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This doesn’t feel like a ratings play for them. They’re trying to position themselves in the current administration’s good graces for their corporate interests. And assuming you’re one of those, I can only hope you’re the next victim of this administration’s absurdity. Good luck.

Hopefully, CBS will stand their ground and not give in to pressure from the commie-left who hate law enforcement and the orange man. The left forgets that people DID vote for this, so demonizing half of America-- yeah, gotcha.

No, the left didn't forget. The left knew people voted for this. And people voted for it because they wanted the left to suffer (so who's demonizing who?). Yet they never realized they'll be suffering too. Now that they are (more than the left), they don't want it anymore. But yeah, people did vote for it. And people will vote for it again (you know...after they forget).

I worked for Waterman 20 years ago. My first job. I left after two years because it was such a toxic sweatshop (and I got better and moved on). But the Anchorman reference is spot on! It was an odd mix of young kids looking to move up and out, and old lifers with HUGE egos. The competition between BBH and WINK was obsessive to management. As for this weatherman.. it will blow over. Viewers love to say “Im never watching again!” and they do. And I agree.. a station doesn't just fire their most popular talent unless they have a reason. Its not money.. WINK has plenty of it. The whole.. he was taking long dinner breaks.. thats an excuse to fire him. Not a reason. If he was so valuable to them.. they wouldnt care how long he took.

This topic is for the ongoing scandals of the Fort Myers Broadcasting Company/Sun Broadcasting stations and the attempted purchase of WFTX that is ongoing.

CBS Evening News with Vladimir Duthiers

I’ve worked for them. It was a long time ago, and a first post college job, so my naive 20 something mind at the time thought the whole experience was just how things were everywhere. The culture of the Fort Myers market is weird. I legitimately thought the Anchorman fighting in the street scene would happen eventually and on that day it would make snowbird season traffic on McGregor Blvd. or US 41 even worse than usual. The demographics of the market are odd with a large seasonal population and wild sprawling growth over the last half century. (It was a 130s market in the 1980s, now almost a top 50) I’m too far removed to have any inside information about the events leading up to the termination of their now former chief meteorologist. I did not work with him. I have not met or interacted with him. I can count the people who would know me in that operation on one hand, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to fish for information. I will say this I worked for half a dozen companies in my TV career, including time as a manager, broadcast employers are highly risk averse regarding terminations with cause of a non probationary employee where they intend to hire a replacement for the position. It is a deliberate and intentionally slow process which requires extensive documenting of the employee’s unwanted actions/behavior, written warnings and/or other disciplinary measures, unsuccessful completion of a PIP that can last several months, and corporate HR/legal review and approval before a decision is made to terminate with cause. Employers are far more likely to passive aggressively nudge people they want to leave by making them unhappy through schedule changes, reduced visibility, decreased responsibilities, or other ‘soft’ actions in hopes they will voluntarily resign . Contract non-renewal is also used as an alternative when necessary. The potential legal exposure is much greater for employers to discuss in public what they say led to a termination compared to a former employee or their supporters sharing their version of events. Which is why that perspective is going to gain traction and control the public narrative. Actions have consequences for both parties. It appears the consequences for WINK, at least for now, are very real. Whether those consequences endure is anyone’s guess. People are a weird mix of never forgetting and moving on quickly. My only meaningful observation from the reaction is this: The unfiltered parasocial relationships between Facebook fans and on air talent is one of the most problematic, unhealthy, and unsustainable parts of the 21st century broadcast media landscape. It is something leadership industry wide has opted to embrace at the most toxic form and refuses to develop solutions to create boundaries on how much social media engagement consumes many people at all times and how to protect people from unhinged online fans who do not respect reasonable behavioral norms. As for the Sun WFTX acquisition: It is what it is. Every company that wants to grow is going to push existing rules to the limit as they stand now, and any future changes to ownership regulations will cause the dam to break nationwide on consolidation and operations/newsrooms being merged or eliminated.

The account goes to post a (possibly AI) mockup of what the set would look like.

I mean hell, Gray would've been perfect for WLNE as well (considering that they also have a presence in New England).

And may WBBH/WZVN wipe the floor with WINK in the ratings.

Speaking of Bari & them, Nikki Glaser called out CBS News' new editorial direction at the Golden Globes---on CBS!

Besides that it can sometimes get chilly in LA, areas of Southern California like Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, and the rest of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains often get snow — enough for ski and snowboarding.

Happy 84th birthday to the country's oldest-running commercial television station... who just happened to be on the air an hour before WCBW (now WCBS) did.

PBS News Weekend wrapped on Sunday:

Weather does not seem to be a part of the new CBS Evening News, which makes sense. You don't need a regular weather segment on an 18-minute network evening newscast. Lonnie been doing the weather at 6 p.m. this week and hasn't mentioned Scott, who appears to traveling. I always thought it was weird to have someone else do the local 6 p.m. just because Lonnie had to do the Evening News at 6:30 (in the same studio, originally). Now with Lonnie not doing the Evening News, how can they justify having someone do just 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (streaming/WLNY)?

The anchor of the CBS Evening News actually said "Marco Rubio, we salute you!" at the end of the broadcast tonight. The "story" was an "Only In America" puff piece on the fact that Rubio has many titles in the Trump administration and made it seem like The Entire Internet is celebrating him with AI pics. Seems like something The Onion might have imagined CBS News pulling these days. Ridiculous.

Agree with most of your takes, and this one really bothered me. The shot always started with Tony centered, then quickly panned to the left as the OTS animated in. Seemingly half the time, the camera went too far and had to slowly come back to better frame. Is there any chance the "headlines" music was sped up? They definitely want this broadcast to be more energetic and lively (I still think Tony's talking speed picked up after he got flustered) but the music felt faster than I remembered.

I like the old Dan Rather music (headlines and open). I like the camera shot. I don't love that Tony's picture appeared in the open and I don't like the bug and lower-third, especially the intentionally unaligned nature.

Dokoupil, anchoring the CBS Evening News two nights before his scheduled launch, is doing a long live interview with former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth. It feels like two frat bros hanging out, complete with Dokoupil gleefully repeating Hegseth's "Mauro effed around and found out" line. The interview was so long that it had two commercial breaks during it.