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I'm months late seeing this comment but Lester???! I'll pick this up in the NBC Nightly News thread. Wolf is iconic. Hard to imagine CNN without him.

I can confirm via a source that WSVN 7 is the only South Florida station with a brick-and-mortar presence in both counties, in way of studio and news bureau. WFOR is still in Doral but doesn't have a Broward bureau while WTVJ and WPLG's studios are in Broward but don't have a Miami-Dade news bureau. WSVN has theirs in NBV (for now, Miramar is coming) with a news bureau in FTL (again, for now). I was also able to confirm that even when WSVN moves to Miramar, they'll convert part of their NBV space into a small news bureau for Miami-Dade.

If they can afford to operate one these days.

Adding to that, something I learned... Metropolitan areas, and DMAs are not necessarily coextensive. So a metropolitan area can have a higher population than another metro, yet still have a lower DMA rank. Our example... The Miami Metro is bigger than the Tampa Metro, yet Tampa's DMA ranks higher than Miami's. Why? The Miami metropolitan area includes the population of Palm Beach County, but the Miami DMA does not. This is probably because the entire metropolitan area would be too massive for the stations to drive to get to stories.

There have been rumblings that he's looking to retire. He's close to 80 and has been on CNN for over 35 yrs. (?). If it's true he won't appear in some capacity on Election Night, he will be missed.

So they’ve updated the lightbox logo on the anchor desk which now has the current logo. Another modification to the set since they redid the BAM in June

Background feels busy.

I think when the majority of groups started to use Stephen Arnold Music packages, which largely have the same "indie" orchestration, across similar markets, that should have been the tip off that distinct marketing wasn't their priority. Instead of investing in leveraging technology, marketing and journalistic prowess, these station groups are refusing to ensure outlet sustainability. They are cutting value to provide greater dividends to shareholders and increase executive payout, which is quickly collapsing the Local News ethos. If groups like Nexstar would reinvest their profit from election year ad rev back into their stations, the stations would be able to provide more robust coverage during election off-years, which would in turn increase impressions and drive more consistent ad revenue during those non-stunting election years. Instead, they've bought into the cyclical nature of the election-year ad revenue, which results in inconsistent employment, poor job satisfaction, and an overall increase in employee turnover. This further degrades viewership during election off-years. Keeping your talent happy and employed, and performing the duties outlined in 1 job description, will lead to more consistent ratings and build community trust. This is why local ownership is so crucial. They are in touch with their staff and with the community. If they know how to leverage their assets and revenues, they can build a robust brand that local viewers count on. This can't be true, simply looking at viewership analytics from a high rise on the other side of the county and you cannot assume that hiring someone to review the analytics at the local level will translate if the executives hire station management to agree with them than work independently to improve impressions.

Not everyone does.

Some cover multiple states too. DMA #1 is New York, covers not just the 5 boroughs of NYC but Long Island, more than half of New Jersey, SW Connecticut and a county in Pennsylvania (Pike).

Some are ridiculously large, like Denver includes areas more than 500 miles away from the city, which is for no reason at all IMO (those are sparsely populated areas in the High Plains often in areas where small-market stations are nearby).

Pretty much. Sort of a mix between the Graham package and GrayOne. All of the TV packages the groups are putting out are starting to look the same. Don't they want to stand out from their competition?

Isn't that where the concept of bureaus comes in? "Reporting now from our Fort Lauderdale bureau..."

Precisely this. Houston proper is massive with massive suburbs as well. Dallas proper a bit smaller but with massive suburbs too and then another top 5 city (Fort Worth) included in its metro. I believe Houston’s DMA is Houston-Galveston-Sugarland-The Woodlands (large populous of the southeast texas region) Dallas is Dallas-Fort Worth. (North texas)

I've been there before as a journalist and in all fairness it is a lot to learn pronunciations of EVERY place as soon as you get the job. He probably wouldn't have known the pronunciation because he's never had to say the neighborhood name before plus most people simply call it The Village. Speaking of reporter mistakes, I've seen long time journalists at some of the stations call anywhere in Central Brooklyn "Flatbush". Yes, little details like this matter, but no one is perfect. Someone should point at the mistake to him, correct this and any more potential mispronunciations, then move on. The producers can also assist by putting pronouncers of tricky town names in the prompter.

As I read in the Variety article, it would be very complicated. MSNBC and CNBC are part of NBC News and helps pay for news gathering (they are very profitable). USA is a vehicle for NBC Sports now that they shut down their own sports channel. Plus they play a big role with Peacock. Universo is tied in with Telemundo, and hosts sports including Spanish simulcasts of SNF and probably SNNBA. Could E!, Bravo, Oxygen and Universal Kids command enough interest in a spinoff? They are right to look at it as an option, but anyone thinking this is a done deal is way too premature.

From the perspective of an NEP weekday producer at the station that I know, they acknowledged that it was indeed a genuine mistake for the testing to air on live feed, and when the crew there saw it, they were very much like “oh sh*t,” and rushed it off. However, folks have expressed their internal disappointment and frustration with the situation, as TEGNA suits are pretty miffed someone could’ve made such an error, given the current political climate. Not at all the attention they want.

It does not unless the WJW facility were to be sold.

Already decided. WUAB next fall will be part RESN and part MyNetworkTV. https://tvnewscheck.com/programming/article/more-live-local-sports-my-network-programming-on-wuab-cleveland-next-fall/

Good point, this could be another layer of complexity for an on-air upgrade by having to upgrade to a new CG instead of simply loading in a new graphics package. Since most stations use the Adobe Creative Suite, these promo projects are very easy to distribute and customize on the local level.

Jeopardy! EP Davies disclosed as much a few weeks ago on that show's podcast. The goal is for a likely-next day option to be available at the start of the 2025-26 season.

It’s such a shame that Scripps has fallen this far. The Scrippscast has really tarnished them. Why couldn’t they just do this in smaller markets and implement at bigger stations as they see fit? I’m getting closer and closer to removing Scripps stations from my phone and my list of stations to apply to. Any stations worth keeping on my phone/applying to? WPTV is the first/only one that comes to my mind.

The studio probably hasn't gotten the upgrade yet but the package for creative services has been rolled out to them. I've seen this on several Gray stations prior to their launch since it takes more to change out the on-air graphics than to deploy the templates for the promo editors to use.

I’m not sure why some expected a total refresh. Basically Bally’s ended their naming deal and FanDuel stepped in. When (if) Diamond/Sinclair emerges from bankruptcy, FanDuel may invest but won’t be the controlling owner based on what has been disclosed.

I don’t know that they really needed to go all out with new music and graphics and it’s not as if they had a lot of time.

Funny enough, Brooks was weeknight co-anchor at KOKH for seven years, before moving up I-44 to KJRH. Given Sinclair’s political leanings, the fact that management at KOKH/KOCB did not appear to have any issue with his sexuality (that we know of) but his then-GM at KJRH (whose parent company’s editorial leanings are decidedly neutral) did is ironic to say the least.

Actually, KFAA is just moving Estrella to 29.2 from 29.1.

I wonder how many people actually watch the networks' evening (6:30pm ET) news shows live and how many watch them later (via DVR, their cable companies' on-demand services, or Paramount+/Hulu/Peacock) after their kids are in bed or they've finished the other shows they want to watch or they get done with all the stuff they need to do at home or they get home from social gatherings.

Not a bad idea at all. I just question if said programs would do well as we're already overloaded with national news.

And yet, WZZM is letting Samantha Jacques take over. Hell, even if Terri were to join WZZM and become Chief, she would still follow Sam's route in still doing it in the morning. Also, remember that it says that she's only doing it three days a week so she wants it part-time to then do other things in her life so I don't think WZZM was in the cards for her.

KLAF actually switched to NBC when it was owned by Nexstar before sale to DeJuan McCoy

KLAF wasn’t a startup; it had previously been affiliated with UPN and MyNetworkTV, before Nexstar (prior to selling KADN/KLAF to Bayou City, DeJuan McCoy’s original broadcasting venture that cashed out to Allen, amid the Media General purchase) switched it to NBC, and built the joint news department with KADN. The “de facto affiliate” model wasn’t viable long-term, anyhow. It primarily relied upon cable and satellite coverage to be sustainable; The WB 100+ started the shift toward creating local affiliates for networks to fill gaps in market coverage that the Big Three and Fox (the latter of which it kinda pioneered through the Foxnet cable network) expanded upon, using low-power stations and digital subchannels for that purpose. Even in the analog, pre-cable era, issues with rimshot signal coverage of the supplementary affiliates made it difficult for some viewers to watch network shows from adjacent-market affiliates.

While the article quotes one of the laid-off anchors that the morning show was cancelled, it later stated that it’s being cut by 90 minutes (with KADN and KLAF only simulcasting the first half-hour, and KADN carrying the bulk of the show), and will switch to a single-anchor format with a replacement meteorologist. Only the noon newscast on KLAF is fully gone.

If that's the endgame, I could see Fox merging Fox Weather into TWC. Byron Allen has proven himself to be a fraud and phony and if his company collapses, he needs to feel the wrath of justice.

God that's terrible! First Newshub closed, then TVNZ cancelled ALL newscasts expect for the 6PM, NOW THIS?? I know the industry is struggling here in the U.S but this is just sad! Praying not just for those loosing their jobs but for the future of journalism and democracy in New Zealand!

WDJT is doing this against WITI (noticed earlier in thread).

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.

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.

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.

He's leaving?

So what exactly IS Forum’s TV play in South Dakota? KNBN isn’t much of an operation. I remember they purchased an independent station in Sioux Falls that they claimed they’d have a news operation to pair with their digital newspaper (Sioux Falls Live) but it’s been two years and nothing except they keep running NDSU/Fargo based programming on it. Since the lady in the article mentions how well they’re doing in SDSU coverage, and you’d think they’d like to go after broadcasting deals like the ones have at NDSU, but they’re not endearing themselves to people now. Unless they’re planning to buy or sue Gray to get an affiliation I don’t see how that Indy station survives if it ever gets going.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/wheel-of-fortune-jeopardy-sony-sues-cbs-lawsuit-1236196675/

And now the New York Post reported this just yesterday about Lester Holt supposedly retiring. This could all be speculation and sources say, but the grooming of Tom as a successor has been obvious. I just did not expect talk of Holt's retirement to be happening now. He's a very stable presence at the network. Overall I think Nightly News needs better graphics, a better studio, and they need to tweak how they edit their packages. I appreciate their visual aids and graphics but sometimes their transitions are head spinning, it's almost ADHD pacing. As for why NNN dropped to #2, I think it's the loss of Brian Williams. He had a very grand and narrative style of writing, which were exemplified in his anchor intros before packages. Lester Holt is more straight to the point.

Apparently so. It was in Puck News, I think one of Dylan Byers' articles, and it said Wolf is planning on retiring shortly after the inauguration. (As is Lester Holt at NBC)