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When the CBS Evening News opens up every 3-6 years, it's always 'what about Anderson?' When there's an opening for a serious, veteran anchor at local or national, it's often 'what about Shepard?' When there's an opportunity for a morning show anchor, it's constantly 'what about Robin?' From CBS, CNN, NewsNation, large market Fox stations, even to freaking Jeopardy!, you spend long enough around here, and seeing the same names listed over and over like they're waiting in line at an employment agency goes from eye roll-inducing to annoying to hilarious.

That's not what @MediaZone4K is talking about. Nobody is saying they shouldn't do the TOTH ID, but it looks clunky and excessive when on the omnipresent in-show bug.

The Streamable suggested that too in its report on the merger. However, the DirecTV-Dish combo does create a monopoly in satellite TV; it’s possible that could still give the DOJ some pause since the Antitrust Division has been more scrutinizing of horizontal mergers (involving companies operating in the same industry) than vertical mergers (those that involve consolidation of companies in different industries, like with Amazon’s 2022 purchase of MGM, ironically despite Amazon already being in the TV and film production business). Compare the current limited competition in the satellite industry to 1997, when there were four DBS providers (DirecTV, Dish, USSB and Primestar) and at least three C-band/Ku-band programming distributors (Netlink, Superstar and TurnerVision). Since then, USSB and Primestar both merged with DirecTV, Voom and OrbyTV launched and shut down, and the DBS providers iced the BUD programmers out of the marketplace. OTOH, the number of cable providers remain in the dozens (major providers like Comcast, Charter (Spectrum) and Verizon Fios, and many mid-sized and small providers like Cox, Altice (Optimum), Cable One (Sparklight), Mediacom and Service Electric) and six vMVPD services (joined by YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo, Philo and FriendlyTV) would still be left—with a seventh joining in the off-chance Venu Sports is allowed to get off the ground—following the merger of DirecTV Stream and Sling. On top of that, the merger of Sling and DirecTV Stream could pose an issue considering significant pricing differences between the two, unless DirecTV agrees not to substantially raise prices for current Sling subscribers (DirecTV Stream’s packages start at $80, whereas Sling’s start at $40). DirecTV’s recent deal with Disney allows for genre-based packages, but it’s a while off before it can implement that kind of tiering, since that requires making similar agreements with other pay-TV programmers (like Comcast/NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount).

Likely due to the connectivity and power issues in and around Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Fox Carolina is not available on YouTubeTV or streaming online. WLOS in Asheville is available. The devastation there may be difficult to cover because of the access issues caused by the flooding that washed out the roads leading in and out of these places. So when people ask "why is this not leading the news?" the access itself is so limited that it is only for the locals and those able to help them. That's why the outside is being encouraged to stay until the immediate issues are tackled.

"This strategic move is expected to provide customers with compelling video options and allow us to accelerate our vision for the future of TV." In other words, more consolidation and less options for consumers.

Duuuuuude.

Based on the very negative social reaction to this interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates where Tony basically said his new book should be 'in the backpack of an extremist' and questions about whether Palestinians should exist, whatever promotional juice they had for the third hour is immediately gone because now PG has to do damage control around this mess. I'm not going to be shocked if multiple publishing agents are pretty much done with the show if you get overly aggressive questioning about what you wrote on a morning show where your publisher paid for the promo. Morning show interviews about beach reads never get this heated, much less most bio or non-fiction fare. Like you should question about the book for sure, but Tony was virtually screaming at the author and it's a shock that Ta-Nehishi was still able to joke at the end of this.

DIRECTV buying DISH is quite interesting in the ever evolving TV world

As we discuss the big free agent talent out there it’s probably wise to consider the state of broadcast media right now. I’d like an outside splashy hire but networks likely aren’t paying that kind of money on a roll of dice hire like they used to especially when there’s proven talent already in the building. I guess I also just don’t see an appetite being there for personalities who are not currently working because of ratings woes. Meredith was a moderator on the #1 daytime talk show when NBC snagged her. Norah was a prominent correspondent of the most watched network when CBS snagged her. Soledad O’Brien was weekend host of the most watched morning show when CNN took her. Just feels like those type of hires are of the past. Craig, Lauren, Peter Alexander, etc are all more than capable as any of the names mentioned and are already on the payroll.

Me too. He looks pretty healthy (more than ever) and could be there for a long time. I remember watching the show as early as the spring of 2010 and thinking that they were (or seemed to be) grooming Savannah for a future role. By the time Meredith announced her departure in 2011, I think it was pretty clear she was the next in line after Ann, even though Natalie Morales had been there since 2005 and in an official role since 2006 and had been the primary fill-in for Ann and for Meredith usually when Ann was not there (and Amy Robach on weekends TODAY being another fill in on the weekday show from around 2007) it seemed like they were putting their money on Savannah as the future as early as late 2010. They gave Ann the job simply because they felt they had to, as she had been a loyal employee for 14 years as the news anchor and had filled in countless times and so had earned her dues, being the main fill for Katie and Meredith also, how it may have looked if they passed Ann over again and to keep Ann happy for the moment anyway.

Anderson would have no problem handling lighter fare. He has filled in numerous times on Live with Kelly and Mark/Ryan, and he also hosts CNN New Year’s Eve coverage with Andy Cohen. If you’ve seen either of these programs, most or all of these programs tend to be lighter fair.

That's interesting. I know WANF also brought a few people down to support WALB and WCTV (including a meteorologist). Not sure if WSB or WXIA brought anyone down.

If in the future they decide to go with Laura, I would be okay with it. But I think a better pairing would be Craig and Sheinelle. Both already have chemistry working together on the 3rd Hour, and they have anchored Today together on Saturday mornings. Plus when Al eventually retires (if that happens), Dylan would get his place, making it a simple shift and nothing too complex for viewers.

The FCC would beg to differ. At least they still *have* the rule that stations must properly ID themselves by their call letters and COL at/as close to the top of the hours as possible, even if stations basically show them in almost-illegible mouseprint. I myself tend to refer to their stations by their call letters, regardless of the station's branding. "6abc" will always be WPVI (or just "Channel 6") to me, for example.

The neat thing of yellow logo (during caution/pace car) of NBC Sports was carried over to CW Sports. It would be neat if NASCAR Productions (who will produce the race coverage starting next season) will carry over this feature.

The problem is Scripps News was a droplet in a swimming pool. So many other outlets already provide 24/7 national news not to mention the nationalization of local newscasts. How much of the same can exist before the bubble bursts?

How is Adam Symson still the CEO despite everything going on with Scripps? Scripps has cut numerous jobs, Scripps News is dead as of November 15, and the company's stock price is down by nearly 59% since this time last year.

Being privately owned has its advantages at times, particularly for Hearst. The company seems to invest in its stations, and it's not beholden to stockholders.

Scott is most likely referring to the real estate and physical plant, and not the station and its operations itself. If Scripps owns the property, as they likely do in Detroit and Phoenix, then WXYZ and KNXV become tenants. CBS has done the same thing at Television City in Los Angeles, and possibly at the Broadcast Center in New York. It's not something I agree with, but it's apparently a new trend.

Selling a property and leasing it back is a common practice in business. It offers tax benefits. It does not mean they are selling the actual broadcast station. Think of it as they will gain money from selling the building, have a tax benefit and then pay rent to a third party. Reading the statement that is what it sounds like.

EW Scripps is a mess. If they do give it to Hearst please. I would love to see ABC (now Disney) take it again, but I don't think they're in the business of buying tv stations anymore. I hate pointless live shots, especially ones far away, and especially when sports pre empts programming. I don't think the audience cares about a static live shot in front of a dark building. Live shots should be reserved for an active scene, breaking news/rapidly changing info, or when there's not enough time to assemble a package. Otherwise live for live sake adds nothing to a broadcast. At my old duopoly station, there was a policy that the secondary station could pretape newscasts delayed by sports. The primary station however had to go on live, even though they would just be copy and pasting the same broadcast on to both stations. I don't think ratings will drop if the broadcast is not live.

Plus—in a way—it's one of the legacy* Scripps stations having been aquired in 1986 with Tampa Bay's WFTS due to the CapCities–ABC merger. *Legacy stations in this case means that Scripps Howard Broadcasting/The E. W. Scripps signed on/bought the station before the M&A's in 2002 and beyond.

It's one of their crown jewels - I highly doubt they are going to sell it.

Last year we had ESPN graphics on The CW, and this year it’s NBC. The network aired its first NASCAR Xfinity Series race this past weekend and this season’s races are entirely an NBC production before NASCAR and The CW take over producing the races and hiring talent for 2025 and beyond. (not sure if we want all CW stuff here or in a separate thread).

I used to joke that if the carpets were cleaned, the station would be sold. I guess paint and shrubbery work too.

Tdlr: The differences between Vizrt and Chyron GrayONE graphics! Here’s an interesting tidbit — WOIO - 19 News is the only ex-Raycom Gray station that is running their graphics on Chyron (with the exception of their news and weather ticker on Vizrt). Please correct me if I am incorrect! They kept Chryon when making the transition to their custom graphics package in 2019. If anyone has any insight on why they use two graphics systems for the L3 and the news ticker, while other Gray stations just use one, I would love to hear why! WOIO in 2023 with both Chryon (L3) and Vizrt (News Ticker) elements. Whenever ex-Raycom stations were transiting to Gray graphics starting in 2019, their systems switched over from Chyron to Vizrt as those were the systems that ran the Gray graphics packages. Fast forward to now, with the world of the acquisitions of Meredith and other media groups (which run on Chyron), the GrayONE graphics can be ran on both Chryron and Vizrt systems. Check out this excerpt from The Other Site - Working across different graphics platforms “Given its large footprint, Gray Television uses a variety of graphics systems across its stations, with GrayONE designed to work with Chyron Prime and Vizrt Viz Trio. Quinn noted the package is designed to be both user-friendly for smaller markets and competitive for larger ones. “If you A/B some of our stations that are running Chyron or Viz, to an average viewer or somebody in our design world, it’s going to be hard to tell the difference,” said Quinn, who also noted the creativity of the process required to bring the package’s unique animations natively to the different platforms.” Like mentioned from the The Other Site article about GrayONE in 2023, you really can’t tell a difference between which station is running Chryon or Vizrt, but there are a few noticeable differences to look out for: -The news and weather ticker: (1) Chryon’s uses the Barlow font and has a “seamless” never ending ticker. Additionally, the weather icons are still and do not move. Vizrt’s uses the Gotham font and has a “fade in” effect for each new headline. Additionally, the weather icons are the new Gray ones that can be seen online in addition to GRAYOne weather graphics. They also are animated with Vizrt. They both share a similar text effect that expands the text out — “HEADLINES, WEATHER, LOTTERY, etc.” this comes from the 2020 Meredith graphics. (One note - when GrayONE was being rolled out initially to Vizrt systems, the ticker used the Barlow font and had still GrayONE weather icons) (1) WANF - runs off of Chryon WBTV - runs off of Vizrt -The L3’s: (2) Chryron’s lower thirds feature a larger top headline box while Vizrt’s headline box is smaller. This apply to both their normal and breaking news L3. Additionally, they share a similar text effect that expands the letters when they use the “Breaking News” L3 — this also comes from the 2020 Meredith graphics. (2) WECT - runs off of Vizrt WOIO - runs off of Chyron (L3) and Vizrt (News Ticker) I just thought this was an interesting analysis to bring to this forum. Happy to hear everyone’s opinions on this. At the end of the day, GrayONE is awesome and it’s nice that the Design Group made it for both graphics systems. Yes there are a few differences that are not noticeable to the regular eye but to news geeks like us, we notice and can tell what station is using either Chryon or Vizrt I encourage you to watch some Gray produced newscasts and try to guess which graphics system they are running! Source: https://www.The Other Site.com/2023/06/05/gray-television-motion-graphics-grayone/

Exactly. Why not just say CW 33 Miami? Significantly smoother. CBS is also terrible at wordy brandings. And the call letters and license city don't need to be at the bottom of the logo, it's an eyeful.

Maybe they could put on... (beat) ...more cop shows. I mean, it already has the call letters for it...

WKBD The Ten o'clock News 1994

For all we know, this just must be for their NFL coverage. I'd expect NBC Sports Bay Area to get a similar refresh for their 49ers coverage come Monday before & after their MNF game against the Jets.

NBC Sports Philadelphia has switched to the new NBC Sports look.

Yeah I absolutely hate it…. trust me KJRH has been doing scrippscast for a few months for the 10pm newscast the first part is live with some top stories live weather and live sports the rest is taped. Then the 4:30am is all taped except for weather.

KMGH 7 Newsbreaks 1990 (skip to 18:19 & 25:35) Do my ears decive me or did KMGH used WAGA'S Eyewitness News Theme 1990 for their Newsbreaks?

Especially considering for they studio setting, NBC Sports Chicago stepped it up with the sofa instead of the typical desk.

I wonder if NBC will hang onto the NBC Sports Chicago office(s)/studio? They greatly reduced their leased space at the NBC Tower by more than half, but it would be a shame if that awesome NBC Sports Chicago set ends up in the trash heap.

They already own WFTX.

Shades of SiriusXM...

I will say that Broadcast Morning Shows (and even Broadcast Network Evening News shows!) are going through a bit of a crisis. I know people will say they have gotten too fluff or diagonal, and there is truth to that. Still, I feel they have not learned to adapt to modern technology, 24/7 cable news, and social media, and I suppose they never will be able to unless they fix their content and become more unbiased in the news, even doing all that may not help much. CBS did that a decade ago, and while it dramatically improved, it did not help much. Its ratings reached a peak of 3.7 million but were still stuck in 3rd, and they flushed that all down the toilet after they fired Charlie and Norah and moved to the Evening News show. I suppose another issue I just thought of is that there are too many commercials too! The Big Network Morning Shows are becoming more irrelevant, and the Evening News shows don't seem far behind. They don't get the ratings they once did and make the money they used to, and so Networks really can't afford to pay big names to host them like they were once able to (unless that person is willing to do it for less money than their previous job) or give the ones already there a big raise unless they lay people off. These anchors are even taking pay cuts to prevent layoffs of lower-ranking staff members. We will likely hear about Lester, Savannah, George, Robin, and David taking pay cuts in the future. I imagine the Evening News shows will always be there until the end of time or television, but will the TODAY Show see its 100th anniversary or GMA?

Willie Geist would be a good replacement and was once considered a possible successor to Matt Lauer, but he's doing well with his Sunday show, which he enjoys and is unlikely to give up. Anderson Cooper is more focused on hard news and might be better suited for a cable morning show like CNN or CBS rather than the lighter fare of TODAY or GMA. It's possible he could grow into it, similar to how George Stephanopoulos transitioned to a morning show. Some people were surprised when George was announced as Diane Sawyer's replacement, seeing as he worked in the White House and was a hard news guy. At first, he seemed uncomfortable with some of the lighter fares of GMA (of course, it is way now), but over time, he became more comfortable with it and loosened up a bit, especially as Robin got sick. Bringing in Michael as the third news anchor might have been a way to balance out the lighter content with more serious news. Giving George a bit less fluff to deal with. When CBS decided to hire Charlie Rose to host its morning show, that was a deal breaker. There was no question that it would have to completely rebrand and remove 90% of the fluff, leaving most of the lighter stuff for Gayle King. Charlie is way stiffer than George and Anderson and even more of a serious news person.

This is (sadly) probably why stations now always do their station ID in mouseprint, so that they don't make it (even more) intrusive as it is. I don't even think the way that it's displayed here is intrusive in the least. (It bothers me more when stations do their TOTH legal ID in mouseprint, when it *should* be more prominent.) These decisions tend to be made at the station level, so it's not like our opinions are going to sway their decisions about a graphic that is mostly inconsequential in the long run, especially if we don't live in the area in question.

Please go to CBS Brian! Their evening news could use you.