor. Our execs also love minorites. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we have heard that Tisha Lewis may end up anchoring along withy Demarco and Gray Hall. It’s funny, how even when ratings drop tosn when Demarco or Tisha anchor, the managers don’t care. WTVJ has no identity.
brandon, not sure what the automation system has to do with anything. the launch of automation happened at the same time wtvj went hd and i’ve heard nothing but positive things from people about how good they look. as much as i’m sure the news dept. would like a scapegoat, i don’t think automation is it. the shows don’t have as many nice effects as they used to, but i don’t think the viewers are watching or not watching because of fewer effects, a few audio glitches here and there, etc.
i think the people running the automation are doing a very good job. to say they don’t know what they’re doing is ridiculous. as usual, wtvj is on the bleeding edge of new technology, and they have done a much better job than some of the other stations that are doing it. as with any major change, there are going to be growing pains, and it is a constant learning process. luckily they have the production staff to pull it off. yes wtvj has some considerable problems, but control room automation is at the bottom of the list.
Tisha Lewis anchoring?? I’m very loyal to WTVJ, but I will stop watching if she is on the anchor desk. Can’t STAND her. And I wish they’d give Tony Segreto a bigger role… I watched him growing up and trust him the most.
Tony Segreto is ready to retire. He has talked about ti with the producers and reporters. he has done a wonderful job, but he wants to spend more time with his family. As for the automated system. The peoplke are not flawed, the system is. Once again, BC paid lots of money for a system that trims manpower and saves money over time, but with all the effects and camera moves, the automated system can’t do it. Dumb managers once again. When will soemone high up realize that WTVJ has been killed by idiots who runt he place, not the people down below. If reports did such a bad job they would be fired, but managers keep getting promoted. It probably has to do with the fact that managers make no money and who wants all the headaches… not creative people. Incompetance always gets promoted.
As a Florida native I have watched WTVJ for the last 40 odd years and have seen a steady decline. Instead of getting rid of Michael Williams it was Jackie who had to go. The decline has been happening for a number of years now, and sometimes you wonder what some of the other reporters are doing as they aren’t seen for weeks and we see the same ones over and over again. Hopefully Pam or Julia will be slotted for the evening news they have a much better presence and connection with the viewing public. Kelly Craig would be great in the morning she is such a laugh and would pair off well with Bob. Still miss Martha S she was a great reporter and truly could have anchored without issue.
Regardless of who’s doing what, Channel 6 news in HD is absolutely stunning – and they are the only major English station that doesn’t distort the picture with stretching. So I’ll watch 6 and flip to 4 or 10 during the commercials, then go back to 6. If Belkys isn’t on I’ll flip to 7 once in a while.
Well, Amara is anchoring. She does weeekend evenings. I don’t think she can handle it, though. On one night, Saturday at 11:00, she started dying of laughter while telling a story of swimming lessons that are available for free in Broward County. She started laughing when she read “8 children so far have drowned in Broward county” She was right next to Joe Rose when it happened. She tried to pass it off that it was a chairs fault for making her laugh, but she was laughing way too hard for it to be a chair malfunctioning that made her laugh.
Well, tonight Jackie was absolutely effusive about the Rodriguez divorce brief being available online, and remarked how “juicy” it is. I’m no prude, but divorce when kids are involved is not amusing, and frankly, everyone in media should back the hell off the Rodriguez case. It is not significant news, dammit, and that’s the whole problem with the news business in general. So stupid giggling must be a key to the NBC approach to news. I guess. Olbermann gets it right…goofy when called for, serious when proper. Gee, a sports guy who gets it. Maybe Segreto is the answer.
Amara doesn’t do weekends. That guy Joel does. I think he’s been on vacation. I think Joel is one of the best talents WTVJ has. I watched him do breaking news tonight on the plane crash and he knows his stuff. He was very calm and explained what kind of plane it was and how they are often home built. He seemed to know a lot and didn’t yell like most anchors do. I think Joel should be a main anchor. Hopefully when WTVJ is sold, they will put him on a weekday newscast everyday. I think he is excellent. He looks great in HD as well.
Tony and Bob are nearing retirement… they have yet to formally announce it.
Of the other WTVJ news staff. Viewers want to see… Jackie ousted, Pam promoted to evening news, Julia and Kelly sticking around, and Joel promoted to weekday news. Again, I’m hopeful that the new owner will give WTVJ the turn-around it needs.
Back on topic.
Post-Newsweek is buying the station.
Not sure how they are handling the duopoly/FCC regulations.
How do you know Post Newsweek is buying the station?? No one has made any official announcements.
Back on topic. Post-Newsweek’s bid was turned down.
the ms and i can never agree on anything.
Wow. So that means it has to be Cox, Hearst Argyle, Media General or Belo. I think Hearst is still in it since they own many top stations in the country and one in Jacksonville and Orlando.
Hey “NBC6 Procuder Exec” if you’re indeed an NBC-6 insider, then you may be part of the problem. Check the numerous grammatical errors and typos in your posts. To quote your last 2 posts below.
“The peoplke are not flawed”
“It’s funny, how even when ratings drop tosn”
“He has talked about ti with the producers”
“When will soemone high up realize that WTVJ has been killed by idiots”
“If reports did such a bad job they would be fired”
I have heard that NBC is using interns as full time emplyees. Interns are producing newscast and handling production responsibilities. Is this legal???
As a survivor of working for a cable company about to be sold, what TVJ is probably doing is cutting costs to the bone to enhance the appearance of the books when potential buyers examine them. Hetal Gandhi was not renewed; others (I hear) are working without contracts. Surely a Gray Hall and a Tisha Lewis cost the same as, say, Michael Williams? Of course you get what you pay for. The new owner will be beefing up the staff, I am sure. One name I haven’t heard–any chance Tribune buys this station and creates a duopoly alongside the Sun-Sentinel? Could they survive the legalities? Or will Sunbeam come in with another lowball? I’d love to see Post-Newsweek get it, but for now, I am content to sit back and watch.
tv news junkie, of course using interns is legal. letting the interns produce and contribute to production is very beneficial both to the station and the intern. i’ve seen some places where the interns aren’t allowed to do anything, so they sit and surf their myspace pages all day. the hard working interns then end up with jobs, and the myspace page surfers end up as talent at wsvn.
well we should know anytime now about who’s gonna end up with wtvj…didnt they say that they would have an announcement shortly after july 10th???
Yup. Wor dis Post Newsweek is going to get us and move them into their new studios in Pembroke Park. get ready for the axe to fall and Charles Perez…. no journalism experience what so ever to be the anchor with Laurie on two stations.
multiple sources have confirmed the post newsweek rumor is over. their bid was rejected. however i am hearing strong rumors that aljazeera wants wtvj very badly and have offered more than nbc’s asking price. time will tell…
nbc producer is partially right about one thing, (even a broken clock is right twice a day) aljazeera wants, not charles perez, but his sister, Michele Dabney-Perez, to come back to anchor at her old station.
she’s a babe, or as they say in the middle east, ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ??????? !!!!????? ??????? ?? ?????
I dan not belive that Al Jazeera woould by WTVJ. What a public relations mess for NBC no matter how much money they ar eoffered. If they are dumb enought to accept a bid from Al Jazeera, they might as well close up shop now and sell the lawn chairs. Post Newsweek is still in. They ad a managers meeting at WPLG the other day and talked about how thy were going to get WTVJ. Then, WTVJ had a managers meeting saying the same thing.
muhammad is right about aljazeera. i’ve heard the same rumblings and i know they are looking to make inroads in america. ge is a global company, and they aren’t going to turn down the SERIOUS money i heard is being offered for the station. i also know the post newsweek thing is done. funny how with all these meetings about it at both stations, no one at either station seems to know anything.
Actually everyone here is wrong. Vince McMahon is buying WTVJ. He plans on having Hulk Hogan challenge Tony Segretto for the main anchor position. During the match a mysterious masked man runs into the ring annd nails Hogan with a steel chair. The man pull off his mask and reveals himself to be Dwight Lauderdale. It will be the biggest event ever on WTVJ, whihc means at least 17 people will be watching.
Actually, Patrick is pretty funny. But even thought WTVJ is last in the ratings at six and seven, then usually beat WFOR at 11pm and they are consistantly a number one or two in the morning – WSVN beats them for the four hour total, but it’s not really a fair competition, since Channel; 7 averages the ratings for four hours competing against WTVJ’s three ours. Channel 10 and WFOR do not do well in the mornings. NBC also rules the weekends, usually, when you would think a news station would do poorly, NBC is getting higher ratings on saturdays and sundays than Jackie gets during the week. They usually go up in numbers from their lead in and other station soften drop, even if they win the night. I know someone is going to totally disgree with this but make sure you see the ratings on a daily basis.
you may laugh about dwight lauderdale, but he is the front runner to co-anchor with michele dabney perez. anyone who thinks his “retirement” was voluntary wasn’t paying attention. by the way, i heard there were several very well dressed middle eastern men at wtvj today.
Look at all of you arguing over stupid rumors. Al-jazeera, more like Al-jazeerhaha. Post-Newsweek? Come on! This is just floated out ideas to make all of you panic. We all know Miami is home to strange & unusual and some people are hoping you believe whatever is thrown at you. Not to say that they couldn’t happen, but it’s doubtful if any of them will. Stop being distracted and ask the right questions, you might just find the answer you’re looking for.