Gannett Broadcasting is picking up the syndicated show RightThisMinute in eight markets, starting in the fall. The stations grabbing the viral videos show are WUSA Washington, KARE Minneapolis, KXTV Sacramento, KSDK St. Louis, WZZM Grand Rapids, WFMY Greensboro, WCSH Portland (Maine) and WLBZ Bangor (Maine).
RightThisMinute, a joint venture between Scripps, Cox and Raycom, launched in 2011 and captures the web experience on TV with a range of humorous and timely videos. The show is produced by MagicDust Television in Phoenix and distributed by MGM Television. Jack Sander is a partner in MagicDust; following Gannett's agreement to acquire Belo earlier this month, the former Belo exec will own the licenses for several Belo stations where Gannett already owns TV properties, with Gannett providing services to them.
Gannett agreed to acquire Belo for $2.2 billion. The deal awaits regulatory approval.
Dave Lougee, Gannett Broadcasting president, told B&C recently that the group is conducting R&D on homegrown programming with social media aspects. He also said Gannett will consider shows of that nature being developed by other station groups. "We see tremendous opportunity there," he said.
NBC, ABC, Gannett, Post-Newsweek, Sunbeam, Sinclair, Granite, Hubbard and Journal are among the broadcast groups adding the show to their stations this fall. WNBC New York and KABC Los Angeles are among the major market stations adding the show.
