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I think they realize that no matter who they brought in as a replacement, it wasn't going to lift them out of third place. It makes sense to continue to strengthen the CBS News brand and devote both time and resources to that effort rather than trying to find yet another anchor for CBSEN. Sometimes you have to resign yourself to certain things (at least for the time being).

Agreed! KGO and KABC look much better. WCBS currently has the best set in the market and WNBC has typically been the market's visual presentation champion. Yes! I wonder if the talent ever pushes back against increasingly earlier start times? I suppose there's no money in going the WSVN route and re-running your 11pm newscast at 4:30am? Again, due to earlier start times, stations should have an AM team soely handle mornings, have a midday team for 11a/12p & 4/5 pm and an evening team for 6 & 10/11pm.

I'm surprised as well. Good luck continuing to be in 3rd place CBS as I continue to watch David Muir and Lester Holt.

I'm actually surprised by this.

Because their days are so long, especially the morning shift. In at 3am and out by at least 1:30. No wonder why Amy Freeze left. Though, if they hated their schedules, they can always find another job that's more flexible. Also, by adding one, the network can pull from here instead of flying some from Chicago, Nashville, etc.

I’ve felt WABC’s visual on air presentation feels very medium market. They could learn a thing or two from their sister station WPVI in Philly about in house graphic creation. KABC has the best on air visuals of any of the O&O’s Imo

A true professional in every sense of the word.

From Brian Stelter's Reliable Sources newsletter: Norah O'Donnell renews with CBS News The link to the story referenced in the newsletter: https://puck.news/norah-odonnell-makes-her-next-career-move/

Not really, the WOIO and Meredith graphics are the most “large-market” looks they have.

The lighting of the overall set seemed off too me.. it also looked like they are slightly less social distancing..

Well then again, they adopted the 2007 WEWS graphics in 2012 after the Renderon look, so this wouldn't be the first time they've downgraded...

I'm just amused Warner licensed the package in the same market KFSN used it for 20 years. I guess exclusivity formally ends when the license isn't renewed. Clever choice - it's familiar music to a lot of Fresno residents.

Hi all, I’m rather new here, but I figured I might as well start by giving my two cents on this. I commend Austin for being willing to even start an independent local newscast in this day and age. It’s especially commendable that he’s doing so in a market like Fresno, where there are only two competing outlets (and one of them employs TikTok wannabes.) I understand gripes about the music and presentation, but considering that we’re talking about a one-man band on a shoestring budget, these things are to be expected. However, I have two bigger issues with this newscast: lack of local/original content and a limited platform. I understand that the budget isn’t there for a full news department (blame that on the owner of the station,) but I’ll echo C Block’s point about running local stories that don’t take as much manpower to start out. I don’t think people supporting Austin are “apologists and shills” for a non-factor (given the budget, there’s nothing to shill for anyway.) However, the newscast is a non-factor for the same reason that KFSN’s newscast was: the lone platform is a low-power station no one watches. Even if this was the most well-produced newscast with the best graphics/music/etc, this would still be an issue. If this is going to be a serious news operation in the future, there needs to be an online presence (and there arguably should’ve been one prior to launch.) That said, I wish Austin well.

LOLOL at all the apologists and shills on here (and you know you are) for something that is in reality a non-factor in the Fresno market and never will be a factor. It’s almost like you want Austin to credit you as a “Consulting Producer” at the end of his newscast. I don’t think anyone at KFSN or KMPH is even aware this newscast even exists, let alone thinking it poses anything close to a “threat”.

A one-of-a-kind find... a complete 1996 10pm newscast from WTAT, produced by WCSC

WPLG Channel 10 Eyewitness News 1990 Some WBFS and WPLG promos 1989. ( Including the majestic Movie 10 intro and bumpers, Now if only I knew the name of the "Movie 10" theme) WBZ Live on 4 1989 WCIX (WFOR) Promos, commercials and Action News at the end 1990 KTLA Channel 5 News at Ten 1985

WRC News 4 Today (April 9, 1993) WANE First News @ 5 (February 4, 1991) WRGB CBS 6 News at 11:00 (February 11, 2007) KTVX ABC 4 News at 10 (April 15, 2002) Note: This was Ruth Todd's debut at KTVX after 10 years with rival KSL.

Any material from KTVK's Eyewitness News era is rare, so ewjxn's latest upload made my day:

NBC's Today (1956)

The Gray looks are so bad that WVUE looks good in comparison. I watched them again recently when tornados came through NOLA. Those ancient Raycom graphics still look better than WBTV does after having been “Gray-ified.”

It’s better than that honeycomb look Gray has been putting out there!

They are also cheap in terms of adding another meteorologist. They need it as Sam only works Monday through Thursday. I don't get why the biggest market and the strongest station can't have 5 meteorologists.

RIP Jim Ramsey. It's hard to believe it's already been over 4 years since he retired. He was always Mr. Dependable at WGN, always there to fill in on literally any weekday timeslot while still carrying his regular weekend shifts, sometimes working like 14 or more days in a row when Tom or Paul were on vacation. Gonna miss you, Jim.

From Tom Skilling:

Jim Ramsey, longtime weather anchor and reporter at WGN-TV for 30 years from 1987 to 2017 (and whose career in Chicago began at WLS-TV years before), has died at the age of 69. As someone who watched him regularly growing up on the former WGN superstation feed, all I can say is… we’ll miss you, Jim.

There were at one point standards for production that the industry was somewhat holding themselves to, but those have long since been thrown out the window. A one man band with a YouTube account, iPhone and a ring light pulls in millions more viewers than most local newscasts ever will. And good for them. Here's an unpopular opinion: local news doesn't have to be exclusively delivered to an audience via over-the-air television broadcasts. Fresno seems like a journalism desert, a great place for a digital local news startup. It would be much easier to churn out a few local stories daily for a digital presence than trying to figure out how to make 60 minutes of engaging television. There are fully-staffed newsrooms across the country that can't even pull this off. Honestly... it would probably be easier to find too. Meet your audience where they are. I don't think it's 8pm on MyNetworkTV. But if this is about rebuilding a personal brand, getting one's face out there and building a reel, or having a sandbox to play in - why not? No reason to be jealous about it.

Matt also did quite a bit of work for WKYC, if you recall. God no! The Meredith look is an inconsistent hodgepodge. It's not a complete package. Get rid of that thing. Get rid of every Gray look. Wipe the slate.