Is there anything more irrelevant to a sports fan than the sports segment of the local news? Seriously, I think I make a point to watch it once a year, on Thanksgiving, for HS football highlights and results.
I don't blame local stations for paring down their budgets by jettisoning sportscasters. The local sportscaster is about as relevant as a buggywhip is to transportation. Plus, even if one wanted to watch him, it is tough to have a meaningful sportscast in 90 seconds. Local news is too busy feeding us stories about home invasions in Missouri or fires in Mizzoula to actually concentrate on the local market.
The local news formula is simple: a couple of local stories, usually with some idiot standing out in the rain at 11:04pm in front of some long-closed government building so he can say that he's "Live from the...", a national story or two, then some idiotic sensationalist bits from somewhere in the country with plenty of violence or tragedy: an inane amount of weather, with a bunch of stupid gadgets, like the Channel 17 weatherscopenowtodaycopter; then 90 seconds of sports, and finally some babble about a celeb in rehab or jail cell.
No, thanks, I'll get my news on the internet, and my sports on ESPN and the internet.