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Anyone else reminded of this when they hear the theme? I like it but I'm reminded of this series every time I hear it.

12 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

 

Stop making excuses for Pelley. He just wasn’t that good. I get you guys appreciate his style of anchoring, but he clearly didn’t resonate with most viewers. Yes, the problem is bigger than just the anchors. A lot of the bigger affiliates are also 3rd, leading to a poor lead in. 

Alrighty then. I'll go ahead and tap out of this discussion. 

9 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I’m not sure why people keep mentioning Scott Pelley. He had 7 years to move the needle and did nothing. I’m sorry to burst your bubbles, but to the general viewing public, he sucked. You don’t become recognizable by being put in that chair, but you get put in that chair because you’re recognizable.

 

I’ve said this a million times, CBS’s bench isn’t that great. ABC and NBC know how to groom their talent. 

Ratings were up modestly during his tenure (after the very recognizable Katie Couric). Do I think he was poised to take the newscast above #3? Of course not. But they should've left him alone until they found a better option, which they still haven't.

5 hours ago, jrogo said:

Tony is a short term solution to a long term problem. Getting rid of Scott was a huge mistake, having him lead the network through the events that unfolded in the first couple years following would've been helpful. 

I think you really hit the nail on the head right here. He was just at the edge of becoming truly recognizable (he was hardly a household name prior to getting the Evening News job) and his measured tone could have really set the network apart as Trump-mania overtook most mainstream news operations. (Side rant: while news orgs of course shouldn't normalize the types of bizarre stuff the former president did/said, much of the coverage surrounding him was filled with over-the-top pearl-clutching. Pelley's straightforward, factual style could have been ideal for such a manic time period.)

Jeff Glor is talented and just might be the future of the network. But installing him on the Evening News was also an obvious attempt to recreate the success of David Muir at ABC. It just wasn't original and it just wasn't his time.

The Ann Curry idea is interesting. For starters, shouldn't at least one of the networks have a female lead anchor? She does real journalism, very much in the CBS tradition. However, the Evening News anchor job requires being exceptionally skilled at reading a teleprompter, but she wasn't exactly well-known for that during her time as newsreader on Today. That said, she does have star power and is an extremely sympathetic figure these days.

I don't see Brian Williams going for another evening news job, where he'd face stiff competition from the other networks and be made to look like a failure when his broadcast is in third. If CBS could somehow snag him for Mornings, he could really showcase his broad range of skills. A Brian Williams/Gayle King pairing could mark a welcomed return of the traditional male/female co-anchored newscast. Would it be worth blowing up the show AGAIN? Maybe not, but Williams' talents would shine on a show like that and talent of his caliber don't become available often.

1 hour ago, iron_lion said:

Questions: Despite being in 3rd place, is 5 Mil viewers a night that horrendous?

 

I doubt Tony D taking over (as rumored by the NY Post will solve anything).

 

Nora did give off an intense vibe ocassionaly during her time on CTM.

Tony will not bring the newscast to #1, but I'm sure the thought is that he'd cost less to be #3.

CBS is in a no-win situation. Norah isn't connecting with viewers but changing anchors every few years isn't going to win anyone over either. I think the first mistake was letting Scott Pelley out of the chair.

Edit: OK, that's far from the network's first mistake, but I do think it was a mistake 

Some really great work mentioned here. While there is so much good stuff from this time period, I want to echo what's been said about WNBC 2003. Really cutting-edge work with light effects for that time. Classy and modern. 

I'll add KHOU 1997/98. The gold/red/black look that debuted with the fantastic 1997 set. Designers took the layout of the previous set (blue background at center/ monitors screen left/ skyline screen right) and gave it new life. The fact that the set had three different two shot options without the anchors having to move from the desk is still pretty cool to this day. But back to the graphics... so far ahead of the time. Clean and well thought out. From the elegant lower left bug to the lower right special coverage branding bug options seen in the video below.
 

3 hours ago, mightynine said:

Found this on ABC’s online store:

https://shopabctv.com/pages/abc-local-stations

KRTK... sigh. 

I love that the two bugs don't agree on the temperature there.

14 hours ago, LexTVandRadio said:

11 PM news from last night. 

 

 

Almost makes me not hate the music...

14 hours ago, ScottSchell said:

I'm wondering if and when KTUL may get this graphics update.

It's coming...soon.

There are WAY too many OTS shots. It seems to be the only thing they used in that show. With Glor, they insisted on using the same monitor effects shot over and over. I don't get it. You see more variety of shots in a typical local news broadcast. When Pelley anchored I felt like they used the studio well.

The new lighting and feel of the set differentiates it nicely from CTM. I don't really understand all the NYC imagery they're using considering the broadcast is moving to DC soon.

I really like the updates to the theme music so far.

I'm not sure what company you work for, but I also work in the business and disagree with a couple of things here. Full disclosure, I was at a management level position for a TEGNA station a couple of years ago when the company spun off of Gannett. Not once did I ever encounter anything along the lines of "Corporate is making us do so and so" (Nor has this occurred at my current station). Standardized graphics you say? Nonsense. If a CSD really wanted to, they could launch their own package, but most stations these days do not have a graphics department to support the every day needs of the news department.

 

TEGNA may encourage their business units to think outside of the box, but they aren't forcing anyone's hand here. That said, I would work for them again given the opportunity.

 

Secondly, again, those social media driven/experimental newscasts are coming from local management. If it was corporate, you'd see something like that on it's entire television portfolio. In this case, some GM/ND came up with the idea and others started running with it. I guarantee you whoever first pitched the idea was someone from sales who found their way into a GM/ND position. Sadly, this is a common occurrence in this business.

I don't work for Tegna, so I'm obviously not an expert on what goes on inside its newsrooms so I appreciate your insight there.

My position isn't really that "corporate forces stations to do xyz." I just think saying "It's all on local management" seems like a bit of an overstatement. While corporate my not force anything, there's no doubt it encourages some things. You need look no further than the fact that so many of its stations are run so similarly. Many of the stations run with ideas that just aren't seen anywhere else. I think if you walk into any given Tegna newsroom, you're likely to find a lot of consistencies.

Lastly, I think that's a very good point about GMs with sales backgrounds. It is all too common and I really hadn't thought of that being at play with some of the sillier ideas.

While obviously local management plays a large role in how a station is run, if you think corporate ownership doesn't make a difference, you're badly mistaken. I say this as someone who works in local TV. And TEGNA isn't considered a top choice company for most TV professionals.

From my observation, I see TEGNA as a company trying almost too hard to innovate. They often roll out silly, social media driven, experimental newscasts to multiple stations before such concept has even been successful on one station. Sure, there have been some successes here and there (like the intelligent and thoughtful Next at KUSA), but those have been rare. More often, cheap beats intelligent, thoughtful production.

Yes, that's the direction local TV is headed, but the company seems to take pride in driving the industry there even faster by proclaiming things like "Change isn't an option." I think in some ways the company outsmarts itself with its commitment to the theoretical without the tangible results. Just my thoughts.

I'm glad he landed somewhere but that's a big drop. I thought Shiba's drop was big from NY to ATL but Chris is way bigger. His former co anchor Jessica left KARK there for KYW and he's going there ( KATV). Either markets don't mean nothing any more or the bigger markets are not hiring them. Even Rob is going down a lot of markets but for some reason I don't see it as a demotion compare to the other two. Best of luck to him.

He's a Little Rock native, so I would imagine market size doesn't mean as much to him as returning to his hometown.

Seems like a great deal for KATV to get someone with his talent AND a history in the market/at the station.

The only other similar situation I know of with personalities appearing on competing networks is when Oprah was still on. In markets where she and Dr. Phil were on different stations, there was a rule that the two shows could not air opposite each other, and I assume it's the same for markets where Steve Harvey's talk show and Family Feud aren't on the same channel.

Nope. In my market his talk show and game show air in the same time slot.

Since we're talking about the graphics, I'll add that I've never liked some elements, particularly the L3s. It's rounded-edge box overkill. There are other parts of the graphics, like the open animations and the excellent use of Viz, that I think are really good. Those cluttered L3s bring the whole package down.

 

What are the splashes of what I presume is water all about on the GMA open and on various other ABC News stuff?

 

Unfortunate to see a long-running newscast come to an end, but really glad to see WCL stick around. I know we're news fans here but there's a real shortage of local non-news programming everywhere. At most stations news is the only local programming there is. So if that means a midday show has to go, I'd make the same call.

A couple of KTUL-related stories today:

Chief Meteorologist Frank Mitchell is resigning after many years at the station. He's been in his current role for seven years. Previously, he was the station's morning weatherman. (http://www.ktul.com/story/19333694/frank-mitchell)

And a former KTUL anchor has been arrested (again). Jerry Giordano was arrested after police found a substance resembling meth in his vehicle during a traffic stop. (http://newsok.com/former-tulsa-news-anchor-arrested-after-possible-meth-found/article/3702852)

This isn't Giordano's first brush with the law. He was arrested for drunk driving while still employed by Channel 8 in 2008. He was a weekend anchor at KTUL until 2010. (http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=8623210)