rkolsen

I feel sorry for that station if that closet is their control room. But I guess I should be glad that at least they have a proper switcher - I am amazed at how many stations when they went HD they chose to only have an Ignite panel in their building (cough WPVI cough). The reporter in the piece misspoke (or doesn't know the difference) by saying they are going full 1080 HD. I am a bit of an HD snob and would be pissed off if this small market station was the first in all of North America to broadcast in 1080p. With that being said I would have honestly thought that the station went HD based on the picture quality of that video being viewed on my iPad. I honestly wonder what that news set looks like in HD - doesn't appear to have been refreshed and looks like a little brother to KING 5's. I think I have mentioned this before but why does every single Gannett station feel the need to explain/make a hullabaloo over their new graphics package? Is it a localized "must run" by corporate? Do they think viewers are that stupid that they need someone to tell them that three columns of seemingly unrelated stories is the run down? I would think people would catch on to how the graphics work after watching the channel for five minutes. The only thing that could be confusing is the color coding of the stories, which are subjective to the producers thinking. How about a little jingle like the ones that are used for a weather beacon.

WBFF switched over to their new graphics. It looks like they have some teething issues.

A copy and paste job but I wanted it there Incase I remove it. McPaper was at the tip of my tongue but I couldn't remember it when I wrote that. I'd also be willing to go as far as saying USA Today is probably the most recycled newspaper in the country.

As I once said in the shoutbox: Gannett is overly proud. Some of you mentioned that in the past that they frequently disclose that they are sister organizations to USA Today. I'm not sure I would be bragging about being USA Today's corporate sibling - it's bland journalism reduced to the lowest common denominator. However USA Today would be a good paper to read if you were starting to learn English.

It's been 18 days. Just for reference WCVB's refresh this year took 10 days to install 27 monitors behind the desk plus several mo around the studio, Maybe they are getting new backdrop, desk and maybe the floors are being refinished for all we know - if they are good floors they should last five years and they debuted this set in 2008. Perhaps in order to handle all of the new features additional hardware has to be installed and tested.

This is a off topic from the chopper 6 360. But I remember a while back Hulkie/Matthew mentioned that all of WPVI's graphics are done in house except for the rendering of the 6 logo. My question is what was so difficult that required them to use an agency?

I think the reason why you have to use the IM360 app is because they have to process it before it goes out. Also I think it maybe if they included it in their native app, the app would become to bulky. Also wouldn't they have to state that this was product placement when this is used on air? Because there mentioning of the app would be similar to requiring Java.

No you are not actually controlling the camera. Most likely it is a one way datalink. Have you ever seen what a Google Streetview Car or even images before? If so it's exactly like that. Here's the camera I think they are using: http://www.ptgrey.com/products/ladybug3/Ladybug3_360_video_camera.asp. It has six cameras which stitch the image together and is sent back to the server as a panoramic image. But the server and software manipulate it in a way that only a certain part of the image is displayed.

Yeah, there are six cameras on that rig so your not controlling anything. It's not like they are letting you control the $500,000 gimbal camera. I fooled around with it briefly this afternoon, it's would be useful when the helicopter is hovering over the scene of the accident but most of the time the bird is flying around the DMA. I guess I would call this an act of desperation with all their toys.

I had a link but I lost it to where they got the camera. But I found a similar system used for broadcast or live streaming that was $24,000 used. I wonder how they are back hauling the video back to the station? I'm guessing they are using a bonded cellular. I doubt they would want to waste the precious datalink that's used for the actual helicopter video feed. If you'll notice the video in the piece wasn't that good, so,I doubt they will use it on air, when they could just tell the photographer to move the lens. But this may be cool the first time you try it, but this gimmick will get old fast (like the BigBoard - stations rarely use them to the full potential and all they are used for is to allow the reporter to press play on a piece). If I were the station I would rather the spend the money on something that is really useful.

Unfortunately that's a prices that they pay - whether you want your set done on time (and on budget) or have intermittent noise during a small part of your newscast.

No offense to you and those who live in Hampton Roads, but would this be considered a major step down for April Woodard? I know she was on Inside Edition almost daily but to go from a top syndicated show down to DMA 45? I know Inside Edition isn't hard hitting journalist but I'm pretty sure she could easily get a top 10 market job. But since she's a hometown girl maybe she wants to be home. (I would be thinking the same thing if she was auditioning for a job in Baltimore). I think KUSA or KARE has one. Trust me they aren't that special. All you end up with is a reporter but mainly meteorologist in the field reading numbers off a 46" TV. Sure it gives a hyper local weather report with the weather station on top but most of the time the temperature isn't that different from opening up your Intellicast or NWS forecast. It would be useful if the weather station could transmit the data back to the weather office where they could place a pin drop on the map showing current conditions.

Looked huge, seemed like prior to HD conversion weather set designs were often larger than "home base". WBAL had a big one with a second level elevated 2-3 feet above the prior set. Of course the Mac daddy (can't believe I'm using that phrase) had to go to KAKE TV's and it's various translators, satellite stations, and boosters that had a weather set that had the capabilities to "opt out" different weather forecasts/special weather reports for six different zones of Kansas.

I'd say they could do a major refresh - I seriously doubt the new Comcast Innovation and Technology tower will be completed on time. I'm guessing 2018 move in time at the earliest. But then again they could start moving in before the tower is fully completed with that being said I doubt they would do any broadcasting from it while the tower is still a construction site. I never cared for the style of the set that much. You know they could even get a whole new set like how WNBC moved around in the past six or seven years. Now that they are a flagship they could get more money.

Maybe the difference had to do with Monday being the Labor Day holiday? But to your second point how can a show make such big / aspirational changes without a turnover/change of staffs? I know they now have a new EP and anchorman but such drastic change does not come automatically with the changing of the guard.

Now that I'm looking at it closer it appears they actually moved the desk up against the elevated catwalk where Rock Center was usually shot. When the show started you could see a crease from where they pushed the anchor desk and platform up against the elevated portion of the set. Now there is a larger monitor wall where all the television tchotchkes were. Updated:Just looked back at an old Rock Center and yes they moved everything to a different corner of the studio. They just simply removed the faux window framing.

I know your talking about the quality of them being a video loop but do you remember the fake newsroom that BBC News piped in on those Barcos? http://jim-mann.com/?p=933

I can't for the life of me figure out where the desk is located. Is it still in the same spot as it always has been? To the right hand side of the desk they had this rear projection wall that was used in the original NN/MSNBC news complex that was moved over. For a minute I thought they extended the elevated platform and placed the desk there. The one thing I do not like is their use of the LA bureaux as new background video loop. When they are on a tight shot it (to me and the people over at NewscastStudio who I tipped them off to) agreed with me that it made it appear that they were actually in LA. I know it's not discernible to the average viewer but as we news junkies would notice a thing like this. I wonder if the background was recorded/played out at 4K. https://twitter.com/newscaststudio/status/506982387801419776 I also wonder if they considered piping in the live camera feed as backdrop.

The View is listed as part of their 77West 66th Street at ABC TV Center. I know their complex is made up of multiple buildings, so I'm guessing The View's old studio, is in a separate building from the offices of ABC News. Much like how if a corporate suite from has to go outside to get to the building that houses WABC. Maybe it's just me but if I was in charge when these buildings are purchased I'd find a way to get through without going outside - even if that involved clearing a route in the basement. For reference NBC's 30 Rock is made up of three buildings an east building, the west building, and a studio building. All are connected and level, meaning there are no changes in elevation from east to west. The only difference you would see is is an extra set of fire doors. They built 30 Rock this way so there could be three buildings on three foundations all adjacent to each other. This was all done to cut down on noise vibrations. Thanks to the Rockefeller Groups great planning people in the center would not have to go outside to get to another building. You go down to the concourse level and there is 10 Rockefeller Plaza's access right there. As for CBS I believe they own the block but from what I have seen the buildings are independent of one another.

Just a reminder guys to make sure you check your season passes because of the name change if you want the show to record. Hell after Marianne Bannister left WBAL and Donna Hamilton took over her post at 6 and 11 PM, WBAL left the program title the same but updated the program description to "Donna Hamilton and Rod Daniels". For some unknown reason my TiVo interpreted it as a completely new show and wouldn't record. Then this year when Kai Reed left WJZ and the description was changed my TiVo didn't require any intervention. I don't see any immediate changes to the set since they just debuted that new 12x2 video wall. Maybe they will update the desk? Maybe one day down the line they will move their newscasts from the joint newsroom to a dedicated studio now that "The View" is moving to "Katie"' old studio now that one is available.

Locally WBAL will only show the lower third when they come back from the commercial. If an anchor wasn't on camera when they came back from break their name will appear at their first appearance. Generally the chyron only appears on screen if there is something that needs to be added, the only time it stays on screen normally is when they do national news headlines.

I follow NBC Artworks on Vimeo and never saw any un keyed Today Show opened.

Why is it that every Gannett station feels the need to do a segment to introduce the viewers to new graphics? Most stations wouldn't even bother to mention the change unless say the graphics were included with a new set. How dumb are they to need the complete chyron be explained to them? There is nothing truly revolutionary to their graphics package. The lower third has and always will display what the story is about and the information. A lot of stations already featured a news ticker and I'm truly scared for society if people couldn't identify the time and temperature without being told where it was located. The only thing that may be different is the upcoming rundown and the color coding system. The Uncle Barky post mentioned that their weather caster Ashton Altieri stated that his weather forecasts will be 20% more accurate? Please explain to me how new graphics can do that. The only way a forecast could truly differ is if they switched weather systems to either AccuWeather (real quick why is it that a lot of AccuWeather stations seem to use some of the same slides in their forecasts with no local graphics?) or WSI. Yes I know most of those questions are rhetorical. I still thought that Sinclair being cheaper they would rather go full on with robotic cameras. Yes the upfront cost will be higher but once they are in service they would no longer have to own for a camera operator. As for my distaste in news music it really doesn't matter since there are so many other things to discuss on here. As I stated I just want the newscast to start because I would rather spend the 30-45 seconds used for an additional story or a longer piece. I am more interested in the technical aspects of the broadcast from the automation, the equipment, graphics and their transmission/eng plant.

I wrote this in the shout box but wish I saved the exact phrasing. If I was a television station I don't think I would want to promote that I was corporate siblings of USA Today. Don't get me wrong but USA Today would be the perfect newspaper for someone to read if they were just learning English.

Does anyone know who built/modified Fox 45/ traffic tracker car? I haven't seen this design listed on AMT, Frontline or Level 3's websites. https://twitter.com/tomrodgersnews/status/485094601661755393 May need to refresh your page for the image to load.