Posted on 01/21/2023 1:20:06 AM PST by E.G.C.
How many of you out there have heard of a company called Nexstar?
Well, if you haven't heard of the company then read on because I have a story to tell you about this company and our dealings with them here in our neck of the woods.(Southern Oklahoma)
Nexstar Media Group is a TV outfit that is based out of Irving Texas. It currently owns over 200 TV stations all across the country.
One of those stations is KFOR-TV, Oklahoma's News 4, Oklahoma City. This station first signed on in 1949 as WKY-TV, Oklahoma's very first TV station and was originally owned by Oklahoma Publishing Company which was a predecessor to Gaylord Broadcasting. They actually issued the very first tornado warning in the 1960's back when it was unheard of.
Which brings us to today. Our home has been a "4 WARN storm house". We have been religiously turning to KFOR's Chief Meteorologist, Mike Morgan. Now, Mike has been forecasting Oklahoma weather for over 4 decades. He's the best in the business here in Oklahoma. You may have seen his outstanding coverage of all the tornado outbreaks here in Oklahoma from years past on Youtube.
For many years we streamed KFOR's newscast live on their website to get Mike's daily weather forecast. His over four decades of weather forecasting experience and storm tracking and analyzing expertise have proven to be very valuable.
Well, unfortunately, all of that came to an end with a recent idiotic decision by the powers that be at KFOR parent company Nexstar. They made the decision to stop streaming TV newscasts on all of their TV station's website and apps.
Nexstar claims the move was "to fulfill our obligations to our cable, satellite and telecom partners." You and I know better. I think they did this because they want higher "retransmission consent" fees. As you and I know, cable and satellite providers do not pay those fees, they pass them along to the customers.
Now, to give you an idea of where we are geographically, we are in Comanche OK which is in Stephens County. Stephens County is in the Wichita Falls/Lawton TV market. KFOR TV where Mike Morgan is based is the NBC station in the Oklahoma City TV market.
Because of this we can't get KFOR on cable here. Also, there is no antenna that can pick up the station from where we are. Oklahoma City is 80 miles from us. Therefore the only way we could watch KFOR News 4 newscasts is through the live stream.
Not a whole lot of people have the financial means to buy an over the air TV antenna or subscribe to cable or satellite. This is why these live TV newscasts streams are so essential. What Nexstar did here is the absolute DUMBEST, STUPIDEST, MOST IDIOTIC thing I've ever seen in my life (I'm 58 years old. I'll be turning 59 in April.)
Now, thing to keep in mind is this idiotic decision was made by Nexstar corporate in Irving TX. None of the over 200 station owned by this group had ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with this decision.
Apparently, what has not occurred to those jackals is there is this thing called "public interest". When you applied for a TV broadcast license, (or a radio broadcast license for that matter) you did so with the understanding that you agreed to SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST AS A PUBLIC TRUSTEE. Choosing to place financial consideration, profits and the bottom line above the needs of your viewers is NOT fulfilling this promise, it's doing the opposite. IT'S ILL-SERVING THE PUBLIC INTEREST!!!!!! This is what Nexstar is doing with this idiotic decision to pull the plug on the live newscast streams. They're choosing to place financial considerations and the bottom line above the needs of their viewers. This is NOT RIGHT, this is NOT FITTING AND PROPER and you know it and I know it.
Now, for those out there saying it's a private company. they can do what they want, well yes they can but maybe they should try and put themselves in the shoes of people who DON'T have the financial means to buy a TV antenna and/or a cable TV subscription and depend on these live TV streams for their access to life saving weather and emergency information. Nobody, whether it's a cable or satellite company or a person, NOBODY should have to pay anything to watch something they can get for free over the air.
This BTW is the very same company (Nexstar) that owns the NBC station here in our market. Several years ago we had a smarmy piece of garbage, Duane Lammers who ran this station and used this stupid "syndicated exclusivity" rule to block us from being able to access life saving weather and information from the Oklahoma City Stations.
All of this nonsense is the result of the idiotic Retransmission Consent provisions which were passed in 1992 as part of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 as well as the stupid Syndication exclusivity laws. Folks, this is preventing those who do not have the financial means to buy an antenna or a cable subscriptions from being able to access vital and essential life saving weather and emergency information from these TV stations.
It's time for the FCC to step in and repeal those stupid laws (Syndicated Exclusivity and Retransmission Consent) so that those underserved people are able to access this life saving weather and information. TV news viewers deserve better than this.
Choosing to place financial interests above the needs of your viewers is NOT the way to run a TV broadcast business. What you're doing here is turning off your viewers to the point where they no longer want to support you. This is what Nexstar is doing here and they're going to end up losing viewers as a result.
Good morning! I just wanted to say that over the air antennas can be found for just under and over $20, they work inside your house, not on the roof. Of course there are more expensive models but we have the lesser antennas and they work great.
https://www.amazon.com/HDTV-Antenna-Amplified-Television-Detachable/dp/B01FUB4ZG8
This website is one that can tell you what channels you can get at your location.
https://www.antennaweb.org/
Thanks for the info. That will help out a lot.
I have this one mounted in my attic. It works great in rural Tennessee.
“This BTW is the very same company (Nexstar) that owns the NBC station here in our market”
Doesn’t your local NBC station have weather forecasts?
We live close enough to the transition towers that an indoor antenna picks up all the local stations so we were able to cancel our cable contact.
Not because of the FCC, but because it will push more people to obtain information from alternate sources. Local weather information is some of the easiest to find on the Internet.
Local radio stations are usually quite good on weather, although I cannot speak for the radio stations in your area.
Good deal. :-D
The reason people here prefer Oklahoma City is because they do a much better job of covering the weather here in Southern Oklahoma than the Wichita Falls stations.
Good deal.
Our local radio stations do cover local weather well. Remember the Emergency Alert System which rebroadcast NWS Alerts.
-—No stations were found for the searched location.-—
Well that sucks...
I live in a narrow valley. I even have trouble getting radio.
Search the internet for "DIY 4-bay bowtie antenna". The bowties are bent 19" #12 copper wire. You can place this contraption on a piece of hardware cloth-clad plywood for a reflector to gain signal strength.
The materials are cheap and it works well.
Same situation here...PLUS...I’m in the NRQZ (National Radio Quiet Zone)
Good idea. Thanks for posting it.
“They’re choosing to place financial considerations and the bottom line above the needs of their viewers.”
Why don’t you just make an offer to the station’s owner and buy the TV station and operate the station in pubic’s best interest?
Doesn’t sound idiotic to me. If they can make money on their TV “news” (which is usually a loss leader only done to get “community benefit” points with the FCC) not streaming it that’s good business. And any TV “news” is a complete waste of time. Has been forever, you’re better off not watching.
Putting profits before the needs of your viewers is just plain stupid.
And it may not sound idiotic to you but it is to a lot of people. Not everyone can afford a TV antenna or a cable subscription.
If you want people to support your business you need to place your customers needs ahead of your profits in terms of priority. Choosing not to do so with drive away your customers and kill your business.
TV news is a dying breed though. More people turning to radio and internet for weather information.
Same here. I have to have an extremely tall antenna which attracts lightning so I have opted for DirecTV.
Bought a Directv setup way back in 1998, set it up, and first night lightning hit it and burned the entire set out even though it was grounded.
Now I have a short pole beside the house.
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