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Overall a solid new look for 6ABC, watching the broadcast right now. And wow, the "Action News" format is very apparent with the new package. The pace of the newscast is notably quicker than the big sister up north. I never fully watched an Action News broadcast before. But overall, it's a solid product. Glad they kept the music theme too! At this point is KABC the only station now left to get the update? Seems like most of the O&Os have converted now at this point.

Welcome to TEGNA -- They've screwed a slew of legacy stations over, including WTHR and WBNS to name a few...

Could be a preview for when Greg officially retires (which I don't expect to happen for at least a couple more years) and Adam takes over his spot. We shall see how he does, but I think he will do well.

Truly insanity that Greg Gumbel won’t host the Selection Show. For one year, I don’t get to hear him say things like: ”First and second round games in (insert city and state here) on (Thursday or Friday) and (Saturday or Sunday), featuring the (insert a number 1-16 here) seed (college name and mascot name in plural) out of the (insert CBB conference here) and the (college name and mascot name in plural) out of the (conference).” On the other hand, I’m excited to see what Adam Zucker can do hosting the Selection Show. Might be good hearing him.

No. How it launched is how it will remain.

And to be fair, day one on a package - so maybe it will "return" Overall, it does feel like an evolution of the most recent package.

Much like the X/Twitter handles and the AccuWeather swipe with the meteorologists, it does not appear to be a part of the package.

Well, WPVI has most of the new graphics (minus the ticker) so that means KABC will be the last O&O station to switch. I thought WPVI would be the last because of its 20 second open but with KABC’s situation, they probably haven’t completed the switch to the computer system that supports these graphics and they probably just want to not mess anything up so that might be why they will be last to switch.

Totally understand why it is there, and during weather segments, makes perfect sense. Just seems like they could have anything else. A gallery of news vans. A selection of Sky6 views. A museum portrait of Jim Gardner. I made the powerpoint comment, I guess I spend too much time trying to fill space and make interesting slides... The ticker hasn't changed. (Yet?)

That wall isn't a 16:9 aspect ratio so if they ditched the sidebar and filled the entire thing with whatever they're presenting, it would be a distorted picture. I guess their thinking behind putting what they did there is it gives the presenter a place to stand without blocking any information. I also thought they'd update the backdrop behind the anchors. That still uses elements from the old look. Overall though I love this look and WPVI's implementation of it.

I don’t get that because they can do, rarely, change it. Sports Sunday for example would transition those screens away from the thermometer graphic, and it’s been done for other specials. It’s a little thing and god knows they’re paid more and know more than me, but it is my somewhat compulsive tendencies that get to me seeing that for news knowing it can be adjusted. Then again, I prefer the weather segments at that wall and I know others will certainly fairly disagree.

Definitely felt familiar, but I like the updates so far. Time & temp look much better than the old alignment, in my opinion. No more Twitter/X handles for talent ID -- was amused how fast those would transition in the prior layout. Perhaps because I have been working on many lately, got a strong powerpoint transition/build slide feeling at times, but again even that feels familiar. I wonder if they will update some of the soft-elements on the set such as the AccuWeather logotype and some of the other LED ticker elements. Of course, the weather set always has the left-edge as a static-thermometer graphic, even when used for news, always found that odd.

Hmmm, the whole thing went live today on WPVI. Opening was the same as the Sunday edition (full length open, but no other change). All in all, sure, interesting changes in action. No ticker yet at noon, but space is there. Some familiar feel amidst the new design. Interesting. (Edit-posted my comments without noticing the comment above had been added; didn’t mean to look as though I didn’t read it, just hadn’t seen the notice a new post was made as I slowly typed.)

THIS JUST IN: WPVI (6abc Philadelphia) has officially SWITCHED and it looks GREAT!!

Not all of them-- Dave Ward of KTRK in the 90s had one such incident (he was also driving without a license), and while the brass of that Houston ABC O&O were upset at what he did, all they had him to do was to write an apology and have him deliver it on all three afternoon and evening newscasts (5, 6 and 10); I think the reason why they were seemingly more lenient with him than any other station would be with talent of shorter tenure is because he had been quite an asset to that Bayou City of Texas to that point (one of the longest-serving talent that any TV station has had where news is concerned), and the good thing about it is that it caused him to reflect on what he did and change his ways where booze was concerned (all this is how I read it in his Good Evening Friends memoir).

TNT Sports Tonight launched; in an interesting move, it appears to actually be produced by CNN with long-time sports correspondent Coy Wire hosting.

Purely personal, I’d rather hear the full cut on all shows, 11 pm included. And since Nydia remains on Sunday mornings, don’t see a reason not to have a talent opening. But they certainly have their reasons and it’s all fine. Just a personal preference, I think it loses something in the short versions. So be it, all good.

But a shortened "Cut One" open? I would expect it at the 11:00 pm open where it's used most often, but not in other dayparts... I mean, as long as MCTYW remains their theme song, it's all well and good, but I'd rather hear the whole 19-second "Cut One" open with the full announce, if it's not the 11pm open.

There wasn't any doubt from me. I knew it wasn't going anywhere. I was just curious how they were going to make the opens work with it. And it didn't turn out too bad.

I would say reserve your judgement till it fully debuts. That was just the generic version (notice no talent was mentioned). I think regular opens will feature some more of the cool elements that we've from the other stations including the live time and weather and maybe some scenery or even headshots of the talent.

Looks beautiful! Such a nice open! I love how they allow the stations to keep their identities. Such a great theme and they incorporated it nicely with the new package! The open is simple and effective.

It looks like it will be a gradual rollout. They are still using the old graphics as of this morning (3/11)

Well at least now we know how they'll make the open work with MCTYW lol. And it looks good.

Wow, looks cool! To me honestly, it looks better than I even imagined it! Getting excited for the full look any day now basically!

The University of Missouri released the results of a study on journalist burnout. In short, journalists — especially those in TV news — are burned out. SARCASM ALERT: Yep, I’m sure you’re just as surprised as I am. The study recommends several solutions to the problem, including: Flexible shifts (e.g. four-day weeks, hybrid/remote shifts) Manageable workloads and responsibilities A more-supportive culture The study acknowledged but did not suggest pay raises, because pay raises are often beyond a news director’s control and cannot be implemented unless some corner office suit in Irving, Texas or Hunt Valley, Maryland approves it. Read the study here: https://rjionline.org/news/addressing-burnout-in-journalism-means-flexible-shifts-more-supportive-culture-results-of-large-scale-survey-from-rji-and-smithgeiger/ My thoughts: Pay raises are the best solution, but corporate broadcast groups just won’t do it because that will affect the bottom line. You can’t have flexible shifts and manageable workloads without enough staff, and many TV newsrooms are short-staffed as is despite producing many hours of daily newscasts. TV news is a creature of habit and resistant to change. I question whether it’s already too late to reverse the brain drain.

No Greg Gumbel this year as he's tending to health issues within his family.

Seems as though there’s something foul in the air at THE NEWS STATION (WNEP) as a wave of departures have hit recently. A few months back, popular meteorologist John Hickey abruptly left mid-contract to go into the private sector to continue doing work in weather, mentioning on a video podcast things were not going well behind the scenes and it was time to go. Claire Alfree left to go to the TEGNA duopoly in Jacksonville in January. This week it was announced reporter Amanda Eustice is leaving the station after 4 years. Meteorologist Valerie Smock left Montage Mountain to go work in downtown Wilkes-Barre at WBRE/WYOU. And whispers abound that at least 3 more departures are coming in the next few weeks. You don’t typically see a whole lot of turnover at NEP, as you more often than not see folks there 10+ years at minimum. It’s why the viewership is as rock solid as it’s been. But these past few months have been a whirlwind, and it really makes you wonder just how bad TEGNA has screwed this legacy station up.

Two things I have noticed with Action News. 1: There are two different versions of the breaking news and the weather cards. Not sure how they decide when either one are used. 2: They are having serious issues with their bumper music. Throughout all newscasts today, the bumper would play at unusual times, such as in the middle of a report. During the lottery numbers at 11pm, the bumper kept restarting every time they switched to a new states lottery drawing numbers. There were also multiple times where it didn't play when it was supposed to, or it was late.

What's been going on with Don Lemon (and Elon Musk)? - Following his termination from CNN last year, both parties agreed to a $25 million settlement for which he'll be paid the remaining 3.5 years of his contract: https://www.thewrap.com/don-lemon-cnn-split-deal/ - He signed a deal with X (fka Twitter) to produce a show a la Tucker Carlson's deal with X - The show launches next week with Lemon interviewing Elon Musk. It's now reported that following the interview taping, Musk texted Lemon's reps to say he was cancelling the content deal. Kara Swisher reports Musk was particularly angered when Lemon started to ask him about his drug use. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/13/elon-musk-cancels-x-partnership-with-don-lemon-after-interview.html - Allison Gollust, the former CNN comms executive with whom Jeff Zucker had a relationship, and who subsequently left CNN after Zucker left, is now Lemon's PR rep - Lemon will return to CNN for the first time since his ouster tonight to talk with Erin Burnett about his interview with Musk

It will be the first Selection Sunday without Greg Gumbel since 1997

WPVI is still using their old scroll ticker at the bottom. It does not lineup with the time and temp bug.

KTRK bucking the trend and launching a 4am newscast on 4/1. https://x.com/abc13houston/status/1767178737487933540?s=46

Announcer: "Action News, Delaware Valley's Leading News Program". And then hear about 12 more seconds of music? That would be 12 seconds of dead time. Why play the full open when you don't have a permanent Sunday anchor pair? The shortened open is appropriate.

Totally get the no talent part, par for the course on weekend mornings. I would think, perhaps wrongly, it's just going to be the end portion that's updated. And sure, maybe they work in weather, but I'd never in a million years expect they're going to start using talent headshots...which almost certainly means they'll prove me wrong. But seriously, that hasn't been something they've done, and while there's a first time for everything, that just seems like it's a no. Or at least a not yet. Baby steps. And I tried not to be harsh or anything, just saying for me that end piece was meh. It can and will be great to other folks, and that's awesome. We all have our tastes, and I like freshening things up as much as anyone. Certainly don't intend to sound like it's a bash by any means.

I may be the exception who’s a meh on it, but hey, no one likes everything and different strokes for different folks. If that’s what works for the group and station, great, and more power to ‘em.

The number of women in the NFL fanbase has been growing since long before a certain female superstar started dating a certain Chiefs player. Not to mention there are women on NFL coaching staffs and front offices.