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they are almost entirely airing the CNNi feed anyway. CNNi is a shell of its former self. Most of the legacy anchors and reporters have left and its down to a few hours now. Zucker & Co really dropped the ball with CNNI and HLN. Focusing entirely on US politics have really destroyed CNN brand and IMO the other channels has been left to flounder and die and other channels have moved into their spaces. THere are loads of 24hr Streaming channels in the US that replaces what HLN used to do for decades. And CNN international has effectively been shelved and replaced with BBC and AJE. Sad Really. I dont think this bargain basement MAX effort will help do anything help them gain any traction. Its all just sad to watch this legacy channel flounder this way.

They have, at times. After Lisa Colagrossi died on the job (and her family later claimed WABC overworked her), Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato demanded to stop working the noon show and they were indeed replaced. That's when Novarro started anchoring at noon in addition to at 4:00 pm. When Shirleen arrived, she started on the noon show and because she had no seniority (i.e., leverage), she kept the noon show when she was given Lori's morning chair.

I think the set is very cold and sterile feeling.

Yeah, in my opinion, it's probably WABC's hottest new show (by far more interesting than the First at 4 launch back in 2011) I personally am really becoming a big fan of this show! It's not a snoozer by any means. The new show is literally everything that I had hoped for and in some cases even better. The new laidback "down to earth" or "watercooler" format is just so refreshing to see and such a nice departure from the hard news. And what's nice is how dynamic the show can be in terms of the presentation and the adaptability of how they can always switch from the chill vibes and get serious when need be which really goes to show how they are really are professionals. The show has been on for about 3 weeks now. It's already almost a month in and it's such a solid show. I loved yesterday's segment with Jon DelGiorno flying NewsCopter 7 to discuss the story about the crane that collapsed back in July, over the city and just how he took the extra time to explain everything, as I was saying before, we now get to access more of the perspective of the reporter and presenters on this show which is so very refreshing, the viewer simply does not get that access during the other shows which is why this show is so refreshing and quite frankly the best thing I've seen WABC do in recent times because First at 4 honestly is just another newscast, I expected First at 4 to be like that, but Mornings at 10, really good. I hope it continues to evolve! The topics are solid not just boring trying too hard topics they are all compelling interesting stories and also the interviews they get to do with the local officials and talent and doctors, it really is almost like must-see TV. And because the talent are veterans and locals and WABC only hires the top-notch, you really get to hear their shared experiences, see their personalities, and get to know them on a bit more personable level, which is so cool. I also love how the producers purposely full-screen the camera on the presenters when they provide their perspective because it just again differentiates it from their ordinary newscast. Solid Job WABC with this show! Not to veer ofcourse here, but how are the sister stations doing? I believe there are two other O&Os that were gonna do this too. WPVI (6ABC in Philly) and WTVD (ABC 11 in Raleigh) how are they doing with their 10am shows? Do we know if they are following the same approach?

Explain for this layman, when station groups do these mandated graphics is there also a mandated timeline for stations to implement the new packages or is it more of an eventual phasing?

First time watching the full 10am show and it’s pretty damn good. A very unique hour for the traditional EWN brand. Dani appeared on today’s show to provide a hot topics type of segment with Shirleen, Mike and Sam that ran for about 8 minutes and then stuck around through the end. It’s really cool to see this water cooler style format. Though as someone said earlier, this is a show designed for Michelle Charlesworth rather than Shirleen.

Interesting- I suppose WABC is trying to find a permanent anchor for the noon, or shift someone into that spot. I wouldn't see any issue putting Lauren in that spot if they wanted. Although the trend these days seems to be rotating anchors. WCBS does this both at noon and 8pm. Noon now rotates every other day solo between Chris and Mary and 8pm now seems to rotate solo between Maurice, Kristine, and Dick; although these are both half hour shows.

Sandra Bookman and Lauren Glassberg have alternated the last few weeks.

Who has been filling in for her at noon?

Off-topic from WABC...Though I can admire Bond's presence and his no nonsense attitude, I think that his style should not be duplicated. I'm more of a keep it to the facts less of your feelings believer. I would accept Bond's style strictly in a commentator role, however. As for the WABC Seventies clips, again, colorful language, but we could do without trying to make up the viewers' minds for them.

If they could simulcast the domestic CNN, I'm sure they would. It would be the easiest and most cost-effective route. But putting the entire U.S. feed on Max would undoubtedly run afoul of their cable contracts. There's probably a percentage of their schedule they can simulcast that keeps them within the bounds of their contracts. Similar to how MSNBC's "Morning Joe" is available live on Peacock, but the rest of the MSNBC schedule isn't live DTC. As to why they don't simply simulcast the International feed, my guess is because of a concern that a full day of international news wouldn't attract a large number of American viewers. I'm not saying there isn't an audience for international news, so don't come at me thinking I hate international headlines. I'm just saying that a domestic audience is more likely to want more American headlines than international ones. CNN Max is going to have a huge uphill battle. Fox Nation has figured out its streaming business model. NBC has NBC News Now and an MSNBC hub on Peacock. So CNN's main cable rivals have already figured out the economics of this and are positioned to scale up DTC as the cable bundle continues to implode. Now CNN has to play catchup, which seems like a theme for them as of late.

Seems 8am-10am will be a rotation between Fredricka Whitfield, Jim Acosta & Amara Walker. CNN MAX only has 4 hours of their own live shows, rest is all CNN US & International. CNN Press Release from today: CNN Max Launches In An Open Beta In The US Offering 24/7 Live News

They've had the current masthead for so long...over 35 years, it's like if the New York Times or WSJ decided to change its masthead. There's something unmistakably New York and urgent about the legacy masthead. Their call, not mine.

They continually say she is off and show promos with her in it. None of us know her personal situation, other than she is off the air for now. She may be sick, someone in the family sick, a death in the family, or who knows what. There is no law that says she has to share every aspect of her personal life with viewers. She (and all anchors) may be on TV but they are entitled to privacy.

Add WTOC to the GrayONE list.

I designed this open. We needed something fresh pretty badly so I whipped this up using some aesthetics from GrayOne. Without giving away the details, I can tell you a 3 phase relaunch is in motion. Phase I begins October 31st as we begin our 75th year, Phase II will begin in early January with some more really big changes. Then phase III happens middle of next year. And yes, part of this rebrand is launching GrayONE. So, stay tuned for some really exciting changes!

I wouldn’t say so actually; if there are any bugs/glitches, better to sort them out on a Saturday morning than during the week when more people are watching.

KLAS actually aired Oprah at 9am for a period of time.

I'm sorry, but this is "one step forward, two steps back" for Nexstar and DirecTV. The "Mission Broadcasting owned" stations have been dark on DirecTV (satellite and stream) for almost a year now, when it's obvious that Nexstar "operates" these stations. Nexstar is clearly double-dipping with TV providers when it comes to retransmission fees, and the FCC should really do something about it.

The Cox stations are still not on Dish, it’s been a year so far. dish really drags things out in their negotiations

For all the criticism we throw Sinclair, at least they began to consolidate their Fox/MNTV/CW stations on their own signals so that what are now subfarm husks aren't really painful losses if the lawyer stuck doing the Vaughn or Cunningham negotiations gets a hair up there and the customer loses TBD or Dabl. Nexstar really needs to get these companies in order and on the same page, or the FCC will do it for them.

I believe KSLA changed to the GrayONE package today.

For what it’s worth, this is actual reported news… not fanboy speculation that I believe that particular forum is for. That said, I’m sure no one on here will be able to resist adding their own ideas.

Not the biggest fan of the new WLBT logo. I have a feeling that many of the Gray stations are going for this "overlapping letters" look. On the other hand, the new WIS logo looks great and really stands out with the new look.

He locked them in his darkness retreat and told them to come out when they had a deal...or else they'd have to do Pat McAfee's show. As for the 700 Club, with Pat gone, you bet Bob Iger is pressing his son to give up the slot for less than $40 million now. With Grownish almost at its natural conclusion, the network is pretty much in winddown mode, and it's only been a question of if, not when, Disney XD is wound down either since it's down to two markets worldwide. Same with the extra FX channels, which basically telegraphs a move of Sunny back to FX sooner than later.

WKBW-TV is in Spectrum territory also, and they should be lucky they aren't an ABC O&O. But this is/was all about making sure the game wasn't blacked out in Market No. 1.

Legend has it that Pete Rozelle did it a few times when he was NFL commissioner. Maybe Aaron shared some of his magic mushrooms with the negotiators and they "saw the light". One has to wonder what the CBN braintrust is contemplating right now in their Virginia Beach bunker. Gordon Robertson will definitely have something to say about this.

Aaron Rodgers locked the door and only unlocked it when a deal was reached LOL .

The real question is who blinked first, Disney or Charter. And yes, I absolutely believe Monday Night Football–on ESPN and ABC–and featuring the New York Jets–had everything to do with it.

Because of this, in the few markets where both groups have stations, Dish customers now don’t have access to Nexstar and Hearst stations, given the provider’s ongoing dispute with Nexstar. (For example, in the Oklahoma City DMA, that means Dish customers don’t have access to programming from two major networks and one mid-major network as Nexstar owns KFOR [NBC] and KAUT [CW], and Hearst owns KOCO [ABC]. God forbid Sinclair and Griffin get into retrans disputes with Dish.)

https://deadline.com/2023/09/fcc-senate-confirmation-anna-gomez-democrats-1235539010/

Moving David to mornings was actually the original plan - team him with Shirleen - AM and noon, Bill and Liz at 4 and 6 and Mike and Sade at 5 and 11 - but that has since been passed on. Bill not too keen to give up 11 permanently until after the 2024 election cycle. however, talk as of late has Mike moving to 5pm in the interim. After 2024, Bill staying on at 6pm only.

And sadly with bean counter Zaslov in charge it’s highly unlikely that CNNi will be able to recapture any of its former glory the gutting of HLN is the most bizarre to me as you could easily make a low cost operation with repeated or repeating news on rotation. Total failure of corporate leadership and lack of vision. Sometimes I really wonder how different things would be of Ted had never sold to TimeWarner

The set isn't bad. I think it's an upgrade from what they had before. But I'm not a fan of the colors though. And I do agree about the monitors being clunky.

Was there ever any thought given to a combined Akron-Canton-Youngstown market? That could have been viable.

The USFL will merge with the XFL. Details announced at a later date.

The XFL is merging with the USFL. Details announced at a later date.

TV listings indicate WTMJ has dropped the 4:30am newscast, likely a combination of being short staff and lack of ratings. at the moment WTMJ only has 3 meteorologist and each month the morning newscast rating are sinking and are approaching CBS58’s type ratings.

I like this look... I do agree about the chunky monitors

Just decided to do a little channelsurfing before I go to bed: * Comics Unleashed on KHOU has a young (likely stuffed full of Jack in the Box tacos) Billy Gardell. Good, we know you eventually made it! Next… * Late Night with Seth Meyers on KPRC has Jim Gaffigan on from the beginning of last March when Trump and DeSantis were tied for the GOP presidential nomination and everyone was watching college basketball tournaments for (mostly one and done unless you’re Fairleigh Dickinson) March Madness auto bids. Next… * KTRK is airing a repeat of Live with Kelly & Mark from this morning with the lead in The Golden Bachelor. Next… * KIAH is airing a repeat of KTRK’s 10pm news. Likely with the first innings of a baseball game the Astros just won over the Mariners. Next… * KRIV is airing Person, Place or Thing. Wouldn’t be shocked if this is doing the most well at midnight even if the ratings are hashmarks considering the weak syndication market and the strikes (one of which thankfully just ended). Which more than justifies sister station KTXH airing a repeat of the Isiah Factor Uncensored that aired 90 minutes prior on the mothership. It’s Hump Day on the last week of September. This is not even close to a dream. Just waiting on the nanny from The Nanny to make a deal…

Not bad at all. Love the different textures. But those chunky monitors stage right look awkward.

Here's the schedule of what aired today from what I saw: 8am: CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield 10am: CNN Newsroom with Rahel Solomon 11am: State of the Race with Kasie Hunt (CNN International) Noon: One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga (CNN International) 1pm: Amanpour (CNN International) 2pm: Newsroom with Jim Sciutto 3pm: Quest Means Business (CNN International) And then at 4pm, it became a simulcast of CNN/U.S. with The Lead, The Situation Room, etc. (all of which also airs on CNN International). So, not a ton of original content, but nice for American viewers to see more CNN International. I guess I'm curious what the logic is for a few hours of CNN Max-exclusive newscasts and not just putting the entire U.S. or International feed on there. Or maybe the simulcasts are a placeholder until they launch more original shows. They are calling it a beta product for now. As for the "no commercials" promise mentioned yesterday, the Max-exclusive shows took a few short promo breaks. I'm just realizing that the background behind Fredricka is CNN's D.C. studio used for Inside Politics, The Lead, etc, just with an Atlanta skyline. Rahel had the same backdrop but with NY in there. Jim Sciutto was in front of an actual window overlooking the Capitol. (I thought it was the usual flashcam-monitor setup but it's not. Just now remembering that they used to have a small set featuring part of that window there. Now it looks like just a window.)

It just got real now.