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Can we get back on topic please?

Jesus. I swear, some people here just say things with no intention of learning from what other have to say/already said.

That desk is 8 years old, recycled from the 2015 temporary set.

The general consensus seems to be that box is a transitional element, so I'd not expect them to brand as what is essentially "CBS 4 WBZ CBS NEWS BOSTON" forever.

Unlike the good old days, when they didn't care about money.

Likely better than what TEGNA would’ve built from scratch, for sure.

Independent based on what??? Where/why are you getting the impression that WDIV is in a bad place with NBC? People are leaving stations all over the country, in droves. Yes, some operations are getting hit harder than others, but this is a problem for the whole industry.

February 13 is the debut of WCSC's new set and new Gray GFX package.

Agreed! which CBS station will be the next to receive the graphics???

I have confirmation of this as well, one of my contacts at a local Gray station said it was the best package ever produced by Gray (I understand that doesn't take much) and will be available to most stations end of summer 2023.

Bruce was a good television meteorologist, and one of the greatest television meteorologists in the history of television on Long Island, and he will be missed, and his legacy will live on forever.

Most likely a transitional logo not to confuse anyone with the OTHER WBZ that iHeart owns. Plus WBZ-TV doesn’t even use “4” in the branding verbally, they only go by “WBZ” and have for over a decade.

Looks like WBZ isn’t getting rid of its channel reference. Just saw a promo for CBS News Boston and the CBS 4 WBZ logo was in a box, next ti the CBS News Boston logo.

It's still a good looking set so I can't complain too much about them keeping it. I can't believe it's been 11 years.

It’s the same package that WANF has. Eventually all Gray stations will be migrated to it once graphics hardware is upgraded over time.

I will also add they described it as being not only a great package for Gray standards but also compared to Nexstar, Sinclair etc in general. So, this is definitely something that's exciting. They also said it would be a complete package with a major overhaul on all the components; lower thirds, sports, weather etc as compared to what we've come to know of Gray graphics packages.

I know @Samanthadid the progression for the other new affiliates earlier in this thread, but I looked up the timetable for WOIO when I redid that station’s Wikipedia article: WOIO’s news service launched on February 5, 1995, with a 6pm and 11pm seven days a week, as an outgrowth of WUAB’s 10pm news. Noon and an hour-long 6am newscast were added in December 1996. 5:30am on WOIO and 11:30am on WUAB were added on October 1997 (the latter cancelled less than a year later). It wasn’t until January 2002, just before the Action News relaunch, that WOIO added a 5pm news. A 4pm followed in 2003. The 3pm and a 9am news (the latter coming over from their OTT service and reformatted as a general newscast in March 2020) were added in 2019. To be honest, it’s almost unfair to compare this launch effort with WOIO or any of the other newly-launched news departments between 1994 and 1996 and the New World-Fox fallout. Everything—the audience, the resources needed and procured for a news service, and the means to measure television audiences—are totally different. As is what Paramount would define as a success for CBS News Detroit… or WOIO in the present day.

I remember when WOIO started it’s news operation in early 1995. They only had a 6 and 11 pm newscast. For years, WOIO not only struggled, it was always treated as a step child to WKYC, WEWS, and WJW. Took years for it to expand but they did. So far, WWJ is off to a much better start than WOIO did in 1995.

Today is one of the few times I can remember switching the channel because of an anchor line up. George is great but Lara and Linsey are not strong fits for the show.

New sports reporter/anchor hired:

An interview with Phoenix-area resident and huge Eagles fan Charlie Van Dyke: https://6abc.com/who-is-voice-of-action-news-charlie-van-dyke-super-bowl-57-lvii/12787409/

May be an unpopular opinion in this thread among the love-to-hate-CNN-ers, but I think Licht has put together a strong product in CNN This Morning. It delivers the hard news with a light atmosphere that many have denounced ABC, NBC, and even CBS for turning away from in favor of tabloid fare and pop culture. I think moving Don Lemon to the morning on a roundtable show was a smart, creative move that reels in his excessive prime-time opining while still giving room for human perspective. Kaitlan Collins is an excellent political interviewer and Poppy Harlow has been a strong, personable anchor for years. The three clearly have good chemistry, too. I look forward to seeing how the show evolves over the next several months, including with a new set of its own. Licht, who is deeply experienced in launching and relaunching morning shows, is playing the long game and not obsessing over the day to day ratings like some folks here, as he acknowledged he recognizes it can take around a year for a show to start gaining its own footing.

It has been longer since WPVI tried changing the music (1996-2023= 27 years) than it was between MCTYW debuting on the station and the attempt to change (1972-1996= 24 years). This is a fun piece of news lore, but it's also ancient history, and things are a LOT different today than they were in 1996. They have been sneaking in new cuts of music for a while now. I can almost guarantee "modernizing" MCTYW would not get the same response as it did nearly 30 years ago. It would probably take days for anyone but the oldest, rustiest dial viewers to notice.

Very small and slightly ridiculous nitpick but I really wish they’d do a Friday alternate 6pm open that features Sam and similarly one featuring Ryan for Sundays. It’s always annoyed me that Sam is in the talent open morning and noon talent opens on Fridays despite technically having that day off every week.

Just speculation, based on some questionable decisions WDIV has made, in relation to NBC.

True, but the 4:30-7am and 5pm-6:30 pm news slots are already saturated in most markets. 10pm shouldn't make much difference.

As things keep evolving at Fox Weather, they seem to be experimenting with giving Ian Oliver his own afternoon shift. This started about 2-3 weeks ago when they were having him add on an extra afternoon shift for severe weather coverage, only on the days that merited extended coverage. However, as of last week, it now appears to be a regular thing, as he now hosts the 3pm-4pm ET hour of America's Weather Center apparently every weekday. Seems like they're still working on the format; last week, they were pairing him with either Kendall Smith, Michael Estime, or Craig Herrera from the 12pm-3pm show. Now this week, he's doing a largely solo-hosted show anchored entirely from the expert desk, along with Kelly Costa from Orlando contributing about 2-3 segments during the hour. While this is going on, he remains on Weather Command every weekday 9am-12pm ET, and they appear to be trying to increase his billing as an "Expert" on that show as well, as within the past week or so, they also added a segment billed "Expert Desk" featuring Ian breaking down the day's weather events from the Expert Desk. It's unclear how the schedule will eventually shake out, and if he'll continue doing this split shift 9am-12pm and 3pm-4pm every single weekday, but it appears that they're definitely trying to increase Ian's stock on the network in a big way.