Joel Bulkley
It looks like things aren’t going smoothly at WRAL TV in Raleigh. There’s always staff turnover, with TV folks coming and going. But there seems like more turnover than normal recently in terms of anchors and reporters departing.
They apparently dismissed Scott Mason whose “Tar Heel Traveler” was a popular feature on the 5:30 weeknight news. His stories featured interesting people and unusual places in N.C. since 1997. The decision brought lots of anti-WRAL comments on X. No successor was named.
WRAL is an NBC affiliate and as the network expands live pro sports coverage (NFL, NBA, Baseball) there are more late night games, forcing the 11 p.m. newscasts later and later. Selling ads is tough enough these days. The local news is one of the biggest profit centers for the station. Can’t imagine many viewers stay up til the end of games 11:30 or later to watch Channel 5 news. And I can’t imagine advertisers are happy either with the later hours and likely smaller audience.
Maybe November election ads will bail them out. Meanwhile, TV competitors in Raleigh and Durham are putting on stronger news programs and pushing WRAL harder. All stations are trying to fill the void left by the demise of the N&O. Plenty of stories that could or should be in the paper aren’t and that was before the latest McClasky layoffs.
Don’t know the extent of the job cuts in Raleigh yet, but the Charlotte Observer reported one fourth of their newsroom (8 jobs) was let go Sep. 10. Nationally, news reports said 90 journalists at 13 papers in eight states lost their jobs in the bloodiest cutbacks by McClasky Media in years. They publish 30 papers and are owned by Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund, after McClatchy declared bankruptcy in 2020.
Coach B of UNC ranked 14th among ACC football coaches by The Athletic. Coaches at Miami, Clemson, Va. Tech were the top three. D, Doeren was eighth.
Going to a Carolina Panther football game with a family of four is expensive.
According to the Action Network, four tickets cost $1,112, food $51 (2 beers, 2 soft drinks, 4 hotdogs), parking $40, for a total of $1,203. That was eighth lowest in the league. Cleveland ($823.13) was the cheapest, Buffalo ($2,193.95) the most expensive. The average was $1,447.55.
Championships in sports are often celebrated with books and pictures.
Cory Lavalette, Carolina Hurricanes hockey reporter for North Street Journal and The Athletic, wrote “Perfect Storm” for Triumph Books. The final copy for the book was due by 2 a.m. the night of the Stanley Cup finale in Las Vegas. He took a nap and got the final proof at 6 a.m. “Relentless” was compiled as a collector’s book by the News & Observer. I haven’t seen or read either.
The sports community lost Bill Rasmussen, co-founder of ESPN in 1979 and a TV sports pioneer. He was 93. Barry Melrose, former hockey player, ESPN anchor and hockey analyst, passed away after a battle with Parkinson’s. He was 70.
The Golics (Mike Senior and Mike Junior) are back on ESPN morning radio. More of the same old stuff. Too much talk about Notre Dame, junk foods they love, etc. Not many new or original thoughts here, but more light-hearted banter than their predecessors. Guests are generally the same as other ESPN shows.
Former coach Jon Gruden is doing Tampa Bay football games with Ronde Barber. Former UNC receiver J.J. Jones is an analyst for the ACC Network with former coach Jimbo Fisher. Former ESPN star Suzy Kolber is the executive producer and host of “The Originals,” a new interview series on Scripps Sports Network. Former ESPN/Fox host Sam Ponder is homeschooling her three kids in NYC, saying it’s “necessary to keep kids out of weird public schools.”
Jones Angell (play by play), former UNC football player Joe Jauch (analyst), former QB Bryn Renner (sideline reporter, color analyst) make up the UNC football radio crew for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Lee Pace retired from the sidelines but still writes his weekly Carolina football column.
Have you noticed how rapidly streaming rates are rising? They’ve increased three times the rate of inflation over the past few years, making them comparable to cable fees.
Credit Indy Week for doing a “sports” issue, the first in years. Credit chapelboro.com for improved news coverage including the 100th anniversary series about Kenan. Credit to Coach B and the many students and others who did the annual 9/11 stair climb at Kenan in support of first responders.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gets 10 minutes on ESPN’s College GameDay in Texas to lobby for The Protect College Sports Act. The prior week Nick Saban and Pat McAfee advocated for the bill on the program.
When will opponents get a chance to counter Cruz, Saban, McAfee? The bill isn’t all roses–far from it for athletes. What about balanced coverage?