rkolsen

52 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

Yup, 10.4 is now Justice. The TV says 16:9, but they're showing it at 4:3 with the side curtains. Justice is also still on 23.2 at a full 16:9 (and better picture quality).

Is 10.4’s pillarboxing showing a station logo or just black? If it’s black likely the program is being transmitted that way. 

Can we cut out the overtly political conversations. Save it for a different board.  One or two sentences maybe okay but not what’s going on here. 

9 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

Yes, it was quietly announced last spring at the same time the station announced Diana Williams would retire in September.  Jim left in June and preferred to call it “moving on”, not a retirement.  His next chapter is opening a craft beer and community entertainment venue in his hometown of Lititz, PA.

Wonder if that's the same place he and his ex Mika bought a few years back? Out of curiosity I looked at Lititz PA on Comcast, looks like they carry both the Harrisburg, PA channels (in HD) and appear to carry the Philadelphia ones in SD.

3 hours ago, Weeters said:

 

Given the prominence of the helicopter in severe weather coverage AND the sponsorship, that sponsorship probably offsets the cost quite a bit.

 

I've watched tornado coverage on KFOR numerous times and they say "Bob Moore Chopper 4" like every 3 minutes. You NEVER hear a sponsorship uttered that many times on television newscasts. 

 

I saw a picture of their studio and underneath every confidence monitor there’s a large piece of paper making sure the talent remember it’s Air Comfort Solutions Chopper 4.

So on the Today Show they featured a meteorologist emailing a sick day. One problem he emailed it to the entire #NexstarNation people were using the #PrayersforNick and stations accounts would post get well soon. 
 

Here’s a FTVLive post.

6 hours ago, 24994J said:

While it is overproduced to the point where it's hard to tell if it's live or prerecorded, WLS will be airing the Disney-heavy 'Magnificent Mile Lights Festival' on a 1-day delay, for what I believe is the first time. Instead of this Saturday at 6pm like in years past, it'll be first-run the following night, Sunday 11/24, preempting America's Funniest Home Videos. ABC's reconfigured Saturday Night Football schedule necessitated such a change. Lead anchors Alan Krashesky and Cheryl Burton host, with Janet Davies and anchor Rob Elgas on the street. I know it's syndicated out to other O&O's and ABC stations, so check your local listings...because I'm not.

 

https://abc7chicago.com/society/magnificent-mile-lights-festival-/5689387/

 

It’s often syndicated too WBAL has aired it several years now. 

1 hour ago, DirtyHarry said:

WBNS put up two more subchannels today. 10.4 is a test pattern but it says TBD, 10.5 is Quest. 

 

10.1 looks a little glassy. I think they're trying to cram too much into their signal with 5 sub channels. Just don't get rid of Me TV.

That is a lot for a 1080i primary channel. Now bitrates aren’t everything but according to RabbitEars.info they are fixed currently at 12Mbps which is around the average bitrate for a 1080i channel at 12.34Mbps.

Now keep in mind it’s possible there are several NBC/TELEMUNDO  stations with dual 1080i channels and two SDs (soon to be three) that manage to look good.  Maybe they need to update their encoder? However I’m not sure how good a 2Mbps 1080i picture is. 

1 hour ago, TheRyan said:

I'm slightly surprised they are still updating anything in the studio, if it's true that they plan to move altogether in a few years.

These tiles are so cheap now and are also easily removable that they could be transported to the new building for other uses.

Would not surprise me if the screens on the desk were showing burn in.

Also I didn't know/remember that the video wall went seamless as well.

1 hour ago, oknewsguy said:

To be honest that's because Hearst knows how to do standardization correctly.

2 hours ago, KentBrockman said:

Forreal, can we talk about the success story that Hearst has had with standardization? I feel like we’ve all at some point or another downed companies for making all their stations look cookie cutter and standardized, particularly CBS O&Os, but Hearst has been doing it for over two decades and somehow does a hell of a good job with it.

If I had to boil it down is because they have a staffed hub, that works with designers (if it’s not in house) and everything is based on the same VizRT platform.  The latter alone saves them a lot of headaches as they can design one asset and push it to all stations.

CBS and Sinclair just to name two all have stations running different graphics hardware.  They literally get the files I believe in After Effects (or whatever format) and are told to make it work.  That’s how you get some mish mash of bad iterations of relatively good packages.  As for CBS from what I’ve heard on the board and elsewhere it’s essentially WCBS commissioning a new package that gets shared down the line (right @Weeters?)

There just goes any credibility the network had with one of their anchors(?) hanging out with that guy. 

12 hours ago, blizzard59 said:

 

What he said in the "Dumbledore conversation" of Big Brother 13 was definitely not a good look for him and was probably the most controversial thing about that season.

Yikes it appears he did it back in season 11 too... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/big-brothers-jeff-schroeder-goes-210798

1 hour ago, DirtyHarry said:

"I wonder if anybody has the goods on any of you guys?"

Well with Jeff they have a full summers worth on Big Brother.  IIRC he didn’t do or say anything too outrageous a lot of his time was taken with his showmance Jordan who he married. However I don’t think he rocked the boat as he was voted “America’s Favorite” fan boat.  I’m sure if someone went to JokersUpdates they could find something innocuous and make it something. 

WTVJ’s Dan Krauth signed off recently and is heading way up I-95 to WABC-TV. I know a few of TVJ’s producers have done stints and WABC but a few returned “home”. 

4 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

 

 

 

If you have wireline cable, get an Obi202. It can work in conjunction with a Google Phone Number and it usually allows you to fax. Not perfect, but it usually works. Best part about it is that it is effectively free except for the cost of the box. (No monthly fee.) My home landlines are with Obi.  Maybe it works with  wireless internet, I haven't tried.

 

Also, there is faxzero.com (free but limited to 2 pages) and faxaway,com, which I have been using for years. $1 a month gets you a Seattle-based fax number with a 206 area code and unlimited incoming faxes that come in through email. For outgoing faxes, there is a nominal fee. You compose/scan something in Word or PDF, email it to them and they fax it for you automatically.

 

Also, I didn't realize this until a few months ago, but my T-Mobile voicemail accepts incoming faxes too, but then you have to forward to a regular fax machine.

I was looking into a google voice solution for faxing. The cable modem is downstairs but I have the printer connected to an Ethernet bridge so I could connect it easily. I don’t really want some of the free services due to the nature of what’s being faxed. I think google voice is promising.

8 hours ago, NEOMatrix said:

corded house phone on the damn wall.

I’m trying to get back a corded house phone just so I can fax.  You don’t know how many places don’t accept emails for important documents usually they say it’s because of security or forgery. 

4 hours ago, Weeters said:

 

 

Complaints might get all the way into the double digits.

 

This isn’t like WPVI removing MCTYW.

2 hours ago, Spintech33 said:

Word on the street is that Tony Perkins- Formerly of Good Morning America and WTTG- Washington DC is returning back to the DC market.. Something tells me he may take a trip over to WRC. Currently he's working with Donnie Simpson at Radio one-DC in a production capacity.

FTVLive says he’s heading over to do mornings at WUSA.

Oh, I think I figured why Chelsea Ingram returned to WJZ, her social media bio states she’s getting her M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy at Johns Hopkins.  

1 hour ago, jase said:

 

I don't know when WSNS airs their midday newscast. Nevertheless, their newsroom is very close (almost identical to WMAQs layout), so I'm guessing that's where the talking/noise came from.

I assume it’s before Mediodia which airs at 11:30AM CT. 

4 hours ago, jase said:

Ok, that makes sense given you can hear people working in the background. 

WSNS has an 11AM newscast right? If that’s the studio would be booked back to back.  Ideally they’d have the Chicago Today set in place prior to the 11 PM but it looks small enough where it could be put in place quickly during the last commercial break of Telemundo. But they’d still would have to deal with the Telemundo team leaving during the show. 

10 minutes ago, 24994J said:

'Chicago Today' just launched, and it's very...simple. They're hosting the show from a video wall nook that I swear looks familiar, but is definiteky not the news set. No desk, no stools, no audience, no on-screen logos, and very minimal use of lower thirds.

 

 

The first block was a recorded segment, but after the first break, a presumably live interview was done on a separate interview set. It looks nice.

 

That’s in the WSNS/Telemundo Studio.  For some reason the Telemundo studios in Miami and Chicago have floor to ceiling video walls with one or two larger ones that “pop out”.  

I was going to say when will WJZ update the graphics. Took them a few months to go widescreen Chyrons (that are textually still 4:3 safe - they just updated the background).  Plus they run a Baron weather system and may take time to roll out compared to the bulk using WSI/TWC.

42 minutes ago, Samantha said:

It's over for Cayman 27 in the Cayman Islands. It signed off today, meaning the end of independent broadcast TV on the islands.

 

The director of Hurley's TV Ltd. cited the station's financial struggles and the refusal of regulator OfReg to require cable companies to pay a mandatory fee in order to fulfill their own local content requirements. Earlier this year, the station was told by OfReg that it had years of unpaid fees and ordered to pay up by September 1 or lose its license.

 

Cayman 27 would be best known for TVNTers as a jcbD client that brought Brave New World (!) back into regular use.

 

The news anchor is very very nervous — that clicking sound you hear is her hand on the mouse!

 

 

This is the station's final broadcast:

 

https://www.facebook.com/cayman27/videos/2608074222569978/

Is it possible she was operating the prompter?

Horrific story out of Atlanta and New York. A WNBC intern, Erin Edwards, who worked with the digital team this summer killed in a murder suicide, her mother shot her and her brother before turning the gun on herself. My condolences to her family, fellow students and employees at WNBC. 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Remembering-WNBC-Intern-Erin-Edwards_New-York-557935862.html

13 hours ago, IceManNYR said:

Amy said they were using the newsroom studio this morning due to renovations going on in the studio.

 

Curious what else they might be upgrading?

Maybe they are toying with the camera blocking. Their cameras are fixed in place but can PTZ and have a height drive.  I noticed a Moiré pattern in some of the shots when then got the LEDs.