May 16th, 2009 
joel We are watching Darwinian Theory play out before our eyes here in Erie television.
Lilly Broadcasting has determined that the essence of what is WSEE is too weak to survive, so it is being eliminated from the species. If Gerry Weiss’s reporting from this morning turns out to be true, any strong elements left from the old WSEE will be transferred to the Alpha Male, WICU, in a quest for survival of the fittest.
As we reported Thursday, nine people who worked off camera at WSEE were given their notices that their employment would cease by June 1st. Now it is apparent from comments here at The Press and Tower that many if not all on-camera personnel will also go away, in direct contradiction to what Brian Lilly told the newspaper last month. What’s also apparent is that the NABET local here is impotent on these moves.
The sticking points on who stays or goes on the on-air side is the existence of personal contracts. It seems likely, but we can’t be sure, that each station will have separate identifiable anchor teams. There are also the tasks that the 35 crew, including the very popular island-shirt-wearing Joey Stevens, does for the CBS Caribbean satellite feed that need to be taken into account.
The massacre doesn’t end with the staff. The better programming schedule will also go to WICU, according to sources quoted by the paper. Most egregious is the proposed move of the “Wheel of Fortune”/”Jeopardy” franchise to channel 12, in exchange for a 7:00 newscast and “Two and a Half Men.” It doesn’t matter that ICU has poorly programmed Prime Access for decades since dropping its own 7 PM Hotline News, they get rewarded the big ratings from Wheel/Jeopardy in the spirit of the AIG bonuses.
Finally, as we’ve conjectured, WSEE will run a recycled newscast at 11 PM that it airs live on its CW affiliate. I guess if there’s any accidents on I-90 or fires, they’ll just have to take the live show from WICU. It’s easy to predict that evolution will lead to just one live cast on two or all three channels at 11:00.
It is difficult to not get emotional when you see friends and colleagues who have given blood, sweat, and tears to a job and a company get tossed aside. But this scenario is playing out not only in media outlets across the country, but at companies throughout our region as well. We may as well be talking about the closing of IP or GAF, however the difference here to our P&T readers is that it is happening to our family, the Erie media family. Plus, it comes after the 9% workforce buyouts at the Erie Times-News, and the decimating of the radio staffs at Connoisseur and Citadel.
It just hurts.
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The only humor I could find in the Gerry Weiss article is the quote from Eric Seggi, the NABET Rep: “How do they (Lilly) propose to put a news product on the air if there’s no staff?” Are you kidding me!? Hey Eric! Lilly fully intends to use the production staff at WICU to do everything for both 12 and 35. The union members you are supposed to represent at TV-12 are going to be run into the ground doing a ton of work for both stations – and I dare to say there won’t be a pay increase for doing extra work. I also thought that the primary duty of a Union was to protect the interests of its members, not bend over and take it from ownership???
Joel – I agree with your comment that the Union (NABET) is impotent!
Yup…jus as I figured it would be…35 nad its people are the big losers.
Do ya really think that everyone will watch NEWSWATCH at 7 instead of wheel? Give me a break Lilly Broadcasting! By reading we all knew it would be a transition of change, but taking wheel and jeopardy fromm WSEE is really hitting below the belt. They are afraid that putting wheel at 6pm against 12News would blow it out of the water. Oh well the best hope is the on air people at WSEE get hired at WICU/WSEE.
Oh Oh!
The Following positions were posted on the WICU Jobs page at http://www.wicu12.com on May 16th:
* Sports Anchor/Producer
* Weather Anchor/Producer
* Caribbean Content Coordinator (Goodbye Joey?)
* Director/IT Technician/Editor
* Weekend Director/Photographer
* Multimedia Journalist (i.e. One Man Band)
* Anchor/Producer
All jobs were posted on a Saturday between 12:59pm and 1:42pm.
This does not bode well for the current WSEE on-air staff. Looks as though Brian Lilly is planning on hiring reporters and anchors who can lug a Camera around – goodbye WICU photographers?
When will this madness end?
this is the original max…not one of many now posting under that name.
some of these jobs have been posted so that those on-air staffers whose jobs are named can reapply. (along with any others who send in tapes … reapply means reapply, not have your next contract rubberstamped.)
however, the multimedia journalist position is entirely new. just a couple weeks ago i indicated one-man-band reporting would come to erie via a lilly station and the response here was dismissive.
don’t get me wrong. i despise one-man-banding and am sorry to see it come to erie. but you can look national trends along with erie’s market size and economics, and not have realized this was coming…and certainly the lillys would be the first to introduce it.
let’s call the end of photographers in at least one erie newsroom an unfortunate chapter in an already awful story.
Eric Seggi sold out the local NABET folks right after the Lilly’s took over. He’s **edit** now as a regional NABET rep, and he could care less about Erie. NABET used to have good reps that cared about it’s member’s. Not anymore. If NABET cared they would’ve been on top of this thing from the first rumor and would be in court filing lawsuits and seekinh injunctions againest SJL for breach of contract.
I agree with PR. I am dumbfounded the NABET Union just stands by while WSEE Television News is systematically dismantled. I wonder if the “soon-to-be” laid off staff feel they have gotten their money’s worth out of their Union dues?
Maybe NABET can refund the dues of the laid off employees? They certainly did not get their money’s worth!
I also agree that many, many years ago NABET had some great reps (Dave Knappenberger comes to mind) who TRULY cared about the membership.
Wanna know when the madness ends? When Lilly Broadcasting leaves Erie.
This stinks folks plain and simple. Even though I’ve been out of broadcasting for 12 years, I’ve never seen it like this.
It’s obvious from the comments here that the on-air folks
from 35 were like family to their viewers. I don’t see the same connection with the community and the 12 talent.
Raychel and Ray were always on Facebook/Twitter where their viewers are. Can’t say the same for 12.
Here’s hoping Lou Baxter makes a wise decision and hires some of the 35 folks.
John—
You remarked that “… the on-air folks
from 35 were like family to their viewers. I don’t see the same connection with the community and the 12 talent.”
While that may be true, and it’s hard to say definitively based on a handful of comments on a blog, I’d wager they had fewer viewers than the comparable newscasts on WICU. It’s probably safe to infer that the 35 newsroom brought in less revenue $ off the rate card with respect to its operational costs (e.g., salaries, benefits, facility depreciation, support staff, etc.) That’s not meant to impugn their talents & energies compared to their counterparts on upper State St. but rather it’s a “fact of life” in a rapidly changing & fragmenting media marketplace.
In many ways, this is no different than GM dropping less-than-stellar brands of vehicle in order to focus on the better selling nameplates. Whether Detroit’s strategy will succeed is, of course, yet to be seen — and the same statement can be made about Lilly’s enterprise. However it seems to me that an overriding parallel would be the plunging popularity of all 3 American automakers ….. and the similarly plunging viewership among virtually all demos for legacy television broadcasting.
Bottom line — Lilly really had no choice. Give him credit for hanging in there this long, and trying new ventures like the Caribbean content (love or hate Joey Stevens, you’ve got to give him his due for a lot of success in that venue over the years) as well as producing a credible California morning show from the Erie facility. It would have been a lot easier for them to just throw in the towel on 35 way before this — with the same or even greater job losses at that time. And given Nexstar’s financial condition, I doubt that the grass is too much greener in those pastures although one can always hope it is.
PR —- I’m curious. What contracts have been ‘breached’ ?
Yes, on paper 35 may bring in less cash – but THEY started the Carribean weather forecasts. THEY were handed the California show and pulled it off somewhat succesfully. and what thanks do THEY get?
Where is the union protection at 35?
I think NABET and it’s local reps should be ashamed..and 35 union members feel hoodwinked.
Paying union dues all those years, and for what? Where’s the union when you need them? What did it do for the members at 35? The station isn’t closing, nobody’s going bankrupt? Where’s the protection??
Should be a warning to all those still paying dues to NABET at any station. You might as well be throwing your hard earned $$ down a deep dark hole…
Apparently Lilly proved a union can mean nothing. NABET seems pretty well busted at 35. Right?
Now watch, they’ll try to get the folks at 12 who operate as one-man-bands to be in TWO unions, pay TWO dues, and get a double helping of nothing in return.
Two times nuttin’ is nuttin!
It seems the only thing Lilly will honor is a PSC…a contract apparently way more meaningful than a union contract….minus the dues payment.
I’ve experienced the gutlessness of AFTRA…but NABET is just as impotent.
I would argue that NABET is not impotent (dripping with sarcasm) – all the Regional NABET Reps still have their jobs! Why should they care about the grunts at 35 and 12?
It would be nice if the laid off employees asked the NABET Union for their dues back?
You are correct about one thing, TV News Fan…Brian Lilly did the impossible – he destroyed the once mighty local NABET Union at WSEE. He is probably going to try and destroy the Union at WICU as well.
I can only hope the Regional NABET Reps grow a spine, and quick! Wait! too late WSEE is gone!
I was always under the belief that the union had to involved when there were staff cuts, downsizing, etc. From the sound of this NABET was kept in the dark until it happened.
This isn’t Lilly’s doing so much as it is a market phenomenon. The old broadcast/print media is getting creamed by the internet. Look at the New York Times, Time magazine, MSNBC and radio. I think Lillys’ being smart, like GE with it’s 1500 person layoff.
Dramatic action to end the slow bleed. Advertising is usually the first thing companies cut when trying to save money. And since every company ( just about) is hurting in this economy they are all cutting back.
Yes it sucks, but it might be the right decision to keep the stations in business. For all who think Lilly should sell just think what the new company would have to do to get a return on their investment.
Folks,
I love the city of Erie as much as anyone. I’ve been gone for quite awhile, but let’s get real here. The broadcast industry is downsizing in every way. I do not believe it’s for the better, but it is what’s happening. And truthfully, as a past-president of a NABET local, there’s not a whole lot the union can do about management cutting staff.
One man bands are here, again, I don’t believe for the better. But if the Washington, DC market is doing it, or Orlando, why not a smaller market like Erie ? You had better believe that automation is on the horizon.
I just hope that the Erie market can maintain its independence from Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Cleveland. The broadcast industry is in complete flux right now, and it’s nationwide. Lilly certainly isn’t the greatest owner, but far from the worst.
It’s a tough, tough time in the business right now. Bad things are happening to good people all across the country. Sad to say, but it is something that will continue to happen for sometime.
This is really too bad. I tend to watch Newswatch over the others any time, especially 12 News.
Raychel & Ray are the best.