Bad news in Nashville

[jumpkutz]

OK kids, here we go again.

Let the rancorous VJ discourse recommence.

Channel 2 cuts staff, programs
Weekend morning newscasts ditched
By WENDY LEE • Staff Writer • January 30, 2008

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WKRN-TV, Channel 2, has decided to cut staff and cancel its weekend morning newscasts, the station's president and general manager said Tuesday.

The layoffs were a result of a changing media environment, Gwen Kinsey said. Saturday and Sunday morning newscasts were canceled due to a "minimum audience there," Kinsey said.


"Not only have we laid off a couple of people, but we also reassigned some people and asked them to do different jobs," Kinsey said. She declined to say exactly how many lost their jobs.

Many of the people who worked on the weekend morning news will continue at the station, Kinsey said. The station had 144 employees in December.

Contact Wendy Lee at 259-8092 or wlee@tennessean.com.

[LongTimePhotog]

Same thing at WTEN in Albany NY. I think they are Young owned stations.

[Baltimore Shooter]

The layoffs were a result of a changing media environment.
"changing media environment"...meaning they found out that viewers really DO want quality in their television programming.

I'm sure I speak for everyone here (except MR and Vardent Fox) when I say...


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




:D :D :D :D

Warren

[Land Rover]

It really sucks for the staff that was cut. I hope they find jobs elsewhere and from the shape that Young is in I don't think there's much hope of being able to go to one of their other stations.

[Minnesotan]

There are also rumors of lay-offs at Young owned KELO in KELOLand, I mean Sioux Falls...

[amp]

I heard they had 12 layoffs at WRIC, the Young station in Richmond. But, I understand 6 of the layoffs were toward open jobs that they just won't fill. Good luck to whoever lost their jobs over there.

[The Next Generation...]

I was told it was 3 positions cut out unfortunately.

[Chicago Dog]

Young implemented the OMB/VJ "system" to do one thing, which we've predicted -- and has been acnowledged -- since day one: cut costs. They most likely figured that folks would leave their ranks during the change. Using the system and paying a no-experience, ignorant consultant to teach them how were obviously two stupid calls for the company to control the bleeding.

The entire debacle can be summed up in just four words: "We told you so."

In the back of my mind, I'd like to believe that Young implemented the system in an effort to save some jobs from the chopping block. I seriously doubt it, though.

So, the company's employees are facing another round of problems brought on by inept management. It's truly sad to see people losing their jobs because of stupid calls. As I've been told by Alex in past conversations, there's folks at WKRN who stuck through the OMB/VJ debacle because they simply had no choice.

What are they getting for their efforts? The axe.

Way to go, Young. Maybe Mikey will have you out on that nice boat of his.

[Baltimore Shooter]

The entire debacle can be summed up in just four words: "We told you so".
The 4 words I prefer are "HA HA HA HA!"


:D

Warren

[AlexLucas]

They were canned out of the blue.
I didn't mention it because they were good friends of mine and I like them. Worked next to me on overnights. Was happy there just to hang on.

They really didn't deserve this, after all of the frozen nights our trucks sat next to each other bringing the news to Nashville... they did their jobs. But then again, so did I at WKRN. I had to leave before some new comrade commissar shot me for treason against the glorious workers struggle.

Someone got fired immediately in the morning meeting one day. The ND (the old one, not the current one, he's a good ND in a tough situation) insulted a reporter when they got scooped, like everyone else in the city, by an exclusive. It was one of the strongest reporters at WTVF who scooped us all on the highest profile case in the city for years, a case he was intimate with all the players on. The ND's response to that? Literally told her she was an idiot, and screamed at her to get her things and get out, "RIGHT NOW!" The reporter got assigned to pursue that huge, sprawling, ten-year murder story a whopping three days before getting canned. That day, he was itching to fire somebody just for looking at him funny.
He got his wish.

That's been life, for real, at WKRN.

"Hey, hadn't seen so-and-so, is he on vacation?"
(Pulls you over out of the hallway)
"Don't talk about them around the bosses."
"What? Why?"
"Just don't."
"Oh."

Still, if you're sitting at WKRN, and a lot of people I really care for are, and you've literally endured two or three years of this kind of weirdness, it's not to be unexpected that something crazy like this would come out of the blue and get you. It's like the Agatha Christie novel, "And Then There Were None." The earth opens up, and people disappear. I did, too. Voluntarily.

I can't tell if getting canned from WKRN is horrifying, or a blessing in disguise.
It's precisely why I left. I could tell that they would fire you in an instant just to save a buck-O-five.

[Chicago Dog]

The 4 words I prefer are "HA HA HA HA!"

People losing jobs isn't really something to laugh about.

[cameradog]

People losing jobs isn't really something to laugh about.

He was probably laughing at the upper management, whose stock compensation package has dwindled in value as the price has dropped from a 52 week high of around $4.80 to a current price of $.85.

[eb]

There are also rumors of lay-offs at Young owned KELO in KELOLand, I mean Sioux Falls...

What's rumor - what's truth? I used to work with a bunch there....

[Chicago Dog]

He was probably laughing at the upper management, whose stock compensation package has dwindled in value as the price has dropped from a 52 week high of around $4.80 to a current price of $.85.

And we both know they'll still have their cush jobs up top; they'll just have to start driving the Benz instead of the Bentley.

Once again, those who are paying the price are those who didn't have a say. I feel bad for them.

[ABQtog]

I believe the only Young station that did the VJ thing was KRN. It's not the reason for the failing or the layoffs.. That's KRON. The blew it when they outbid GE for the NBC affiliate and then had that affiliation pulled...(why you would outbid a parent company for it's own affiliation is beyond me...). Young has been trying to cut costs since. Good luck to all those who lost their jobs. Best wishes and happy hunting..

[Lensmith]

I believe the only Young station that did the VJ thing was KRN. It's not the reason for the failing or the layoffs.. That's KRON. The blew it when they outbid GE for the NBC affiliate and then had that affiliation pulled...(why you would outbid a parent company for it's own affiliation is beyond me...). Young has been trying to cut costs since. Good luck to all those who lost their jobs. Best wishes and happy hunting..

I'm pretty sure you are rather new here.

Those of us who are not know for sure. WKRN, along with KRON, went VJ all the way.

No doubt about it.

Lots of reason for Young's failures. Not just VJ newsrooms.

However there was almost a whole year of banter, back and forth right here at B-Roll ONline, with Michael Rosenblum himself about WKRN and their VJ newsroom. Which, by the way, went VJ before KRON did.

[verdantFOX]

For once I am in agreement with Dog. People losing their jobs isn't funny. I also agree that Young management is to blame and they have found a way to line their own pockets while making their employees pay for their mistakes. The purchase of KRON by Young has been a debacle since day one. But that was only the beginning. They have blundered countless times since. Now they are making the employees of other stations pay for their mistakes.

One question: Has anyone at corporate management lost their job? As far as I know, the answer is no. The same team is running the company when the stock was at $70. It's now at 70 cents. But who loses their job? Some schmuck at WTEN, or WKRN, etc. Employees who believed in the people at Young. Employees whose jobs depended on managements' ability to make good decisions.

Well guys, they made a ton of really, really stupid moves. It is simply amazing that the same management team has survived, while employees who did THEIR jobs lost those jobs.

I have a great deal of respect for the people at KRON. I hope Young sells quickly enough that those people are able to keep their jobs.

[ABQtog]

Hey Lensmith.. I've actually been on the site for about 7 years... I'm familiar with both the KRON and WKRN, VJ thing and all the back and forth MR posts. I used to work at WTEN, so am obviously familiar with YOUNG. A few of my good friends got laid off yesterday. I just thought I lay out for the unfamiliar, Young's situation.... The VJ issue had nothing to do with them losing money. Plain and simple, it was the KRON acquisition. It was hiring a former consultant to act as VP of news operations. WTEN was not a VJ shop, yet their employees are paying the price for bad decision making.
All the best,
Paul

[svp]

Sinclair is next boys!

[backfocus5]

I believe the only Young station that did the VJ thing was KRN. It's not the reason for the failing or the layoffs.. That's KRON. The blew it when they outbid GE for the NBC affiliate and then had that affiliation pulled...(why you would outbid a parent company for it's own affiliation is beyond me...). Young has been trying to cut costs since. Good luck to all those who lost their jobs. Best wishes and happy hunting..

It is a shame that a lot of good people had to lose their jobs because the upper management at Young overpaid for KRON to the tune of $823 Million! Now Young is stuck with a TV station they desperately want to - but can't unload because of the credit crunch.

Why is it the grunts always end up paying for managament's f**k ups?????

[cameragod]

True but VJ was going to be a huge undeniable success within six months that would trade KRON back to the top and we would all be out of work because of the unstoppable VJ machine. If you can be bothered you can go back and find the quotes. You can’t say VJ didn’t help make this happen.

[Chicago Dog]

True but VJ was going to be a huge undeniable success within six months that would trade KRON back to the top and we would all be out of work because of the unstoppable VJ machine.

Ding!

The quotes are back there, but we've all got better things to do than search a sh!tload of Rosenblum's offensively ignorant tripe.

Rosenblum will deny he ever claimed what cameragod pointed out above. In fact, when the OMB/VJ system began going belly-up, he said he "never claimed the ratings would climb." However, he had absolutely no problem summarizing his responses by adding the tag, "Adapt or die."

You cannot deny that the call to implement the OMB/VJ system had a hand in Young's tanking. Look at their stock price history: before the OMB/VJ system was introduced, Young's stock was actually on the rise. When the OMB/VJ system was implemented, the stock stopped rising and topped off at about $4.50 per share.

Now, their stock is worth anywhere between 70 and 80 cents. What's the only thing that changed in that downward slope? Young's adding the failure of an idea that is the OMB/VJ system.

Good luck to those folks put out by Young. May you find greener pastures very soon.

[Buck]

Landmark is putting Nashville powerhouse WTVF up for sale as well.

[cameradog]

What's the only thing that changed in that downward slope? Young's adding the failure of an idea that is the OMB/VJ system.

Well, no. They have had massive losses not attributable to the VJ debacle, but to write-downs of assets.

When you buy an asset, you put it on your books at the amount you paid for it. If the asset significantly loses value, that decrease is called an impairment. An example of an impairment is buying a station for $700 million and watching it decrease in value to $300 million because you have lost your network affiliation. It's misleading to the shareholders to continue to claim you have $700 million in assets if you really only have $300 million. So you write-down the asset by $400 million.

But then you enter that $400 million as a loss. So suppose without that impairment you would have had a profit of $200 million. But since you're taking an impairment loss, you report instead that you lost $200 million. You didn't actually have $200 million in cash flow out of your company, but the end result is the same.

This is what has been happening with Young. They have had some operating losses, but the bulk of their losses come from impairments of KRON. They didn't write down their impairments all in one year. The SEC requires they test their significant assets for impairment once per year. They've had to write down not only the station, but also intangible assets like the value of the actual broadcasting license. As a result, they've had a series of these impairments, and those have been the major driving force behind the losses.

Their stupid little money saving scheme of using VJs wouldn't really make a dent in that. They thought they would use it to regain some of the value of KRON, but they didn't. It wouldn't have saved them, but it also hasn't hurt them any more than they would have been hurt if they had kept traditional crews. The impairment losses have just been too staggering.

That's why they want to sell KRON. It's an albatross around their necks, and they've finally given up on it. That's why they're leaning out throughout the organization, not just at WKRN. A fully VJ local newsroom is a ridiculously stupid idea, but you can't really blame Rosenblum for what's happening now.

[AlexLucas]

Landmark is putting Nashville powerhouse WTVF up for sale as well.

Yes, but the situation is the opposite of WKRN.

Landmark is enjoying the best ratings ever.
The station is on top of the market.
The photog staff is gunning for POY/SOY status, every year.
It wins a ridiculous amount of national Emmys, Peabodys, Murrows.
It plays hardball in the exceedingly tough region 6 NPPA.
Professionally, it's always at the top.


Landmark is a great place to work. I should know. Even the overnights gig is great, even tired with bags under the eyes.

The sheer UFC quality beating WTVF gives daily in the Nashville market has made everyone's news product better here, instead of just ho hum.
Remember, Al Tompkins ran WSMV here to a fine, fine polish, after that, it just stuck on the market.

Some stations just have it.
WSMV is a good station. Actually, for news product compared to a lot of other markets, WKRN is a good station, too. Even the little Fox WZTV station does good work. WTVF just happens to be a golden gloves prize fighter, and hard to beat. I think the standards in Nashville are exceedingly high for the city of it's size. Kinda like the Carolinas. Or Seattle. Or Minneapolis. Or that crazy awesome Fox station out west.

When I go to some other cities, I twist my head when I see their news product.

If you're not absolutely mind blowing with a camera at WTVF, then you're an incredible hustler, or scanner pimp. You get in WTVF for doing something that they want beyond basic photog work, and do it excellently.

[Buck]

Yes, but the situation is the opposite of WKRN.

Landmark is enjoying the best ratings ever.
The station is on top of the market.
The photog staff is gunning for POY/SOY status, every year.
It wins a ridiculous amount of national Emmys, Peabodys, Murrows.
It plays hardball in the exceedingly tough region 6 NPPA.
Professionally, it's always at the top.


Landmark is a great place to work.

I'm well aware of WTVF. I didn't mean to compare it to WKRN. But, who knows what will happen with new ownership? They may not have the same vision as Landmark and may want to bring in their own people which happens often with ownership change.

Then again, maybe they'll come in and make it an even better place to work if that's possible. Good luck and keep us informed.

[Nino]

True but VJ was going to be a huge undeniable success within six months that would trade KRON back to the top and we would all be out of work because of the unstoppable VJ machine. If you can be bothered you can go back and find the quotes. You can’t say VJ didn’t help make this happen.

In retrospective as a business standpoint KRON move to implement VJ was never intended by Young to improve the station’s performance, it was intended to make the balance sheet look better in preparation for the sale of the company. Rosenblum might have been a victim of circumstances and be led to believe that his VJ were there to rescue the station, or he could have been part of the plot all along, we’ll never know for sure. This is exactly what they teach you in business school. Such sizable sale is not an overnight decision and changes must be planned long in advance in order to show a track record. Labor is a major liability in any company and directly affects the bottom line, showing that you can run the company for less and still stay in business is what auditors look for when investigating a potential purchase. In order to be viable the labor cost reductions has to be over a period of time in order to show that the company can remain operational with less. Ideally it would be over a 5 years cycle but 3 years is plenty to show that it can be done for less. One of the many formulas to calculate the value of a company is to take the last 3 years performance and costs and project those numbers, either upward or downward how they might be, in the next two year thus resulting in a five year cycle. Hence “KRON 3 years VJ implementation”. The fact that KRON was in last place and is still in last place but with lower operating costs gets the attention of investors.

If this sale happens don't be surprised if we'll see more of the same type action from other financially under-performing stations. If I was an employee of any station I would keep a close eye on the company financial performance, if I see an evident sliding scale I would start sending out resumes.

[Chicago Dog]

A fully VJ local newsroom is a ridiculously stupid idea, but you can't really blame Rosenblum for what's happening now.

That may be true, sure. But Rosenblum made the claim the OMB/VJ system would save Young and cause ratings to shoot through the roof. He further went on to tell us we'd all be out of jobs. "Adapt or die," I believe it was.

While Rosenblum might not be to blame for Young's failure, it certainly makes sense to ask why his product failed to deliver upon his promises. Why is it the folks at these "revolutionary" OMB/VJ stations are losing their jobs, but I'm still happily (and quite gainfully) employed?

Of course, he's not going to answer that, but it's fun to ask.

Rosenblum might have been a victim of circumstances and be led to believe that his VJ were there to rescue the station, or he could have been part of the plot all along, we’ll never know for sure.

Victim of circumstance or not, I have absolutely zero respect for him.

He never stopped being a cocky jackass about how we'd all be "out of jobs." He reminded us about it nearly every chance he got. We saw quite the spotlight on how truly ignorant to news operations he really is. While I'm not at all happy that folks who've fallen victim to Young's stupid decisions are losing their jobs, I'm enjoying watching each and every one of Rosenblum's projects crash and burn.

I'm amazed -- utterly stunned -- he continues to refer to KRON and WKRN as "great successes" to this day.

[Buck]

He never stopped being a cocky jackass about how we'd all be "out of jobs." He reminded us about it nearly every chance he got. .

That's why I continue to "honor" him in my signature.