May 18th, 2009 
joel I must say that I’m a little perturbed about results of last week’s poll, which asked whether folks would be willing to pay for premium local content online. The “No” beat “Maybe” 60-40 with no one voting “Yes” with any certainty.
Now I know that these polls are not scientific and may have no relevance to what would happen when reality hits, but what frustrates me is that the same people who are not willing to pay for any content on the web are the ones paying $90 per month for cable/satellite, $75/month for cell service and $2.99 for a ring tone! Add that to the fact that the majority in an earlier poll refuse to click or even look at online advertising and you have an untenable business model for financing the production of content on the web.
Moving on: in the last couple days the NABET union representing workers at WSEE has taken a beating on the comments here at The Press and Tower for their apparent lack of protection of those jobs that are being eliminated this month. We have yet to hear first hand from union representatives regarding what role they did play in ensuring severance and other measures.
Meanwhile, let’s ask the question about the power of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, The Newspaper Guild, and others.
Given the massive media layoffs nationally and locally, on a scale of one to three, how relevant are media unions currently?
- 1: the unions are totally impotent in the current media environment and are getting rolled over by media owners (65%, 22 Votes)
- 2: the unions are arranging for some protections for current and laid off members (21%, 7 Votes)
- 3: the unions are totally engaged in the process despite the downturn and are saving members from conditions that could be much worse (14%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 34
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Maybe Eric Seggi could do a guest post? He could explain the role of the NABET Union as it relates to today’s ever-changing broadcast environment? Perhaps he could even explain why a Union is even needed anymore if Owners like Brian Lilly can have free hand to can employees at-will and then repost their jobs? What good is a Union then? What do Union employees at WSEE/WICU get for their dues? A cute 12/35 coffee mug once a year? $50 grocery gift card at Christmas? a Holiday Ham? Where actually does the money go? The NABET Political Action Committee? Money to Politicians? Tell Us!
Please Mr. Seggi! Explain how it is in the best interest of the NABET Union members still remaining to have an owner be able to run roughshod over his employees while the Union stands by and does nothing? You like to talk about “standing up to Corporate Greed” well isn’t this “Corporate Greed” at its worst!?
Are the Regional NABET Reps truly interested in their local members? Or are the Regional Reps more interested in remaining Regional Reps and not rocking the boat?
If anything, perhaps a refund of this years dues is in order for the laid off Brothers and Sisters at WSEE? I know that will never, ever happen but it would be a very nice gesture on the part of the Union. You couldn’t protect their jobs so at least give them their money back!
I won’t pretend to speak for Eric but I know him, and I wold be very happy to have him represent me as a union member.
That being said, in many cases today, the union’s hands are tied. What would be your suggestion ? Strike ??? The company would love to see that happen. Guess what happens then ? Younger people are brought across the picket line (maybe even some older ones now) who will work for less than the union minimum. Then, all the members are out of work…and the jobs won’t come back.
Are unions (especially in the broadcast industry) what they once were…no ! But they still set a higher minimum salary then non-union shops. And they do provide some protection from cut-throat managers who truly don’t care about the product anymore.
It’s a shame what happened at WSEE. But when an ownership group cuts jobs, the union really can’t stop them. Again, this is happening all over the country, in markets much larger than Erie, and in businesses other than broadcasting. Unions were almost destroyed in the ’80s (air-traffic controllers come to mind). Maybe the answer isn’t blasting the local people who are trying to help, but maybe blasting the politicians who are lining their pockets while middle-class America is struggling. Do you think Tom or Buzz are wondering where their next meal is, or how to pay their heating bill ?
Legend said: “I won’t pretend to speak for Eric but I know him, and I would be very happy to have him represent me as a Union member.”
OK. That is fair enough. But I wonder how many Union members who have just lost their jobs at WSEE feel the same way that Legend does about their Union leadership?
I guess I’m just not getting it…sometimes I’m a little slow.
How is management cutting jobs somehow to be prevented by the union ? It’s their business, if they’re eliminating jobs, that’s their call, and to the best of my knowledge, not a whole lot the union can do about it.
Then why does the Union exist? I thought the goal of the Union was to preserve jobs not play Jimmy Hoffa?
The union can only try to preserve the jobs that management deems worthy of creating. The prime example being at one time news crews consisted of three or four people. Then, as technology grew, as it is now, some of those positions were deemed not necessary and done away with. Hopefully, those people can be added in other areas, but only if management agrees. I’ve never seen a union that can tell management what jobs it needs to fill.
Further, unions were created to prevent such things as the 60 to 70 hour work week without proper compensation. To provide safe working conditions. To provide a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
There are those who say that these things would now exist without unions. I think it’s plain to say that I am not one of those people.
So, Legend, the Union doesn’t have any recourse when layoffs occur? What about filing a labor grievance with the NLRB (Nat’l Labor Relations Board)?
If the Union can’t prevent an owner from riding roughshod over its employees then there really is no need for the Union in today’s modern environment!
I still hold firm to my belief that NABET should refund dues paid so far this year to all the laid off WSEE employees.
Thanks for playing…Legend!
Tim:
Labor grievances are filed against an employer according to an informal or formal grievance policy. If the employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, then the NLRA (Section #8?) is applicable; the NLRB’s job is to enforce that Act.
Did you mean to say that NABET should claim Unfair Labor Practices in this particular case ? If so, what would be the charge(s) ? What section of the NLRA has been allegedly violated ?
By the way, to reference your original remarks, don’t confuse ‘greed’ with ‘legitimate self-interest’. That knife cuts both ways, you know.
By the way, I wouldn’t poke fun at Mr. Legend if I were you. Believe me, he is sincere and certainly knows of what he speaks in this regard. Listen carefully to what he is trying to tell you.
I wasn’t poking fun of “Legend.” Don’t try and start something.
To “Legend:” I was in no way trying to poke fun at you. I mean no disrespect towards you. Please forgive me for any perceived slight towards you – that was not my intention. I was merely trying to make a point…and not very well at that. I will stop the attack towards NABET. Thank you. Please accept my apology.
Is that OK, BlogWatch? Is it all good?
No offense taken, I truly enjoy the dialogue and I am happy to be back on board. I kind of lost touch after Jack’s passing. I hope we can all get back to the great discussions we had in the days gone by.
It’s a tough time for all in the industry right now. It’s going to continue to be a rough ride till things settle down again. This may be a “business correction”…I think that’s the term. Maybe new owners of all stations are needed that would be happy with a 10 -20% profit margin instead of 40 – 50%. Though, those changes won’t be easy either.
And thanks for the backup BlogWatch…any kind words are always appreciated.
My question to legand is…with WICU advertsing all the new positions, shouldn’t the 35’s folks have been offered those postions? Of course the jobs are with ICU not SEE, but I would think that the NABET folks might have a legtimate complaint on these jobs not being offered to them as part of the job elimination.
I know of a few people in Business that would even be happy with a 10-20% profit margin. Although I can see how that would be hard to stomach after years of profits in the 40-50% range. Ouch!
Thanks for your kind words Legend. Good to know we’re all pulling for the same goals. I also enjoy the dialogue.
What you have to understand is even though WICU and WSEE are owned by the same person, they operate with different union contracts. If I recall correctly ICU just signed their new union contract about a year ago. While SEE’s contract will be up at the end of this year. WICU’s on-air talent operate under AFTRA and the behind the scenes people are under NABET. WSEE’s entire staff, on-air and behind the scenes are under NABET. Now JET and FOX have the same union contract but only because they’ve been merged for quite some time now. And their contract only applies to behind the scenes people under NABET. The on-air talent aren’t in the union. The union can suggest to Brian Lilly that he hire the WSEE employee’s at WICU but they don’t have any right to make him hire them.
What Brian Lilly has done, and as bad as I hate to say this, he was smart about it. He is laying off every employee at WSEE regardless of their seniority (at least this is what is known for the time being). Since it is an across the board layoff, the union can say hey you shouldn’t do this but they don’t have any contractual right to say he can’t do this. They will step in a do as much as they can, hopefully, but because this is a result of the economy, there won’t be much they can do unfortunately.
I think what he is doing absolutely terrible and awful not only to this town but to these people who through no fault of their own, are getting laid off. They busted their asses for so long to try and put a good quality product with the crap he gave them and did a good job of.
And in the end, in my opinion, this is making JET and FOX look all the better.
PR, I would imagine that the former WSEE employees would be given first consideration for the jobs. Though, let me add, I’m speaking way out of turn, with no first-hand knowledge of the situation. Though from what I’m reading, that’s pretty much the norm around the country. They may, and probably will, have to take a pay-reduction of some type, but these are choices we’re all being forced into making.
Personally, I’m working seven days a week right now. I don’t really want to, but those were the cards I was dealt almost two years ago now. Full disclosure, I could probably leave my TV gig now, but it doesn’t seem like a good time to be leaving any job at the moment.
I was lucky. Being forced to part-time allowed me to move into a position in higher education. And I’m loving every minute of it.
Legend, I understand what you’re saying and I agree that (1) what Lilly did was deplorable, and (2) that JET will come on top as a result. A lot of SEE viewers will wake up to what has been done when 35’s news suddenly changes. They will ask questions and when they don’t like the answers, they will abandon 35..and 12..in favor of 24/66. who has shown much more stability under Nexstar.
Sorry for your hours, I’m also glad I got out of TV and got into the career field I love. I now for 4-10 hour days and have 3-day weekends every weekend…plus I’m making more than double what I could have made in Erie.
Erie is a dying market and with contnued job losses across the county the market size will continue to shrink Unless the local polticos can figure a way to bring in new jobs in 5 years the Erie market in will be a shadow of itself.
See ya on Facebook….
It’s truly a concern, especially with the cost of operating a TV station in a small market. Nexstar, while sometimes not having the best of reputations (the folks at WYOU will tell you some stories) is a corporation that has some financial stability – as much as any broadcast group. That gives JET more stability. In the long run though, as I mentioned in another thread, Erie could well become a hub for Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Buffalo. I’ve been wondering why none of these, I’ll call them market takeovers, haven’t happened yet. I do believe it’s just a matter of time.
Now, I’d hate to see that happen anywhere, for the good of the industry. But economics being what they are, I am afraid. I guess the only time it was really tried was Sinclair’s attempt at hubbing – the ill-fated NewsCentral concept. But like most things that Sinclair does, it wasn’t completely thought out.
Now you also have major markets pooling video on some stories. This will cost jobs, too.
I agree that Erie could well become nothing more than a bureau for Cleveland or Pittsburgh. (Pittburgh especially seems very interesetd in covering NW PA news). I think that the state of the economy might well be one of the key reasons for the slowdown in these kind of ventures. Once the market improves we could very well see those kind of mergers/takeovers happen. I’m sure that the Lilly’s did what they did in hopes that they might be able to sell the 12/35/CW operaion down the road. They don’t seem to do anything that doesn’t have a dollar sign associated with it.
You’re right…and there are many other ownership groups out there doing that exact thing. Buy a station, “streamline” it till it has a good-looking bottom line, then sell it for more than they paid. Especially in these times, because “streamlining” is almost always an accepted practice right now.
Let me play “devil’s advocate” for a minute here. Does anyone feel that if WSEE had been in a stronger financial position thoughout its history that what is happening right now (layoffs) might not have happened? Or would the economy dictate this move?
I remember Bob Hoffman (then WSEE Pres & GM) telling the Erie Times News in 1995 that “sometime within the next 10 years an Erie TV station could go dark or be absorbed by another local station.” I wonder what station he thought that could be?
WSEE has had so many owners throughout the years (MMT Inc., George Gillette, Price Communications, Northstar Television Group, SCS Communications and Lilly Broadcasting to name just a few) that one can only wonder what might have been had they been owned by say a Myron Jones or Ed Lamb or any type of long-term, stable ownership?
BTW, for you trivia buffs, I was doing some research in the Erie TV archives of Mike Csop and discovered that WSEE has had a weeknight 6pm newscast since May of 1964 – a streak of 45 years(??) that will come to an end when TV-35 switches to 7pm news on June 1st.
I think it would have certainly been in a much better position. The most stable stations now are those that have had a stable ownership environment, as a rule.
I haven’t been in either building for quite awhile, but I always thought WSEE’s building had much more potential than WICU. I’m kind of surprised that they chose the building on State for the combining of the stations. But there may be more to that than I realize.
It will be interesting to see if the 7 pm news can grab an audience…even a portion of 12’s old 7 o’clock audience would be good. How long has it been since 12 did a 7 ?
The WSEE building is in terrible shape. And from the rumors going around, Brian Lilly wants to sell that building to the Erie Redevelopment Authority (he may have already done it). The building itself is huge and can certainly accommodate two separate newsrooms but the roof is in bad shape and the structure seems to be falling apart. The studio they have is certainly the largest in Erie compared with 12 and 24.
Thanks for the update media…It’s probably been 10 years since I was in the building. I knew the studio was larger than the others, seems a shame to waste that space, along with the talent and hard work of many over the years.
Legend….it has been since September of 1987 since WICU-TV last put on a 7pm newscast. Channel 12 had a 7pm newscast since April of 1949….Claire Swisher of the Erie Post-Dispatch (Ed Lamb newspaper?) was the first news anchor on that newscast*
*Source: Mike Csop (WICU-TV Chief Engineer 1949-1993)
Tune in tomorrow for another stellar edition of useless Erie TV trivia tidbits! LOL
Thanks Tim. I didn’t realize that it had been that long. Seems like yesterday when Ron Winders started.
Your welcome, Legend. Actually I goofed on the dates…and Mike C called me out on it. WICU-TV changed news formats in September of 1987…from “ICU News” to “NewsCenter 12.”
WICU-TV still had a 7pm newscast until September of 1992. Remember when WICU did news at 6? Nat’l? then a 7? They actually had it “Ron Winders and NewsCenter 12: 90 for the ’90s” What a complete disaster! Ron “The Greater Communicator” Winders only lasted 3 weeks – the shorter anchor tenure in Erie Broadcast history.
I’m enjoying this stroll through memory lane. The date that Channel 12 dropped the 7pm news and did just an exclusive 6pm was September 1992. Sorry for getting the dates all screwed up.
No problem. I remember Ron’s first show, couldn’t get his name out in his hello.
I worked on-air with Ron. He came off a great gig as an anchor for a cable travel network. But Management at 12 never asked a crucial question in the interview…”Ron, have you ever “written” news copy before?”
Two days into his gig, the entire newsroom was scripting everything for the poor guy, everything from “Good evening, I’m Ron Winders” to “Goodnight, Johnny Carson is up next.” He’s now at Sam’s Club announcing weekly specials. There but the grace of God…Broadcasting is an ugly business that will chew you up and spit you out. You only used to hear about nasty stuff happening to stations in the big markets…well, how times have changed!
3 nights into his gig I caught Ron doing the 11pm news. It was one of those nights – 2 bad car accidents and a bad fire. What did Ron choose as his lead? The opening night of the Spartansburg Fair, I kid you not!
Folks, sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up!
Who gets the blame for Ron?
a) Ivan Tomcho (Program Director)
b) Clarence Paoella (General Manager)
c) Bill Knupp (News Director)
d) The Consultants who signed off on Ron
The correct answer (In my opinion) is “D” Those damn consultants again!
Although it should be noted that the staff and engineers did try and warn Bill, Ivan and Clarence that Winders “didn’t even know how to write a simple declarative sentance” so perhaps the “Big 3″ deserve part of the blame!?
In my opinion one of the best on-air teams in Erie TV History was on WSEE several years ago: Tony Victor and Mary Amthor. They did “Newswatch 35: 11 at 11 News” and it was a great pairing. The show was well stacked with excellent production values.
I don’t remember Mary, but Tony is one of the best broadcasters Erie has ever seen. We go back more years than either one of us would like to admit, but whether he was on the anchor or assignment desk, Tony always had his act together. Plus, he cared about the entire product, not just his part of it.
Shriver did the same thing.
No more morning show on WSEE? Is this also the result of the merger with 12?
My guess is that the late, great Bill Knupp misrepresented the job to ex. wicu anchor Ron Winders giving him the idea he was to be more like a “newsreader” like he was on The Travel Channel. Then when the magic three flipped over his live taping audition the hiring decision was made. Winders came from New York City and was promised a go thru on the new set three weeks ahead, It never happened to his dismay and then on the new set live for the first time discovered that the teleprompter was far out of his eyesight leaving him to dig out of his papers and try to cue the teleprompter with his foot. He was told because of camera angles he couldn’t have the camera/prompter right in front of him. In reality that could have been done but Ron’s demise came when he then wore glasses from the second night for the first time in his life and became a “producer” of the news. That’s not the way he was told. And whatever he did Knupp told him he would have “plenty of help”. The plenty of help happened to be the youngest ones in the newsroom who despised him and asked him to quit. In a very nasty way he was fired and went back to New York City. And that’s the REAL story!