Cale Ramaker (Courtesy: Orlando Sentinel)
Cale Ramaker, who spent the last seven years at FOX affiliate WOFL as an anchor, is no longer employed by the station.
The decision comes at the end of the May ratings period, where the FOX affiliate came in fourth.
WVUE (2012 Logo)
Those who live in New Orleans and subscribe to DISH Network won’t be seeing any WVUE broadcasts anytime soon, because the satellite provider is accusing the FOX affiliate of being “unreasonable in its demands.”
Local TV blog TVSpy reports WVUE is asking for up to 300 percent in affiliate fee increases, according to a statement from a DISH Network senior VP.
What station doesn’t want to get paid just for being carried? 
In the most recent example of media companies negotiating for more dollars, DirecTV and CBS affiliate WCBI-TV have reached an agreement to continue carrying the north Mississippi station as part of its local channel lineup.
Adam Bagni (Courtesy: WNCF)
WNCF sports director/anchor Adam Bagni will not be re-signing, despite being offered a contract extension from the Montgomery ABC affiliate.
In a staff email obtained by Montgomery TV and Radio, a local blog, Bagni says it’s not a decision he took lightly, but added the decision was in his best interest.
From the blog:
“As great as everyone has been to be in Montgomery, I just feel like it’s time to move on. I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I can at ABC 32 – two national championships, sports director, awards – I just feel like it’s time to fully devote myself to what’s next,” he said.
At this time, he is not sure where he will end up next. “It’s always a bit scary when you don’t know what your future holds, but it’s time to close this chapter of my life and move on to what’s next,” Bagni said.
Bagni had been with ABC 32 since February 2008. Though he’s leaving, he says he’s not leaving the business. Stay tuned.
Here we are three full days into 2011, yet the End of the World (as predicted by Raycom execs) hasn’t come. In fact, though DirecTV has issued no official statement as of yet, a company “spokesperson” has been quoted in several newspapers, saying slightly different things, but all with one thing in common: your local Raycom channel will still be on the satellite provider’s lineup after the New Year. In fact, some newspapers claim the deal auto-renewed and is good until Dec. 31, 2011.
This excerpt from a recent Arizona Daily Star article says it best:
Raycom Media’s position is that its current contract with the satellite provider ends on Jan. 1, and if a new multiyear agreement isn’t reached, DirecTV could stop carrying its programming, said Jeff Rosser, Raycom Media’s senior vice president.
DirecTV, on the other hand, said the contract extended to the end of 2011 automatically and there’s no chance of satellite subscribers losing access to that programming.
“DirecTV customers should ignore Raycom’s messaging and scare tactics; they are mistaken; the stations will remain up,” DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said in an e-mail.
While talks are ongoing, Rosser said DirecTV has become less responsive. The two parties disagree on when the contract ends, he said, which leads to the possibility of DirecTV subscribers in Tucson losing KOLD’s programming.
“We’re not using scare tactics,” he said. “We’re trying to do the responsible thing and alert viewers of the possibility.
But is it true? If it is, it certainly makes Raycom look more and more like it’s preying on its viewers’ fears, scaring them into believing DirecTV is an evil monster that preys on local affiliates.
According to the Southeast Missourian, Raycom is negotiating on behalf of 30 stations. But nothing has yet been reached.
There is no signed agreement, but neither side has pulled the signals, said KFVS general manager Mike Smythe. Raycom has provided DirecTV a signed copy of an agreement that will allow DirecTV to continue to carry of the station into 2014, Smythe said. Raycom is awaiting DirecTV’s officials’ signatures.
Other media conglomerates Hearst and Insight have recently signed similar contracts for their stations, but Raycom seems the odd man out here because of their practices considered deceptive by media bloggers.
Is your station on the chopping block? Let us know by emailing us at southtvnewser@gmail.com.
It started simply enough: what looks to the untrained eye as a power play from Raycom Media to the nation’s largest satellite provider: charge a premium (referred to as “fair compensation” on many of the station’s websites) in exchange for being carried within the provider’s programming lineup.
What isn’t being disclosed: how much the conglomerate wants per station from DirecTV.
Here’s a list of stations involved in the dispute. Chances are, it will probably involve one you watch if you live in the southeastern United States.
From what’s been listed on several Raycom station websites, if negotiations aren’t reached by December 31, DirecTV will end up dropping the stations from its programming lineup. For example, if WAVE (NBC affiliate in Louisville, KY) is dropped, DirecTV cannot by federal law put another NBC affiliate in its place from a different DMA because of usage restrictions.
Here’s the notice from one such station, WTVM (ABC station in Columbus, GA).
And that means that, because Raycom says it needs “fair compensation” for the “millions of dollars it puts into its programming”, in the long run, the viewer is the one who ends up having to do without.
South TV News will keep on this as it continues to develop.
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