Posts Tagged ‘CBS’

The way it was: Cronkite dies at 92

July 18th, 2009 joel

The man that guided a nation through some of the most tumultuous decades of the 20th century has died. Longtime CBS reporter and anchor of the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite, died Friday evening in Manhattan. He was 92.

Tweets about his failing condition had been reported over the last few weeks, as the man referred to as “the most trusted man in America” finally succumbed to cerebral vascular disease.

As Katie Couric broke into regular programming last night to announce the news about her predecessor, she reminded viewers that Cronkite chronicled American history as it happened, from North Africa in WWII as a wire service reporter, to the Nuremberg trials, through the 1950′s as a reporter then as CBS’s anchor in 1962. Video that is indelible in the mind of Americans is one of sheer grief as Cronkite announced the wire flash that President Kennedy had died, along with the glee he showed at the landing of the Apollo 11 lunar module 40 years ago Sunday. He held the anchor chair until 1981, when he went on to do special projects and documentaries well into his 80′s.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I don’t recall ever having occasion to hear him speak in person, but perhaps our local CBS veterans can share any Cronkite encounters they had.

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , No Comments »

Poll: should Chief Franklin resign over his media ‘tin ear’?

July 13th, 2009 joel

The results of our three-week poll of over-the-air digital television viewers were shocking to me.

The basics of communication theory indicate that a message can only be sent from sender to receiver if the medium/carrier can make the trip. In our non-scientific poll, 38% of DTV viewers said they couldn’t receive the station that transmits the number one broadcast network, CBS. In fact 1 of 4 respondents said they were having trouble watching any commercial broadcast television out of Erie.

That’s a huge problem (and great opportunity for satellite vendors) that station engineers don’t have a whole lot of answers for. In fact, my request for comment and advice for viewers from one station has gone unanswered for a week. DTV viewers…you really have to look at getting a big exterior antenna, and if you’ve already done that, maybe the days of free television are over for you.

Erie Bureau of Police Chief Steve Franklin is once again in the news over his nondisclosure of a series of late-night attacks on women in a lower west-side neighborhood. It wasn’t until Erie Times-News reporters hammered him with questions did he admit to the investigation, while letting his disdain for the local media slip through the process.

Generally the police have a love/hate relationship with the media; playing them when they run out of leads, while being tight-lipped when they deem necessary. But Franklin’s claim that public disclosure would create panic, tons of false leads while tipping off the perps is not enough for those now calling him to step down.

Do you think Franklin’s actions are the last straw?

Should Erie Police Chief Steve Franklin lose his job over his use/nonuse of the media?

  • Yes: he is putting people in danger by not fully disclosing crimes in the city (57%, 24 Votes)
  • No: he may have a "tin ear" for the media, but he's still a good chief (36%, 15 Votes)
  • I don't know/I'm ambivalent (7%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 42

Loading ... Loading ...
Posted in Polls Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments »

Deep Background for July 5-11, 2009

July 5th, 2009 joel

Deep Background is your open forum to comment on all things Erie and national media. Often it’s about something totally random, which leads me to this question:

Who remembers the Bon Jovi concert in Erie on July 25, 1987? I just saw a repeat interview of Jon Bon Jovi on 60 Minutes tonight, which piqued my curiosity. I wasn’t living in Erie at the time but heard about the Bon Jovi show at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Were you there? Did you work in media at the time and maybe get backstage? Just wondering…

As always, you can make a private connect via email at joel@nataliemedia.com or tweet @pressandtower.

Embrace the chaos!

Posted in Deep Background Tags: , , , , , 8 Comments »

The Feed for the Weekend of Feb. 28th & March 1st

February 28th, 2009 joel
  • Classy 100 parent to be delisted: Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the group owner of WXKC, WXTA, WQHZ, and WRIE will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange this week, according to AllAccess.com. Citadel will be become an “over-the-counter” stock with a new symbol to be determined. The stock has been trading over 30 days at under $1 and the market cap is under $75 million, both conditions for trading on The Big Board. CDL closed down a nickel Friday, to 0.09, dropping its market cap to $24.30M.

    • (more…)

Posted in The Feed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

Survivor: Erie DTV begins

February 17th, 2009 joel

It’s February 17th, 2009, the original date set by Congress for all full-power television stations to turn off their analog transmitters and complete the transition to digital television.

DTV.govHowever, fearing a major disruption of access to local news and weather with millions of viewers still unprepared for the transition, Congress delayed the deadline to June 12th. In the ensuing days, the FCC has been trying to ascertain which stations needed to go through with the February deadline, and which would continue their analog feed until the June date.

Here’s where we stand in the Erie DMA:

  • WICU-12 (NBC) – continuing analog until June 12th
  • WJET-24 (ABC) – continuing analog until sometime in April
  • WSEE-35 (CBS) – will shut off their analog today (2/17)
  • WQLN-54 (PBS) – analog has been off since Sept. 15, 2008 due to wind damage to their transmission system
  • WFXP-66 (FOX) – continuing analog until June 12th

With WSEE getting voted off of the “analog island”, it could mean headaches from a small yet substantial percentage of their viewers. We’ll monitor the situation of how many Erie viewers will not be ready to pick up Survivor or 60 Minutes on the digital signal.

Some good digital news comes from Dwight Miller of WQLN: the long recovery process from their wind-damaged transmission system should be complete over the next few days. They will be activating their full-power all-digital signal this week as tower climbers erect the new system and regain a full footprint that has been hampered since September.

Reset the clock to June 12th as one deadline passes and another one comes into view.

Posted in Television Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments »

This (should be) News/Talk country

January 16th, 2009 joel

WBENI’m writing this post while listening to the very well-programmed WBEN 930/Buffalo, who not only are able to continue to pay for Rush Limbaugh’s clearance fee, but once again scored first in the Buffalo ratings ages 12 and over for the Fall 2008 Arbitron survey.

As opposed to Erie’s WJET, which languishes as a middler in the ratings with poor billing, news/talk stations in the major markets surrounding the Flagship City score at the top of the ratings and revenue rankers. The Fall book is out for Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh; take a look at these 12+ rankers:

  • Buffalo – WBEN (Entercom) – #1
  • Cleveland – WTAM (Clear Channel) – #1
  • Pittsburgh – KDKA (CBS) – #2
  • Pittsburgh – WPGB (Clear Channel) – #3

The two Pittsburgh talkers combine for a massive share of audience that tops rocker WDVE.

Considering the sheer power of the news/talk format in our region, why doesn’t WJET do better in the ratings here in Erie? My take would be the sheer lack of investment in programming and marketing by Connoisseur Media and their predecessors over countless years. The winning stations have real live anchors and reporters and actualities and board-ops that eliminate dead air and cue tones, like the old WJET did through the 1980′s. It doesn’t take much effort, really.

The conventional wisdom in radio for the past twenty years has been to put all of your eggs/energy into your FM basket, and leave the AM stations to die. Meanwhile, with the onset of internet radio, iPod’s and other streams available for music, news and talk are the remaining powerhouses for local connection and community.

We’re seeing the success of the news/talk format elsewhere in the region. Why not here?

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments »

Poll: do you Web 2.0?

January 12th, 2009 joel

The football fans who read The Press and Tower have their allegiances, and not only for a particular NFL team. The have a preference for NFL commentators as well. CBS’s Jim Nantz and Phil Simms narrowly won the “A-team” favorites poll with 33% of the picks, followed by NBC’s Al Michaels and John Madden, and Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

With all of the recent talk about Twitter, and the proliferation of social networking tools in the new media, we want to know about which Web 2.0 networks do you actually have accounts in. Do you blog, YouTube, or Facebook? Just commenting on a blog or bulletin board without signing up doesn’t count. We want to know about how you’ve actually put energy into establishing a MySpace or Twitter account. Multiple answers for this poll are accepted, so totals will exceed 100%. There are hundreds of apps, so if I missed your favorite, drop it in the comments and I’ll add it to the poll if we get at least two requests for it.

Which Web 2.0 applications do you have accounts in (choose all that apply)?

  • Facebook (77%, 27 Votes)
  • YouTube (69%, 24 Votes)
  • MySpace (60%, 21 Votes)
  • eBay (57%, 20 Votes)
  • Blog (Blogger/WordPress/Movable Type, etc.) (49%, 17 Votes)
  • Twitter (46%, 16 Votes)
  • Flickr (26%, 9 Votes)
  • Wikipedia (26%, 9 Votes)
  • Craigslist (20%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 35

Loading ... Loading ...
Posted in Polls Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment »
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

  • About

    Press and Tower is a web community for Erie Pennsylvania's producers and consumers of newspapers, radio and television stations, and new media outlets. We connect, celebrate, complain, and communicate about all aspects of media.

  • Recent Comments

    • BobbCobb: Goodbye and good riddance to the WSEE building. It was nothing more than a rat's nest with a fresh c... »
    • Sean: Ah, oldies huh?... »
    • Ken Franklin: Some big news on the radio side... The FCC issued a construction permit for 92.7 FM/Lawrence Park, a... »
    • Carol: Why is there so many problems with reception of WSEE and WICU? We can pick up Canadian TV, Clevelan... »
    • CRANK: I would point to the coverage of the reassessments. Both 10 years ago and now. Up until it was maile... »
    • Ken Franklin: Understood, CRANK. Any specific, recent examples you would like to reference so we can better unders... »
    • CRANK: What do I want? I want the traditional who, what, where, when and why of stories that impact my life... »
    • Ken Franklin: Let me add some fuel to the fire... What do viewers want from local television news and other media ... »
    • Sean: Dennis, am I being mocked? I was looking to update the template. I only started a week ago. Sorry ... »
    • Food for Thought: Here is a short interview about the current state of journalism with the head of 'News Products' at ... »
    • RSS FeedSubscribe to our RSS feed!
    Follow me on Twitter!Follow me on Twitter!

    • Sponsor

    • Twitter Updates

    • Share

      Add to Technorati Favorites

      News & Media Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory
      See blogs and businesses for USA

    • Polls

      How much money do you spend on newspapers each month?

      View Results

      Loading ... Loading ...

    • Traffic