Leaderboard

The meltdown of this forum over this whole thing is just absolutely sad.

They put up a SIGN too for this "win"? From everyone's favorite site:

I think the more confusing thing (at least for me) is why they aren’t calling it “CBS News Los Angeles.” I get that KCAL gets viewers and KCBS doesn’t, but when the whole point is to unify the branding and put CBS News at the forefront, this doesn’t exactly help. You’d think they’d at least do what KPIX is doing and cobrand the newscasts, but they’re not even doing that. I haven’t seen any mentions of CBS News Los Angeles outside of the website and references to the streaming channel. It’s all “KCAL News.” On the last CBS2 Morning News, they introduced the entire KCAL morning team. At one point, one of the anchors said something to the extent of “it’s a little confusing, we’re trying to get used to it ourselves.” When even the on-air talent is confused by the arrangement, and most viewers won’t find out until tomorrow because of a lack of promotion, I don’t think they’re setting themselves up for success. I like the overall strategy given the ratings mess at KCBS, but I don’t like the implementation so far.

KCAL could run the CBS Evening News live. KCAL no longer has any sports obligations (other than maybe some preseason NFL football) so making them the news brand makes sense.

I agree. Outside of news, there's no need for CBS News branding nor call letters. But the thing is that the reason why they may use the name of newscasts like you exemplified is for TV guide listings only. There's no way people are actually going to say long names like that.

The placement of the word "news" affects how smoothly the brand rolls off the tounge. Example, KPIX. "CBS Bay Area" rather than "CBS News Bay Area" allows the branding's use outside of newscasts, without having to cluster in the call letters. "CBS BAY Area News at 5", "CBS Bay Area News at 11". If we are de emphasizing channel numbers, I'm sure call letters don't really matter either on an o&o station. "CBS News Bay Area Evening Edition: 6PM" is a paragraph. *KCAL is a different story as CBS is the secondary brand*

Now it says KCAL NEWS / CBS LOS ANGELES. Let's cram a few more brands in that bug? KCAL NEWS / IN-N-OUT BURGER / DISNEYLAND / CBS LOS ANGELES

KCAL has been having issues with the time and temp/ticker all day today. They’ve been using the outgoing CBSN ticker most of the day. I trust they’ll sort it out.

It's ironic that in the writeup linked earlier, CBS claims that they're being minimalist and not wasting screen real estate, yet the bug is perhaps one of the largest bugs in the industry.

MTV Live also hasn't strayed from MTV's original purpose, except it also shows music-related programming in addition to a constant cycle of music videos, so there's a bit of variety, at least. After all, aside from FAST channels like Vevo Music, a traditional channel devoted to music videos only wouldn't fare too well nowadays, and that's what's causing MTV Classic to perform so poorly. But that's beside the point. What mrschimpf said is right. Nowadays, it's the norm to put on whatever programming you could and call it a day. No care. No variety. Nothing. Diginets are showing cable how it's done, and that should be the wake-up call for television itself. Forget the rerun farms. How about the channels basically running on autopilot? How many people would want to watch Science Channel anymore besides "How It's Made?" Exactly. And how about speeding up any pre-2014 program to the point that they're PAL-pitched? Yes, it's syndication, and yes, you have to attract those advertisers, but at the cost of just trying to watch the show normally? Paramount Global is the only company I know that is a huge offender of such a practice. Ever wondered why the "Everybody Loves Raymond" episodes sound a bit off on TV Land? This is why.

It's only the first day. You're going to see old logos here and there. Just like when the graphics launched this morning, we did not see the time/temp ticker on the bottom of the screen. Let them take the time to change the logos.

Uh-huh... They picked a really good time to do this, didn't they? A powerful winter storm is pummeling California, and we have to take a break from this coverage to take a group selfie? Of all the days, this is the one they pick? Look, I'm all for letting them have their fun, but please, any other day but a "Storm Alert" day. Same goes for the promos they shot in Studio W.

Not sure which "she" you're referring to, but if you're talking about Wendy McMahon, she was head of Creative, Marketing, and Community Engagement for KABC for several years so it's safe to say she knows the market inside and out.

Yeah. They should also consider bringing back the 2-3:30 news block that they used to have. Or at least reenter 3pm.

It’s the same music as KPIX. With the new graphics being rolled out, they’re discontinuing use of Enforcer at the CBS O&Os.

She's already admitted she doesn't understand Los Angeles. There is a reason why KTLA is dominant in Los Angeles morning news. It's a family. It feels like a family on air. It was built as an answer to local radio morning shows. It's why there was so much reaction in the community to the circumstances surrounding Lynette Romero & her exit. Thinking putting your assignment editor on the set (and hilariously having a graphic in the back that only says ESK because his head is blocking it) isn't going to win you viewers. Too much corporate research & not enough gut knowledge about L.A. sums up this bland KCAL News Mornings.

Rough start in the 4 a.m. hour with lots of technical difficulties. Anchor microphones didn't work, reporter microphones didn't work, they were unable to cut to the weather anchor. Yes, I know it's their first day but not really -- they've been rehearsing for weeks. Good news is that not 4 a.m. isn't the most watched hour. I'm still surprised that they didn't launch new weather graphics yet, and the old full screen was used for traffic. After all this time the graphics were still not ready for launch. I'm not a fan of how they use the same full screen animation for things like Live, Team Coverage, Weather, Traffic, etc. It gets old when the same thing is used every other minute. Otherwise, this is an interesting idea using KCAL News as the overall branding and doing something different in the morning. I've always thought it must be weird for West Coast viewers to get a three-hour-old national news broadcast. We shall see.

See, this is the kind of promo they should’ve been going with a month ago. I know not everything was ready yet, but you have to give people something to look forward to. I don’t think making KCAL the primary station is a bad thing at all, but *if* the goal is to build around CBS News, that should be indicated on some level in how they advertise themselves. Yes, KCBS is a ratings trash heap compared to the more stable KCAL, but this is still the nation’s #2 market. CBS will have to make its brand more prominent at some point (especially with the streaming component factored in).

This spot kind of explains why KCAL is now the unified news brand, with Pat Harvey bringing up Jerry Dunphy with two vintage Prime 9 News opening clips (the first with Dunphy and long-forgotten 10pm anchor Kate Sullivan; the second with her successor, Tawny Little). It's telling that they're evoking Dunphy's KCAL history as opposed to KNXT; it goes to show how *long* ago the CBS affiliate's news heyday was, while KCAL has been fairly consistent in reputation/perception over the last 30+ years, even with the ownership changes since then.

Crossposting my comments from CBS O&O Graphics topic: This is what you call: "How To Act Like an Independent Station, Though You're Still Affiliated," not to mention...O&O. My comments best fitted here. My bad.

It may be its first attempt one of these multi-hour morning shows, but KCAL did have a half-hour 6am weekday morning newscast that ran for about a year or so during the Disney era, whose March 1990 premiere was on the same day as launch of the flagship 8-11pm Prime 9 News block. The morning newscast, anchored by Paula Lopez and Jim Murphy (the latter later replaced when Kerry Kilbride arrived) was titled "First 9 News." If that name sounds familiar, KCAL used it again a couple of years after the 6am show was dropped, but this time for their half-hour 6:30pm local newscast alternative (anchored by the Dunphy + Harvey duo) to the national network shows. It was also short-lived, morphing into an hour-long 7pm show retitled "9 News Live at 7," anchored by Harvey + David Jackson, which also didn't last very long. Re: the intro clip, I noticed beginning on Monday's 8pm show on KCAL, the main anchors have been regularly been throwing it to the assignment editor in the newsroom, which I'm not sure I quite like, but we'll see how this new wrinkle/angle evolves.

It's not about cost-cutting, it's about more effectively using the power of owning two stations. By putting different and better programming on both stations, they can sell ads on both stations. Right now, they're trying to sell ads on a newscast nobody watches on one station, and infomercials on another. There's no guarantee that people will start watching right away, but there will now be more reason for viewers to linger on both of the stations CBS owns, and it's at least a more compelling sell to potential advertisers.

I think the block that used to be "The '90s Are All That" which eventually became NickRewind was the only reason TeenNick existed in the first place. It was the saving grace for the channel when everything else around it just screamed "A channel that exists only for filler." Even NickRewind succumbed to decay in its final year or so, to the point that the block - which was what got me interested in the '90s and the '80s in the first place - was a sad shell of its former self. Now, TeenNick is the home of "Henry Danger" and "AFV" reruns. Sad, but not surprising, considering MTV has basically inserted itself into a pattern of show "Ridiculousness" almost entirely on loop when nothing new is on, pretend to care when a new episode of a show other than "Ridiculousness" is on, and repeat. No music-related programming at all. This is what television as we know it has come to. Back in the day, you'd have a wide variety of programming to choose from on a wide variety of channels. Now, it's reruns, reruns, reruns. It's crass and exploitative shows posing as inside looks at child pageants or dance teams. It's actively spitting in the faces of viewers who long for the days gone by and showing no remorse for it. It's true crime dramas when there are already too many of them to go around. (Apparently, we haven't learned our lesson with oversaturation, which is what caused The Great Video Game Crash of 1983.) Channels have lost their plot altogether. No care or thought is put into making a good programming lineup anymore. And somehow, TCM remains the shining example of a channel that actually cares about its viewers in the modern age (a trait that has become all but extinct now). Rewind TV, Antenna TV, and MeTV don't count, since they are diginets, but they also show more care than just about the entirety of cable barring live sports.

Sure! When TEGNA split with Gannett, Gannett was saddled with a lot of debt and at the time of the split, Gannett would not have been able to pay it down given the meager success of their newspapers. The television group, on the other hand, had the ability to pay down that debt if they were structured effectively. This structure separation would help the papers survive as a pure-pay business. So when the split happened, TEGNA, which is technically the original Gannett (same business license) with a new name kept the debt tied to that legal entity, and new Gannett (new business license) kept the papers, their debt tied to the legal entity that is now Tegna.

At the end of the day, I have a feeling layman viewers are going to be saying "I saw it on Channel 2 News last night" whether they watch the news on TV or online.

Who anchored the noon? More equitable would be: A: 4am-7am B: 7am-10am C: 10am-11am, 11am-11:30am, 12Noon-1pm

I tried to keep an open mind about KCAL News CBS Los Angeles but *whew* CHILE, this is a mess. I truly hope it can be pulled off but, it's stressing lol.

VH1 just cut one of their four shows with a pulse, Drag Race, which is now on MTV to minimize that network's damage. It won't be long until the rest move there or BET. And to be fair, MTV Classic and BET Jams/Soul still actually show music videos so they haven't moved from their original remits; I have no issue with them. It's the acronym networks that just plug in a VLC playlist of one show and call it a day.

I mean, isn’t it obvious enough? They can go to CBS. That’s the least of their issues. That being said, the audio issues…holy crap. Several mics keep cutting off, and now I can’t stop hearing that audio hum in the studio. First day jitters are normal, but they‘re really having problems today.

The simplest scheduling may have been to similcast KCAL Mornings on KCBS from 4:30-7 am, then go to CBS Mornings. Viewers are probably used to local then national arrangement on NBC and ABC so it may be confusing for them (the little that watch) to see a national morning newscast at 5 AM and then a repeat at 7. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing this though.

This is about making the station more local NOT CBS national, "More Local, More Local News". CBS 2 has been completely erased (also 9 from KCAL 9). Mic flags have the CBS eye & KCAL News Los Angeles on them (KCAL News Los Angeles doesn't reflect well on the mic flags in certain angles with lighting, btw). A moving eye occasionally in the graphics, CBSLA.com that pops up occasionally or an even more occasional mention of CBS Los Angeles, is about all they have tying this to CBS. The promo was played during the first local break in the 4 am hour on CBS Mornings, as well (played over & over on KCAL in the first hour, too). There was only a KCAL News weather update during that first break on CBS Mornings at 4:25 am, btw. Promoting this change during the Christmas holidays would have been a waste. People are not paying attention. There were quite a few technical glitches in the 4 am hour. Not having a time/weather bug on a morning newscast is just plain dumb in time conscious Los Angeles where we measure distance by time not miles. The KCAL News graphics are minimalist. Too much so, too small, imho. The 4:30 am two shot of the anchors, they just got swallowed up in the set. Looked more like the set is more important than the anchors, news. There is an audio hum in the studio that is driving me crazy, too. If you're not an audio person, it may not bug you but I am. So far, this local product is a bit too slick, too bland, too national looking for my taste. Not "Los Angeles" enough. Although a bit more tied to "KCAL" the references to CBSLA.com & CBS Los Angeles still show brand confusion. Pick one (KCAL) & forget the others. Unless there are changes, it feels like another ho hum CBS failure in the making. KCBS doesn't have a 4 pm newscast. Would be a complete waste.

Maybe they're going to try to move it to Zanesville so they can add CBS and ABC. (Or maybe even Columbus.) The geek side of me would love this. I've never tried to tune in a low VHF before and I'd love to see if it's as bad as people say. Petition the FCC for a move to UHF? Maybe there's room for that in Zanesville. Might be able to eat away at the Columbus Market with all four Network affiliates. Places like Athens don't get Columbus signals anyway. Columbus could drop down a few pegs if Zanesville ends up taking counties away. Will the powers that be let that happen?

I question if the decline of live tv is limited to the United States.

This is my confusion as well. Did KCAL have a morning product before this? If not, then it’s hardly a cost-cutting initiative either. The real struggle is how saturated that market is for the AM - KTLA, KABC, KNBC, KTTV all have established local morning institutions even if some are weaker than others. That doesn’t even include the national competition.

Some clean music samples:

This is what you call "How To Act Like an Independent Station, Though You're Still Affiliated," not to mention...O&O.

It really would’ve helped if they’d actually promoted the damn thing instead of waiting for the 11th hour to do it. It made sense to move most of the local news to a station that actually gets ratings, but the branding is going to be confusing, and is counter to what CBS is doing in the rest of the country. Not even WCCO, arguably their most successful station, is going to get this treatment (I know it’s because of the radio station, but still). Is CBS so damaged as a brand in LA that they have to put the KCAL name on everything? That set does look fantastic, though. I’ll give them that.

So apparently the key to building ratings growth is: new set confusing/mediocre branding more hours of news than anyone else

Off topic, but I think over time this trend will catch on around the country. The big 3 won’t have near the relevance they do now in the decades to come. In fact, I’d already argue they have less relevance than decades ago.

WNT seems to have realised that their headlines are so long that they've been doing a sort of 'headlines-of-the-headlines' at the top of the show.

KCBS hasn't been dominant in L.A. in nearly 50 years. Most of the time it's been a weak third. It's been a revolving door of talent & screwy ideas for newscasts like the news wheel. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-16-ca-5894-story.html KCAL was put on the map 25 years ago by Disney. Jerry Dunphy gave it instant credibility. It's been able to maintain much of what was built back in the early days (post KHJ-TV). Pat Harvey, from KCAL, even given the assignment to save CBS 2. CBS Mornings isn't a factor in Los Angeles. 4 am viewer isn't going to be a 7 am viewer, anyway. They're just filling time. They can give away CBS 2 local spots as a bonus for advertisers on KCAL News Mornings.

I don't understand why, however. What is the conflict / elimination of competition issue there? Not to mention that Forum is a quality company. Reminds me of when WBNS and WTHR got approved in 60 days. Maybe my theory that Tegna has some pull with the federal government might not be that far off.

(Didn't merge) Didn't even realize MTV 2 was doing that bad. Content wise it's superior to it's sibling Rediculousness and Teen Mom ladened MTV.

This was the closest I could find on the fly. They painted the background blue at some point, but it started out as a beige color.

Broadcast primetime TV is a mix of stale sitcoms, tons of stale and stupid reality shows, the same washed-out crime dramas (i.e., CBS's THREE FBI: "Insert Here" shows, multiple NCIS shows, multiple CSIs) and the same washed-out medical dramas. Then they jump the shark, add relationships to the shows instead of focusing on the premise of the program. The Good Doctor used to be about an autistic savant doctor. Now, it's about his relationships with women and the relationships between other doctors/nurses at the hospital. Grey's Anatomy - same thing. The Goldbergs keeps going even though the 'kids' are now in their early-to-late 20s. I don't know how they do, the show has jumped the shark since the loss of George Segal and Jeff Garlin's departure. Abbott Elementary isn't that bad, on the other hand, and nor is Ghosts on CBS, but sitcoms for the most part have no life to them anymore. And yes, political messaging has destroyed many of these primetime shows. They just can't seem to have an unbiased plot on a drama or sitcom anymore - it has to show activism in some way. Game shows - you can't seem to find any contestant on any primetime or daytime show (except maybe Jeopardy!/Wheel) that isn't on five energy drinks' worth of caffeine. The Price is Right is one of the biggest examples, but even the last few primetime shows (The Wheel, Beat Shazam, Press Your Luck) are like this too... Late night TV shows have also declined to new lows. Same jokes about former President Trump EVERY NIGHT on every single show. We get it, I can't stand him either, but he's no longer POTUS. Surely is there anything else to make fun about? Segments are mundane and cookie-cutter compared to previous hosts (Leno's Headlines, Craig Ferguson, Geoff and Secretariat, Carnac on Johnny Carson). They have little to no creative value to viewers. I love Bill Maher, but I don't watch any other late night show. That ship sailed when Letterman, Ferguson, and Leno retired. Even the soap opera fans are noticing extremely poor writing and the lack of nuance on Y&R, B&B and General Hospital, compared to 20-30 years ago. Days already went to Peacock (to die, probably). It looks as though the rest of the soaps are also on life support. Do NOT get me started on cable TV. What was entertaining (Cubs games and Bozo on WGN, great movies and Night Tracks on TBS, Cartoon Express on USA etc.) has become a wasteland of binge-watching repeats, zillions of commercials (of which Limu Emu gets at least 1/3 of the airtime), and reality shows that keep getting worse by the year. TruTV aired 'Jurassic World' last night. The channel for live, rolling court coverage and analysis is now running not just hours of Impractical Jokers, but also MOVIES. What gives! Nickelodeon = zillions of SpongeBob repeats with oodles of commercials. Food Network = tons of food competitions, very few how-to cooking shows. Where art thou, Essence of Emeril, Barefoot Contessa, etc.? TWC spends all night running Highway Through Hell repeats (and all day on weekends) and once in a while, they will shove those away if there's major tornadoes. The ghosts of Dr. John Hope and Dave Schwartz haunt the studios, I bet. What was Chuck Roberts and Gordon Graham on Headline News 24 hours a day has turned into WEST WING repeats. Oh, and a zillion Forensic Files showings. Might as well call it TNT2 at this point. TLC's constant reality garbage, same with Bravo, USA, MTV, Discovery Channel. GSN's constant Harvey Feud repeats, too! Isn't he on a few other cable channels...TVLand maybe? Honestly, I'd be fine only getting ESPN, ESPN2, and a few other sports networks a la carte. The rest of cable TV is garbage. Yes, that includes CNN/FOX News/MSNBC. Honestly, I stopped watching TV for the most part after the start of the pandemic. And for the most part, except for some sports, and maybe the local news, I haven't come back. I would rather watch a classic movie or Seinfeld repeat than 95% of what's on TV nowadays. RANT OVER.

How much wheeling and dealing is Kim doing to make these optics look good?

Now if we could get a good update to The Hammer...

Jesus Christ, he's anchored the 11 for nearly a year, and IT'S THE HOLIDAYS.

I can see JHud being renewed looks like most of the shows from this year will get a second season from B&C article I read last week. I wonder if On Patrol in a 30 minute format will be in syndication like Live PD was for a couple of years ago with 30 minute block or an hour? Or if TV station groups don't want reality type cop show because of social justice and May 2020 death of George Floyd, WXSP did air Cops until the end of Aug 2020 when it was pulled.

If it wasn’t clear through their commercials who they were targeting, this seals it.