Geoffrey

Allen Devlin is anchoring the 8 p.m. on Halloween night. Right at the top, he pronounced where the big parade is taking place as "Green-Which Village." He's lucky that this newscast is on WLNY and no one is watching, but wow. This is why you don't take someone who is totally unfamiliar with New York and plop them on weeknights as an anchor.

Since Craig has been out on medical leave, Tony and John have been splitting weekends, each usually taking one weekday off in return. So team weather had already been reduced to three days a week in recent weeks. At noon, Rob said he "was happy to fill in for Tony and John today." And John's "Weather 101" promo still aired at noon, so it seems like he's not totally gone. Still very disappointing if it is what it looks like again.

Did not expect to see "national weather correspondent" Rob Marciano doing the weather this morning. No mention of John or Tony that I noticed (though they often don't acknowledge when half of the weather team is out)).

That would be incredibly disappointing if they took John off of weekday mornings again. He basically is the life of that show. Sure, Tony and Chris are great, but it all seems to revolve around John. I agree with you that team weather always felt gimmicky, and yet I liked the energy it brought. But it was kind of telling that they'd never have someone fill in for one of them if either was off. It's hard to imagine any other interpretation of this, though. They edited him out of the promo, and even shot the group shot with and without him months ago so this must have been in the works the whole time. I'll have to say, if this is what it looks like and John knew, then he should be commended for being the most team player of team players. The way he hyped Tony and everyone else up... Just amazing on his part. Do we think this is effective immediately?

For the last few weeks, WCBS has been using CBS's virtual studio for some weather hits. It seems to mainly be used for the short weather in the first block of the 5pm, but tonight it was used for the main weather around 5:20pm. (I don't watch every night so I don't know how common this is.) I was having trouble finding video on their YouTube so I'll have to settle with screenshots. It seems gimmicky to me. It looks cartoonish. It's dizzying going back and forth between the left wall, the right wall, the floor in the middle. The live camera used to create the "window" look in the background is grainy and cuts off most of the skyline view. The wood design is tired. The "daily capsules" look odd and the text is way off, even more than a month after debuting. And they try to make the studio look big at the expense of making Lonnie look small with way too much headroom. Does it help tell the weather story better? No, I don't think so. Does it look cool? Not really. Anyone else feel differently?

The morning edition of CNN News Central is much lighter on the graphics and videos used on the walls of the studio this week. There used to be multiple graphics, charts and video boxes displayed for most stories. Apparently the inspiration for the format were the CNN election night broadcasts. But now it's very stripped down. I wonder if this is the result of budget cuts/layoffs (the people needed to design the graphics and run the extra graphics in the control room), though it seems strange to do this right before the election in two weeks. Perhaps some of the usual staff is in election night rehearsals. Meanwhile, the afternoon edition has been mostly at the desk. They've been doing this a lot, but I feel like they sometimes go back to the original format, tough I'm not certain how long it's been since they did that.

A couple of strange design choices by CBS 2 CBS NEW YORK at the NY-17 debate tonight, streaming online and airing on Channel 55. First, the bug seems to be frozen in a strange place where the "CBS News" is larger than "New York" at the beginning of the intro animation. (Usually they're either about the same size, as you see on the background, or sometimes the "New York" is much larger.) Second, the backdrop makes it look like they're using SD video and putting a graphic on the sides. It's like they designed this without thinking about how it would look on TV.

I hope they don't bring in an out-of-towner for the 5:00. That feels like the WCBS of the 2000s, when they kept bringing in fresh faces for prime slots. Also, while Devlin's video announcing his move to WCBS is very polished, it seems just a bit too much. We shall see.

Cindy Hsu and John Elliott were given a chance to briefly thank viewers for tuning in at 9 a.m. the last two years. Sounds like the entire show is ending and will not continue on streaming, even though they made it a point to add live news in the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours in the past year. It appears Cindy will be the noon anchor. For the last year or so (probably more), Chris and Mary would alternate anchoring solo, and often anyone filling in in the morning would be given the noon duties that day. It'll be nice having a set anchor there again. Just stinks to lose the 9 a.m. show. It was built around Cindy's personality and being positive and helpful. Now I wonder if the "Start With Kindness" tips will stay. I hope so.

CNN's 5-7 a.m. CNN This Morning got a new look (and studio -- the one used for The Lead and State of the Union) today: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-kppW6pY44/?img_index=1 Gone are the wood tones and in are bright blue and yellow colors.

Kind of surprised that they would announce this before the election. Makes her seem like a "lame duck" anchor through one of the busiest periods of the news cycle. Not a fan of rotating anchors as a permanent replacement. They've done this in the past for a few weeks/months between anchors, but this feels extremely cheap and as if they do not care about the CBS Evening News. Will the broadcast remain in DC? Back to NY?

Has ABC used this style of lower-third before? Indicative of something to come or just special for this Biden address?

The opens no longer mention the time of the newscast, which feels cheap to me. The lower-thirds and anchors still say "CBS 2 News" and the CBS 2 logo remains everywhere. Are they trying to be gradual or is this really as uncoordinated as it looks?

Interesting that the red stars disappear when the bug turns red, and they recenter the logo.

CNN has been using that style of bug for online videos for years. Definitely doesn't match the TV look and perhaps it was simply a careless editing mistake.

I've had trouble logging in here over the last week but just figured out a way... I was in shock when Dana signed off from the station. Others have already said it better but it felt so abrupt. I've been a fan of Dana's for nearly 28 of her 34 years at WCBS-TV and even had the honor of working with her for a few years. Yes, she is a perfectionist but she makes everyone better and most people really appreciated that. That's exactly the kind of person you'd want as a captain of a news organization. Dana deserved better, as did the viewers. Wild speculation time: Might she somehow end up with WPIX? Their ND is a WCBS veteran and goes way back with Dana. I believe they have a lot of respect for each other. Not sure they'd have the budget but I could see *something* being worked out somehow. Even if it's just weekly Broadway reports and maybe serving as a fill-in. I don't know. The new 6:00 is interesting. Looks like Maurice and Kristine will take turns anchoring it. Tonight was Kristine's turn. Nice use of different areas of the studio. Colors look nice, though weird to go with dark colors and a sunset photo when the sun is now setting well after 7pm. Couldn't tell if they had more sit-downs with reporters, or if they would have done those anyway but at the desk. Maybe a bit of both. Also, there was no sports. I can't help but think Dana would have pulled off this modified format brilliantly, but I guess Paramount really needed those budget cuts. Quite a shame.

50 years is quite an accomplishment! Newsday also had something on Chuck today, but it's paywalled unfortunately: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/chuck-scarborough-wnbc-k6wsvksw

This bug appeared at 5:30 for about a minute this evening, before being taken away and replaced by the normal blue one. Pretty weird. The ugly gradient reminds me of CBSN's old "Red & Blue" look (and also 1990s web design).

Jake was in Philadelphia that day covering the release of a man who spent 12 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. He says so here and explains his personal connection to CJ Rice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPznXzia6-I

Taking Dana Tyler off of the anchor desk. Not a fan of this at all.

They put Kasie in a studio! Same music and graphics, but it sounded like they used a slightly different cut for the open. The second hour at 6 a.m. kicked off with an in-studio discussion with Senator Joe Manchin. In the previous format, it might have been a panel discussion. Not sure Manchin is going to win any viewers over. In the few minutes I checked out, it really feels like a downgrade in the 6 a.m. hour. I'm a Kasie Hunt fan but a solo anchor in the morning is such a different vibe.

Definitely a surprise to hear Andrea clearly indicate that it was not her choice, especially since she seems to be weighing their offer to report during the week. She recently expressed gratitude on social media for being able to only work on weekends so that she could spend time with her young children, so I'd be interested to see if she winds up staying, and if they work out an option where she only works a couple days a week. I wonder if this change had less to do with her performance (she got along very well with Doug and Craig) and more the station's desire to use weekends to better develop a bench for weekday filling in and grooming potential weekday anchors. It sort of sounds like they will be hiring from outside for the job. In recent months, Dave Carlin and Tim McNicholas have been used as fill ins on weekend mornings, but it doesn't seem like they'll be going in this direction.

CNN's morning changes start next week. Kasie Hunt noted the end of the "Early Start" brand after 12 years as show will take on the "CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt" as it expands to a second hour. I wonder if she will continue anchoring from the flash cam position, or if they will invest in a crew to have her do the two hours from an actual studio in DC. (Since CNN seems to be making cuts in the morning, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.) Also wondering if the open and theme will be kept. Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly thanked the staff, including the studio and control room crews, for their hard work making them look good. I believe all of these positions are being eliminated as this version of the New York-based broadcast has essentially been cut. Hoping to see Phil and Poppy stay prominent faces on the network and that CNN treats the other employees well. Kate Bolduan, John Berman and Sara Sidner announced their new 7-10 a.m. hours. John joked "You might say that we are reimagining the CNN News Central schedule, but we're sure you know that because you've seen all the promos," adding "This is called a soft launch because we don't want to set expectations too high, but we are allowed to say we'll be a revolution in morning television. CNN News Central, more news, less waiting, fewer chairs." Sara thanked Poppy, Phil and the NY and Atlanta teams. Edit: I just noticed some changes in the 4 a.m. hour as well. It used to be "CNN Newsroom with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo," and they made a point of announcing this team for the U.S. viewers beginning November 1, 2022 (when the Don Lemon version of CNN This Morning launched). But this past Monday it was just "CNN Newsroom with Max Foster." And then since Tuesday morning, it's been an AC360 repeat. CNN's website shows CNN Newsroom listed for next week, so I'm not sure what's going on.

Just came across this on WBBM's YouTube page... I'm guessing these are just thumbnails created for their live streams as they do not appear to be screenshots, but it's interesting that they're using a different version of the lower-third. This one more closely resembles what was seen in that demo reel before these graphics launched. The text is much smaller than you'd expect for a typical YouTube thiumbnail. Although maybe the channel banner is proof that the person making graphics for their YouTube page is just throwing things together and not really clear on the correct graphics to use.

Poppy took a few years off of the 9-11am Newsroom to get a degree from Yale Law, which she completed shortly before CNN This Morning started. She was thankful to Jeff Zucker for letting her do that, and she occasionally filled in on weekends and holidays while she wasn't in class.