Tuesday, September 16, 2014

9.16.14 Bee-otch of the Day: northern Michigan TV stations


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Names: Heritage Broadcasting and Sinclair Broadcasting
Ages: 32, 43
Occupation: broadcast companies
Last Seen: Cadillac, MI, Hunt Valley, MD
Bee-otched For: saying yes to religious hate and crap, but no to Jerry

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If you live in northern Michigan and watch TV in the daytime, the 10 a.m. hour is one giant, ugly cesspool.

7&4 is airing the Kathie Lee and Hoda Hour of Today, 29&8 is airing the new Meridith Viera Show while 9&10 is airing infomercials and Fox 32 is airing quite possibly the worst show on TV, The 700 Club.

Thank God I live here in Grand Rapids, where if I'm home at 10 a.m., my local CBS station, WWMT-3 is airing Let's Make a Deal, Fox 17 has Steve Wilkos and MyNetworkTV WXSP has Jerry Springer.

9&10 has LMAD at 3 p.m., Wilkos is on the cable-only CW 61 at 9 a.m., but sadly, I have to ask, "where's Jerry?"

Naturally, Jerry could air on 29&8 since they air Maury, which is syndicated by the same company. Last year, they aired The Test at the 10 a.m. slot, but that got the shaft after one season. Personally, 29&8 should have gone with the well-tested Jerry vs. Viera, whose show will end up being another Katie.

True, Jerry should air on Fox 32, but not as long as 9&10 is "owning" that station. Bear in mind that in 2007, Fox 32 was sold to Cadillac Telecasting, but is being run by 9&10. 32 was the original northern Michigan home for Maury (and even carried Jerry for a while after being canned by 7&4) but they demoted him to the 3 a.m. slot, possibly because of content or the fact that Heritage wants 32 to simply be a bottom-feeder for 9&10. Eventually, 29&8 picked up Maury.

However, Heritage has done a good job turning 32 into a station with mostly bad syndicated shows, religious nutjobs and lots of infomercials. As a matter of fact, Fox 32 AIRS EIGHT HOURS OF INFOMERCIALS AND RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING DAILY. THAT'S A 1/3 OF THEIR BROADCAST DAY! Worse, some of their syndicated shows suck, such as the new The Real, which is nothing but a ripoff of The View. In the past, the station aired Anderson Cooper's failed show and (barfbag, please) Bethanny. Clearly, the idiots programming Fox 32 haven't got a clue.

True, northern Michigan does have two indies: WLLZ-12 (MyNetworkTV/RetroTV) and WMNN-26 (all news with some news-based shows). The people running WLLZ need to know that RetroTV's daytime offerings are TERRIBLE. As for 26, Do people really want to watch taped newscasts most of the time? Probably not.

Look, there's a reason why I'm pissed that the north doesn't get the Springer Show: True, it's mostly a smorgasbord of lesbians, strippers, white and ghetto trash beating up each other, but unlike Pat Robertson, Jerry Springer doesn't preach against gays and liberals, plus he doesn't beg poor people for money. Northern Michigan is one of only TWO markets The 700 Club has in the state of Michigan and the only market in the state where Springer doesn't air. It's on in Alpena and Marquette, but thanks to the limited TV choices brought on by 7&4 "owning" 29&8 and 9&10 "owning" Fox 32, it's slim pickens.

Thing is, Mario Iacobelli, 9&10/Fox 32's owner is 76 and, well, question is, when "that time" comes, what will happen to the joint agreement between the two stations. The FCC is clamping down on joint operating agreements, and in the case of several stations recently purchased by Gray Television in the upper midwest, Gray shut those stations down and is now airing their programming on their digital subchannels. For an example: in Grand Junction, CO, Gray operates ABC KJCT-8 and NBC KKCO-11. Gray purchased KJCT, but is now selling it to an Asian broadcast group because of the FCC's scrutiny towards virtual monopolies.

Personally, I would imagine that 9&10 would put Fox 32's programming exclusively onto their subchannels while 32 itself would be spun off. Question is, who would want it, and what type of programming would air on it? Of course, northern Michigan doesn't have affiliates for Antenna TV, Me-TV and the other .2s out there because the current .2s up north are re-transmissions of their virtual sisters, like 7&4 having 29&8 on their .2 and so on.

I'm happy that the FCC is clamping down on virtual monopolies, but it's too little too late for northern Michigan. Oh, well, at least some of Springer's shows are on YouTube. Maybe Pat Robertson will have a stroke on the air. Who knows?

All I know is that when there's a lack of choice, everybody loses.

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