DMA

Interesting that Nexstar claims that Mission Broadcasting is somehow an independent entity when the CEO of Nexstar's son was hired as a sports reporter!

On 1/18/2024 at 8:56 PM, MorningNews said:

^ mostly agree with this. Not to belabor the point but is there a theory to WABC’s approach? I remember being shocked at the 2005 set and their graphics. You’d think the top station would have a more ambitious on-air presentation especially since the other O&Os in the group were mostly always solid.

 

Channel 7’s format is flashy, maybe even obnoxious. In contrast, their on-air presentation has always been one-dimensional. Feels like it’s by design.

I've always viewed WABC's visual format as a take on print-tabloid aesthetics. While the newspaper age definitely on the wane, in a lot of aspects NYC is still a tabloid town, especially among working class people. The large text probably doesn't hurt with an older demographic either. While I haven't been a fan of WABC's previous looks, I kind of got what they were going for: legibility, bold flat colors, a general "punchiness" - a loud look for a loud town. 

This new look is a nice 30 year time warp to the present, but still within the realm of WABC's overall visual tradition, can't complain!
 

I think this is a really nice upgrade. Sure it's not super exciting, but I genuinely don't know what more people could possibly want from a news set. It's by no means a small set, the materials and overall design are much more cohesive and high quality than 3K.  It's absolutely a set worthy of DMA #1. 

I think back to the 2012 3C set, which despite its size looked amazing, and was way ahead of its time, launching a design thread that even persists into this current set, 11 years later. That set didn't get in the way of telling the news then, so I truly don't understand the present gripes about a lovely, expensive new set that is almost double the size of 3C. 

After three days of watching the show (WFH life...), I have to say I think Mornings at 10 is a really solid hour. I really like the vibe of "it's 10am and the city is humming along, let's check in with our teams across the city" for more informal live reports (e.g. helicopter report of a protest in the Financial District,  or a reporter standing by at City Hall), followed by some live topical discussion over b-roll,  lighter banter, and weather and interview segments. A lot of the other personality-driven lighter local programs in the market (NY Living on WPIX, NY Live on WNBC) rely more on in-studio interviews/segments, recorded reports, with lives relegated to Ben Aaron-style goofy site visits, so the energy of Mornings at 10 definitely stands out. 

Personality wise, I really think Sam has the best presence, I think Shirleen and Mike seem a little more wooden with the banter but maybe they'll warm up with time. I would have picked Sandra or Michelle over Shirleen for this role personally, but overall the team is fine. My one complaint is that the interview segments for the first two days were softball discussions with Eric Adams and the Chancellor, which I think could have had a bit more WNYC-style rigor, but that's just me. It didn't feel like the type of interview that would be on Up Close, so it did feel pretty inconsistent with the EWN brand. 

Is Chris Cimino permanently off New York Living with his move to the PM weather?
 

I will say I think Alex and Marysol seem to have great chemistry on air. 

2 hours ago, iron_lion said:

As I said before CBS local's problem is that it feels like a generic corporate model duplicated across many cities with no uniqueness to individual cities. Even though NBC ABC and Fox all replicate models across O&O's, each station has its own distinct feel. Fox 29's Mike Jerrik is uniquely Philly as Fox 5's Greg and Rosanna were uniquly New York. WNBC stabds apart from WTVJ because if its use of Rockefeller Center and the christmas tree, ice skating rink and close residence with national NBC News. Not to mention the CBS local reporters (especially in NYC) don't stand out and just seem like transplants from different markets.

There’s a bit of personality at WCBS to be fair - Marcia Kramer certainly adds a local flavor but overall I tend to agree with you.
 

- WABC’s vibe is an unusual combo of familial and tabloid. As much as I dislike the increased opinion segments, visual mess, and Disney corporate synergy, it still feels like the default for me.  Coverage all across the Tri-State - they go all out, highest use of copters too.  

-WNBC is straight to the point but has the appeal of local-born talent and 30 Rock gravitas. Coverage is a little more focused on the boroughs, with a strong Jersey presence. Collaboration with WNJU reporters has been great, providing coverage into communities overlooked by everyone else. 
 

-WPIX targets straphangers and the NY1 demo. Used to have the Daily News connection which though diminished still feels present. 
 

-WNYW is a bit dull but I think has been targeting a tone similar to WABC’s tabloid/human interest take. At least they’re coming up with interesting branding like “The Noon”

-WCBS is just…there. It’s visually polished but the tone is wooden and really feels cookie-cutter. Editorially there’s an overemphasis on Westchester and Long Island. I feel like they were stronger when they could lean on the Always-On WCBS 880 / 1010 WINS synergy, but that’s faded. The reporters and anchors are all…fine? But the overall vibe is just generic and not targeted to the market. 

On 7/12/2022 at 5:03 PM, nycnewsjunkie said:

I’d be fascinated to see the daily viewership of WLNY. I don’t think it’s a station people really watch, unless you’re really into sitcom reruns and court shows. It doesn’t have a legacy that’s known throughout the market, and it’s precisely the kind of station where a “CBS News New York” newscast actually makes sense. I hope they don’t move back to the CBSN studio though, as that set looked extremely low-budget.

Agreed. I think a significant barrier to WLNY's success is the fact that it simply isn't available over the air in the majority of the market, including the five boroughs. Despite cable availability, it's not like, mentally a channel that exists to a lot of people, unlike KCBS/KCAL. If NYC ever gets ATSC 3.0 maybe WCBS could add a WLNY subchannel, but until then I can't really envision WLNY ever being competitive really. 

17 minutes ago, The Frog said:

SN1 is now OTA in DFW.

 

Spectrum News 1 to broadcast over-the-air on KAZD-TV

I can only dream of NY1 going over the air...

Slightly updated backdrop for Bill tonight, my initial thought was that this was the Live studio but I guess he's at home?

Good addition - it's a shame that NBC hasn't consolidated LX News with NBC News Now, that'd be a great OTA option. Unfortunately with WNBC and WNJU channel sharing with 2x 1080i and 3 480i subchannel, this addition might make the already poor picture quality even worse in NY. 

There's been a major subway shooting/explosion AND the Lieutenant Governor has been arrested. WNBC has dumped out of Today, WCBS has left Drew, and WABC is still with Live...tells you all you need to know of WABC's priorities here. 

I'm the first to lament WABC's lack of aesthetics but the reality is that it works. New York is a tabloid town (in the Daily News / NY Post sense, not the WSVN sense), and it kind of makes sense that WABC's look emulates those visuals more than any other station in the city. Editorially WABC is toned down from the caustic irreverence and outright conservatism of the NY Post, but it shares the huge typography, bombastic/eye searing color contrast, and fundamentally human interest led approach. As I've noted before, there has been a shift with Bill Ritter's editorializing "Gun Insanity" rhetoric at WABC. I don't think you'd ever catch David Ushery or Kristine Johnson leading with such a framing. 

It looks like there's a slightly new backdrop for the noon news today (or maybe just the wrong one?),  it doesn't seem to match that of the dusk 5pm/6pm backdrops.

Ratings question - I see that WABC is #1 in the mornings, 5pm, 6pm, and 11pm as listed here: https://www.nexttv.com/features/local-news-start-spreading-the-news-and-theres-lots-of-it

4pm is omitted - is WNBC leading then?

17 minutes ago, HoosierNewsie said:

From my understanding, nothing is going to change with NewsNet. 
 

While I’m at it, I don’t get why everyone hates on NewsNet… 
 

Like what has he done that is so bad that everyone wants to see him fail? 

The whole enterprise is built around a questionable use of CNN Newspath, anchors have blatantly posted their far-right affiliations on social media, the actual news they do show is...old? There's a line between scrappy and amateur, Newsnet hews more closely to the latter. 

WNYW now has the subchannel live on 5-3. 

Newsnet's NYC affiliate WJLP has dropped Newsnet, after (mercifully) being bought by Weigel. Prior owners PMCM (notorious for using an FCC loophole to move the station from Nevada to New Jersey) had crammed the RF with like 12 barely watchable subchannels, including right wing ones like Newsmax2 and Newsnet. Can't say I'll miss having access to Newsnet, especially now that Newsy provides a much higher quality OTA service in the DMA. 

I've found the quick full-screen graphics showing the status of the subway and regional rail lines to be far more effective. Even for people out in Long Island and NJ who work in the city, I'd hazard that most commutes are via public transit. 

It probably comes down to budget and the anchor's existing contracts, given that 7pm is an additional workload. They're familiar faces to viewers, I don't really give it a second thought honestly.

22 hours ago, NYTV said:

Is there any tangible data to prove the supposed "disproportionate volume and prominence of such pieces are difficult to view as anything other than propagandistic in intent"? If so, what are we comparing this from the previous year? And if someone is counting this, where do the other stations fall in this?

I don’t have an Excel spreadsheet where I’m tracking every report, but before my post I looked at stories posted on the websites of stations in the area to ground my perception in something close to reality.
 

WPIX and WABC had the highest volume of these PR stories, while WCBS and WNBC had a lower volume. This is obviously an imperfect methodology since not every story makes it to the website. I’m not equipped to do a full media study but I think this is an interesting shift that at least merits a mention. 

I want to preface this by saying I don't mean this in a particularly inflammatory way, and I do not intend to delve into my personal views on policing in New York, I just want to neutrally note recent changes to WABC's editorial output. 

I have noticed that there have been a lot of NYPD public relations stories fairly high up in the running order of WABC's newscasts, sometimes multiple times a day. Things like NYPD funding basketball courts, hosting a dance party (seemingly attended by 5 people), NYPD-sponsored haunted houses (https://abc7ny.com/nypd-haunted-house-willets-point-fort-totten/11103618/) etc. Other stations (WNBC, WCBS) do not seem to be including this volume of reporting on this subject matter. 

While individually I don't think it's problematic to include community interest pieces like this (these are events happening in the viewing area after all), the disproportionate volume and prominence of such pieces are difficult to view as anything other than propagandistic in intent. Again, I do not mean this to be inflammatory but rather observational - peer stations in the market have been making other editorial choices so I thought this was worth noting here. 

Looks good - the prominent Today logo element tells me that this is probably temporary though. I can’t image they would have redesigned the Today studio last week with that if it was to be a general NBC News set. 

That marble effect floor already looks dated (2014 Kardashian aesthetic much?). The rest looks fine, honestly not sure if I would have noticed the changes.

New flattened WABC logo debuted - doesn’t match what’s in the open though. 

8 minutes ago, Spintech33 said:

... and that's only for today.  Very good coverage today with WNBC with the storm.

Agreed, they ended up extending through noon, over Days of our Lives.