Peoria Pundit

Two sources confirmed today that staff meetings are scheduled Monday at WHOI and WEEK. One source confirmed and another said it was highly likely that it will be announced that the news staffs will be consolidated.

One source says that no more than six people from WHOI would be retained by WEEK. Four will be on air people, and two would be engineers and/or sales people.

As has previously been reported, WHOI’s owners — Barrington Broadcasting — is essentially outsourcing its news programming to WEEK, which is owned by Granite Broadcasting. The end result will be a single newsroom producing news programs for two stations. WEEK has built a separate HOINews set within the walls of their spacious WEEK studios. The two stations will essentially be running the same news stories. I would expect the two stations to use different anchorpeople to try to create the semblance of different programming.

Who how does ONE station produce two separate news programs that air at the same time? Simple: Film of them an hour ahead of time. WHOI’s 10 p.m. show will be filmed at hour in advance of air time, surrendering the option of airing breaking news during its nightly news broadcast.

And the early deadline will cripple both local and national sports coverage. There won’t be enough time for video and scores to come in from high school or Bradley University. National sports video feeds often don’t arrive until after 9 p.m.

Oh, and apparently WEEK isn’t going to renew its contract with the Associated Press, leaving the station without access to any wire service.

And then add the previously reported fact that WEEK planning to begin using a canned weather report based in Indiana.

Via Gantdaily:

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced it has cut 200 jobs and suspended its quarterly dividend in anticipation of less advertising revenue this year because of the recession and despite a preliminary fourth quarter earnings report that found earnings up by 56 percent.

And:

Other cost-cutting moves include a salary freeze and reducing promotional spending and travel, company officials say.

Sinclair owns Bloomington-based WYZZ, which broadcasts a 9 p.m. news report produced by WMBD-31 in Peoria.

Enjoy WEEK, WHOI and WMBD while you can. The Wall Street Journal is predicting the end of local stations that affiliate with national networks:

Local television stations like Ms. Howfield’s dominated the TV business for more than half a century. They inspired the term “network”: a web of Channel 7s and 11s that delivered shows from ABC, CBS, NBC — and later, Fox — plus local news, syndicated reruns and talk shows. Because the stations owned the licenses to the airwaves that broadcast TV signals, big networks couldn’t distribute content without them. In turn, local stations became the vehicles for the greatest mass-market advertising blitz in history.

Now, with their viewership in decline and ad revenue on a downward spiral, many local TV stations face the prospect of being cut out of the picture. Executives at some major networks are beginning to talk about an option that once would have been unthinkable: eventually taking shows straight to cable, where networks can take in a steady stream of subscriber fees even in an advertising slump.

In December, CBS Corp.’s chief executive, Leslie Moonves, told an investor conference that moving the CBS network to cable would be “a very interesting proposition.” Two days earlier, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, warned more broadly that the entire broadcast-TV model must change. “Otherwise it will be like the newspaper business or the car business,” he told investors.

My two cents: Of what use to the viewers are Peoria’s three television station if they do in fact loose their network programming? Seriously, what original content do they provide? Local news? They are cutting staff. Other original programming? There’s not much, except for Bradley games, telethons and MAYBE some a special or two.

OH! I know! All DVT switchover, all the time!

Local stations have no one to blame but themselves for their growing irrelevency. At one time, stations filled their airwaves with local programming. Once the networks pull the plug, there’s little left to do but show the news, and they have increasingly little use for that.

WHOINews anchor Tim McGinnis made the following remark on his Twitter page:

That’s it, my last WHOI newscast, maybe my last 10p.m. ever.

Oh, boy. I didn’t watch WHOI today. Does anyone know what was said?

UPDATE: Good news for Tim, from his Twitter page:

@PeoriaPundit I am moving to myrtle beach,sc. To be the anchor at WPDE. The boom was not lowered.

Congrats to Tim.

Via The Monitor:

KGBT-TV, the Valley’s CBS affiliate, quietly laid off 10 staffers Tuesday and finalized plans to cut the noon newscast starting Monday. It was the third round of cuts for the station which in 2008 saw then-reporter Janine Reyes and longtime weatherman and Valley fixture Larry James join the swelling ranks of the unemployed.

“‘It’s part of what is going on around the country, and we’re having to cut you just like them,’” [weatherman Romeo] Cantu recalled being told when he was let go minutes after finishing a 9 a.m. news segment. “The only thing I really regret is I didn’t get the opportunity to say goodbye to the Valley.”

Cantu was told moments after he wrapped up morning news, denying him the opportunity to say goodbye to viewers. Stations go to make it seem like their personnel are part of viewers’ families. That’s a pretty crappy to treat family.

KGBT is owned by Barrington Broadcasting, owner of Creve Coeur-based WHOI.

WEEK announced at last night’s 10 p.m. newscast that weekend anchor/producer Jenny Li was leaving the station to work in public relations for State Farm Insurance in Bloomington.

What’s good for Jenny — better pay and better hours, no doubt — is bed news for news consumers. I’ll miss seeing her around the press table at Peoria City Hall.

And I’ll never forget watching her and another reporter arguing over whose turn it was to interview General Parker before the start of a City Council meeting.