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Times Square - New Years 1964 Circle 7 billboard Happy New Year!

Saturday, it will be a year since CBS News Detroit premiered and they have really improved since then, especially the combo of Terrance and Shania on the evening broadcasts. I know in some way the ratings will still be a challenge, but this news operation is in for the long haul.

Maybe the 432nd time will be the charm.

There may well be exceptions, but by and large, they don’t need to do that. People are tuning in for quick hits, not long blocks. You can adjust the tone and story selection approach to provide different feelings at different times of day, but people aren’t looking for a local version of the cable primetime shows.

One thing that hasn’t changed: there isn’t a bathroom in sight. For real though, what a cool photo.

They must be getting the triangle diagrid graphics in the next few months. Meanwhile, the new websites are definitely a huge improvement.

Ground up.

WFSB Eyewitness News NightBeat (April 16, 1989)

FOX 12 Oregon I'm pretty sure would keep their branding with FOX if they could. They do not see it as a liability. Yes, people repulsed by FOX probably don't watch just due to the name, but the local content is not skewed conservative, though they do run FOX News packages to fill time. FOX 12 gets high ratings as-is, so I think they are content with their audience. As for the logistics of changing their branding, it would be a big change to drop FOX. Like you said they could go back to the old branding of Oregon's 12, which I like but I'm not sure if it sounds fresh and modern or old timey. I'm also not sure if any instance of using their call letters as branding would be on the table. The only time they mention them is referring to their website, KPTV.com. I think it would be too clunky in opens and whatnot along with their slogan (First. Live. Local.) and show titles. Then again, I thought it was clunky when KGW dropped NewsChannel 8 from their branding and just went with KGW News, but I got used to it, but it works for them as they have no slogan or separate show names.....just KGW News at 5, etc, etc. The duopoly station (KPDX) currently is FOX 12 Plus, but was previously branded as PDX TV which they could go back to. Maybe use some form of that on KPTV???

Going through the archives, News Central had typical intros and standup segments the week of December 11th. The weeks of December 18th and December 25th have all had desk shots. While the PM edition has gravitated towards the desk more often recently, I’d reason that most of this is due to the holidays. CNN News Central is a very graphics intensive program, which means increased staff to program all of the graphics for each segment. Switching to a Newsroom style format for a couple of weeks allows more staff time off around the holidays.

I think Portland is a market where the FOX branding (at least on newscasts) is something of a liability, so I'd imagine KPTV would either go back to their UPN-era "Oregon's 12" branding or even "KPTV 12" (the branding they had as an indie, pre-UPN.) Then again, I don't know what KPDX will brand as, since right now, they're "FOX 12 Plus".

KOMO anchor Steve McCarron, who's been tapped to helm a new morning program on KUNS using the ARC brand (running from 8:00-10:00 a.m.) when that station switches to The CW on New Year's Day, answered this on X/Twitter: BTW, it looks like Weigel's KVOS will be taking over for KUNS as Seattle's Univision affiliate.

I've been thinking of making a similar observation here, as I have CNN on in the background while at work, but I'm not watching too closely. I wasn't sure if this was due to the increase in breaking news, mostly Trump legal news and news from Israel. I have noticed occasional standup-type presentations, but it used to be almost everything. I very much dislike the desk setup. It's a boring desk with a very boring background.

I’m of the opinion that they should just drop the “news” element from the show entirely if they won’t produce it live. It’s hard to tell the difference between live and prerecorded editions of the third hour of Today because their content isn’t largely based on real time current events.

1) Since it's staying around, it's gonna take a while to forget that this network name was last associated with home design, cooking and DIY shows. 2) That logo looks like one of a 90s haircare brand. Considering it's new strategy, while not bad, it's a bit too on-the-nose IMO. haha

Funny, I actually just came here to make the same observation that the the AM and PM versions seem to have almost entirely dropped the stand-ups that were meant to define the show in favor of anchors stationed at a desk. Bit of a shame, in my opinion. I think Licht was onto something -- the stand-ups did give the show more of an active feel that differentiated it from the rest of the day's desk-based programming.

All of this week's GMA3s have been either clip shows or single-topic programs, all prerecorded, which is totally okay. Good for them. It's a light week. But really, not updating the news update with TODAY'S headlines is just bad.

That is pretty bad for a news program. They should pretape these shows, have the on-duty anchor give a news update and fill the bulk with recycled and evergreen content.

Apologizes for the month's bump but I wanted to document some observations. News Central, when debuted, was taking advantage of 19Z's massive space and video walls, a technique I really like and feel is a slow way to introduce more European way of presenting a newscast. However, at least over the past month and a half, maybe (likely ) more, I've watched, and ALL THREE HOURS both Morning and Afternoon were the exact same. John, Sara, Kate at a standing desk in the back of studio 19Z and they would be stationed there the entire show, with just four shots (one for each presenter and the background behind them and one to see everyone standing at the desk). For the afternoon, Brianna and Boris are sitting at a desk (I'm not sure which studio) and that's it, with the long video wall behind displaying a repeated image of the logo plastered on fake screens. If I just turned on the afternoon edition and seen the desk shot and didn't see any other shot (used only when there is a guest), I would be thinking that was a temporary set! In addition, all headlines, instead of the way both editions debuted, are now simply the topic image or video and the presenter's voice. I know this will only get "New management is the reason" comments but still, it's almost comical to me how a network can invest so heavily in a new brand, and publicize how much it would be innovative and visually presenting and then within months go back to exactly how "Newsroom". In addition might I add that it's so sad to see the entirety of CNN be summed up with a head in front of a backdrop with the camera just being an inch away from being too close for comfort, it's just so common of a shot for the network, especially primetime and now News Central. How hard would it be to just zoom that camera out a bit, and actually use those million dollar sets then just face+background and zoom out before commercials? And hey if not, with the way the network is wanting to cut costs, why not just forego those sets and they just do what we do for some shots for "Magnet Newsroom", print out a background, anchor stands in front of it, same effect

There are actually cases where an existing competitor would serve the market BETTER by picking up another affiliation than letting it be run by another party. Case in point, Mobile & Pensacola. Since WPMI has been gutted by Sinclair, both WEAR and WPMI have suffered. Mobile is having to pad out their newscasts with Pensacola stories, and on the weekends, WEAR produces and simulcasts their weekend shows. Deflating the argument that Mobile and Pensacola are better served by separate stations, even WEAR is watering down their shows to air Mobile stories on a regular basis. Now if WALA is granted the NBC affiliation as a subchannel, Mobile viewers would have a more-local option, plus the option of having a dedicated 6pm newscast since Jeopardy! is on at 6 on WALA's main feed.

I’m not an expert on affiliation renewals or the processes involved with them, but I really don’t think logo removals are an indicator of much. I feel like if 81 stations were suddenly going to change affiliation, we’d know about it by now. If I had to guess, perhaps Gray wants to push local branding to distinguish local stations from the networks. Keep in mind that many of Gray’s CBS affiliates have also dropped the network logo, and former O&O WTVG has dropped their network logo as well. Unless proven otherwise, I don’t really think there are any immediate implications surrounding those branding changes.

Agreed. Let's be fair. People work 300+ days out of the year. I see no issue in setting aside a few holidays for rest. We really need to drop our live to work attitude. Let's be reasonable. One of seven stations slashed a news block designed for people waking up for work, where not many are going during America's biggest holiday. That's totally fine. On a day like Christmas, all you really need is morning news starting late, and 10/11pm. Previewing the day and end of the day wrap up. Christmas is typically a slow news day. In the internet age, skipping a newscast is nothing. Even Today and GMA usually go pre recorded on Christmas with a live headline insert. I'd say it's cool to see the world pause, even the always on TV institutions, for just ONE day. Empathy. The notion that because someone works in news they don't deserve to be with their family and should be at work on a day with below average ratings and dry content is overkill.

I tuned into the Today show this morning for the first time in quite a while. I have some questions: Why is there both a “cold open” AND a “warm open” at the very start of the broadcast at 7:00 AM Eastern? It seems rather redundant. From 8:00 AM to the first commercial break, all of the news headlines are accompanied by a graphic that reads “the news at 8”. Why is this? Doesn’t the viewer know it’s 8 AM? It seems kinda tacky to me.

Anyone notice how the evening newscasts have drastically improved since Jeff Skversky left?

They’ve definitely improved, but it’s not without turbulence. One of their main anchors is gone, their sports anchor was unceremoniously dumped, and the ratings are going nowhere fast. To me, they don’t really offer anything that makes them stand out. Of course, any news is better than no news at all, and I’m glad CBS finally did what they should’ve done years ago and reinstated newscasts, but there is much need for improvement.

Imagine this...a Sinclair station adding a morning newscast, replacing TND! https://triblive.com/aande/movies-tv/tv-talk-morning-local-newscast-launches-on-wpgh-tv-next-week-fox-readies-grimsburg/ (spoiler alert: It's WPGH and it's produced by WPXI. Still, surprised that WPGH is playing along!) Most likely, WPXI wants to keep up with KDKA and WPKD. I'm sure Cox would gladly snatch up WPGH if they could

I can't understand why they fiddle with something that isn't broken. I wouldn't be surprised if they abandon (phase out) News Central at some point.

In the midst of the other diginet changes (between The365 and Outlaw's debuts, Dabl flipping from lifestyle to Black sitcoms, Circle going streaming-only and Twist shutting down), Allen Media's two multicast networks have also changed their schedules, with both This TV and TheGrio having apparently severed their licensing agreements to air various theatrical and independent films. For This TV, this has resulted in that network reaching the "total abandonment" phase of its network decay (to borrow from TVTropes), as movies have been a staple of the network since Weigel and MGM launched it in 2008. Under Allen, most of its film rights leaned toward indies, although it did air some older theatrical films (the balance leaned in the other direction under Weigel and Tribune ownership). AMG had already dropped older MGM series (which usually occupied overnight and early morning slots, again dating to This' launch) from the network's lineup in 2022, in favor of airing its in-house syndicated shows. To fill the former movie slots, This TV has added several Weather Channel originals (Top Ten, Weather Gone Viral, Highway Through Hell and Storm of Suspicion) and The World's Funniest Weather, and added extra airings of ES.TV and RecipeTV (the latter two shows as well as AMG's court shows are the only holdovers from the old movie-centered general entertainment format), while TheGrio has added sports in prime time and extra airings of AMG's court shows, Funny You Should Ask, Comics Unleashed and morning repeats of TheGrio News.

Skilling is giving us 4 more months y’all https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/tom-skilling-to-retire/?fbclid=IwAR0Sz_Q6MXsDU52-esAIRKww48TJqizInbQ6k7o3jv94IMMQJUcTX4kBH6I