Leaderboard

Merry Christmas from the staff of KBMT in 1985! A couple years later, KBMT had switched packs to It's All Right Here — and we have the image song! (Also note a glimpse of the open they used with the WTMJ graphics.)

Will someone please request bigO!plabax to upload all he has of this? I've been waiting to see any video of ABC's The Last Word for ages!

Here’s a rip off of the early 2000s CBS Evening News graphics package

Now from our Radioman friend, clips from Orlando. Specifically, WESH. A tribute to Dave Marsh, upon his retirement... ...and 50th anniversary promos, both from 2006.

DSLRs really cannot be used in live production. Due to tax regulations they actually cannot run for more than 30 minutes continuously. Video cameras and still photo cameras have different regulations on them that kick in when they can record more than 30 minutes continuously. That kind of robot is more often found in film than in television, though I know these are more common in TV overseas. Scripps is probably looking into them because they're really good with virtual sets.

So KNXV got a new studio robot. It’s from MrMoco and has a large area (in gaffer tape on the floor) where you can’t go near it. I assume this replaces a tracked camera they had. Put a scalpel on it and it could do surgery. It actually comes in a tracked version as well. It also looks like they replaced their manual pedestals with CamBots.

More like Sinclair has gone from the Washington Times to Breitbart and Infowars.... Probably being phased in when either software or hardware changes are made with the WX Central or Baron systems. These systems are much more standardized than the various CG systems throughout the company, and the base graphics are often pre-loaded.

I don't know if it's already been mentioned here, but there were traces of WOIO's 1995 package in adjacent market WFMJ's 1996 look... The most apparent was the Weather and Sports intros...using a weird hybrid of scrolling Helvetica on top and Bodoni on the bottom spelling out "WEATHER" and "SPORTS" Here's WOIO.... and WFMJ.... Got to love adjacent markets ripping each other off. Columbus stations were easily accessible in Dayton, likewise with WOIO being available in Youngstown (since it was their default FOX affiliate until 1994...and still available post switch until the late 90s after WKBN started their own affiliates...)

Meanwhile, down the dial..... 58 years ago today, Dallas' PBS station, KERA, signed on. It wasn't until 1974 that they would be able to broadcast in color. But a first came along the following year, as KERA was the first US station to air an episode of the Brit-com Monty Python's Flying Circus. All the members of MP made an appearance during a 1975 pledge drive. KERA has been airing Brit-coms and dramas ever since.

WTEN's Elisa Streeter is retiring after 30 years, effective the end of 2018. Her line about the "next chapter" makes me seriously think that she'll surface doing something or another at WNYT, probably special reports or what not similar to how John McLoughlin met his end. Perhaps after ~25 years we'll see the return of "Streeter's Lane"...

During her anchoring days, Sue Nigra was a huge deal as she was seen as the Next Big Thing and her departure from WTEN to WRGB in 1998 led to her suing Young Broadcasting as they tried to block her from leaving. WRGB put her on a pedestal, hiring her husband* and having her host the local wraparounds for the 2002-03 syndication bomb "Life Stories" among others. Her departure in 2006 was seen as a bit of a shock though seeing how Liz Bishop won't retire may have been for the best. * Fun fact: She met him working at WNYT; she was an intern, he a camera operator. He has since gone into nonprofit management and was back in the news when the health clinic he runs had an Ebola false alarm a few years back.

Here’s a real treat... What gets me is that there are TONS of WNYT opens from 2018 after the set change yet their 1990s stuff is so limited.

Speaking of KSTP, I don’t know if anyone posted this, but former WTEN meteorologist Greg Pollak recently joined KSTP’s sister station WNYT. Guessing Craig Flint didn’t like Albany... Also WNYT has updated their first warning weather app to feature the new logo, and the very stiff portrait shots they took for the talent bumps have been added as well...

WNYT does this too - Bob Kovachick and Paul Caiano do weather at the 4:00-6:00pm slots. I bet this is either to force Bob K into retirement or they give the opportunity of having one weather anchor in the studio while the other reports live from a remote location (an example was Bob at Albany’s Alive at Five a few weeks ago).

Morning weather forecaster at WFMJ in Youngstown left the station. She is off to Nexstar's WTEN/WXXA. Cake was served on WFMJ Today.

Gough's last day was yesterday. This was reported a while back, he's going on a sabbatical to pursue other projects ranging from writing a book about assorted childhood abuses he survived to focusing on a Sunday morning show he created and produces, Wine About The Weather. The fun question is who will fill his shoes because his doing the late news was an insurance policy for if Bob Kovachick were to retire. They really have no weather bench anymore since their hires the last five years either a) left the market [WFXR's Jason Caterina and KKTV's Jordan Sherman] or b) are longtime vet retreads [Andy Gregorio was at WTEN forever and Neal Estano did THREE stints at WRGB with stops in-between at WJXT, then WBAL]. That morning move is a path of least resistance as who else do they really have? The person they wanted in such a role left the business and all apologies to the weekenders but they've kind've calcified into that role after so long. Asa's a caretaker of sorts.

Unbelievably, NBC still owned an analog television station in 2018. When they acquired ZGS, they also acquired the analog LPTV it had in El Paso, KTDO-LP. The functional purpose of this station ostensibly was to provide Ciudad Juárez analog viewers with coverage, yet it remained on air until recently. On November 30, NBC told the FCC to cancel the license for the LPTV. (Repack probably also was determinative in ending this facility.)