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This is a large rearchitecture. The reason it has taken this long is simply because of how comprehensive it is. Of the four O&O chains, CBS has the most problems ailing its. Most of the stations are ratings fixer-uppers and have spent two decades or more in such a condition. There was no news in Detroit. Post-Dunn and Friend, something radical needed to be done. And the investment in News and the fact that there is actual innovation and renewal in News are all to be hailed. If you watched the first night of the new Evening News look, you might have noticed the text elements listing places where CBS News has bureaus. There's London...Rome...Johannesburg...Atlanta...oh yeah, and Sacramento and Baltimore. News and Stations in a nutshell. There is a lot going on. A visual overhaul, the first top-to-bottom one at Stations in nearly a decade; a restructuring internally; the continued effects of the Paramount Global merger, etc.; the launch of news in Detroit; and the shift to a streaming-first or -co-first mentality at every outpost in Stations. This does not happen overnight. Why are we so excited? Because there is a sense of renewal at CBS that is long-deserved and needed. Because they are fixing, finally on a comprehensive level, a historic inequity in Detroit, and they are making the right moves in doing it. Because there is a pathbreaking branding approach. ABC has too many successful news franchises in its markets to do this. NBC has too many, and it also has Telemundo; it's hard to have that sort of fusion of national and local news when there are two separate networks (with separate teams) to feed and all of the NBC newsrooms it runs are bilingual. Fox fundamentally cannot do this without compromising and tainting its local news product to a significant portion of the audience.

Or “CBS (name of city/region)”. The way CBS is pushing this across the chain, I expect them to push the non-owned affiliates to go in the same direction, either as “CBS” or “CBS (city/region)”. It’s something that I’ve debated @channel2 on in the discord as she values the brand integrity of the affiliates and the legacy brands of the O&Os, which I totally get. At the same time, harmonization is not new, from the time ABC had their O&Os all adopt the same Circle 7 in 1962, to when NBC pushed the same news sets throughout their chain in the 1970s to when CBS had their affiliates use Rockwell as their CG typeface in the 1980s. The only difference here is the presumed excising of the channel number and retiring of call letters as brands in favor of a unified approach. It’s revolutionary in US broadcasting but is so commonplace elsewhere. Moreover, CBS has a clear and obvious brand issue with KDKA, WBZ, KPIX, WCCO and to a lesser extent KYW as stations that have to share a branding with their onetime radio sisters. It’s in theory not bad unless the radio station gets bad publicity a la Wendy Bell flaming out at KDKA 1020 and KDKA-TV has to issue statements that they had nothing to do with Wendy’s employment. It’s an awkward licensing agreement between Audacy, iHeart and Beasley Les Moonves made that never should have happened (but at the same time everyone would be grousing at KDKA 1020, the fabled “first radio station”, being forced to change their call sign. Look at the awkwardness of KOMO 1000 being forced to rename itself KNWN). Moreover, CBS going with a unified “CBS” branding solves issues with brand awareness that have dogged the network since 1994, especially in Detroit. It’s also why I see them pushing the renaming before “CBS News Detroit” launches, to help get the marketing campaign underway and help to better promote the news service. It also helps the O&O chain’s laggards—WFOR, KTVT, WBBM and WCBS—a chance to start anew, they literally have nothing to lose. The chain’s successful stations—WCCO, KCNC, WJZ, KDKA and to an extent WBZ—will handle it in a transitional way, but the viewers will adapt. I highly doubt anyone in Pittsburgh proper is going to be no longer watching KDKA simply because they no longer call themselves “KDKA-TV 2”. Thus, I expect the network to pressure the major chains—Gray, Nexstar, Cox, Sinclair, Tegna** and Scripps—to adopt these branding conventions on their CBS affiliates wholesale, which will set up an interesting confrontation between the groups and the network that @Weetershas been predicting on the discord for awhile. (“Why should we have to brand our stations as ‘CBS’ and act like the network owns us when we can fall back on NewsNation, the CW and Antenna?”) ** Fate of said company still TBD.

I feel a lot of NBC inspiration here (much how CBSTM seems an exact inspiration of CNN). It's a very clean and polished look with just enough flare that it gets your attention. Subtle and not in your face. If only ABC would get their act together and update WNT...

This new graphics package looks incredible and blow the last one out of the water; it's not even close. The video updates in the set took my breath away too; all of this make the program look much better. Well done to everyone involved.

That's really one of the only ways they are lol. They do well in the ratings, but other than that, there isn't all that much that's special about them.

It's tegna over tegna-ing. Giving every show a brand eventually disconnects the station from it. You can't expect viewers to remember unique names for multiple different times.

Big improvement! Love the return to it's roots theme, taking a great page from ABC! Hopefully the late era Rather theme makes a comeback one day. The L3's are horrendus but the dark theme for the video walls is great, especially considering how bright and washed out newscasts and daytime tv looks with HD these days.

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I keep hoping that they decide to bring that back instead of the 87 version. It's got so much more energy.

There's a rumble in them there Rockies... https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/cbs-news-colorado-announces-new-community-journalism-initiative KCNC CBS News Colorado is: * Shifting to the community journalism model (as is being implemented in Detroit and hinted at in New York) * Adding a 9am and a 4pm news hour (the 9am is a half-hour on TV plus an extra streaming half-hour) * Starting September 12 https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/cbs-news-colorado-announces-new-initiative-additional-newscasts/?fbclid=IwAR1fZUYQHbzc1nUCY5vuxQqHsJiPJmpCvUTeEAaDL8qg5mPbYRydlSgM2sk

David Muir ratings are nearly double or triple Norah’s ratings.

Next could be "What's The Deal With That?!"

Because this is WKYC we're talking about lol. Did you really expect anything else? Haha

I’m not a fan of the black and gold graphics but when it comes to ratings—compared to WCBS, KCBS, and WBBM—KDKA is special.

KDKA. Is. Not. Special. Whenever a new group-wide package debuts, they'll get the same thing as everyone else, and they'll be better off, for it. Besides, while I understand the civic pride, the black and gold look they have is downright unsightly for any coverage not pertaining to the Pens, Pirates, or Steelers.

Here is all of the screenshots I have of the new package.

It’s silly…just go back to “Channel 3 News.” One notable thing is Sara Shookman’s sharp decline in having any sort of presence here. As recently as 2018, she was the main anchor and now has been relegated to 7pm - and gets pushed out by Christi Paul and Carmen Blackwell.

Poor Nora ... Does she ever sleep? lol -- Matt

Just curious, in what ways could a network pressure its affiliates to that extent without completely alienating the station groups? Granted, the station groups need the networks more than the networks need them, but given that many CBS affiliates are part of duopolies (ex: KGMB, WTOL, KPHO), I’m not even sure CBS would want to go that far. That said, unified branding somewhat remedies the 1994 switch that still affects CBS and its stations today. As you said, it’s the norm in nearly every other country, and it makes sense in a world that prioritizes streaming. Nobody looks for “channel 2” on YouTube TV or online; they look for CBS.

Sad but true.

Too bad the cbs theme is pretty vacant sounding compared to the other two. So boring sounding compared to the other two. The best version was the bombastic arrangement during the later Rather years, that was pretty pretty good. Same across the board, local TV is so homogenized-- more than ever.

Why can't it just be 3 News at 5:00, just like its 6pm news?

How the Overnight News looks with the new look Only bit of old branding is the end of hour copyright

So, the first TV listings of the new fall season are out, and there are a few notable changes on the WGN schedule. Despite the show wrapping production, I'm shocked that a rerun slate of Maury isn't included in the afternoon block. Instead, Lauren Lake's Paternity Court (yikes) slots in at 2pm. The biggest surprise, though, might come at 3pm, as Friends reruns return to weekday, daylight hours for the first time in forever. Personally, that programming decision feels like a placeholder move, but what do I know?

For one thing, hasn't NBC learned its lesson from the disaster that was the Jay Leno Show? And if NBC was to give up its 10pm/9pm central time slot: NBC Nightly News at 10pm/9pm and local newscast at the 10:30pm/9:30pm. Giving viewers a head start on a good night's sleep. Couldn't hurt to try something bold and do something never done before.

The original and first-ever CBS Evening News theme from 1987...WELCOME BACK BUDDY! Good to hear that fanfare again. Slight remixed and throwing in the 5-note CBS mnemonic at the end was a nice touch.

Also what I honestly bet they go with. “CBS” for every non-news show, network or otherwise. Maybe the legacy calls for the cities that look like they’re going to keep that branding element, but for most of them, just “CBS”.

If any network may want to be willing to go for a prime time newscast, I think it would be CBS since they are usually a distant third in ratings in the early evenings - maybe a 10 pm (or 9 pm CT) national news there (with the 6:30/5:30 pm timeslot yielded to an hour-long local newscast) would be able to break from the shadow of NBC Nightly News and World News Tonight.

There was a time several years ago when NBC O&Os branded themselves as “NBC” during non-news and non-network hours.

Here's the full thing:

I want a black and gold version of this for KDKA-TV please. Please CBS.

Color me impressed. Well done, CBS News.

Some other pictures from them Also it's confirmed the new music remix is by AntFood, the same people who designed the new CBS Mnemonic. No more Man Made Music.

You're referring to the 1991-2006 version composed by Patterson, Walz and Fox. That was a DAMN GOOD version. I hope they bring back that version with a twist.

KCNC has been calling itself "CBS 4" since 2003 (and switched from "News 4" to "CBS 4 News" in 2005), so it's not that big a leap. It wouldn't be the first time they had to adapt to a longstanding part of their identity being dropped (they had to drop the KOA calls because GE let Belo keep them for the radio station). But I do think trying to force the major affiliate groups to drop, in some cases, decades' worth of brand recognition and give up at least the appearance of an autonomous newsroom potentially problematic. There are a lot of people who are still, almost 20 years later, distrustful towards CBS News (rightly or not) over their handling of the Killian documents. Plus if CBS News gets into hot water again, why make it harder to distance yourself from the network? The O&Os have every reason to align themselves with the network, being owned by them and aggressively branded with the Eyemark and "CBS" visually or verbally. But if your newsroom is independent from the network, why act like it's not? Wasn't the longstanding "A CBS AFFILIATE" marker meant to indicate exactly that? Also, it sounds eerily similar to NBC's failed gambit to make Young sell KRON to them at a loss. "Call yourself 'NBC 4' and pay us $10 million a year or we're pulling our affiliation." The alignment of the O&Os with the network also serves another purpose I haven't seen theorized: It helps CBS News look like it's "in touch" with large swathes of the country. Over the last decade or so, the national news media seems to have retrenched into a handful of large metropolitan strongholds: New York, LA, San Francisco, Washington, maybe Chicago. Touting a presence in places like Detroit or Pittsburgh or Baltimore or Denver is huge, especially considering the national media's disinvestment in the Rust Belt and general ignorance of the Intermountain West.

I like the virtual newsroom looks in the corner. The dark tones give it some versatility. The wooden tones make me think there in a wooden set so did the loop of the newsroom.

It's so simple that it's ridiculous. You have the talent to get out of the ratings basement. It's just little things they can change to make the product better. And I really think they're pushing Sara Shookman out. I thought she did the 11pm too, but maybe Laura Caso does it now?

I really like the graphics. I really get a local news vibe from them. Hopefully the upcoming O&O package takes some cues from this.

They did an excellent job tweaking the 1987 theme.

There are a few parts of the newscast where CBS is copying (or if you prefer, taking inspiration from) ABC. They didn’t air a single commercial until 14 minutes in, and that commercial (for a pharmaceutical, of course) was accompanied by a headline banner. In addition, Robert Costa’s opening story relied heavily on quick soundbites, fast cuts, zoom effects, and the obligatory “Breaking News” banner, all hallmarks of modern-day ABC News. I’m not sure if any of these adjustments were in place before today, and the rest of the stories felt like they were from a CBS newscast, but I couldn’t help noticing some close similarities to David Muir’s newscast.

I’m… surprised…. This looks amazing, love brining back an old theme, the L3’s are unique, and the open stands out. It’s nice to see CBS actually try, when they inevitably fire Norah this look will transition well. The CBS News streaming elements look great.

Glad to see they are doubling down on staying in DC. I have always liked the DC move. It's the nation's capital and there is a ton going on there these days. Makes sense to be in the middle of the madness.

The music works well for what it is. A modern take on the 1987 theme is miles better than the awkward EDM remix they’d been using. Sounds like they incorporated the 5-note musical signature as well. The twinkle effect they have on the intro looks cheesy and cheap as hell, but I guess the overall intro/graphics are an improvement over what they had. I’m surprised they didn’t make further updates to the set, given that the virtual background draws heavily from Studio 57 in NY. None of this will really do anything ratings-wise, of course, but I guess it’s good for brand cohesion.

Global at 6:30 (30 minutes), CBC at 10 (hour), and CTV is at 11 (30 minutes) and is the number one newscast in Canada (well, for now; see Lisa LaFlamme for more). Why are the networks given only 30 minutes in the evening? At one time NBC planned on having Nightly News go to a full hour in the early 80s, but nothing happened.

None of the comments in the two threads on Fox 11's page on Twitter about her departure are complementary to her. They're still up. On Facebook, Fox 11 put up her departure video and disabled the ability to comment. They've since deleted the video. I highly doubt she will resurface in Los Angeles ever again.

Because The National airs at 10 and American/Canadian work culture isn't too different?

They “sacrificed the network” when the TV industry became creatively bankrupt in the 2000s. You may not like it, but most TV shows are not all that relevant. NBC is not the only network that is “so desperate” to prioritize streaming, and no company in their right mind would ignore today’s trends and pretend that we live in the 1990s.

Main anchors not showing up for the final newscast of a graphics package being part of the downfall of a long-running network evening news program is certainly a new one.

I'm not in the business, just a viewer, but I'm beginning to think this is getting to be a kind of "Waiting for Godot" scene. The Samuel Beckett play when two poor bums spend days sitting there expecting somebody named Godot any time. No luck. This guy and that guy pass down the road. "Was that him? Maybe that might have been him." they ask each other. Nope. Nothing. But for all this I wouldn't expect anything until either the beginning of the TV season in September, or even in late October when the traditional "sweep" begins, if that is even a thing in major markets now.