PhillyWatch

They used the blue graphics, and I wish I had saved a copy because I'm not sure who the voiceover was, but it was likely something thought up during the pandemic (as mentioned) to lighten the load on the stations that just never came to fruition.

Both logos and both skylines. I agree it would've been a good idea for an evening state-wide newscast, but the clip came and went pretty quickly.

Catching the 10pm on CBSN Philly and they have Ross Guidotti from KDKA reporting, which is a sad commentary on the state of affairs at KYW. I know WPVI had a WABC reporter on earlier today, but she was reporting from their turf in North Jersey. Ross was reporting from Montgomery County. This brings to mind that mysterious KYW/KDKA combined newscast open that was posted on the CBS Philly Creative YouTube account a few months ago that disappeared after a few days. I’m betting KYW wishes that had come to fruition.

Glad to see Sue Serio, morning staple at FOX 29 Philly, in the A1 slot in the big graphic. I'm optimistic about this service. What I'm hoping they do (especially after seeing this graphic) is a LOT of collaboration with O&O weather departments. We know they made a bunch of hires to anchor and work out of the FXWX main studio, but nobody is going to be better able to delve deep into specific area forecasting and explanations than the local mets, who I'm guessing are being told to be on call in case they need to do a hit for the weather service. Also, total pipe dream, but it would be great if FTS could offer this up as an OTA diginet, particularly after the downfall of NBC WeatherPlus and the ABC Accuweather channels... though I imagine I'll be streaming it anyway

I believe SportsGrid is already available on platforms such as Pluto Tv and Roku channels and the like. I wonder if this will be that same feed, or something new and different from the already-existing feed.

It feels like it's been AGES since I've seen this happen, but it only makes sense

Holy cow, is the building on fire? This level of turnover is… pretty remarkable.

comings and goings- Lauren Johnson announced on her social media today that she's headed to WTVD to be their evening anchor. Incoming is Shaynah Ferreira, most recently at WTNH, for a "reporter/anchor" position (as she put it on her Twitter)

And it looks like today is her last sunday-

Scrabble-board I-team update- last night while in studio, to close out the sportscast at 6, Ducis showed another scrabble-board message (I believe regarding the Sixers). I'm glad it's sticking around, at least for now. It's a very quaint, channel 6-y little nugget I appreciate.

WPVI is shoehorning it into the script as well when they go to break during their 5pm- "You're watching Action News on Hulu Live, and wherever you stream 6abc" or something just as clunky along those lines. It's bad. Fluff pieces on "Dancing With The Stars" and the latest Disney release during ABC O&O newscasts are one thing, but plugging Hulu in the script feels... lower?

Ducis Rodgers' 6pm scrabble-board message is "goodbye basement studio", so chances are we'll be seeing a return to the studio for sportscasts in the near future. I'll miss the messages. They hearkened back to the "call from Accuweather" clouds formerly in the weathercasts that went out with Dave Roberts.

Ukee and Jessica are together at the desk again today, and I feel like there's something new about the screens behind them, but can't quite put my finger on it

Not that I watch a great deal of Antenna, but this may be a positive move in that Antenna could bring back more pre-80’s programming that hasn’t been seen in a while. More shows, now spread across two channels. I don’t know what Nexstar’s national diginet contracts are, but here in Philly WPHL carries Antenna, CourtTV and Comet. Both court AND comet are also carried on other stations in the market, so I could see either easily dropped to launch this (no, not that This channel, this channel…)

They could split the difference between Holt and Muir and go with Maurice DuBois from WCBS. But there’s no way Norah walks away willingly. Perhaps the return of the dual-anchor format ABC tried some years ago?

What were they airing up until now? And do we know whereabouts that shot of Jan is from? That backdrop is very reminiscent of the CBSN Local sets...

In Philadelphia, ABC O&O WPVI has dropped their Laff broadcast on 6.3 and replaced it with “this”, while also adding a 6.4 for what I believe is the first time to carry QVC. Maybe WPPX will be gaining Newsy soon now that QVC has found a new Philly OTA home. Here’s hoping!

Here's hoping the classic logo sticks around. It breaks up the rectangular monotony of the current gfx and I appreciate them using it for the bug today.

That white "brick" wall looks like some of their sister station's "CBSN" sets. Here's hoping after the studio is finished that this area gets spruced up and can become the CBSN Philly set.

I believe there was also a “Drew Year’s Eve” marathon when they acquired Drew Carey show reruns around a decade ago. I’m still wondering when and where Newsy factors into this all. You’d think it would have been one of the networks they’d add right off the bat, especially since there aren’t any huge carriage agreements already in existence (unlike Laff, etc.). Is there some long term agreement with QVC? While everything else was quick to get the boot, they’re still hanging around.

The entire reason Scripps gobbled up ion was to get signals to put their diginets on, not to launch (from scratch!) a bunch of news operations. Maybe you'll see a half hour of Newsy on the main signal at some point during the day. Maybe you'll see a new newscast from any new Scripps-owned sister stations in the market. But we're not getting any new news departments out of this.

It's a testament to the modern trend of out-of-market suits running homogenized station groups with no regard to market needs (I.E. iHeartRadio), although in this case we have the cherry-on-top of the suit being a blatant bigot I also see this as a testament to the local management at KYW and how they wanted the station to be competitive and succeed. They had plans, they made changes, they were excited. But all Dunn and Friend could do was rain on their parades and snuff out any sparks of hope. I had never heard the "white-whitness news" nickname before, then again, I come from a white household. We also weren't watching KYW either...

Butchering local town & landmark names while a tornado bears down on the viewing public. Anybody wanna take a crack at pronouncing "Schuylkill River"? Yes, 3000 miles away they will still be able to harness the technology to pinpoint the path of a storm and give viewers pertinent information, but when they can't pronounce your town, I get the feeling that some folks will turn the channel. And this is even IF they actually start hubbing weather. I see it more from the angle of "well, there's CBSN, ABC News Live, NBC News Now... what news-y angle ISN'T someone taking a stab at?"

The Class-h room pits two teams from local schools against each other in trivia with a small audience from the schools, all taped on the FOX29 evening set. Pretty much every aspect of that sentence has been upended since the start of the pandemic, which is unfortunate. I appreciate the fact that WTXF has been willing to try out so many locally-produced programs, particularly a game show. I'm a BIG fan of "The Final 5" on sister station WTTG in DC. It airs weeknights at 11:30 with a single host riffing on news stories of the day (typically political) with an interview or two from relevant experts. The FOX29 show sounds like it will be more pop-culture based, but again, I appreciate them trying something local in that slot as opposed to another run of Judge Judy.

Caught a commercial promoting a new digital-only hour of Action News mornings from 7-8. The spot was mainly pushing their new smart TV device apps as a means of watching it but I’m guessing it’ll be available through their website as well.