Nexstar and Tegna to Merge

[ZLoth]

I lived in North Dallas for the past 6½ years, and I barely know the OTA channels or the radio stations in the area beyond WFAA (ABC) and WRR-FM (Classical Music). I haven't even watched a local newscast on a regular basis for almost thirty years. That's because of the alternatives now available that allow me to get more in-depth information than a brief report on a newscast on either radio or television. The newscasts are tailored to a specific demographic that also appeals to those advertisers. The 1976 film Network was supposed to be a comedy, not a predictor of what television news.

Why should I get a chopped up "edited for television" version of a movie such as an example below...

when I can watch the same movie in it's original aspect ratio as intended by the production team? Likewhile, why should I listen to music with annoying DJs when I can listen to the tape/CD, or even stream the music, commercial-free? (Yes, I love the Bluetooth in my car).

Also, some of those classic old TV shows can now be found on the digital sub-channels without any subscription fees.

[Scott5114]

There's also the concern that if all the local media outlets are owned by a single megacorporation that closes the local news operation and chooses to handle programming from a distant major metropolis, what happens when there's a local emergency?

Also this means that there is probably nobody on the local beat covering local and state politics. It might make financial sense to do the Oklahoma City news out of Dallas, but that means you've eliminated the people reporting on what's going on in the Oklahoma state government and the OKC-area municipal governments. That creates a perfect environment where politicians can get away with things they shouldn't be getting away with. (And should that sound far-fetched...it's already happened with newspaper coverage when that industry consolidated.)

[MikeTheActuary]

They probably are.  But you assume that Grey, Sinclair, Tegna, Nexstar, Scripps, Hearst, etc.  have different view on political subjects.  I see no evidence that they do. 

FWIW, of those I've only been aware of Sinclair being criticized for its blatant political slant in the stories it obliges its local stations to push.  That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, however.

I used to have one of the local Tenga stations on as my preferred background noise in the morning, before I went streaming-only (and got very quickly annoyed with how they handle commercial breaks on their stream).  One of the things I appreciated about it was the relative neutrality of its coverage even when you could tell that some of the news presenters had an opinion.

[Rothman]

There's also the concern that if all the local media outlets are owned by a single megacorporation that closes the local news operation and chooses to handle programming from a distant major metropolis, what happens when there's a local emergency?

Also this means that there is probably nobody on the local beat covering local and state politics. It might make financial sense to do the Oklahoma City news out of Dallas, but that means you've eliminated the people reporting on what's going on in the Oklahoma state government and the OKC-area municipal governments. That creates a perfect environment where politicians can get away with things they shouldn't be getting away with. (And should that sound far-fetched...it's already happened with newspaper coverage when that industry consolidated.)

I've wondered how local coverage has survived in my own city, but it's definitely still there, with local reporters...trying to make sound like everything going on is bad...

[hotdogPi]

local Tenga stations

Tegna and Tenga are two different companies that do completely different things. If they were to merge...

[MikeTheActuary]

local Tenga stations

Tegna and Tenga are two different companies that do completely different things. If they were to merge...

I'm a little dyslexic before my morning caffeine hits. 

[kphoger]

It might make financial sense to do the Oklahoma City news out of Dallas, but that means you've eliminated the people reporting on what's going on in the Oklahoma state government and the OKC-area municipal governments. That creates a perfect environment where politicians can get away with things they shouldn't be getting away with.

And it also means that your view of a given political Party is colored by whoever happens to be dominating the scene in Washington DC.  Can you imagine if people's entire picture of the Republican Party were filtered through the lens of Donald Trump?  Oh, wait...  Oh...  Hmmm...