Redemption, Revamping and Rewinding

We didn’t expect our experiment in the last edition of “The Topline” to be greeted with such positive feedback. But it was, and we definitely took note. So we will continue refining our new strategy of making more dispatches, a collection of short takes on the latest industry news, with the occasional longer-take feature that goes in depth on one particular story. With that, let’s get into it.

Here Are “The Headlines from The Topline.” (Yes, we’re still going with that title, at least until we think of something better.)

Her Redemption Tour Is Now Fully Underway

When last we heard much about Wendy McMahon, it was last May, during her defenstration from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. She announced she was leaving her position as President and CEO of CBS News and Stations amid tectonic shifts ahead for the organization. Her resignation came as corporate owner Paramount was itching to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump against CBS and “60 Minutes.” The pesky lawsuit seemed the last major hurdle to clear before Paramount boss Sherry Redstone could sell the whole company to Skydance’s David Ellison, backed by his father Larry’s vast fortune. The internal fight over whether the network should pay out millions to Mr. Trump had already cost long-time “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Bill Owens his gig. McMahon resigned with the announcement that “the company and I could not agree on the path forward.”

Wendy’s path has now led her to an advisory role with the online newsletter-publishing platform beehiv. Now, in her first public “exit interview” since resigning from CBS, she is having a candid conversation about her decision to leave and the future of the network news operation she once led. Is she having that interview with a major news magazine or perhaps an industry publication? Actually no. She is talking to the magazine Marie Claire in their “Exit Interview” feature. We won’t spoil it for you here; you should definitely read how McMahon struggled with feelings of “imposter syndrome” and what she thinks about the currently in-progress remake of CBS News, under the new leadership of one Bari Weiss.

Here is her “money quote” from the article: “I do believe that our democracy does not exist without freedom of the press.”

Speaking of the Revamping of CBS News

We’ve been wondering about the whole future of the combined “CBS News and Stations” structure under Bari Weiss and Tom Cibrowski. The work that Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark put in place to unify the operations of CBS’s network news division and its owned-and-operated local television stations. Those had traditionally been operated independently for a variety of reasons. Still, in the brave new world of “digital synergy,” the two would be unified primarily to create a 24-hour streaming news service and to extend CBS News's branding to local markets where the O&Os operate. Call letters and channel numbers were replaced with “CBS News (location)” in places ranging from CBS News Los Angeles to the less impressive “CBS News Sacramento.” We’re hearing the latter may be replaced with the regional brand of “CBS News Northern California,” which would marry the “CBS News Bay Area” moniker in San Francisco to Sacramento under a single name, much as both the SF and Sacto stations now report to one General Manager.

But with the “catastrophic” ratings situation in progress at the network level (at least according to “Status” newsletter founder Oliver Darcy), we wonder if any of the owned and operated stations have the cajones to suggest that they might fare a whole hell of a lot better with their own legacy branding? Would KDKA-TV draw better ratings in Pittsburgh, or would WCCO-TV in the Twin Cities, where we would bet a few dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts that many viewers still know those stations as Channel 2 or 4, where they have known them since they went on the air seven-plus decades ago?

We suppose there could be alternative paths to pursue at the local level. But certainly no one wants to be part of the place once known as “The Tiffany Network,” but now looks more like the “Titanic News Network.”

And Then There’s The Rewind at Rincon

The folks at the excellent daily “Radio and Television Business Report “ broke the details about the future of Todd Parkin’s Rincon Broadcasting Group. Parkin, who was previously the head of sales for the Bally Sports Networks regional sports operation (that had its own “Titanic” like ending), had since formed The Rincon Broadcasting Group with an initial five stations from his previous employer, Sinclair Broadcast Group. Then he added a half-dozen stations that Imagicomm had previously owned for a hot minute. More recently, three stations from investor Soo Kim’s Standard Media were set to join the quickly growing Rincon portfolio.

But “RTVBR” reports that FCC filings suggest Rincon will be retreating from its entire business plan, with Soo Kim writing a $116.5 million check to Todd Parkin for his interest in Rincon. Kim will then take the Imagicomm, Standard Media, and Sinclair stations back under his “MediaCo” holding company. But they may not stay there for long, as RTVBR quotes sources saying that Kim, who once made a bid for all of the TEGNA station group—before Perry Sook’s Nexstar Media landed that prize—won’t hold on to all these stations for long.

A deal to sell the whole lot of 15 full-power outlets to Sinclair is the probable endgame now. That’s likely because Soo Kim is now the Chairman of Bally’s Corporation, which his Standard General investment fund owns 74% of. Bally’s operates Casinos and Sports Betting operations around the world, and recently received one of the first casino gaming licenses issued for New York City. Bally’s plans to build a casino at the site of the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx.

Funny how it all seems to be working out for everyone involved. Why take a gamble on owning television stations when you can have a sure bet on people actually gambling?

And there you go, three stories in the space we normally take for one. Who says we can’t do shorter updates? Don’t worry, we’ll be “going long” again soon.

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