WSVN Miami

DirecTV and Sunbeam Television have ended a stalemate in Miami-Fort Lauderdale that has kept the local Fox affiliate blacked out on the satellite service since mid-July, but the two companies remain at odds on retrans renewals deals for Sunbeam’s Boston NBC and CW affils, WHDH and WLVI.

In Boston, local NBC affiliates WHDH Channel 7 and WLVI Channel 56 went dark following a breakdown between station executives and AT&T-owned DirecTV on July 15th. In Miami, Fox affiliate WSVN Channel 7 was blacked out over a similar dispute. The stations are all owned by Sunbeam Television.

WSVN Miami has returned to AT&T’s U-verse lineup following a dispute that kept the Sunbeam Television-owned Fox affiliate blacked out to U-verse subscribers since Jan. 16.

Sunbeam Fox affiliate WSVN Miami has been teasing viewers with cryptic promos: “Something BIG is coming.” And for the past few weeks, anchors have been working against a green screen to hide what’s happening at the news studio. Here’s the scoop: The station is completing “a massive overhaul” of its news set — the first since debuting its working newsroom concept, “the newsplex,” in 1994, says Alice Jacobs, WSVN’s VP of news. It makes its debut March 8.

Sunbeam Fox affiliate WSVN Miami has been teasing viewers with cryptic promos: “Something BIG is coming.” And for the past few weeks, anchors have been working against a green screen to hide what’s happening at the news studio. Here’s the scoop: The station is completing “a massive overhaul” of its news set — the first since debuting its working newsroom concept, “the newsplex,” in 1994, says Alice Jacobs, WSVN’s VP of news. It makes its debut March 8.

His last day is Sept. 1, but Leider will consult the three-station group, which is owned by Ed Ansin and comprises Fox affiliate in Miami and NBC and CW affiliates in Boston. Boston GM Chris Wayland has been tapped to step up when Leider steps down.

With WSVN still No. 1, WTVJ and WPLG are adding newscasts, and personnel. “The market is as competitive as it’s ever been,” says WTVJ GM Larry Olevitch. “We have English-language stations battling it out on one side. Spanish-language stations are battling it out for their audiences. And we’re all fighting the fact that consumers can get news wherever they want it.”

In a little-noticed case, a federal appeals court in Florida ruled that Sunbeam Television-owned WSVN Miami didn’t have standing to sue Nielsen for monopolizing the ratings market because it could not show that any rival, including Arbitron, is ready to compete with Nielsen. If Arbitron has no plans to compete against Nielsen, the merger will likely be approved, sources say.

With news volume at stations increasing overall, the most prolific news producing stations across the country, including many Fox O&Os and affiliates, are finding that making that major commitment — some with 60 hours a week or more — is bringing big benefits to both their bottom lines and brands while strengthening their ties to the community. Says WJBK Detroit News Director Dana Hahn: “For our viewers, it doesn’t matter what time you’re heading out to work or whether you’re sleeping late. We are going to be there for you.”

Alexis Rivera has been named co-anchor of Today In Florida, the 5-10 a.m. news block on Sunbeam’s Fox affiliate WSVN Miami (DMA 16). Rivera joined the station in April 2011 as […]

The owner of WSVN Miami and WHDH and WLVI Boston signs a carriage deal with the satellite TV provider, avoiding a Super Bowl blackout.

Sunbeam said that despite not having a reached a retrans deal yet, it will let the satellite provider carry its Miami Fox affiliate’s coverage of the New York Giants-San Francisco 49ers game this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. as well as the pre-game show at 6 p.m., the post-game show, American Idol and a late edition of its local news that night.

The scorched-earth financial battle between Sunbeam Television’s Fox affiliate and DirecTV continued Wednesday, with WSVN blacked out for a fifth straight day on the satellite provider, and no cease-fire in sight.

The Sunbeam-owned Miami Fox affiliate and DirecTV negotiated directly Tuesday for the first time since the Fox affiliate cut its link to the satellite programming service at midnight Friday in a retransmission consent dispute.

Football and showbiz fans in Boston and Miami took a hit Sunday as a carriage dispute between DirecTV and Sunbeam Television left subscribers unable to view the Packers-Giants NFL playoff game and then the Golden Globes broadcast by Sunbeam’s WHDH Boston and Fox affil WSVN Miami.

Fox affiliate WSVN Miami and NBC affil WHDH Boston could disappear from DirecTV satellite television dishes this weekend if a dispute over retransmission fees isn’t resolved. DirecTV said Wednesday that the stations’ owner, Sunbeam Television Corp., is threatening to pull their signals off the company’s dishes if a new agreement isn’t reached by Friday.

With its glamour and Latino flair, media players in Miami, a market characterized by an audience fragmented by culture and language, rely on different strategies — from hyperlocal to mobile — to draw visitors and prosper. Market leader The Miami Herald, with English and Spanish sites, has turned to hyperlocal, offering some 45 specialized sites based on community and subject matter. And Fox affiliate WSVN has tripled its mobile traffic in the past year.

Beginning Aug. 22, Sunbeam’s Fox affiliate is adding an hour at 9 a.m. to its Today in Florida newscast.

Meteorologists in the hurricane-prone Gulf and Atlantic coastal areas say they’re conscious of the power they wield and try to be careful with it, realizing the profound impact severe weather news and related promotion can have not only on people, but also on local economies. They also stress the importance of social media as an adjunct to broadcasting, contending that in a weather emergency, television screens are not the only place that citizens will be looking for critical information. This is the third in a series of articles that will appear this week and that collectively constitute a TVNewsCheck Special Report on Severe Weather News. The first two stories in the series are below.

Blake Burman has been named weekend anchor at Sunbeam’s Fox affiliate WSVN Miami (DMA 16). He has been a general assignment reporter covering politics and breaking news since 2008 and […]