The unfolding drama over whether Jay Leno (left) is shifted back to his old late-night time slot is more than an issue for the NBC network and the broader television industry. The outcome is important to Gannett employees and stockholders. That's because nearly half of GCI's 23 television stations are NBC affiliates, more than any other single affiliation. They include giants KUSA in Denver and WXIA in Atlanta.Gannett has been watching the impact of NBC's weak prime-time ratings on its 11 affiliates for some time. Adding to that is the uncertainty over the recent sale of a controlling interest of NBC to cable giant Comcast. Only last month, broadcasting division President Dave Lougee told Wall Street analysts: "While we are concerned about the network’s prime rating performance, that is not new. We have been concerned for some time."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
KPNX in Phoenix is Gannett owned, the NBC affiliate and used to be the dominant station in the market. I don't know what their numbers are now, but since Leno moved into the 9PM time slot (Mountain time, 10PM on the coasts), KPHO, the CBS affiliate (which used to be third or fourth depending on what Simpsons reruns were on) is now crowing that it's the number one station in the market at 10PM. Each 10PM newscast starts with "Thank you for making KPHO your number one choice at 10 last night."
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, KPNX is shedding experienced reporters like a dog losing its winter coat and replacing them with inexperienced "one man bands." Strangely, they haven't lost any of their three expensive news anchors. Those folks must have ironclad contracts.
They'll be shedding plenty more when they move out of their building and into the AZR's
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous@1:55 p.m. left the following comment today. I'm reposting it, after removing information that could identify an individual.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason people have stopped watching KPNX. Yes, it's a lack of experience, but it's about ethics. Example: . . . This week, [an employee] accepted gifts from various groups around the Valley. And, get this, they made a HUGE deal about it. Each day, she was promised the next day would bring a new bounty. Granted, the gifts were mostly from sports teams, but that's not the point. . . . Doesn't Gannett have a a company-wide policy about employees accepting gifts? If memory serves, I had to sign an agreement against such every year I worked at the Republic.