More on pahomepage.com
Nexstar now wants your ideas about what should be used on pahomepage.com, the website that appears to be a replacement for WBRE and WYOU's individual websites. Why, you can even win a handheld computer for suggesting that pahomepage.com include forums. Cool, another place for the bored housewives of the area to gather and discuss which anchor they love best!It seems that Nexstar is giving some, if not all, of its stations new, rebranded websites. Take a look at ArkansasMatters.com, the new website for Nexstar flagship KARK. Unlike most Nexstar stations, the stories appear to be regularly updated, and some even include accompanying video.
Hopefully, WBRE/WYOU's joint website will include the same things. As I've always said, Nexstar's duopoly puts no effort into its websites, where many stories are just verbatim transcripts of a reporter's story. Friday's now-confirmed tornado is just more proof that WBRE and WYOU need to put more effort into its online presence. When the storm knocked both stations off-air, the Internet was the only practical way to get the news out. But people who went to WBRE and WYOU's respective sites were instead greeted by two-week old stories.
Overall, it looks like pahomepage.com will just be a combined WBRE/WYOU website, and not a sign that both stations will merge. However, both stations are sharing more resources nowadays, and if they'll soon share an online presence, who's to say that a merger couldn't happen?
There I go again, stoking the flames of those ten-year-old rumors... :)
posted by Howard Beale at 9:43 AM
38 Comments:
I went there, filled out the form and posted a desire. However, I put in a fake DOB, as I don't want those folks to use it to get any kind of profile about me. I work with a commercial database and DOB's are handy to have.
I still think you're on to something here. Why call the site "PA" anything unless a combined PA offering is at hand. Pennsylvania Evening, Pennsylvania Late Night, two new names, two new products(both lame), one news department gone. You might even see one of the early half hours go away.
Hmm, what do I want on PAHOMEPAGE.COM? Let's see, daily story updates, some online video, and oh, maybe some weather and sports updates? Oh thats not what your looking for, you want forums? Oh okay, lets discuss where independent media competition went in North Eastern Pennsylvania.
If a storm/tornado blows power away, no internet is going to help anyone.
This is where stations need to get cozy with radio.
You're reading way too much in to this. A combined web site. A total simulcast is another. Reliable sources say NBC and CBS are against this.
This is where stations need to get cozy with radio.
Where do radio stations get their power from, The Wizard of Oz? And if your IP is also your phone company, chances are about 98% you won't lose your net connection. I love radio, but there ain't a radio station worth shit, news-wise, left in this market.
Radio in this market is shot to hell. Any alliance would greatly benefit radio. TV would get nothing in return. As long as my lap top battery is charged, and I have my air card, I'll get news.
Reliable sources say NBC and CBS are against this.
Given the disintegration of network/affiliate relations over the last decade or so, locals may not much care what their networks think or want. If a total simulcast isn't right around the corner, the combined website is a huge step in that direction. My money still says WYOU will cease to be a seperate news entity inside a year.
Now, about those radio/tv alliances. This is pretty funny, because there is one, has been one for at least 3 years now; WBRE/WYOU are partnered with the Shamrock group. Apparently, it's been a smash hit with listeners and viewers alike.
Can't they come up with ideas?
Quick, Ask Lyndall Stoudt for new ideas. barf.
9:11am:
Was it you who said that 8 years ago ? Or was it 2 years ago ? Or maybe last year ? I lost track after all this while under the same BS.
Now wait a sec, re radio. The newsreaders at WVIA-FM do a masterful job of reading the eastern PA briefs off the AP wire. We'd be lost without this stuff. And once in a while, they also do some rewrites of TL articles. Sometimes they even have tracks running at the same time. Cute.
Apparently, it's been a smash hit with listeners and viewers alike.
LOL! That was good!
7:24 PM
Your post brings up an interesting topic: how is it that there are no news radio stations in this area? I've tuned my old radio to every AM and FM dial in the area, and there's none to speak of. We're talking about the area that spawned the infamous "Mighty 590" that owned coverage of Agnes. If I had to speculate on the lack of decent news radio stations around here, I'd sum it up in one word: money.
Then again, if the legend is true, things could have been different. A station in the area did have a chance at getting a clear channel (50,000 watt broadcasting 24/7) license 50-some years ago, but the owners balked at the price. Is that true, or am I just hearing things?
The News Alliance HAS been a great success for the stations and the papers. It has expanded their news gathering reach, given each more eyes and ears on the street, and adds perspective to stories.
Some seem to think that because it hasn't been a marketing success the Alliance has failed. Definitely not so.
Spot the TYPO from the last paragraph on the rules page... (I just cut and paste part of the rules and did not edit this paragraph in anyway.)
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Winners must sign a release to allow the use of their names, pictures, or likenesses for the purpose of future WBRE/WYOU and pahomepage.com contest promotions without further compensation. WRE, WYOU, Nexstar Broadcasting, Mission Broadcasting, NBC, CBS, pahomepage.com, their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, or agencies will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages resulting from acceptance or participation in prizes. Noncompliance with these rules may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. Winners may be required to fill out an IRS 1099 form. This contest is void where prohibited by law.
WARM's news dominance was such that all three TV stations had radios sitting on their assignment desks(or nearby)and those radios were always on, and always locked to WARM. That practice continued well into the late '80s, then the Mighty 590 was mighty no more.
Agnes is, of course, ancient history to so many, but for those of us old enough to have even vague memories of the disaster, WARM is always a huge part of those memories
WARM actually produced and sold an LP called River on A Rampage, a compilation of their coverage of Agnes, the evacuation, and the devastation following the river's receding. It was really well-done. I honestly don't think it's hyperbole to say WARM saved a lot of lives during June of '72.
Was it you who said that 8 years ago ? Or was it 2 years ago ? Or maybe last year ? I lost track after all this while under the same BS.
Yeah, it was me, and I'll say it again, seeing how you don't seem to be getting it - Nexstar wants one news department GONE. And the likely candidate, of course, is WYOU, especially since they now have, what, like 6-7 employees. Damned shame clocks don't still tick, because you'd hear WYOU's doing just that. Within a year, less than 12 months, WYOU News will be gone.
The "legend" is true, from all I've heard throughout the years; WGBI had the option to purchase the 50K designation and didn't want to spend the money. A station in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, did spend the money, and WOWO became a 50,000 Watt monster in 1954. WOWO's signal ran due east after sunset, you could easily pick it up in NE PA. I'd imagine you still can.
Even at only 5,000 watts, WARM's signal reached to the east portal of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Howard:
You are so right about radio news coverage. WILK is really the only source and after noon they are all national anyway.
What really bothers me about WVIA being off the air is I think they are the hub of EMS alerts in the area? Check it out....
Then again, if the legend is true, things could have been different. A station in the area did have a chance at getting a clear channel (50,000 watt broadcasting 24/7) license 50-some years ago, but the owners balked at the price. Is that true, or am I just hearing things?
The Urban Legend is (and it has been verified by many retired workers at the old WDAU TV/WGBI AM and FM facility) that WGBI AM 910 on the dial had the opportunity to be that 50,000 watt powerhouse. The owners at the time turned it down because they were told it might have meant an increase in their utility bill.
My sources on this are people who worked there in the early fifties and various radio and TV local historians. Nothing is in writing given the abscence of media coverage at that time so we can't say it's 100% fact, but I'd bet my house on it.
Yonkstur
LET'S TALK ABOUT STORY IDEAS!!!
It's time for "THE NEWS STATION" to come up with some "NEW STORY IDEAS". They do the same, tired, old, blow-off the cowwebs stories every year. Point in case: The story about the city of Scranton being all ready for winter with salt supplies and such. It aired Wednesday night. GET SOME NEW IDEAS!!! I saw that story last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year.... YOU GET IT!!!
You can predict what stories they will do at certain times of the year. December: _______ (fill in blank) ready to battle winter with salt supplies. Labor Day: setting up for La Festa Italiana. February: Pocono Resorts crowded with Valentine's Day couples.
Easter: Koczyski's market making/selling kielbasa.
Has anyone there heard of "investigative" reporting?
SAME STORIES, DIFFERENT FACES...
I too loved the typo in the last paragraph of the rules. They don't even know the names of their stations. Seems like they need to hire some copy editors.
1:57pm:
Apparantly YOU don't get it. Keep spinning the BS year after year.
Apparently YOU don't get it. Keep spinning the BS year after year.
One and only one possible conclusion: You work for WYOU and are in complete denial. Let's revisit this topic in, oh, 6-8 months, okay? If I'm wrong, I will gladly, openly, and quickly admit it.
8:04 sounds like a shill to me.
To me the "News Alliance" doesn't look like anything more than a cross-promotional tool and as I've overheard one of the people at middle management level up there on the corner of Spruce and Penn observe at a function we both attended, "I just wish our alliance was with a station that people watch."
Anyone who thinks a shared web site is the final cut, the lights dimming one last time in one of the studios, really needs to step back and think this threw... Come back to reality.
Every station, yes all 49 of them, are going generic to the state. No station that is owned out of this group will have a "TV web site" any longer. Is Sook closing his doors and shutting off the lights in every market? NO. He is finally investing huge amounts of money into the new media of choice for a much larger percentage of the population when they want the news now. The internet. And he wants a chunk of that pie.
Anything and everything that you might want to know about NEPA will be available on one site. It's going to be the Nexstar version of Google. WNEP wants to advertise or submit video? They will probably let them. It is no longer just a WBRE or WYOU web site. Those days are gone. WBRE and WYOU will only be one part of this site and provide the media coverage. The way those old sites were kept up to date was / is an embarrassment.
Face it. He did the "shared services" thing first. Now look at the TV industry. It's common place. He went after cable companies during the retrans and won. Wait until the next round nation wide. Everyone, including WNEP, will be looking to cash in on that deal. He was willing to fight and has the balls to do it over and over again. Now he has his sights on cashing in on the internet and if half of what they promised makes it on the site WNEP will finally have some competition on the web.
When are people in this market going to realize that WBRE and WYOU are not going anywhere? $200,000 plus was spent at 62 S. Franklin this year on news. This crap has been told a million different ways since the "shared services" first started. If you're pissed off because you didn't feel you were treated right while you worked at WBRE or WYOU (and a very select few have that right) you should have found the door earlier. If you still work here and you're that pissed off please take the advice that has been passed down over the years... Leave, we will help you find one of the doors. Those of us that do care don't want you around.
On the topic of same-old, same-old stories: Paul Stueber used to refer to a prediction of snow as "French Toast Weather."
You know: a hint of snow and people rush out to buy bread, milk and eggs. Must be making French toast.
Don't know what they cook with all that toilet paper, tho.
$200,000 plus on news?
Where? Can someone show me where they are spending the money?
A new rooftop weather center that's a direct copy of the behemoth on the mountain?
Perhaps.
Oh, I get it, perhaps they spent some on that 'crack' I-team that's uncovering relatively old information in this market.
Nope.
Or maybe the money is being spent on a few 'talented' on-air people.
Nope.
A little less than half was may have been spent on a new set for 22 Interactive, but that's about it.
But I doubt it. I'm sure the TV's were a trade deal.
Where did all the money go?
It certainly didn't go to fix the men's room on the first floor or the dirty carpets in the newsroom.
Did they spend the money on the Christmas party?
No. Wait. Same old party.
A buyout package for John Dittmeier?
Nah.
Maybe they spent it on a back up power system at the tower on Penobscot Mountain.
Hah, Hah.
Seriously though, I really love the corporate hacks who write on this site and try to paint this picture that Nexstar is some 'visionary' company with a grand plan.
Any person who knows anything about television news will tell you the real proof is in the pudding. The news product.
$200,000 plus on news?
I want a refund.
If you still work here and you're that pissed off please take the advice that has been passed down over the years... Leave, we will help you find one of the doors. Those of us that do care don't want you around.
12:22 AM
I can think of about 75 WBRE/WYOU staffers who DIDN'T write this post, and only about four or five who "care" and could or would. Those are the ones we should worry about. Look what they've done to broadcasting in this area.
When are people in this market going to realize that WBRE and WYOU are not going anywhere?
Given those ratings, WBRE and WYOU went away a long time ago. Do you realize how few people watch either of them? If 100 bodies are watching local news at any given time, roughly 7 of them are watching WBRE - and 2 or 3 watch WYOU. Christ, how much worse can it get? Oh, wait, those November Neilsen prelims are due soon.
Nexstar spends all its time trying to figure out how to beat the competition. It forgot one thing: you have to be on the air.
9:53pm:
I dont work for WYOU, but I do have acquaintances there.
And you're on.
12:22am: Most intelligent post ever. Thank you.
Has anyone seen the commercials yet? They actually invested money into that shit?
Tuesday, 12/12, 6PM—the local AAA baseball affiliate announces its new name (tah-dah, the Yankees!)—16, 22, 28 show the unveiling of the new logo, live.
8PM—WNEP has long since updated its web page with the new information. WYOU’s web page lead is from 12/11, WBRE’s is from 12/9.
Where is “pahomepage.com” when we need it?
NBC25 Hagerstown (Nexstar) did the same thing... www.your4state.com. It's not as user friendly as its predecessor.
btw- WOWO powered down a few years ago to protect WLIB. Imagine AM910 as a 50kw'er.
Where is “pahomepage.com” when we need it?
That's just it, no one needs it, never will. Another Nexstar loser.
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