Advertisement
TEGNA has taken over WBNS-TV from the Wolfe family. Get ready for big heads to roll.
Jerry Revish, the premier TV news anchor in the Columbus market, already announced his impending retirement.
TEGNA paid more than half a billion dollars for Channel 10, its two sister sports-talk radio stations and a TV station in Indianapolis.
The third largest television chain in the country did not get big by being sentimental toward its employees, like the Wolfe family was. It will relentlessly increase revenue and cut costs.
Several major air personalities are likely to depart because they do not fit in with TEGNA's hard-hitting investigative journalism and aggressive promotion of dynamic on-air personalities.
Yolanda Jackson, Revish's co-anchor, never really fit in at Channel 10 and likely will be let go. Jackson's peppy, tabloid style that led her to prominence at Channel 6 and fit that station's audience, but it turned off Channel 10's more refined viewers.
Scott Light, whose anchoring and Sunday public affairs work might be described as light weight, probably will not be around much longer.
Sports anchor Dom Tiberi has outlived his usefulness with his perpetual fawning over local sports personalities and teams.
Weather anchor Ashlee Baracy may be gone after she protested too much and made a publicity grab when a few misguided viewers complained about her appearance during her recent pregnancy.
Expect 20 percent fewer local journalists under Channel 10's employ by the end of the year.
Do not be surprised if TEGNA conducts a national talent search to replace Revish and hires someone who surges to the top of the market in a relatively short time.
TEGNA was split off a few years ago from Gannett Co., that was better known for its newspapers, such as USA Today.
Interestingly, GateHouse, that purchased the other Wolfe media holdings, the Columbus Dispatch and its subsidiaries, four years ago, is merging with Gannett Co. if an announced deal goes through. The new company will be still known as the Gannett Co.
The late John Wolfe was not a fan of Gannett and refused to sell it The Dispatch.
In a final irony, all of his media properties are about to be taken over by Gannett-linked companies.
Wexner May Have Gotten Break When Epstein 'Checked Out'
Onetime Les Wexner buddy Jeffrey Epstein apparently committed suicide in a New York jail, so now Wexner does not have to fear testimony from the alleged abuser of women.
Wexner now says that Epstein misappropriated money a decade ago, but Wexner never filed charges.
Meanwhile, Wexner's L Brands sales and stock price are cratering.
Wexner and L Brands apparently have not yet figured out that women do not want to dress like tramps any more.
Johnny Nobody, Gordie Gee Whiz Return From Hiding
Two onetime super heroes of Ohio have resurfaced with a dubious plan to direct opioid money from settlements with drug companies and distributors to hospitals rather than government.
Johnny Nobody, aka former two-time Ohio governor John Kasich, and Gordie Gee Whiz, aka former two-time OSU president Gordon Gee, have teamed up.
Both men are largely ignored these days.
Kasich's pathetic campaign allowed Donald Trump to become president. Gee was run out of OSU twice and now metaphorically wears a coonskin cap with his trademark bow tie as president of West Virginia University, from where he has been raiding OSU for its leading medical researchers.
Meyer To Comment On University That Employs Him
Urban Meyer returns to the TV broadcast booth this fall for Fox Sports on a program that precedes Big Ten football broadcasts.
This is a conflict of interest because Meyer is still under contract with OSU to teach and do administrative work. How could he possibly be objective in commenting about the team he once coached?
I am still waiting for the mainstream news media in Columbus to report the details and any payoff Meyer received when he left his $7-million-a-year coaching job early.
Maybe TEGNA-run Channel 10 will get to the bottom of it.
OSU To Slump On Gridiron. Meyer To Get Last Laugh
Look for Meyer to get the last laugh as the Buckeyes lose 4 or 5 games this season. New coach Ryan Day is unproven. So is new quarterback Justin Fields. The backup quarterbacks are journeymen at best.
Ex-OSU great Luke Fickell, passed over for the job in favor of Day, will bring his top 25 University of Cincinnati Bearcats with blood in their eyes to the Horseshoe Sept. 7. Expect an upset.
OSU plays at resurgent Nebraska and at preseason favorite Michigan. It hosts powerhouses Michigan State, Wisconsin and Penn State.
Expect fans to be chanting "Bring back Urban" and "Dump Drake" (in reference to the OSU president who fired Urban) by mid-season.
Quickie
The Columbus Free Press Network has been formed to streamline ad sales and underwriting opportunities across our platform of progressive media including the Free Press, WGRN 94.1 FM, WCRS 92.7 and 98.3 FM, and the Free Press's video channel.
(Send your comments and suggestions to John K. Hartman, ColumbusMediaInsider@gmail.com)
(ColumbusMediaInsider, copyright, 2019, John K. Hartman, All Rights Reserved)