The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ss...scast.html

more specifically, contract not renewed.

Before reading the article I just thought that he had done something stupid to be let go.

Portions of Saban's anatomy not properly being moistened?

Contract renewal time for James Spann, I presume.

Linda Mays also did not have her contract renewed.

(01-12-2017 01:32 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Linda Mays also did not have her contract renewed.

That's sad to hear. Good friend, good woman, good Golden Girl, great Blazer.

ABC33/40 got bought out last year. Now that contracts are coming due the new company can start to put their own people in place. Local TV doesn't make much money, so I'd expect to see a lot of long time folks start to retire. Spann is probably done for sooner or later. They already have a lot less to do with his side projects like his weather blog and podcast. 33/40 branding is almost non-existent there now.

I wonder also if we are at a crossroads where local tv news broadcasts face a similar fate as local newspapers.

I'd say it's overall part of youth/new face movement & many stations are doing it at same time

(01-12-2017 06:47 PM)blazerwkr Wrote:  I'd say it's overall part of youth/new face movement & many stations are doing it at same time

More like a young new anchor fresh out of college isn't going to get the same salary as someone who has been working there for 25-30 years

Sinclair Broadcasting is gutting all their newsrooms. They have forced some of the most respected anchors in the DC market to retire. They announced this week that the woman anchor who built their brand was being let go after 25 or so years.

The miracle is that Spann is still there. My guess is the advertisers have told them they will drop the station if Spann goes-and if he goes in market it will gut their ratings

Many are doing it-Sinclair is clearly on the bus for multiple age discrimination suits

Apparently The Zone has been cancelled as part of this as well

https://twitter.com/ZoneWABM/status/819333332949487616

(01-12-2017 10:00 PM)linus Wrote:  Sinclair Broadcasting is gutting all their newsrooms. They have forced some of the most respected anchors in the DC market to retire. They announced this week that the woman anchor who built their brand was being let go after 25 or so years.

The miracle is that Spann is still there. My guess is the advertisers have told them they will drop the station if Spann goes-and if he goes in market it will gut their ratings

Many are doing it-Sinclair is clearly on the bus for multiple age discrimination suits

It was the hiring of Spann and Pam Huff from other stations that put then new 33/40 on the local map and gave the station instant credibility. Spann has been the most credible weatherman for some time and other stations are still measured by his standard.

If The Zone is gone, I can go to bed a half hour earlier unless some interesting guests are on one of the talk shows. Wasn't Raita the Executive producer of The Zone? Perhaps some other local station will pick him up, or he may just go away like Herb Winches.

The Zone was Raita's baby.

(01-13-2017 04:24 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  The Zone was Raita's baby.

True enough, and he was constantly campaigning for an earlier time slot so perhaps the program could be done live.

This is a second "media death" for Kevin whose "Baribeau and Scarbo" radio show was dropped from a local radio station. Is B'ham becoming a "local sports media desert" in this new year?

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ss...river_home

Kevin actually left Raita for a period to go to Fox 6 for his own show.

His show flopped & he returned to Raita.