PhillyWatch

KYW has relaunched morning news on WPSG- they're now airing the 7am hour that recently began airing online

Yes, but KCAL and KPIX only have the call letters in the box, not the presumably-soon-to-be-discontinued eye/number logo

This was something I was curious about when the delay was announced- whether or not it would apply to station TV apps. Are there any other Nexstar TV apps? Didn't KRON roll one out a few years back? The next question would be if the apps use geolocation to restrict streaming to within the market proper.

That ship has long since sailed (as much as I hate to say it). CBS O&O, NBC O&O, FOX O&O, TENGA, Scripps, Sinclair- they've all long since sent a station's uniqueness, for the most part, out the window. The biggest nail in the coffin was arguably the CBS definitely-not-a-mandate, but the death knell was the FOX O&O box kite standardization. Prior to that, most O&O's were doing their own interpretation of the FOX BOX side-by-side logo with varying color schemes, themes, and graphics. But in the era of hubbing and downsizing, the cookie cutter has come to rule the day.

Consolidated branding was long overdue. Same personnel, same facility (maybe not the same set, but it is now), same content for the most part. With this relaunch I'm learning that KCAL has always had better name recognition, but it could have easily been "CBS 2 news on KCAL 9" up until this point. KCBS should have (and should now) be running promos similar to the "KCAL 9 is now KCAL News" spots touting "CBS 2 is now CBS Los Angeles". I feel like that aspect is still flying under the radar. I agree that "The Desk" is coming across as a bit overused, but I can see it from the angle that they're "constantly monitoring news, always bringing the latest information, etc." With approximately 95 hours of news to fill in a day, how many times can they run the same flood package, or the same report that McCarthy lost the speaker vote again? This is a market where an entire newscast will be blown out to follow a car chase- this at least brings some variety.

So the writing is on the wall that this was likely a buyout. NBCU will save money in not paying him, but I wonder what the long run will hold for WCAU. Will saving on his salary be worth wrecking 10's stability in evenings, particularly as 6 is about to lose JG?

Personally, I don't think Keith has the gravitas for anything past the 4pm show. Which is not to say he's bad, but I believe he shines brightest on the earlier shows. Aside from him... I'm not even really familiar with who they may have in-house to serve as a full-time replacement. Given 10 is a sort of "corporate flagship" (as opposed to WNBC being the "network flagship"), I could see Comcast searching nationwide for a heavy hitter to help them gun for the top slot as 6 adjusts to a post-Gardner existence.

Jim Rosenfield exiting later this month. I thought he was a definite upgrade over Tim Lake. Curious if he'll end up in some capacity at WNBC or within NBC News.

I noticed this nifty little addition to the bottom of KYW's syndicated fare bug...

This is the most convincing evidence I've seen yet that the "CBS X" branding is out the door (I may or may not have been in denial). A shame, as we were in San Fran for thanksgiving and I was admiring the fact that the Group W "5" is still in use there.

They use a transitional sound effect which could best be described as "fairy dust sprinkle" which I really don't understand. And while you can look at the viewership as "look how many less people are watching compared to DOOL at those hours", there's also "look as all these additional eyes on top of who was already streaming NBC News Now as those hours". Who was expecting them to keep DOOL viewership numbers? You wouldn't look at next-day numbers of a station flipping from Oldies to Top 40 and go "wow, nobody's listening to them!"- give it at least a month, then bash away if/when the numbers are still dismal. I'd imagine what NBC is particularly interested in is what their ratings eventually look like compared to GMA3.

There's gotta be some snafu behind the scenes as KCOP's feed on YouTube TV is running "the grio" network. KCOP OTA is business as usual. Curious if other cable providers are experiencing the same issue.

Kathy Vara is solo behind the desk today at 3

It could've been Josh Elliot until he gave himself a promotion on-air at CBSN and then was promptly demoted to the parking lot

Coming from Philadelphia last year and longing for something as different (to put it lightly) as Good Day Philadelphia, I’ve found the LA options sorely lacking. Every time I turned on KTTV, aside from headlines it always seemed it was Michaela doing her best passionate-nodding-and-understanding-eyes Oprah impression during some interview. If she were to end up at KCAL, I’d hope it would be as part of more of an ensemble presentation (like the CBS sister operation in Sacramento or the aforementioned Philadelphia broadcast)

The “10@10” experiment is over, and it’s the return of “The 10 o’clock News” (as opposed to the “News at 10” name I believe they were using before the 10@10)

Interesting that you say "noon anchor". I believe most NBC O&O's have their newscasts at 11am. I wonder if we'll see those being shifted to noon to create a noon-2pm news block (though I doubt a station like WCAU would like to go from no news competition at 11am to noon, where they'll compete with WPVI and KYW)

I feel like FOX views FWX as their version of the big 3's streaming news outlets. The news market was saturated (and they already launched FOX Nation), so this is their entry into the FAST realm. Their spots on the streamers have been firmly established, so now they can work on getting their way onto cable lineups.

For some reason, Youtube TV didn't record CBS News Philly NOW for me last night, but I'm tentative about it replacing what was on WPSG- I can't stand what's happened to WTXF's 10pm show over the last 10 years, and YTTV and Nexstar have never come to an agreement which means WPVI's 10pm on WPHL wasn't an option, so the former half-hour KYW produced show on WPSG was perfect; local news, cut and dry, in a half hour. IF (and that's a big IF) there's a good balance between the national segments and local, then I could still imagine choosing WPSG. But it looks like the NOW show local/national blend varies between markets. I'll check it out tonight. I do imagine that the former newscast was facing an uphill battle against WTXF and WPHL, so I can understand them launching this in Philly. I just wish they could've put it on at 9pm leading into a local half hour at 10, but that whole CW primetime thing has them tied up I imagine...

And naturally CBS News Philly is carrying the VP speaking from the NAACP conference in Atlantic City, so no catching it on the stream...

Dann Cuellar is hanging up his mic

When's the last time they had any stability at night? Dawn Stensland and Dave Huddleston? It seems like ever since 3 and 6 decided to stop letting them have the entire 10pm pie, their bottom has dropped out. With those two other options and 29's hardcore tabloid turn, I've got no reason to watch the pioneer of the 10 o'clock news in Philly. Also, to nitpick some graphics- during their 11pm show (which has a separate open [or at least rejoiners]), they're still using the "10 at 10" graphic in their bug. And on the bug- they have a thoroughly unnecessary "PM" wedged in next to the time, and yet the temperature isn't fully aligned to the right edge of the box, leaving a weird gap.

Abrupt cut to SVU from CBSN at 11 on WPSG, meanwhile things seem to be running as usual on KYW... Quite the mystery

Was this in the first half hour or second? (Or both?) This could have been a staffing/covid or studio issue, OR perhaps they're thinking of adding CBSEN after the first half hour instead of replaying it.

Tamela is promoting an interview with VP Harris; I wonder if they kept her out of the studio for a while as a way of quarantining her before the meeting. Whatever the situation is, it's a weird one.