Deep Background for August 2012
Sometimes we like to complain and moan about the current state of media. That the grass is always greener in another market; the “if they can do it why can’t we?” questions said with passion.
With regard to local HD content I would have to agree. Seeing the utter ubiquity of video in high-definition makes the locals look kind of silly every time those big black skyscraper bars appear on the sides of my flat-screen.
What would be helpful is some indication of movement toward local HD news and production. The next obvious step is to hook up an HD server to record and playback all the syndicated content to the downstream HD switcher so that Dr. Phil and The Insider play in full def. Then we could get the commercial server HD, and then finally the news/production equipment could go 1080i. Let’s keep making and celebrating that progress.
However, after a month of travel and media consumption in other markets, I have to state that given our size and available revenue sources, we have some really strong media products produced here in Erie, PA. Take the difference between our Sunday newspaper and that in Utica, NY. Yes, even though our DMA is a bit larger, the amount of content in the Erie paper vs. the Utica issue had to be over double in Erie. I don’t even want to mention the quality of the TV newscasts.
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It’s night & day between Erie & Youngstown for as HD goes. Why watch Jeopardy in SD on WSEE when I can get it on WKBN in HD. News wise, content is much different so I have to watch Erie news on Jet. Erie is missing the boat on HD outside of what is on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox & PBS. I know Jack Tirak would be irate about the progress at this point. I’ll enjoy the OTA HD on my Dish service & will be upgrading my outdoor antenna in the near future & using the old one for the Erie stations.
Ideas: What are *your* concepts for local news presentation? Teach me about what makes a good presentation on a news program as with set, graphics.
Interesting item from WICU webpage —
Posted: Aug 18, 2012 9:35 AM EDT
Updated: Aug 18, 2012 9:35 AM EDT
CBS/NBC duopoly in Erie PA has an exciting opportunity for a news director. WICU and WSEE seek a leader who can execute a specific strategic plan and coach staff to achieve excellence on multiple platforms.
Strong organizational and communications skills are required.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate a pattern of creative thinking and commitment to quality journalism.
Send resume, support materials and reference information to: Brian Trauring, Executive News Director, SJL/Lilly Broadcasting at briantrauring@13abc.com.
Anyone have any insight into this? Looks like Lisa Adams might be stepping down. Doesn’t Trauring manage all the Lilly news operations in Flint, Toledo, Erie and Elmira?
Maybe she got tired of trying to anchor and run the news dept.
Maybe she wasn’t that good to begin with? Maybe she was told she couldn’t be News Director AND be on air? Maybe Mr Lilly wants to finally get serious about making the duopoly work? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
Maybe the rumor is true about a major format change coming in future months?
This could get very interesting very quickly.
Sylvester:
You seem to know something the rest of us are not aware of. What do you mean by major format change? In what ways do you think they need to fix the news operation behind both stations? What should we be expecting, based on what you know?
Enjoy reading your thoughts. Just wondering what you have in mind, specifically.
Lisa Adams was doing the best with her abilities. I am not sure if this was her doing or if Mr Trauring wanted someone else running the newsroom of the Lilly Flagship duopoly operation. All I know is that she was able to make some minor improvements in the news gathering operation as it relates to content…but Lisa was most comfortable in front of the Camera. I don’t know if she will continue on weekends, but I would assume she will return to her familiar Saturday/Sunday schedule as soon as a new ND is hired.
I have been hearing rumblings that Mr Lilly wants to drastically improve the on air performance of both WICU and WSEE and to incorporate the CW sub channel into this new strategy.
The format change I was alluding to will be far reaching: 12 News and WSEE Newswatch “might” become “Lilly NewsCentral” or some other name along that line of thinking. More reports from Crawford, Warren Counties, etc. Look for both stations to become equal partners, there might even be a seperate live 7pm newscast? There is a concern about the 6 and 11pm newscasts on WSEE not being live. From what I hear steps are being taken to correct that, but I have not been privy to what those steps might be.
Mr Lilly needed someone with a fresh approach to come in and evaluate the existing talent, begin the long awaited approach to news in High Definition Broadcasting – look for a major order for field acquisition cameras to be placed with either JVC or Panasonic – depending on final engineering input and testing.
Brian Trauring is calling all the shots now. As head of News for all Lilly stations he has taken a critical eye to all Lilly properties, and he was a little concerned with what he saw regarding the on air product with the Erie Duopoly.
It is a new game with Lilly Broadcasting. They are almost out from under the debt incurred with the switch to Digital for both 12 and 35. They are now thinking for the future, as in 5 or even 10 years down the road. They are looking for a fresh energy from outside Erie.
I don’t want to say too much more except to say that I was far too critical in the past of Mr Lilly. Within the next 2 or 3 years they really plan to give WJET a serious run for their money. I hope they pull it off.
You know, it unsettles me whenever I hear stories about local operations and newspapers becoming “irrelevant”, we need to save them at whatever cost. Who’s with that?
I have to say, at least it sounds like Lilly Broadcasting isn’t afraid to experiment and change up things. I’m curious as to what’s in store for the television group. There’s a recently appointed general manager (I know it was probably two years ago), someone to oversee the Lillly news departments, a new news director on the way, and you’ve got Brian with his own ambitions. A nice little recipe for new ideas to try to better serve viewers and become a more efficient operation. We’ll have to wait this one out and see how it develops.
In today’s ETN goerie.com obituaries, I noted that WSEE-TV air personality Jeanne Carnes had died on July 17th. According to the writeup, her full name was ‘Miriam “Jeanne” (Kreiling) Carnes’.
Harrisburg Patriot-News announces move from daily to 3-day-a-week print edition; organizationally merges newspaper with its online division. The times, they are a changin’….
You know, I was watching an old news open from WICU TV on Youtube and I am kind of sad at the state of our dear TV stations in the market. What do you think we can do or help for? I for one am embarrassed to see the production value in our market reach so low. Sorry about me complaining, but isn’t this a complaint forum? Maybe I can post my drama on Erie, PA Topix?
I gottas agree, I know people from out of town that when they come to Erie they cant believe how bad the news product is. From presentation of reporters to the info they give. Outdated graphics. Terrible news set for Lilly. No HD.
This may sound stupid, but why don’t the TV stations just go out of business? Or can’t they accept private money contributions?
What’s with the horrible looking studio camera pictures from TV 12 lately? The on air product has become substandard. What the hell is going on?
A sign of the times, it’s yet another reason why the 21st century today sucks.
Actually, I thought the picture on WICU looks better. The anchors seem less orange and the color more natural. I don’t think it’s the cameras as much as the white set. Anyone that works in the television industry should know the color white doesn’t cooperate well with video cameras
Speaking of WICU (and WSEE, I suppose), Vanessa Herring announced her departure for a new television job in Rochester, NY. The anchor wheel at WSEE is spinning again – Scott McDonnell leaves, then Lisa Weismann, and now Vanessa. What’s going on in that newsroom?
Has JET found a replacement for Jason Berry yet? Not sure why the station didn’t have anyone lined up ahead of time. It’s taking them a while.
Honestly, it’s hard to remain optimistic in a market that’s so unsettled and doesn’t go out of its way to reinvent itself and stay on top of the curve. It’s possible in a smaller market, but the effort isn’t quite there.
What’s on everyone else’s mind? I feel like we’re revisiting the same issues often. Nevertheless, let’s make this an on-going discussion, rather than a post every now and then from each person. Embrace the freedom of speech, thoughts of others and power of technology.
Regarding Jason Berry’s replacement, I’m told that the new person is set to start the weekend of the 22nd…I guess she had to gove notice to her former employer.
WSEE had “Live” in HD this morning. Looks like more HD content is coming from the WICU / WSEE studios.
Kevin MacDowell does it again! He was completely frustrated and had no idea what was going on during the first 8 minutes of 12 News at 5pm tonight. Can’t he go at least 1 newscast without making faces or looking to his right and giving the control room a dirty look? I know Mr Lilly is concerned about the quality of the on air newscast, and after watching the fiasco-cast at 5 I can indeed share his concern.
I hope they can fix what needs fixing and fast, WICU and WSEE are becoming close to becoming unwatchable. Maybe they should get rid of an Anchor as well as News Director Lisa Adams?
Shame!
Tom:
How did you discover they were broadcasting in HD? Was it mentioned on-air or something you noticed while turning on the channel? I suppose it was “Mornings Live,” and was it indeed “live,” rather than pre-recorded? I’m just curious as to what’s going on. This could get interesting quick.
Also, Jim:
Do you know the name of the new weather anchor for JET/FOX? It’s always interesting to see who’s moving into the area and what he/she brings to the table.
Sylvester sez “I know Mr Lilly is concerned about the quality of the on air newscast…”
How do you know this ?
“…and after watching the fiasco-cast at 5 I can indeed share his concern.”
I’m sure he appreciates your interest. Every little bit helps, I guess. LOL.
I know this because Mr Lilly gave an excellent interview to Kim Young of WQLN in which he acknowledged “issues” with the on air product. That is how I know that. I’m not sure if the link to the interview is still active. Perhaps Joel could help out?
Weekend All Things Erie interview with Brian Lilly: Click to listen
How did Erie TV news media become so lost in their product…prices of TV equipment and sets/graphics went up, viewers leaving the market…what happened? What is it? Does anybody know?
Sylvester, I also listened to that radio interview with Kim Young when it first became available and came away with a good impression of Brian Lilly. (Thanks to Joel for reposting the link, however — everyone should take a listen to it if they haven’t already)
My question to you was more rhetorical since you seemed to state it with so much conviction (unless you were being sarcastic, but I don’t think so). While he may acknowledge ‘issues’, to me that does not mean that those issues at WICU & WSEE are particularly high on his list to be urgently addressed. They might be, of course. I suspect, however, that he is much more concerned at the moment with the newly-acquired stations in the larger markets if only because there is more potential ‘bang for the buck’ to be gained from any investments and effort expended there….not to mention servicing the debt which was taken on to purchase them. In Erie, all Lilly has to do is maintain relative parity with Nexstar which also has “bigger fish to fry” elsewhere. It’s a good example of an oligopoly.
Remember that whether we like it or not, business is all about balancing risk vs. ROI (Return on Investment).
Joel, Food for Thought: Thank you Gentlemen
Kudos to the Engineering staff at Lilly Broadcasting, this morning I was pleasantly surprised to watch “Live with Kelly and Michael” in glorious High Definition! Kudos to Mr Lilly. See, I can give credit when credit is worth giving!
Thanks for the clarification. It’s good to see signs of progress from the folks at Lilly Broadcasting. Now, the question is… what’s next?
It was Live with Kelly & Mike in HD & looked as good as WFMJ, which I thought I had on at first. Baby steps, but a step nonetheless.
What if Erie or a suburb wanted to start a community intranet, with a lot of things (news, an online community radio station, that sort of stuff) would that be cool and feasible?
http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/public%20factsheets/tv/2012-2013%20DMA%20Ranks.pdf
Here, in 2013, erie loses a little more than 2,000 local TV viewers, ha-ha..Oh, the horror. Man, we must support local TV again by encouraging people to cutt their cable (also saving money at the same time). Presumably, it’s cable that’s allowed local TV to lose support.
Such a thing exists in Titusville, it’s called “The Stream” (which is run by Luke Rout) & they were partners with Cool 101.7 in Meadville when we shared resources for election coverage. It filled the gaps after Titusville lost their locally run station, WTIV to corporate owners. http://www.titusvillepalive.com/
Years ago Erie was the 142nd market. People are leaving Erie do to the lack of good jobs. The numbers will continue to drop as more and more are forced to leave for decent wages. The US government recently decided that Erie is now a ‘Rural’ commnutiy…not and ‘Urban’ one. That speaks volumes.
PR is incorrect. The US Government did not classify Erie as a “Rural” region. This classification came from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.
Source: http://www.erietvnews.com/story/19547436/erie-loses-urban-status-changed-to-rural
Jason Berry’s replacement is on the 6:00 news tonight. I tuned in late and missed her name. I’ll catch it in a few minutes.
Amanda Gabeler is the new meteorologist on WJET. I believe she is coming from WKTV in Utica, NY.
Thanks for the name. My research shows she worked for WKTV in Utica, NY from 2000 until 2007, spending part of the time as the station’s chief meteorologist. When Nexstar’s sister stations WUTV/WFXV in Utica started their news operation, they had only a single meteorologist. From what I hear, she had been doing fill-in weather for the station when the primary meteorologist is off. Don’t hold me to the latter part of this. It sounds like they are bringing in someone who will likely stick around for a while. Not some “younger” talent that will move on in a couple of years.
Wow, I just read news on the classification a while ago. PR, how do you know the whole market thing doesn’t have to do with the people who are already still in Erie (the county, not city) supporting cable/sat subscriptions on a regular basis instead of over-the-air broadcasts. Would a “support local television news” campaign work or is it too late or too unlikely?
Looks like the new weather girl on WJET is merely filling in for a couple weeks?
From the Jet Pinpoint Weather facebook page posting:
“We have a new face on our evening weathercasts while Tom Atkins enjoys the beautiful island of Ireland. She’s a freelance meteorologist named Amanda Gabeler. She will be working for Tom Atkins all this week and the first half of next week. She comes from Rochester. We look forward to working with her, and we’re sure you will like her weathercasts as well.”
So, is she or isn’t she the new hire?
Wow, sounds like this Linh has some very impressive credentials to speak of. She’ll be here the usual 24 to 30 months and then take her impressive credentials, on air experience gained at JET FOX and move to a much larger market.
The revolving door continues to spin
Lilly Broadcasting does it again. Congrats on the new studio cameras. The picture is a big improvement.
One curiosity. Whatever happened to Kevin MacDowell? He has been off the air since last Mondays 5pm newscast fiasco. Maybe he is ill? Been over a week. Just curious. Perhaps Lilly could answer the question the way Lou B at WJET answers to set the record straight?
WICU WSEE must be getting a new set soon …in HD standard i assume. I watched the news at Noon and 12:30 and the talent was obviously a temporary set. Limbo lighting with a desk. That’s it. Could anyone elaborate further?
Just a reminder that AmericanRadioHistory.com is a terrific treasure trove of information on the broadcasting biz. Many years worth of yearbooks, directories, magazines (including “Broadcasting”), equipment catalogs, books, etc. have been scanned and are not only available on-line for viewing but quite a few are also searchable having been OCR’d. This is a fun resource for anyone interested –even casually– in the history of US radio & television stations including those in Erie.
For example, browsing the “Broadcasting” archive for WSEE turns up some interesting stuff including this example —
“WSEE (TV) Seeks Vhf Channel
WSEE (TV) Erie, Pa., has petitioned the FCC
to allocate ch. 6 to that city. The station, which
operates on ch. 35, would switch to the lower
channel because of financial difficulties attendant with uhf operation. WSEE claims it
has lost “tremendous” sums. WSEE stockholders George J. Mead (president) and lohn J.
Mead own the Erie Times. WSEE is a primary
affiliate of CBS. The other Erie tv station, ch.
12 WICU (TV) (Erie Dispatch), is affiliated
with NBC.” [Broadcasting, Nov 28, 1955, page 77 - fair use]
At other times during the same era into the early 1960s, the articles indicate WSEE pushed the FCC to ‘deintermix’ the Erie market which is lawyer-speak for making it all-UHF by deallocating Channel 12 . Presumably, WICU would then have been forced to moved to one of the other UHF channels assigned to Erie.
Finally, this unusual blurb on Page 72 of the October 3rd, 1960 “Broadcasting” is included here also as fair use:
“WICU-TV to go ABC
W1CU-TV Erie, Pa., will switch its
primary affiliation from NBC to ABC
next May, it was announced last week.
The station at present is a secondary
affiliated of ABC, with primary NBC
affiliation. This is the eighth station
in four months to realign primary affiliation in favor of ABC-TV, Julius
Barnathan, network vice president for
affiliated stations, said. Edward Lamb,
president of the station, saluted ABC TV’s “pattern of growth, of upsurge.”
WICU-TV is on ch. 12 in a two-station
city. WSEE (TV) Erie is on ch. 35,
with primary CBS affiliation, secondary
ABC”
What a long, strange journey it’s been !
You’ll notice that the Mead’s owned WSEE at that time…and that the Lambs owned the Erie Dispatch newspaper. I think that shortly after this the FCC made the TV stations get out of the TV business. The Lambs also sold the Dispatch to the Times about that time and got out of the Erie newspaper business Of course we now know that WSEE never got to move to another channel and I don’t think that 12 ever moved to ABC.
More ‘what might have been’ from the January 26, 1959 issue of “Broadcasting” magazine (Page 64 – fair use):
• An FCC hearing examiner last week
granted the joint petition of L.E.U.
Broadcasting Co., The Jet Broadcasting Co. and WERC Broadcasting Corp.,
all of Erie, Pa., for dismissal without
prejudice of their separate applications
for ch. 66 Erie. The FCC on Dec. 22, 1958, refused to deintermix Erie, thus
making it “economically unsound” for
any of the three applicants for ch. 66,
in their opinion, to continue consideration of another UHF facility there. Two
operating Erie stations are ch. 12
WICU-TV and ch. 35 WSEE (TV).”
At one time in the late 1950s, then, Erie’s three remaining AM radio stations (WERC 1260, WJET 1400, WLEU 1450) had been apparently competing for the remaining commercial TV channel # 66. [WIKK 1330 was, of course, co-owned by Lamb with WICU-TV12, while Channel # 41 was originally reserved for educational television in Erie] By 1959, however, the handwriting was on the wall and all three hopefuls had thrown in the towel …. at least for the moment.
And way back in 1952, an even more curious application was made to the FCC —- “Broadcasting”, July 7, 1952, page 77 – fair use:
“ERIE, Pa. — Great Lakes Television
Co., UHF Ch. 35 (596-602 mc); ERP 71
kw visual, 35.5 kw aural; antenna height
above average terrain 415 ft., above
ground 400 ft. Estimated construction
cost $337,625, first year operating cost
$192,000, r e v e n u e $180,000. Post Office
a d d r e s s: G. Daniel Baldwin Bldg., Erie,
Pa . Studio and transmitter location:
Grandview and Parade Blvds. Geo -
graphic coordinates 42° 05′ 77″ N. Lat.,
80° 03′ 14.5″ W. Long. Transmitter Du-
Mont, antenna GE. Legal counsel Ar-
thur W. Scharfeld, Washington. Con-
sulting engineer Kear & Kennedy,
Washington. Principals include President Jacob A. Young (23.6%), President
Presque Isle Bcstg. Co;. (WERC); Vice
President A. R. Minadeo (20%), Vice
President – General Manager Charles E.
Denny (10.5%), general manager
WERC; Treasurer B. Walker Sennett
(10.5%), Secretary James A. Quisenberry (5%).
That would’ve put the Channel 35 studios and transmitter, owned/operated by WERC, somewhere up near Mercyhurst Prep. With only 70 kW ERP from the proposed 400 foot tower, I wonder just who would’ve been able to see the programs with the requisite finicky add-on UHF settop converters ?
The new WICU set is going to be full high definition. Broadcast Design International is working with Lilly Broadcasting and over the next month the studio will be transformed. The studio is very small and will pose a challenge but BDI feel they have an excellent solution to that problem.
There will be a news desk and separate areas for weather presentation and sports presentation as well. This has been in the planning stages since before WJET changed their news set. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised when the end result is unveiled sometime towards the end of the month of October.
Wait… They brought in Broadcast Design International for a new set? Sounds like Lilly Broadcasting means serious business. Maybe it’s just me, but it appears that WICU/WSEE is really stepping up its game.
Are they getting a new logo design or new graphics as well?