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The feedback in the comments of the Variety article is resoundingly negative. And Variety isn't some curmudgeon factory. There's no advantage to the CNBC viewer in 'feeling' like the rest of NBC. In fact, for some, that's a negative. Graphics that made use of light effects and dimension were core to the CNBC brand. People in finance are used to darker screen backgrounds as well vs jarring white. That said white and blue was the CNBC look of the 90s but that observation isn't making them more likeable among some core finance nerd viewers - see the comments here

KDKA 11pm October 1989 They had started using some refreshed harder hitting cuts of the mid 80s KD and You package for the bumpers and close - no more jazzy sax for the close.

Lots of improvement, the reporters teasing their stories adds a lot of authenticity. The lighting on the main anchor is another area to work on - it's faded compared to the high resolution and brightness of the graphics, as well as compared to the quality of the field reports.

Yeah KRON was forced to bring back Instant Classics in the 2000s over the SESAC licensing KTVU almost brought back the Randall theme before Fox bought them Enforcer was effectively a throwback for WCBS/WBBM/KCBS KGO in the 80s twice dropped Cool Hand Luke/NS2K only to bring them back The 99 update to Eyewitness News by WABC was a throwback to the teletype sound Not my favorite package but I’d bet KARE has some brand value in the old Third Coast packages if they brought elements back

On the Tuesday topic...this is a 1985 demo, not many surprises in here other than high quality sound on the Lets All Be There news promo music at the beginning, KXTV mid 80s theme around 2:00, and the News 88 full theme at the end.

It's an upgrade from before and the larger than life peacock feathers on the wall are a nice visual, but....the space feels too narrow, those 90 degree angles continue to make it feel boxed in like the back of a retail storefront. WABC doesn't have much space, but they block their shots and angles so it all still feels 'big' in a way and makes the talent heroic - you rarely get a sense of the corners or ends of the studio during the newscast. Maybe stick to more close in shots and it's a great looking set. Leave some mystery for the viewer. Or maybe it's the tiny desk and lack of element between the desk and backdrop - if that were wider and further away the wide shots might have more breadth.

To me the city name as the main brand on the screen feels more detached, less local - like are people in NY and DC doing the news and this is our lightly edited “edition.” Just my observation. The Rich Lieberman blog says the rolllout hasn’t “moved the needle” at KPIX though they were pretty aimless going in. KDKA’s May was mixed vs a year ago…good data here: https://triblive.com/aande/movies-tv/tv-talk-strong-sweeps-ratings-for-wtae-tv-pbs-explores-age-of-easy-money/ The 6 dropped a lot esp among the demo, WTAE held its ratings at 6. The 5 and 11 look more stable. Don’t know the market well enough to hazard other factors at 6 though that tends to be the creature of habit time slot vs the leadin driven 11. Feb also showed a drop vs prior year for KDKA at 6. Noon which is an oddly big audience for KDKA held steady. Any other station have a Noon that draws more than most of the evening?

WXIA 11 Alive Feb 1983 update and news. One of the earlier clips of the skyline set.

Can't figure out how to upload it, but for the 6pm close they're putting the icing on the cake - the 'Hello' waves and the old school closing music.

That's great - thought it was nice for the week of live shots in Clinton, but wow full time is a thrill. Excellent work making the case. Did Warner Chappell remaster or sweeten it for digital at all?

Congratulations Tom what a legend.

Recall the wood grain elements WRC retrofitted onto its prior set after its original stark Clickspring debut…wood elements that were signature to the set that replaced… Mu guess is viewers were off put by something so stark the first time around. So generally yes viewers probably don't obsess the details but if the change is too stark they can find it distracting or hard to identify and stations can get caught flat footed. Thats probably more pronounced at the minority of stations that have deep generational viewing habits.

The close up 20th floor highrise shot on the monitors is nice and iconic. It gives the set some sense of place and proportion, with some grandness to it. The center monitor with the logo is more heroic for the brand. That's better than setups where your focus is drawn down to the desk monitor. Agree the interview area is sterile and that white wash flooring isn't doing any favors.

They've had the current masthead for so long...over 35 years, it's like if the New York Times or WSJ decided to change its masthead. There's something unmistakably New York and urgent about the legacy masthead. Their call, not mine.

She talks about what happened in the building here

More clips here https://abc7chicago.com/tag/wls75/

Interesting experiment. Creative way to adapt the set and a broadcast that takes more time interviewing while also covering lighter things so it isn't a snoozer like 'Up Close.' Those are some of the things I found interesting about KUSI that got me watching local news more often again. Not used to having Sam during a political interview - does he have to be 'along for the ride' the whole show? I guess he is the pro talent and most seasoned of the bunch, but then why not make him the lead interviewer if that's the role? Like go all the way instead of an awkward middle. The music isn't singing to me, not distinctive enough for a daily Eyewitness News show, maybe they'll play around and find something else.

Yeah and the text up there is raw text, not a graphic that needs the creative team so no real excuse. Maybe someone is doing only doing exactly what they were told and nothing more. The social/web lead (was a McKinnon, maybe still is) appears to be continuing as if little to nothing has changed, based on the social feed text.

Watching the evening news today… They changed the anchor positions on the set…now seated in the middle as originally designed on the circa 1998 set with the original big “9” logo in blue. Tosses to sports now have a 3 shot. My guess is this is the pre temporary set look while they redesign the rest of the space; the set already has plenty of blue for the traditional temp look. The pre show tease no longer has live previews by the field reporters like Dan Plante. Just the anchors reading the teases. A lot less chit chat into breaks and between stories. Bit of a somber feel if you ask me and not just for the appropriate 9/11 segments. Story selection and guests are similar to before (still showing the alternative local political voices) although they’re inserting more brief general voiceover stories like public health messages.

Here's a writeup on it https://www.The Other Site.com/2023/09/07/kpix-primetime-edition-virtual-production/?utm_campaign=NCS - Newsletter 20230907&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The Other Site The head of the stations group says they're going to consider more virtual set elements vs 'hardscape'. in future set builds (so possibly not just weather, and part of the main presentation). The current iteration has its gimmicky elements, but the realism of the simulated hard pieces is pretty good. Has that 'Newsmat' style where it's designed to look non virtual with the skyline background, window framing, etc, but leveraging virtual to bring in the info graphics and topical elements. As for the weather segment...at some point they'll probably figure out people still want the full screen graphics at times - it's harder to read radar maps, etc when they're condensed into a part of a set display. I'd like to see some sound effects work their way in - would be a nod to KPIX weather graphics innovation in the 80s when they had the 'sizzle' sound for the highs and the animated blimp.

It was one of the McKinnon grandchildren (edit: might still be based on today's twitter posts) My guess is the son of the elder McKinnon (GM) and his son (head of social) were the “alt right” political manipulators in the building. That said many newsrooms have the opposing alt left? equivalent individuals making editorial judgement they just don’t own the station outright and are less clumsy about executing their particular bias.

Yeah it was probably the one used back in the day for People are Talking, with audience risers and all. Wasn't sure if it got repurposed along the way but apparently not.

Interesting, so much for that. The Times article from earlier in the year said Steve ''has no intenion of retiring" I guess that wasn't necessarily a word from Nexstar. Although the only official word I've seen from Nexstar is the KSWB GM will oversee both, he's been in San Diego his whole adult life. https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2023/05/11/kusi-tv-to-stay-separate-news-station-from-fox5-san-diego-staffers-are-told/ And now I see Rafer on his social saying he's sad to see Steve go

Set is definitively going, the article referenced upthread says they told staff a new KUSI set is coming but the twist being Fox 5 moves into unoccupied space in the KUSI building. Which sounds like dual sets though seems tight quarters for that so we will see. Was expecting the Fox 5 location or a brand new facility would be the arrangement so that was a surprise to me and an interesting bone for the KUSI crew being on “home turf.” CW is a near given yes though wouldn’t change the news footprint much. They only do 4-7 and 10-1130 in the PM hours as it is.

With Steve Cohen not retiring my guess is a good deal of the KUSI story and personality style will remain intact while he’s there. Political slant who knows — probably the more outlandish guests and extended Trump coverage I get the sense Mike Jr was asking for could come out of the rotation but the healthy skepticism and coverage of more local events / issues and longer interviews probably remain. That’s a good thing to me but hard to get over the fact it won’t be locally owned anymore. When guys like Hank and Paul retire will be hard to fill their style for better or worse. Unfortunately the pending merger spooked Hunter and Francella out the door. And looks like Matt Prichard was released just before forcing him to Boston and ultimately bigger fish. Rafer decent but Lindsay a face palm at times in the recent hire front. San Diego is a unique market and having media historically (SD Tribune included) that didn’t follow lock step with LA and SF views was part of it. Interesting the KUSI building will be retained - “home turf.” If KCBS/KCAL is the analogy KUSI feels more like the KCAL. Fact is 5 has been trying to be a toned down KUSI with the red white blue, “So San Diego,” fireworks coverage, happy talk. But it feels forced / contrived while KUSI has that beach bar vibe. I wonder what the actual news ratings are. Only the total station numbers come out in the press and sure KUSI without prime time network / sports is last there. But when I met a KUSI anchor last year he said they were regularly #1 in the late night and did well in the mornings. Rafer posted in the spring a night he anchored they were number one all evening. My guess is 5 struggles some day parts as well.