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I'd be surprised if they didn't choose a network version of the Ant Food theme, to tie it all together. Though I swear to god, if they are using Lonnie Quinn and Maurice DuBois to push more New York featured stories to a national audience, it's going to bomb. Hint: Most of America doesn't live in NYC, in case you didn't know.

I think people forget that Graham isn't exactly some mom-and-pop shop. Graham Holdings is a diversified conglomerate and their TV stations are just one of their many businesses. And Graham Holdings is still headquartered in Washington.

Don't forget the BBC 10'oclock news and ITV's News At Ten (the first network to do so). Holy cow this set looks amazing! Just like we thought, studio 47!

Snippets of the new set as the new duo was interviewed by Maurice's WCBS colleague Mary Calvi. I'm not seeing Deborah Norville on there as often these days. I'm really hoping the set lighting will look as dim on CBS's cameras because this looks great. I love the diverse landscapes in the background. It makes the broadcast seem more nationally oriented, and not just New York City/East Coast centric. It reminds me of Good Morning America's intro from the early Gibson/Sawyer era. In this era of washed out HD, dark lighting and warm colors look good.

Vivid Zero has pulled back the curtain on the ABC O&O package.

It sounds like they're shooting for something closer to 60 minutes. That's how Dubois described it. Nevertheless, I agree that whatever format is presented, they give it time and don't abandon it (for, as you said, New York featured stories). The vibe I'm getting is that they want to do what you would see at the local level (news, weather and a politics rundown (instead of sports). Could be wrong, but that's what my gut tells me. Looking at the boarder picture, I like that CBS has attempted to break down the silos (60 minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, etc...) and create a common thread (through graphics, sets, formats, etc...) across not only CBS News, but also including the local CBS O&Os as part of the process. For too long, everybody did their own thing instead of working together as one. Glad that they see the value in 'synergy.'

I am looking forward to see what CBS came up for this new era of the Evening News. I hope they don''t f it up. But it is CBS.

One of those teasers ended with the Rather/modern-era signature. Whether of not they update it again, we'll see, but there won't be a return to the Couric or latter Pelley-era themes.

I didn’t feel that the Washington DC set was grand. This looks much warmer. I wonder if they will keep the music. I’d like the Dan Rather era music to make a comeback.

To be fair, neither does the UK or Australia if you consider the 8-11pm hours as primetime. Global's is mainly at 5:30 with some airing it at 6:00 and others at 6:30. Also, in Australia, ABC has news throughout the day with the main (regional) news at 7:00 with the same for the BBC but their main is at 10:00.

It was great that they had a formal goodbye and tribute package for Maurice and I thought that was well done. I am a bit surprised by WCBS leaving viewers in the dark about a replacement, but perhaps they are waiting a few weeks out of respect for Maurice? On a separate note, I don't recall seeing Alice and Kristine anchor together all that often (like the rare combo of Dana and Kristine), so that is another interesting test pairing.

Maurice’s Farewell

They already did. Maurice, Kristine, Lonnie and Otis sat on the couch reminiscing about the 14 years they spent together between 5:20 and 5:30. Kristine mentioned Maurice and Lonnie will be on the CBS Evening news. Alice came on after to anchor the next half hour with Kristine on the 5pm news

WCBS sure isn't acting like that. Perhaps viewer feedback was not as positive as they hoped in his test broadcasts. One would think that with many months since DuBois move was announced, they would have a plan that seamlessly puts in place the new team.