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This is a fine set for Spokane and market 73. Folks, I think we need to collectively come to the terms with the fact that the money is gone, everything is more expensive, and design trends are different than they were 20 years ago.

It wasn’t a gesture. It was a Nazi salute. Let’s call it what it was.

This week every news organization is going to have an abnormal schedule. It's the holidays. It's expected. We go through this every year and seem to begrudge people for taking time off during the holidays and...no. Just enjoy different people getting on the air. Some of them REALLY need it after the abuse some of them have had to deal with this year from the public, politicians and c-suiters pushing them to their last nerve. Live with your ABC station not having news on Wednesday because of the NBA being on all day and get over that your local station doesn't have your precious morning news and advertorial show on that morning and instead runs a mass, some bargain-bin Christmas film from Trifecta, or a taped parade. I feel like I have to say this every year and it's tiring. People deserve time off.

Let us all review something we have heard James Spann say over the years: Know your landmarks. Most people will not remember many roads, unless you drive them or they are a major one, like an interstate. What does Spann always do? Name off places people know: schools, churches, BBQ restaurants, that one gentlemen’s club one time. Here in Evansville, many of the Mets will say a number of the schools, major businesses, the airport. If a tornado is on the ground in a rural area, someone at TWC might say, “It’s in a rural area, not much to worry about.” Someone local will say, “This is on the ground just one mile west of XYZ High School.” Yes, we have a number of schools in corn fields around here. Our Doppler radar sits in the middle of a corn field. Everyone here knows if that radar goes down, we lose data that can help save and protect lives and property. Nothing against the folks at TWC, they are great people, but they shouldn’t be doing something this local.

So, I actually think there might be something here. Maybe. It's a hunch. Maybe I'm wrong! But, allow me to speculate for a moment. WSVN is in a very unique situation right now. They have plans to build a brand new facility, and their current owners are developing the real estate for both the current facility and the future one. They own the land at both sites, in fact, the future facility is on empty land they've held for years, and the current facility is on land they want to develop into expensive condos. The condo development wouldn't be planned if they didn't think it would make money, and it will probably make enough to pay for the new WSVN facility several times over. This whole new facility project has always had the underlying motive of Sunbeam wanting the station off the current land because they see the value in it, and they have a lot of empty land in Miramar that they can plop it on, to get it out of the way. The common saying is "Disney doesn't buy stations", but there should be an asterisk there. Disney doesn't buy stations because Bob Iger is convinced most are overpriced. Sunbeam has a very interesting position here. Their primary business is, at this point, property development. Building a building just to lease it out is what they do. It seems to me, like they could be in a position to sell WSVN at a "discount", with the remainder being more or less made up via a long-term lease on the new facility. This would be a huge win for Sunbeam. They can develop land that has sat idle for years, and have it immediately start making money, from a tenant that you really wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt. They'd still make money off the station for years to come, and best of all, it'd be a predictable amount. It is notable that, despite the project being announced some time ago, the parcel the new facility will sit on was untouched as late as October of last year, over a year after it was announced and approved by the city. What's the delay? The fact we're hearing about this now means there's probably been talks about this for months. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Sunbeam put the brakes on the project in order to provide the ability to any possible future owner (I think FOX is also in play here) to make changes before the construction begins. I'm not sure we're done hearing about this "deal"... I don't think Disney would settle for a .2, if there weren't other things in the works. I've been saying since the new facility was announced that this seems ripe for them to sell the station and make money off the lease, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity to do so.

According to the NY Post, the ‘stodgy’ new CBS Evening News anchors received a modest viewership bump for their premier. The broadcast had 5.2 million viewers, a +14% spike from Norah's 2024 average. What I find laughable is the article's extremely negative viewpoint. (I'm laughing, but I'm not surprised because this is the Post, after all) My favorite quote is from the nameless former TV executive who doesn't think "audiences have the capacity to absorb a reporting-led show with lots of segments." Yes, our attention spans have shortened, but not everyone needs the news to be quick hits served with extra flash like Entertainment Tonight. That show has the attention span of a fly. Not bashing ET. There's a place for that, and there's a place for the new CBS Evening News. It is hilarious that people say, "Try something different to stand out," and then, when someone does that, they get bashed for not looking like everyone else. If you want a typical newscast, two broadcast networks offer typical news of the day presentation.

Somebody DM a moderator if actual news happens regarding any of the affiliations in question, and we'll reopen this thread. In the meantime, let's cool off after all this bickering.

Since the ICE raids started days before and there were no new substantive developments; I agree with them that it didn't warrant much more than a mention. And the following day, they presented a more comprehensive piece regarding the raids. I appreciate their measured approach when it comes to 'the news of the day.' Giving viewers the same tired rundown of stories, just like everyone else, hasn't worked. If there was ever a time to re-invent the wheel, it's now. I'm not sure they will ever be #1 (or even #2), but they're fully capable of being the most competitive #3 there is. The question is, will that be enough for them???

I agree. Begin the show with that daily news roundup, but instead extend it to 90 second VOs or VO/SOTs for the first 2-5 mins, then get into feature reporting for the remainder. If CBS torches their best revamp of EN since Bob Schiffer, that would be very unfortunate. To the critics: Every news outlet covers the same thing, it's not a sin that CBS decided to go in a different direction. I really hope the audience gives this a chance. It's a jolting transition because we've been hardwired to fast paced high story count newscasts like the competition. But this is a level of quality rare for American TV news that we'd more see from PBS or Europeran sources like BBC and France 24. I hope people will open their minds to this. If this crashes and burns, I don't think the evening news can get much better than this. Just give the timeslot back to the affiliates.

Ryan Field posted picture of the new set.

So basically, she was perfect for that show.

For all intents and purposes, stations that show MNT are essentially Independents.

A bit, I watched This Morning recently and there was a panel at 5 in the morning, seriously? I just woke up, I want the headlines not some talking heads talking about the same stories that I knew when I went to bed, and I think thats the problem with the weekday This Morning, it's too stiff, too political.

This is what happens always. The viewers always yell "gee we want a quality newscast". You give them an excellent broadcast and then they are like "lol sike not like that".

Something I realized reading this is that this is really kind of the first complete building in NYC built for television (at this scale at least.) ABC's current facility is a mishmash of buildings, including one over 100 years old and formerly used as a horse riding facility (similar to WBBM's old facility.) NBC is in old radio studios, CBS is in an old dairy, WNYW is in an old opera house. WPIX is in an office tower. ABC had no real constraints designing the studio spaces here. This is about as good as it can get in NYC.

If this turns out to be a correct prediction, and history suggests it likely will be, you gotta give it to Hearst for taking things in steps instead of blowing the whole thing up at once. Methodical and calculated.

Sadly there is a segment of the population that eat this stuff up, no matter how most of us feel. The good news, most don't know where to even find the station. Doe it even register in terms of ratings? The bad news, it is a bubble, reinforcing what folks want to hear and believe. Something all media is becoming.

I saw it on X/Twitter, I don't know if we can trust it. But it looks like this is going to be the new set for the CBS Evening News

Liz Cho anchored at noon today, for the one person here who seems to be obsessed with her subbing schedule and feels she should work more.

And it looks like it debuted in 2010..... Can't wait to see when the next one in 2056, sources that's when the new graphics will debut!

When the CBS Evening News opens up every 3-6 years, it's always 'what about Anderson?' When there's an opening for a serious, veteran anchor at local or national, it's often 'what about Shepard?' When there's an opportunity for a morning show anchor, it's constantly 'what about Robin?' From CBS, CNN, NewsNation, large market Fox stations, even to freaking Jeopardy!, you spend long enough around here, and seeing the same names listed over and over like they're waiting in line at an employment agency goes from eye roll-inducing to annoying to hilarious.

It always never fails to see certain people in this fandom bleat the age old cry that mOaR lOcAl nEwS is what the marketplace needs. Sure, let's divvy up a shrinking pie of TV viewers even further while overstretching existing personnel to do more work for less pay and merely rehashing the same content with the same McStation graphics and same unimaginative cuts from another generic Stephen Arnold music package. YAWN. Here's a news flash: if either big three network pulls out of programming the 10pm hour, that's nothing but a devastingly dire outlook for the entire industry. It means that local television is in trouble and in an unsustainable path to insolvency unless you implement the Scrippscast model (or even the Rogers CityNews model) across-the-board or utilize AI to do everything for less. But then again, it's not the first time the TV fandom has been so utterly detached from reality.

Here are a couple of the opens: …and I get what @NYCshorty said, the graphics and open style would fit as a Fox O&O package, as components of it blend better with the network’s current graphics style than the actual O&O package does.

The new set debuts at 4pm today, and it is the KCAL set.

Former anchor Jeff Vaughn is suing CBS, citing “anti-white discrimination”

ABC being relegated to subchannel-only status in Miami of all places sounds like the biggest lateral move ever.

Virtual weather studio for CNN. Looks like an Apple Store.

Hello everyone, Invision Community, the software that powers this forum, is preparing a major upgrade that we will likely be moving to in the coming months. While there are a number of changes and improvements that I'm looking forward to, one change may negatively impact some folks around here. Logging in to the forum will require entering the account's email address, instead of the account's username. This will not affect you if you're using Google or Discord as a method to login. How can you prepare for this? It's easy! Check the email address associated with your account by clicking here and making sure it's up to date. This is also an important thing to do in case you ever get locked out of your account and need to change your password. There will be additional notice made before this change happens, and I am considering turning the feature on before the software upgrade as a way to prepare. Please note: for security reasons, under no circumstances will I disclose an account's email address. If you get locked out of your account because your email is not current/you are unsure of what email is tied to your account, you will need to create a new account. Please don't hesitate to reply here with any questions you may have. -Weeters

And first on this forum: previews of what I’m told is the new WABC studio. You can see the 7 logo hanging above the desk.

99.99% of what he posts is negative about something. Lord knows who actually said what. Most of the feedback seems to be positive. It's a different approach and it stands out. Will there be changes and adjustments? Im sure there will be. But it stands out from the rest and that is what they're going for

Maurice and John were indeed at the desk together; they're not alternating anchor duties. Margaret Brennan led with the first story, providing a mix of reporting and analysis. With two male anchors, which networks and cable have avoided for several decades at this point, it's not a surprise that they would feature her in a prominent role. Good balance. The first block featured two packages: one on Deep Seek and one on an espionage story. They're essentially doing the opposite of what WNT and NN have done. Instead of shortening packages and squeezing in as many stories as they can, they're covering fewer stories, their packages are much longer, and most are followed by extended talk-backs between both anchors and the correspondent. The first two packages were followed by a fast-paced "Round Up" reading of the day's headlines, and then the first commercial break. During the first commercial break, they displayed headlines and kept a dynamic live shot of the anchors during the commercial break. The latter, in particular, was a pretty cool concept. Was able to grab a quick pic (attached). This didn't continue in the subsequent commercial breaks, though. And there's probably a better use for the lower left corner than showing temperatures around the world. Maybe sports scores, stock market closing numbers, sunsets from U.S. cities, or an image corresponding to the headline to the right. The show ended with both anchors giving a commentary on the bravery of firefighters across the country. This show isn't going to beat ABC or NBC, but maybe it'll beat previously iterations of CBSEN. It seems like a solid product and, with fewer stories and correspondents, it's probably cheaper to produce.

Many choose to keep their private business just that: private. They are under no obligation to make public disclosures. We should respect that.

I think people in general are just tired of the "all Trump, all the time" monomania on these networks. It's been almost a decade of the same topics on a loop. It makes it that much harder for them to compete with YouTube, Twitch, podcasts, social media, etc. where there's actual choices, not the same programming over and over again.

Am I the only one who watched the interview? Tony didn't suggest that Palestinians shouldn't exist; that's a ridiculous thing to post. There was no disrespect from Tony. His questions were certainly direct but were asked with a calm voice and a clear invitation for Coates to respond openly. Have any of you lobbing criticism at Tony actually read Coates' book? Coates explained that he wrote about the Israel-Gaza conflict exclusively through the lens of the plight of the Palestinians and did not at all discuss the Israeli perspective or the violence they've endured because he felt the Israeli perspective was widely covered elsewhere in media. So of course it's fair game for a journalist to ask why he chose to do that and the potential implications of that. If you write controversial or one-sided points of view in a book and go on a hard news network's morning show to discuss it, you should expect pointed questions about those views. This is the network of 60 Minutes; not People Magazine.

Will Lonnie Quinn handle the CBS Deals portion of the Evening News or will Gayle handle that?

Live from the Inner Ring of Dante's Inferno..."Local 10 News" from the Center of Hell"...

This fandom is so out of touch with real life if you're judging a news set to be a dud because it doesn't have all the bells and whistles and zooming graphics like the Fucking WSVN Newsplex. It's always, always, always fucking style over substance.

I'm just gonna put this in the most blunt way possible: I do not expect "the cap" to survive under any political regime for much longer. It is a dinosaur. You can make a convincing case to either "side" as to why it needs to go away. It's been 20 years since Congress last meddled with it, it's just going to take one of the not-Sinclair groups to make a stink about it to the right people. It's a dated method of calculating "reach" in a world where everyone is connected to everything. I've theorized before that this isn't going to start from a company wanting to buy more stations, but a company trying to sell stations and not finding a buyer. Sinclair begging to raise the cap so they can buy more hits a lot differently than, say, Disney saying they can't sell the O&O group because nobody who wants to buy it can because of the cap. The ownership cap on television stations is the least of Biden's worries. I really don't think the general public cares all that much.

Not sure why this continues to be a discussion. NBC Universal killed the idea a while ago. If one of the full networks decides to do this (I would bet on ABC first as a cost cutting move). then it is worth the discussion. Sorry. And why so much about Kansas City? It's all speculative.

Time to sunset the 2023-24 syndication thread and talk about the 2024-25 season here (new shows, station scheduling changes, etc.)

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.

Sade would now be the senior anchor for the 11 pm newscast. She’s been on the 11 pm show since 2011.

I get that sentiment and agree with it but it’s probably unlikely that viewers determine who they watch based off of set design.

He anchors from the regular CBSEN studio. It’s worth noting the a majority of the new studio is simply video walls. All that surrounds John in the attached image (from Monday night) is a single U shaped video wall. The “monitor” Weijia is in - totally fake. I attached a pic of the building timelapse showing all the video walls and floor. The only actual set pieces are the wooden header, the desk, and the floor in front of it. In fact, the floor behind it is also a video wall. You’ll notice they pretape a lot of segments (including the penny one attached) on their set - it’s actually really creative.

Well, it is FTVLive… CBS could do 100% what Uncle Walter did during his time and still complain.

Here. JmoUFcJ.png group-title= USA ,CBS East_20250127_092529.mp4

Well well well, look who showed up at Fox Weather, starting today... Yep, that's Mike Seidel, who was laid off from TWC back in May. Today was his first day appearing with Fox Weather. Stephen and Kendall welcomed him to Fox Weather, also mentioning that Mike Seidel has been given the title of "Storm Specialist" with the network.

Hearst buying WBBH is a unique one off, if you look at the demographics of SW Florida it’s very old, it’s the only demo that’s watches tv news and subscribe to cable in large numbers. Ft Myers is still a fast growing area. Just going by news ratings and how many people are watching in the market it’s likely far larger than its 55 ranking, possibly 5-10 rankings higher. Local news pay is really bad and in ft Myers for all stations especially WBBH it’s even worse. There is a bunch of injury lawyers and shady home remodelers in SW florida that purchases ads that make WBBH very profitable. Hearst isn’t going to buy your guys pet stations from owners that you don’t like. There is no one that’s going to purchase tv stations and “invest” in tv news in 2024 we are long past that point.