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The Evening News Plus should be carried by the network as well. Both half hours compliment each other and feels more complete than the 30 minute broadcast imho. Has more substance and more day of news. Could be an area that CBS could have a competitor to PBS NewsHour and maybe force NBC and ABC to follow along with the change.

Similar to the WABC set, it might be best to hold judgement until we see it with the lights on!!! N4 was also partially recycled from a set that existed before the fire. Most of the current set is video wall, including the main background.

Last update I heard from a former coworker from my time there was hopefully early Summer 2025. No explanation why. I'd guess the 1-2 punch of Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 means construction crews in Southwest Florida are in high demand. (Which gives me flashbacks to the economic meltdown of 2008/2009 when Southwest Florida's heavily home construction based economy driven by 2004/2005 hurricane season rebuilds and massive growth collapsed hard and Lee County turned into Foreclosure Land USA for several years.)

I would like to point out as well that what he is doing in the fire story is the kind of thing done back 30-40+ years ago and was not only accepted but EXPECTED. People tuned in just for that kind of stuff. The movie Anchorman is partially based on and is an exaggeration of the way they talked on the air. The immigrant example is almost certainly 100% in the copy by the way. He didn’t ad lib that. It’s just an old school way of writing it. The cousin of that is the “happy talk” you get at the end of some emotionally gripping story where the anchors do some bantering back and forth giving a thought or two on it. I don’t know if every station in the world uses it but many do (did?). The flowery intro would be in the copy and then they would ad lib the comments at the end.

They did it a couple of days ago when they debuted the studio for the 4 pm show. Well, they did it during a going-on-break bumper shot when I had rewatched it. It was a nice aesthetic. I'd imagine they probably won't do these shots forever, so we should enjoy them while it lasts as the novelty of the new space wears off and they return to the regular live shots, etc.. It reminded me of the classic way of doing the news where they would show the anchors talking before the break, that was a nice touch. :). Regarding Bill Ritter’s ad-libs during the broadcasts, it is important to note that he is a seasoned veteran and a legendary figure in the New York market. His industry reputation allows him to incorporate these ad-libs into the show without disrupting its flow. By doing so, I think he enhances the overall value of the production. A lot of veteran anchors similarly did this, similar to Bill Beutel when he was there before he passed he had his signature closing remark at the end of the 6 pm shows in the '90s. Chuck Scarborough did the same before he departed from WNBC, and the same with retired anchor, Jim Gardner on WPVI before his departure. Bill's a sentimental and empathetic guy, you see it in his presentation and reporting, especially after 9/11 which gripped him and many of the reporters and journalists here in New York. It's not an easy market, this city requires a lot of hard work and diligence to survive here. So naturally the reporters and anchors are just raw and heavy-hearted from all the years of tough storytelling. Personally, I like the adlib it really provides a sense of authenticity to the broadcast and adds an extra level of depth and value to the show.

NBC Universal has received several tax breaks for investments made to remain and modernize at 30 Rock. They actually own many of the floors that are used, rather than leasing them from the buildings owners. 30 Rock is iconic to the network, not just the station. ABC for years was a hodgepodge of neighboring (not always connected) buildings and required doubling up use of studios. Before WABC took over the Disney Store space for their news studio, it used the same studio as Live with whoever. It wasn't the most optimized facility as the network grew and developed.

I wish they would begin each broadcast with that fantastic shot of the celing circle seven perching over the anchor desk, rather than a wide shot of the anchor desk.

Sade back at 5pm today. Now that the new studio has opened, is there any prediction of Bill Ritter's work reduction?

Agreed, WNT could use some new graphics at this point.

They just had a really cool closing “thanking” viewers for watching and visiting them all these years in their building. They ended with a long zoom out of the outside of the studio and the extended theme. If anyone has it recorded and can post it was pretty cool. New set debuts at 6pm tomorrow

There was that episode back in 2008, IIRC, where they hired another meteorologist to tag team the weather with Jym. It was a huge mistake. He certainly went through ups and downs at WCMH. A great man indeed.

A major loss for sure and one of the legends of the Columbus TV market. I still think he was pushed out at WCMH and his return to TV was as soon as he was able to. One of the many reasons ABC 6 & FOX 28 have become the new stations of record after NBC4 and 10TV's missteps and selling out to the highest bidder.

Columbus weather legend Jym Ganahl has passed at 76. He came to WCMH in 1979 from KWWL, one of the youngest TV meteorologists in the nation. He 'retired" from WCMH in 2016. After a year, he returned to the air on WSYX/WTTE, retiring last year. This is a huge loss. His 'weather lore' was the best. RIP Jym.

KTVU's A Second Look from 2008 honoring Dennis Richmond on the year he retired. Appropriate to bring this back considering his passing.

Hopefully its just for the logo, given that Face The Nation, 48 Hours, and 60 Minutes haven't changed anything major on their logos (or just subtle tweaks) since the 2020 rebrand occurred. But, looking at the serif font used, it's the same one used on the CBS News website and app.

One of Cincinnati's all-time great sportscasters, Greg Hoard, has passed away. He was 73. He spent a good amount of time at WLWT (working with Jerry Springer and Norma Rashid) before becoming WXIX's first-ever sports anchor in 1993 and staying there until 2004 to return to print journalism. https://www.fox19.com/2025/03/01/greg-hoard-first-fox19-now-sports-anchor-dies-73/

ABC had technical issues during a special report. And this was leaked, could it be the new ABC WNT studio? https://youtu.be/nwIavGXTjpo

Cross-posting from the Philly forum, former WPVI-er (edit: and KYW-er for a time) Dave Frankel is dead at 67. https://6abc.com/post/fmr-action-news-weathercaster-reporter-dave-frankel-dies-67/15957608/

Kristin Thorne left WABC earlier this year to be an investigative reporter and host with Law & Crime, focusing on true crime.

At Gray's WCAX Burlington, don't be surprised to hear this... MAX Advantage Weather is out and First Alert Weather is in. https://www.wcax.com/2025/02/17/wcax-weather-coverage-evolves-with-first-alert/

WTWO weekend meteorologist Dan Reynolds dead at 71 From a WTWO staffer via reddit:

Al Trautwig, longtime pre-and-postgame host for MSG Network as well myriods of other sports work nationally has passed away at the age of 68. https://nypost.com/2025/02/24/sports/al-trautwig-longtime-voice-of-msg-network-dead-at-68/

Sad news, again, out of Pittsburgh. Jon Burnett, beloved former KDKA-TV personality, dies at age 71 - CBS Pittsburgh

I'm not a hardcore hockey fan, but amongst the great voices in the history of the NHL, he was one of the most identifiable ever. Pittsburgh and Penguins fans will forever cherish him. RIP.

Sad news out of Pittsburgh. Mike Lange, long-time Penguins broadcaster, dies at 76

Margie Ison, a beloved WBIR-TV Channel 10 Knoxville member from 1979 until her 1995 retirement, has passed away. She was 84. https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/longtime-wbir-meteorologist-margie-ison-dies-at-84/51-237334f6-3cd9-4a28-aaed-23bfff88427e

It's worse than that -- his daughter's now lost both of her parents. From the article:

One of the young voices in Kansas City's Spanish-speaking media died while on Super Bowl duty in New Orleans. He did play-by-play for the women's soccer team and sideline reporting at Chiefs games. https://fox4kc.com/sports/kansas-city-sports-reporter-dies-while-in-new-orleans-for-super-bowl-lix/ Update: woman arrested for using his credit cards https://fox4kc.com/news/louisiana-woman-arrested-following-kansas-city-reporters-death-in-new-orleans/