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So basically they've become "Early Today"...

A lot of stations have installed in weather centers the abiility to interrupt for a cut-in and a mini switcher for meteorologists so they can control what makes air during a cut-in without a director or a crew. Because hub operators are running multiple stations at once, it is a lot easier for a station to call up and say "hey, we're at a risk of severe weather, activate the interrupt switch in the weather center at (call letters) so we can get on air immediately if we get a warning" and they will - so it isn't a game of telephone for the meteorologist to get on air quickly. After the cut-in, the call likely serves a couple purposes. On the technical side, they likely have to reset the switch if there's a chance of another cut-in, or deactivate it if the risk is over so a rogue elbow bump doesn't disrupt programming. Operationally, it is likely standard operating procedure to call so the hub operator can make sure the discrepancy report is accurate for the times of the cut-in and what ads were missed and need to either be made good or have billing adjsuted.

WPTZ News 5 intro mid 80's Classic WMC ID it says 1985, but I'm sure it's older than that. KMPH TV 26 "Get to know us" presentation 1979. WEAR Gulf Coast News 3 1984 WTAE 4 News 1994 WTVN Action 6 News 1985 Intro

So I observed a weather cut-in for my local Nexstar station, WCMH, a few weekends ago. After the meteorologist was done giving the weather warning, you could hear him off camera apparently calling up the 'hub' (Indianapolis, I think?) and verbally say "I'm done with the cut-in" or something to that effect. Is that the common procedure now, where the meteorologist has to call the hub and have them cue the graphics and all that? I'm sure all the station groups have policies on when to cut in and how often. It was a Sunday and it appeared the met was the only one at the station.

A meteorologist shouldn't be calling the hub to tell them to get on or off the air at all. If there's severe weather their focus needs to be on the weather. A producer, manager, or director should be the ones calling the hub (and frankly there should be a producer in the booth during extended severe weather coverage anyway). However, given how poorly staffed and inexperienced many newsrooms are nowadays I wouldn't be surprised if some mets in some markets have had to take up that responsibility as well.

I didn't think about that, but it's a good point too. I'd add that the non-news programming (especially syndication and cable) has become mind-numbingly repetitive in its own way. American TV has always been lazy in terms of its presentation, but it seems like around the mid-2010s, streaming became an excuse for the linear TV industry to give up and become just as lazy with everything else.

45 years in television, 20 years at KATC, a few at KVHP, and the last 18 at KPLC. Yesterday, Agnes DeRouen retired from KPLC. https://www.kplctv.com/2025/03/28/farewell-agnes-derouen-7news-anchor/

What @nathannah said. It's not because of this move but all of the other bloodletting Paramount is doing in recent months. Almost like when the 1980 Summer Olympics was cancelled in the US, NBC's future as a network was put into question because they were already in deep trouble back then. And then the genius Jeff Zucker thinking out loud that NBC could never be "on top" again with all of his idiot moves. Paramount is in it for the money right now. If an affiliate balks, they'll go to the next willing station, or cut them loose when the time comes. The O&Os are a boring mess, CBS News is irreparably damaged from all of the changes, and any goodwill it has left has been stripped away with every cut they've made. The most stinging was the end of the Christmas specials they've run for DECADES. If Stephen Colbert goes away, CBS is done for, IMHO. And on the streaming side, there's little reason for me to ever get Paramount+. The only way is to give it to me for free from one of my other services. They've gotten Warner Brothers stupid and started cutting classic Nickelodeon content you can't get anywhere else.

CBS has its challenges as do all of the networks, but cutting loose a show at 12:30 am isn't exactly the sign of the apocalypse.

Congratulations to Kym on this move! A major win for WBTV and Charlotte and another major loss for WPMI and Mobile. Back in 2008, Lenise Ligon left WBTV and later ended up as the primary anchor at WALA Fox 10 in Mobile, a job she's held since.

Kym Anderson formerly from WPMI in Mobile, AL is joining WBTV as their evening news anchor. https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kym-anderson-joins-wbtv-charlotte-as-evening-anchor/