Scripps Tries to Breathe some Life into Buffalo Station

Scripps recently bought WKBW in Buffalo from Granite Broadcasting. Now, the company is trying to bring the station back from the dead after Granite all but killed it.

"New equipment is arriving like Christmas morning," GM Michael Nurse told the Buffalo News.

He said the new equipment includes live backpacks and cameras.

"There is a real effort to increase our effort to do live," said Nurse.

Scripps also returned WKBW as a subscriber to the ratings service Nielsen and will add the news services CNN and Associated Press by Today. All three of those ratings and news suppliers were dropped in cost-saving moves by Granite. 

"We're reviewing all our needs from top to bottom," said Nurse.

The station also is starting a major renovation of its newsroom "to become a more cohesive facility," said Nurse.  "It will be very open and editing will be close to reporters."

"It is going to be a process," Nurse said of the station's rebuilding. "But our goal is to have everything worked out and in place by the fall, including new hires and new formats."