Action Newsroom

You may have a few good points, but I have to kindly disagree. Because just so you know: this is the Today Show, where professionalism walks toward the door as soon as the clock strikes 8. As for Roker, yes, there is a right time/place and a wrong time/place for him to make personal opinions on certain news stories. But Today's Take is a right place; it's the hour of the show where he, Tamron Hall and (now) Bush give their thoughts on the big news stories, and he had every right to voice his. Sure, the execs want him to pussyfoot with what he says on-air generally, but here his words and demeanor were IMO more or less okay enough (give or take his anger and the straw stirring). So he shouldn't be in the wrong. Bush and Lochte should. And I admit, I don't watch Today as much these days, and I can see through most of the casts' personal characteristics, so I can't tell what Al is behind the cameras, let alone in front of them; but I watched Today's Take more than a few times and I know what goes on during the first half hour. And here, I'm in the position to say he was professional enough to call out Bush and Lyin C©kte on their bull at the right time and place. I'm sure if he said that on the radio or on another TV show, I believe there's a bigger chance he'd get a pink slip from NBC and pretend to be cheerful at the unemployment line.

We all have have our feelings about Al (obviously), but you cannot deny that he was absolutely correct about the Ryan Lochte situation. He said what we all thought loud and clear, and what Bush did to change around the ordeal for an interview during the interview was absolutely wrong (pathetic even). I know Bush is not a true journalist (you don't need Robin Red to tell you); but even as an entertainment reporter, he really seemed desperate to get Lochte to change his story/actions after the incident to make the latter look like a victim and clear the misconceptions about the network's Olympics coverage, and foolishly winded up making Lochte look even more like a disgrace (to his swimming team, Team USA as a whole, the people/city of Rio and his country), himself look like an idiot, the coverage still divisive, and his bosses look like half-wit numbskulls. Whether Roker grinds your gears or not, you gotta admit he was right to speak the truth and call Bush out about it. And the fact that the executives are "embarrassed" about it and tried their hardest to shush Al straight after says so much now about them than I ever thought before. Plus, the fact that Bush told Al to "calm down" made me angry and want to track him down and smack him on the head like Al looked like he wanted to do.

Rick or Monica.

Oh gosh, this team. I spent my mornings before school (elementary school) with them. Charlie & Diane were like a married couple (the mom and dad) as the co-anchors. Robin was the cool aunt you wish you had while doing more then just reading the news. And Tony was more than the meteorologist; he was like an honorary uncle. This team (and their era by extension) was like a second family to me (and by extension, us), and you can really tell from the chemistry with each other and with us the viewers. I wish they were #1. (yeah, I know it's cheesy)

Dude looks right at home with David Letterman and Jon Sterwart. An awesome home.

Hahahahaha--Ewwww.

Yep; Jim Gardner and Sarah Bloomquist (both anchors) are its sent reporters.

I watched it too. It was a great experience to see them up close and learn abour how they work. The guy working them must love what he does. I would too.

Dammit. When will some TV people learn? Posting s#¡t like this publicly will NOT end well for them. I don't care if you're black, Hispanic, Asian or whatever; posting crap like this on a public website for all to see is downright wrong and should've been written in the confines of your house. Especially on your notepad or in you brain. And for that, you deserve to get fired. #NOTSORRY I guess he didn't know about Wendy Bell.

Judging by that little piece of new set revealed (and the duckface on the guy on the left), we may be in for a great time of bewilderment ahead. Oooh! I'm excited!!

OK, did you even read my comment? I didn't watch all of the fireworks display because I didn't enjoy much of what I saw at the beginning (most of it was from not seeing all of the fireworks) and changed the channel to another display. Whatever you saw I didn't get to see. For all I know, three aerial shots came up and only one showed great coverage. I wouldn't know because I didn't watch it.

I understand your rant. I'm just making that part clear about myself though. Also, have you heard of the phrase "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It?" They live on that mentality and it works. As you said, "Philadelphians don't like change", which is why the station has been so successful over the decades. But I'm not like most people. I like change, I'm open to it, and in most times I embrace it. I understand there are risks to a change and will take a while for people can get with it, like WCAU for example. Sometimes it can work and people praise it (like their news coverage), and other times it won't and people can complain (like the WWA coverage changing stations). WPVI is what it is because no change got them success, and people love it because they can come home to the people they really know every night. If people want to go to WCAU for news, cool. That's something that should happen. And yet, here we are. I get it; I understand you don't like what WPVI is about. That's fine. I want WCAU to win somewhere in the ratings right now too (I've also watched its newscasts since I was a kid too), but I really don't think it'll happen soon...and honestly. And get you don't care for what I have to say, but the thing is, at the end of the day everyone won't like the same thing or change.

Well, alright then. I clearly stand corrected. I'll take my finger and point to the Mayor's Office from now on. And I'm happy that Vai and Tracy had a great time. I've said that I figured that they did great. On the orher hand, I am NOT as obsessed with WPVI like you think everyone else is seemingly. I watch WPVI as much as I do WCAU, and I watch both on an infrequent basis. And this coming from the guy who previously had a name with Action News in the frame responding to the guy calling me out whose name is shared with the station he's defending here. And your rant about WPVI wasn't much other than saying that many people are obsessed with it. Which is ironic. I should apologize to Comcast for my mistake should they notice and/or care. You do know that the rain wasn't even that heavy that night, right? I watched a broadcast years ago where it was raining that time and the chopper was still used after the rain dissipated. So yeah, I can understand if they kept it safe anyway. Thank you for calling my bluff. As ridiculous as my words now seem, this backlash was deserved. I'll make sure to take my reprimands to Mayor Kinney soon when I'm volunteering at the 6abc Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Can I give an opinion on the concert coverage? I'm sure NBC10 gave it their all, what with their first year of doing coverage, but the production was disappointing to say the least. The lineup was very lacking. Even without The Roots, all they could find were acts that have barely survived all these years (The O'Jays and The Intuders), that guy from Empire [a show only the urban demo watches regularly] (Yazz). some acts not many have heard of (Leon Bridges and Brotherly Love) and a tribute to Gamble and Huff. I'm sure that would be a great lineup for a special on BET and TV One, or for a concert by WDAS-FM. But for an event like this, this wasn't impressive. And there's also a some type of racial feel going on with this lineup, but I'd rather not go deep into that. Plus, the stage being smashed into the park was a bad move. Usually, it's held right in front of the Art Museum steps, but apparently not anymore. And the stage itself looks terrible, compared to the one used during WPVI's years of coverage. Now, lemme make this clear: It's not the station's fault. It's producers did everything they could to give us a show, so their intentions were without criticism. I blame Comcast for this. They essentially took the WWAC television coverage from WPVI (and the City of Philadelphia as well) for the clear purpose of taking the latter station down in the ratings, but it failed. Also, they are a billion-dollar corporation, yet the production it put together was lackluster and bare-bones. With all the money they have, I'm sure they could've took out what looks like half a drop in the bucket to put into the coverage. Won't disrupt the building of the Innovation and Technology Center in any way. I'm sure WPVI and the City had to split the bill for their choices in acts and the stage but they did better there. And don't get me started on the fireworks. (I'll try anyway) All coverage was from the ground; No aerial coverage. Whoever's idea to not have SkyForce 10 broadcast parts of the coverage definitely won't have a job for this anymore. Thanks to the rainy weather and the hard smoke, all we could see was the blasts from in front of the Museum instead of all around it. I blame that instead of the station, but no aerial shots was a stupid decision too. I didnt see Tracy Davidson or Vai Sikahema at all, so I won't discuss how they did as hosts. I sure they did great, but I know they can't beat Cecily Tynan and Rick Williams by a long shot. I would've expected some backlash to this, but but got a lot as seen in this article. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Twitter-users-upset-over-television-coverage-of-Fourth-of-July-celebration.html (Everyone featured here want it back on 6ABC, and I don't blame them) I didn't watch much of the coverage because I was out and away from the TV at the time, but I'm glad I didn't. The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on CBS, PBS' A Capital Fourth (even with the recycled fireworks display) and even NBC's Macys 4th of July show were better watches. And speaking of the NBC show, 10 had to push back the Jam for Macys show, so I don't blame them for it, but it's sad when the network show had more attention from Comcast when most of their performances were taped. All-in-all: WCAU did all they could; I'll give them credit for that. But this year's coverage production felt like a completely different show; like the 4th of July Jam began it's first years all over again. Not to mention terrible. I'm sure they'll do a better job next year (if there'll ever be a next year), but for this event, Comcast did a poor job and needs to do better than this. I'm just still shocked that I won't turn to 6abc on Independence Day anymore. (Apologies for the long post)

For that article...you honestly deserve this.

I think you just goofed up the MJ timeslot. I think he just goofed up the MJ timeslot.

And don't even think of moving TMZL out of the 3pm slot. It's huge there (at least from name recognition). I'd say (since Oz is doing well at 1) give Harry the 2pm slot. I think/feel/am sure it's a show perfect for a mid-afternoon slot.

Yeah, I don't think it'll last either. Putting it up against Action News and Days of our Lives is bounds for a quick death. Even KYW might destroy it. I think a test run is a more viable option. I like the guy a lot, but a segment on Good Day is a better place for him than a whole timeslot hours after.

I do agree with you on this. News 4 New York is an iconic news branding; not just in Market 1, but also in all of US local TV news. So of course the intro should reflect this. But It makes little (if not no) sense to have an intro graphic not reflecting this with a it showing/reading something else instead. And NBC 4 New York News is a mouthful to say in comparison anyway.

I'm not sure. Sometimes it looks/feels taped but when the Face the Nation quick throw segment comes in, it make me think it's live. It's probably live, but for the longest time, I thought I was taped.

I also co-sign on Joe Holden. I like him and his certain type of serious style of reporting. I enjoyed his filling in as anchor on Memorial Day and I think the station made the right choice there. He should fill in a lot more. I think she's an alright weekend anchor, but I think she hasn't gelled in the position yet and needs time to gel. Maybe the producers could pair her with Holden and see where this goes. He needs more time at the desk and this shift is perfect for him.

Its 5:00. That open is great. Fits in great with everything the other stations are doing.

Honestly, this doesn't seem that bad IMO. I agree they are pretty pointless, but I wouldn't put it past me to say they're ugly. Also, removing the social links or moving the graphic somewhere else wouldn't make much of a difference since most people wouldn't care about them anyway (even if social media is driving news now), and them forcing you to stop watching a newscast is pretty ridiculous. If anything, I'd rather take this over the recently-formed practice of zooming the camera on only the anchor's face with it taking up most of the screen. THAT is pointless, distracting and (dare I add) ugly.

To me, looks like one of those infomercials pushing skincare products catered to some part of your head hosted by some B- or C-list TV actor in a show no one cares about talking about how awesome it works...until you realize they're not pushing anything, and it's after the hour where these things are usually banished from general viewing. Whoever created this show apparently wants the news department to go under and be fired.