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What also needs to be considered is ratings. All three morning shows are relatively close in both total viewers and demo. And are, on average, separated by a couple of thousands viewers. With linear tv being what it is, would bringing in an outsider really move the needle? With Kotb leaving, do you also consider moving Guthrie to a new role as well and start fresh? Or do you keep it simple and just promote Craig? Again, with ratings being as tight as they are, the risks couldn't be higher. I don't envy the decision-makers at NBC.

Adriana Diaz won't have to worry about doing two shows throughout the week. Her cross-country partner Jerica Duncan will anchor both nights of the Weekend News. https://deadline.com/2024/10/jericka-duncan-cbs-weekend-news-1236107504/

Changes are on the horizon: Fridays: Mike Marza now is 11pm anchor and Pedro Rivera is 4:30am anchor. Neither will be “in for” Ritter or Marza respectively as this change is rolling into a transition coming in the new year. Ritter will step down from 5 and 11pm - keeping only the 6pm with Liz. He will maintain helm of “up close” for the time being. Mike Marza moves to 5 & 11pm, Rivera moves to mornings and 10am with Shirleen. Mike and Sade effectively become the “lead anchors” with Bill slowly transitioning to retirement in a few years. A formal announcement from Ritter will come after the election, closer to the year’s end.

Same thing at WCCO. They've had the new bar for a few weeks now.

This post is perfect. It explains why. Also, mention that you also have the Florida Keys which is part of the Miami DMA, and trying to cover everything from the Keys to WPB would be somewhat of an overkill for one TV market considering traffic and other challenges.

It’s very simple: The reason the Miami DMA doesn’t match the Miami metro area’s population rank is because the Miami metro area is essentially split into two different DMAs: the Miami DMA and the West Palm Beach DMA. The West Palm Beach area is included in the Miami Metro area’s 6 million+ population figure, but it is not included as part of the Miami DMA. It’s like if the DFW area were split into a Dallas DMA and a Fort Worth DMA. It’s one metro area, but in Miami’s case it’s served by two DMAs.

Or HDNet's obscure NHL package from the early 2000s

At least the longest-running anchoring duo in WABC-TV history will be around for a little while longer.

Regarding GMA First Look and its sister program World News Now, I've just done some research and something is fascinating about the current anchor pairing. Andrew Dymburt and Rhiannon Ally have anchored both programs since August 2022. That's two years and two months by the time October ends. Why am I mentioning this? If they stick together through the rest of this month, they will tie the May 2008-July 2010 pairing of Jeremy Hubbard and Vinita Nair of two years and two months... of being the longest-running anchoring duo in the history of World News Now and next month will top it. Yes, that program has been around for 32 years, but considering the time the program is on (overnights or as WNN likes to call them, insomniacs), its always a revolting turnover in terms of anchors, and pairings never-ever last long. Some last a few months, others a year and a few months, but the former pair and the current one are the only ones that have ever lasted the past two years with Andrew and Rhiannon possibly making history next month during the holidays. Weird research? Yes. Somewhat irrelevant? Yes. Interesting nonetheless? Oh absolutely. But I just wanted to offer my thoughts on something I've noticed.

They would have come up with alternate programming in Indianapolis and Milwaukee during Bulls (both markets) and White Sox (Milwaukee) telecasts. Those pesky territorial rights.

KRON debuted new graphics (seen on the graphics section) and farewell to Aerial. Stephen Arnold remixed KRON Instant Classics from Michael Boyd and brought back the brand back to the Bay Area

Cool they brought it back with an orchestra And nice to see the thoughtful look at history The story graphics are fine but not a fan of the animation, too frenetic and circle oriented. But the care with the music trumps. Kind of like when Gari remixed Cool Hand Luke though haven’t heard much of this new package to see if it’s just as catchy. Hard to top the original KRON ticker bed with the clapping sounds for distinctiveness.

The more I keep watching KRON, the graphics are simplistic and colorful which is taking me back to KTLA in 1997 when it had the Linda Kane Design look prior to the 2004 refresh with “Prime News”

The red L3s they're using for anchors, reporters, and breaking news are slightly more inspired than the norm, but the plain white ones they're using for headlines and people they're interviewing are just the same tired stuff that everyone else is using. Overall, the new look is still better than their previous graphics, which were very cheap-looking for a top-10 market like the Bay Area.

I think folks forget CBS had tried to lure Williams to head up the evening news in the past, and, was rebuffed. Not sure anything has changed (other than more chaos at CBS with budget cuts, headcount reductions, and the pending purchase). Plus, does Williams even want to go back to the daily grind now that he hasn't been doing that for 2 years? I also would assume that he would want much more than his ending salary at MSNBC, and that could be an issue for CBS today, considering the current plan is a lower cost option.

My one complaint is that the color palette and font selection is a little too similar to the KTVU / Fox O&O look. It's not a dead ringer by any means, but it's very very close. With that said, it's quite nice. It looks well thought-out, and it reminds me a bit of the first look KRON had in the post-NBC days. Seeing a bespoke graphics package for just one station is always rare and refreshing these days. I always assumed Nexstar would have eventually forced stations like KRON and KTLA into some kind of half-cooked standardized group look. Oh, one more complaint: a 3:30 pkg on new graphics? KRON really competing with KPIX here on who can regularly self-congratulate themselves all day long.

I think he would bring the leadership CBS has wanted since the Walter Cronkite days. CBS and these cuts have been an ongoing thing since the 80s. CBS Evening News isn't NBC or ABC which is short story form newscast because people attention spans are short. The Evening News does a good job, but CBS been third since the late 80s and still struggling in resources and etc. You made some really good valid points and with this pending sale it seems CBS News still doesn't move the needle. It going to be business as usual. Brian would be great, and didn't CBS offered him the Evening News back several years ago?

I think Brian leading CBS News could make the evening news broadcast instantly more competitive. People love him.

Good point. CBS is paying Norah $8 million annually. Brian Williams made $6 million annually on MSNBC. Assuming they match his cable rate, CBS would be saving $2 million dollars on Brian (even more more if they go lower). In all fairness, Maurice and John are probably the cheaper option, and previous big name hires like Katie Couric have not elevated CBS from the perpetual third place. But if even Dan Rather, one of the biggest anchors in news history couldn't elevate CBS from third, maybe that's just their lot. Everyone can't be first place. At this point their goals should be to increase the ratings, and be more competitive.

Yes. In some BTS shots, you can see that the interview set is the only piece still standing. The green space is placed at the former weather center end, wrapping around to the anchor desk space and the unseen 4th wall.

But if Vance says A and Walz says B, the average viewer may just believe whoever they're voting for. The purpose of network fact-checking is for a neutral third party to let the audience know what the truth is. As the old saying goes if one person says it's raining and the other person says it's sunny it's the journalist's job to clarify what's actually happening based on evidence, not simply afford both parties a soundbite. This is why social media companies are in such trouble. You cannot let people use your broadcast platform to spread misinformation and not do anything about it

A competent candidate should be prepared for fallacies and be prepared to fact check their opponent themselves from the lectern with their rebuttal time. But that's just my PoliSci degree talking. Personally, not having the mics muted makes for a more entertaining debate (but again, that's the PoliSci talking. For the average viewer, yes- mute the mics).

CBS has been dealt a lot of blows over the past few years, but after what Brian Williams did at NBC, he's still not fit for a network newscast again. Now when (or even if) Matt Lauer ever crawls back from the mess he created. Sad to say, he's more credible then all of the Trump-nets put together, and that's not saying much....

Not fact-checking during debate leaves the American public at a disservice because it allows candidates to make any claims. I also wish CBS followed the other networks by muting mics to avoid cross-arguing

They're also competing with Knbc & Kttv. Did kcbs have a 4am newscast before kcal start airing news at 4am or did their newscast start at 4:30am? Kcal started out with 4am newscast and now they recently canceled the 4am due to budget issues. Would this mean that they may reduce the news in the mornings even more in the future because of budget issues or due to ratings being low for the station to justify them airing news that early? I think they shouldn't have canceled the 4am newscast and find some other way to deal with the budget issues. I also believe that the ratings are not enough since there are so many stations airing news at the same time.

Ah, yes. You are right. I had forgotten about that, as I hadn't watched the show in a long time. He has guest-hosted on LIVE many times, so he is probably fine with a lot of it.

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 coverage may have had the dual purpose of serving Fox Weather (and even Fox News) as well, which has really been on top of things moreso than the Weather Channel.

I wonder how much longer Al will be there. Savannah will likely be there for at least a few more years. I would not be surprised if she eventually moves to Nightly News when Lester retires. Or maybe she goes back to cable. That is where everyone wants to be, it seems or becomes an independent journalist or a news site like Yahoo.

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.

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.

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.

Duuuuude I don't see anything wrong with any of those suggestions. Robin Meade was a light news show host. The third hour is all positivity and the 4th hour is all fluff, I don't think it's a stretch for Meade to host either. You skipped over the posts suggesting Chelsea Clinton, Barbara Bush and Malia Obama but Robin Meade, an actual news anchor, is a stretch??? Furthermore, KLG and Hoda were half drunk on the fourth hour for years, so anything goes... As for Norah and Jeff, both were great morning show hosts and are about to leave their respective positions, so why not? Sure, Shepard and Anderson are wild card names but NBC recruited Meredith Vieira from The View, so they've gone big and random before.

I notice that NBC did mention somethjng about it during the Olympics. Since Amazon mentioned about it during football, I have not seen NBC do that. I agree that both companies should probably wait a bit longer before mentioning abiut it to avoid any legal issues.

It is interesting that Amazon would say anything as they're one of the defendants in WBD's suit with the NBA.

Serious upgrade. There’s only so many elements and so many shapes to a studio. Of course if one stretches the point there will be “resemblances.” But it’s clearly distinct. And looks great.

I've noticed there's a heavy reliance on seamless LED paneling throughout the renovated studio. It's like someone saw what Sinclair did with WJLA and said, "Eh. We can do it way better." I do like the faux windows in the background that make it look like they're in a fancy skyscraper somewhere.

Not sure where to put this but KPIX has adopted the CBS News 24/7 virtual map look. I really like it, wish it were used in NYC aswell. I also like the graphic at the beginning of the package that credits the photo journalist.

Because co-anchoring the most important show on the network would pay way, way more than hosting a show on the streaming service and elevate him one of the most important anchors at the network. In any case, expect to see a rotation of talent auditioning for the role. It's one of, if not the, most important roles at the network given how much revenue TODAY generates for NBC, so it will be thoughtful and highly unlike to be someone from outside the NBC family. Familiarity to viewers is critical.

SVG has a nice write up on the new graphics and the new tech driving the look as well as sample stills https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/09/26/nbc-sports-regional-networks-debuts-new-graphics-package-launches-new-cloud-based-graphics-production-ecosystem/ Big takeaway here is this is actually it's own package evolved from the Big Ten package. Also from the SVG article and evidenced from last night's Flyers' game, the score bugs' templates will remain the same with reskins to the new look. Makes sense as the scoring engines were just updated two seasons ago.

If I was him, I wouldn’t want to move. He has his own show that allows him to do whatever he wants. Why leave that to play second fiddle in the mornings? While I haven’t seen him and Savannah work together, they don’t seem like the best pair, imo. Craig is the best option because he’s already there and a familiar face to viewers. Not sure there’s anyone outside of NBC they could find that would make an impact.

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

Former MSNBC Anchor Brian Williams in talks to host Election Night special for Amazon

I heard they were like fox, but further right. Imagine if they started their own national news network and put it on their own and operated stations.

You know Sinclair is right wing bordering far right? If they at least cared about the Spanish community, they would have some Spanish stations left in their portfolio.

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.

I have no idea where to put this, but:

Yeah they now have repeats of Dr Phil airing at 4:00am with KCAL News starting at 5:00am. I understand them getting rid of the 4:00am hour. KTLA & ABC are so established and have a huge advantage in the mornings, KCAL is basically building its morning news audience from nothing and likely relying on those who watch KCAL's primetime news to tune in, but how many people watching KCAL News in primetime are waking up at 4:00am?

A pairing of former First Daughters. Intriguing…