MidMichigan NOW at 5pm on NBC25

[lovinlife101]

Another show!

No additional staff!

Same inferior product, now an hour earlier!

Now down to 15 employees! That includes a sports director on the way out and a semi-retired dinosaur that doesn’t know when to quit!

[lovinlife101]

How long will they go with no ratings before they bring Bill Harris back to try to get people to watch this show?

As long as they can. If you can’t make any more money on the revenue side, cut expenses. It costs money to purchase a syndicated show. It costs nothing to have the people you’re currently paying produce more work.

Oh, and the ratings were in the toilet before, during, and after Harris’ “full time” tenure.

[lovinlife101]

Herm: I agree that newscast expansion is good. But there’s no plan to be able to support the additional news time with more reporters covering more local news. So you’ll see a lot of repetition and a lot of stories from other Sinclair stations, NBC national, and CNN. We’re stretched so thin that this expansion is only making things worse... which is hard to believe that morale could get any lower... but it is.

News expansion would mean additional people, not more traditional “appointment television” newscasts.

Seriously, why do they go in reverse?

[lovinlife101]

Seriously, that place is 100% bass ackwards.

Putting more time and energy in traditional, appointment television in 2020?

Why not invest in Polaroid cameras, horse and buggies, and pay phones?

[lovinlife101]

Mr V, you are correct. It is a money grab.

My concern is that we are launching a new newscast without any additional staff — putting a strain on an already understaffed news team. The 5pm news will simply be a rehash of the local news, with tons of weather and national news.

If you can’t create a new newscast with the additional staff needed to do it right, then don’t do it. 25/66 is actually doing more harm to its other newscasts and an already overworked staff.

But bottom line is the only thing that matters to the accountant in charge. Journalism clearly is not.

If I were there, I’d renegotiate my contract since the job has changed.

Is Dave Blondie’s agent going to say something if his services are additionally required?

[lovinlife101]

Dave Bondy isn’t anchoring the new 5pm newscast. So there’s nothing for his agent to renegotiate.

But if I were Ahmad, I’d be asking for the Chief Meteorologist title and a big pay raise!

Remember Sinclair’s motto: “Ask, and you SHALL NOT receive!”

[lovinlife101]

Lovin: not necessarily so.

We’ve been pushing FOR YEARS better compensation after years of being restricted to 1.5% pay increases across the board. That meant the best employee was rewarded as the absolute worst employee. This came at the same time that Sinclair was trying to buy up other media groups. That decision (as well as many other factors) led to many good journalists at 25-66 and other SBG stations to flee.

Eventually, Sinclair corporate execs cane to their senses and hundreds of HR exit interviews and raised the starting minimum wage to $15 an hour. Now they created another problem that wages are artificially inflated for smaller markets (a good thing) and deflated for larger markets where cost of living is much more expensive — with no incentive for stations to make market based competitive salary decisions. So, in essence, their good effort created other issues because of Sinclair’s top down model.

And 25-66’s accountant in charge throws the $15 an hour minimum wage as a reason to not ask for any future raises. Ain’t gonna happen. He’d rather have good people leave.

This is why 25-66 will continue to be the bottom feeder of the Flint-Saginaw TV market when the local GM does only the very minimum to improve workplace conditions — unless of course you like getting paid in grilled cheese sandwiches.

I don’t believe this for two reasons.

1. If the best employee got a 1.5% raise, then the worst employee should get no raise. Therefore, the best employee is NOT treated like the worst employee.

2. Individuals (and their agents, if any) negotiate their own deals. Am I supposed to believe that Dave Blondie is paying an agent in order to get a 1.5% bump the following year? Nope! He’s making more than that and you know it.

I’m sure that’s the excuse when the manager doesn’t want to give a raise. It’s a convenient excuse, “Sorry, can’t pay you any more. Boss’ orders.” But we all know some are making more than that.

[lovinlife101]

As someone who says he hasn’t worked for 25-66, you are categorically wrong on both arguments.

Even agent negotiated contracted workers (mainly anchors and reporters) were limited to the 1.5% increase. And the GM and HR Director always approved the 1.5% increase for all workers, regardless of performance. They blamed and put pressure on department heads to move out complainers. Don’t believe me? Ask the multitude of ex-25&66ers who fled the station during the time.

First, I’m not a “he.”

Second, are you serious? Giving employees that suck a 1.5% raise just for keeping their mouths shut? What kind of ignorance is going on there? Rewarding bad behavior with a bump in pay?

Wow. Just wow.

[lovinlife101]

As someone who says he hasn’t worked for 25-66, you are categorically wrong on both arguments.

Even agent negotiated contracted workers (mainly anchors and reporters) were limited to the 1.5% increase. And the GM and HR Director always approved the 1.5% increase for all workers, regardless of performance. They blamed and put pressure on department heads to move out complainers. Don’t believe me? Ask the multitude of ex-25&66ers who fled the station during the time.

It’s a pretty good recruitment tool.

“Want a raise for sucking? Work for us!”