Geoffrey

For a long time, Marcia Kramer hosted "Sunday Edition." Then when Andrew Kirtzman joined her as the station's second political reporter, her show alternated with "Kirtzman & Co." The shows were later replaced with "Kirtzman & Kramer." Later they had "Eye on New York," which was less political with more feature segments and interviews, and I think it was hosted by Dana Tyler (or possibly a rotating cast of talent?). But it's been a while since CBS 2 had a Sunday morning show other than regular live newscasts.

Just two months ago, we heard about "key staff departures" and "the design has not been finalized." Signs point to this look not launching for a while longer.

Not exactly the launch of a new look in Minneapolis.

Andrea Grymes, who used to anchor weekend mornings with Cindy Hsu until the pandemic, was back as a co-anchor this morning on Cindy's last weekend broadcast. As Cindy moves back to weekdays starting next Monday, September 12th (the graphic says "CBS 2 News at 9:00AM" so maybe the name change is still some time away?), Andrea will be returning to the anchor chair on weekend mornings. Much of the 8:00 hour this morning was about Cindy. They brought back familiar guests from restaurants to be in the studio for the first time since the pandemic began and even the "Furry Friend Finder" was back. (I'm curious to see if these segments return permanently, or if this was a one-day Cindy special.)

Another look at the new paint job for Chopper 2 from Dan Rice's Instagram and there's something starting with an "S" on the side... Could Chopper 2, which has been the branding since at least 1997, be renamed Sky 2 or Sky Eye 2? https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8BorboZit/

I see brand inconsistencies. Can we expect this to be handled more cleanly cleaner on-air than it is in KCNC's press release? Exhibit A: Exhibit B:

Big upgrade. I'm a fan of the on-screen graphics, in-studio graphics, and the new music. I'm not a huge fan of the large show bug but that seems to be everywhere now. I guess that box's size was dictated by the streaming service to fit the horizontal "CBS NEWS" logo but I wish they could have made it smaller.

Seen at the end of a WCBS promo featuring all of the anchors talking about reporting on the communities they live in. I keep hoping for more clues that the O&Os are keeping the channel numbers but I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed. What will stations be branded as outside of news? How will they differentiate between TV and streaming?

News 12 Long Island moved to Bethpage this week. I don't have access to the channel but one of the anchors posted this: There's also this mirrored vertical video tour of the studio where Samantha Augeri says this is a temporary studio, which makes me feel better because it definitely seems temporary or secondary from the little I've seen online.

According to social media posts, News 12 Long Island will begin broadcasting from Bethpage on Monday. They've been at the same building in Woodbury since the December 1986 launch.

I grew up watching Cindy every morning before school. She is an incredible talent and is loved by viewers. I'm very excited to see CBS 2 moving her back to weekday mornings. (I will say that Cindy, while excellent, is even better with a co-anchor. She hasn't had one on the weekends since Covid, but she's been great paired with John Elliott, even though he's often on location. It would be great to see them move John with her back to weekdays but I doubt that will happen.)

WCBS has been using this look for "gun violence" for several months, possibly closer to a year.

I don't like how they added the city/region's names to the newscast titles for a program that is much less local.

I was pretty sure that I added the WLNY recording to my YouTube TV recordings the other day but I just noticed now that it didn't record. I guess they somehow made a new listing that I had to select this week. Weird.

My prediction is that the sun/cloud icons will eventually be made bigger and placed in a more traditional location, while also maintaining the photography in each day's background. Otherwise I think it takes a little more time for viewers to decipher the seven-day.

I noticed a newer (new? I will admit I don't watch as closely as I used to) morning promo -- the one with the Chris, Mary and Elise talking to the camera in the studio -- just aired a few minutes ago, using a "CBS 2 News Mornings" logo at the end. But less than a half hour earlier, the version of the promo that has been airing for months had the "CBS 2 News This Morning" end page. Both times the announcer said "CBS 2 News This Morning," which is the current title of the newscast (and has been since around 2001). The station has used a "CBS 2 Mornings" (different font, no "News") graphic on the monitor array for months to more closely align with the network's "CBS Mornings" branding, but the newscast title has never been officially renamed. Rant time: I wish the station could change the branding all at once and not do this very slow rollout, if that's indeed what this is. And I also don't like the "CBS Mornings" title -- it sounds more like the way someone would refer to a daypart (CBS Daytime, CBS Primetime, CBS Mornings) and not a newscast title.

Reporter Dan Rice offered a small peek of Chopper 2's new paint job: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfuXtkDO6S7/ The other side of Chopper 2 got the Sky Fox branding as CBS 2 and Fox 5 share the helicopter. (Discussion as to whether this previews the upcoming CBS O&O graphics should be kept on this thread.)

There has been chatter about CBS O&Os possibly dropping channel numbers in favor of branding such as "CBS News New York". But a new paint job for WCBS's Chopper 2 shows a "CBS 2 News New York" branding: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfuXtkDO6S7/ Chopper 2, which the station shares with WNYW, has not had branding on it for many years. If the new graphics are indeed launching this fall, it would make sense that they paint the chopper in advance in order to get shots for opens and promos. (I doubt the mouthful "CBS 2 News New York This Morning" will be the actual newscast title format.) I'm not a fan of dropping channel numbers so I'm happy that this seems to not be happening. I hope the upcoming look is much more well thought out than the current group package, which felt sloppy and dated the day it launched.

Is this paint job for Sky Fox new? Assuming Fox 5 still shares a chopper with CBS 2, I wonder if we'll see Chopper 2 branding on the other side. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfFMiSyOT02/

Does the QR code app ad really need to be a permanent fixture of the bug? cod

Glad to see that CNN will be reducing the use of the "Breaking News" banner. Next I'd like to see them stop leaving the "Live" bug up permanently during live broadcasts. I believe this started in early 2013 shortly after Jeff Zucker took over. Before this, it used to come down when showing taped video, even if the anchor was speaking over it live. MSNBC and Fox News soon followed suit.

Eileen Lehpamer, formerly of News 12 Long Island, is joining PIX 11. She will continue reporting for 1010 WINS as well. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeUcTXovTOu/

If CBS really considered putting Tony Dokoupil as the Evening News anchor, they're signaling that they never really do learn from their past mistakes.

ABC 7 now has its Long Island bureau at Hofstra University. Years ago, CBS 2 has its Long Island bureau here. It was originally a private office in the communications building, but the bureau chief was later moved into the school's radio station office/newsroom. No flash cam position or anything like that. As a student and member of WRHU, I would often see the bureau chief working and making phone calls while the students were having fun being kids. Years after CBS 2 moved out, Hofstra kept the CBS 2 Long Island Bureau signage up to impress tour groups going through. https://abc7ny.com/wabc-long-island-bureau-hofstra-hempstead/11817787/

Otis announced last week that he tested positive after having avoiding Covid for over two years: https://www.facebook.com/otis.livingston/posts/1626493131058374?__cft__[0]=AZWUeZ8EBuG_GuE_JVF-7rUlh8L35Bt4GmvK05BK0rfYcKZwzyPdqqprLvKPEstorZPGU-vj4egOcHVND1btvGObf9Y01e9ABCZcY4dIi_6NTy7hMxcEFhVWgsKmDe59gOY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R