WKRP Not On Shoestring: Rich also sent us a link to a slideshow of the WKRP/38 Cincinnati (or WBQC, as we still have no proof from the FCC of a callsign change being asked for or approved) studios from the station's Flickr account.
And if anyone thought that station owner Elliot Block was operating on a shoestring budget...well you can throw that misconception right out of the windows of the station's new building on Reinhold Drive in the Bond Hill area.
Look for yourself, right here.
The bottom line is, Block Broadcasting is putting a LOT of money into this venture. We'll see where it goes.
WLEX Furloughs: We often comment on any Lexington-area media news, because with a strong enough antenna, we can pick up a couple of Lexington stations here at the TSMW HQ in the south suburbs of Cincinnati.
Unfortunately, the news isn't good for the market that sits along I-75 and I-64 70 miles south of our location.
WLEX/18 Lexington's owner, Cordillera Communications, is requiring employees to take an unpaid week off, according to this Kentucky.com article Rich sent us this afternoon. (The article will be the source for our next few sub-items, too so keep it open in another window or tab!)
Some on-air talent may have provisions in their contracts that will mean they won't be forced to take the furloughs, but most, if not everyone in the building at WLEX has been receptive to taking the week off.
The furloughs will be spread out over the next few months.
Meanwhile, at the city's Cumulus cluster, which owns WVLK-AM/590 Lexington and its simulcasting sister WVLK-FM/101.5 Richmond, along with WLTO-FM/102.5 Nicholasville, WXZZ/103.3 Lexington, and WCYN-FM/102.3 Cynthiana, all off-air employees and any on-air talent not currently under contract are also being required to take week-long furloughs before the end of June. On-air talent under contract at those 5 stations aren't required to, but are being asked to volunteer to take the furloughs, too.
News-sharing in Lexington: Our counterparts up I-71 and I-77 at Ohio Media Watch have chronicled news-sharing operations to our northeast in their coverage area.
Now, it hits to our south, in Lexington.
WKYT-DT 27/Lexington and WTVQ-DT 36/Lexington are sharing resources in the overnight hours to provide their viewers with the news that occurs overnight, according to the above link. (See, we told you we'd have more from that link.)
Take a look at what people at both stations have to say, as quoted from the article:
"It's a trend in TV markets all across the country," said WKYT News Director Robert Thomas.When they're not providing the overnight coverage, the stations will have an extra staffer on during the day for more in-depth reporting.
WLEX News Director Bruce Carter said his station continues to have its own overnight cameraman.
WTVQ Rebrand: WTVQ also recently undertook a rebranding effort according to the above link. The station now simply calls itself ABC 36 on air.
The WTVQ calls continue to be registered to the station, but are only now being used on the station's digital subchannel 40.2 (which shows up as virtual channel 36.2) which broadcasts MyNetworkTV for the Lexington area.
WKYT Allowing Viewers to Sit In on Morning Meetings: In the final piece from the Kentucky.com article, we can report that the Live Blog Virus has spread to Lexington, too.
The CBS affiliate says they are allowing viewers to sit in on the station's morning news meeting, in a chatroom setting. It is available Monday through Friday beginning at around 9:30am on WKYT.com.
And the station now chats live with viewers during the morning news, according to the station's news director.
Of course, you'll recall that we reported that WXIX-TV 19/Newport began doing the same a few weeks ago...
4 comments:
Operating on a small budget is nothing to be ashamed of. The proof of the quality of a studio is not how well equiped it is, but what is produced therein. So what is produced at Mr. Block's facility? Little or nothing. Why? Mr. Block!
Danni:
We suspect that they will start producing more programming there, once everything is constructed. So, you have to be patient with them. They just moved into the new facility in April.
What? April 2008? Buddy Mr. Block has been in this building well more then a month. He has had time. The problem is that Mr. Block has certain "personality" problems that make it difficult for him to work and play well with others.
If you want to be credible you have to think critically and do your homework.
Our understanding was he's only had the place for a few weeks, danni. We'll do some double checking, but our understanding is the building there on Reinhold was their new HQ, and they've been concentrating on getting the digital signals up and running from the (as far as we know) new facility. And, in today's real estate market (and heck, most of the current economy), it's not easy to sell a building.
This being said, recently they did add Retro Television Network on digital subchannel 25.3. That's something locals here have wanted for a long, LONG time and now they have it. As for any local programming...well, look at their website at wkrp.tv and you'll see what's produced - we're willing to bet a bunch of that IS locally done. And, WSTR-DT 64 doesn't produce really any local programming of note from THEIR building on Fishwick Drive, and I don't see anybody complaining because they're affiliated with a major network.
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