T.L. Hughes

KTEN-DT3 (the station's ABC-affiliated subchannel) uses a major ripoff of WGN's graphics package, with ABC Modern replacing Proxima Nova in the talent bumper. The confusing part is that KTEN now brands its ABC subchannel's newscasts as ABC 10 First News, but its website still refers to the subchannel as "ABC Texoma" (with two different logos for the main page and the subchannel's page, respectively). Anyone know if this is either just an oversight on KTEN's part or does KTEN-DT3 not use the "ABC 10" name universally?

After 37 years at WISH-TV, David Barras is retiring. He will step down as 5:00-7:00 a.m. and midday anchor on December 1, 2017, a date which he revealed in a Facebook post announcing his retirement to have once jokingly claimed was his projected date of retirement when he interviewed to become an assignment reporter at the station in 1980. http://wishtv.com/2017/08/09/david-barras-to-retire-after-37-years-at-wish-tv/ http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/indianapolis-news-legends-says-hell-retire-come-december/192932

I might not bet on Tegna acquiring WSKY. If David Smith and crew don't decide to shell it, Tegna may attempt to snag WTVZ from Sinclair to make that station the duopoly partner of WVEC. Either way, if Lockwood decides to drop out of the broadcasting biz, both stations are fair game. But I think that WSKY may either end up SSA bait for Nexstar or stay a standalone operation.

Here's the first nine minutes of KWKT's 9:00 p.m. newscast from July 10, just days into the station's in-house news operations. Their graphics package looks almost like an updated version of the graphics Tribune developed for its pre-Local TV-purchase Fox affiliates.

The closing theme at the beginning of the video sounds weirdly similar to the theme All My Children was using during that same timeframe.

FTR, there are a lot of white whales when it comes to news clips from Oklahoma television... not just Oklahoma City, but Tulsa, Ada and Lawton too. Sticking to OKC, besides the lack of news clips from KFOR during the early 1990s, other opens absent from YouTube from stations in the market include: * KFOR: 1994-96 (two clips from the second generation version of the graphics used during the run of the "KFOR Custom Package" is available on NewsActive3's channel, I don't remember on which compilation); * KOCO: Pre-1986 (there are some clips from that era on YouTube, but none from any actual newscasts), 1993-94, during the final year of the "5 Alive" era (when the station replaced the 1986 version of the logo with a block version, upon the adoption of a short-lived graphics package that preceded the first iteration of the "Circle 5"), 1994-96 (an updated version of the graphics package from the "Primetime News" era, after KOCO began branding as "Oklahoma's Channel 5/Oklahoma's 5 News", is available on one of NewsActive3's compilations) and 1997-98 (a short-lived package used during the transition from "Oklahoma's 5 News" to "Eyewitness News 5"); * KWTV: 1990-97, during the latter half of the "Newsline 9" era (a clip featuring what I assume is the 1986-89 graphics is on NewsActive3's channel) and 1997-2001, the first generation of the "News 9" branding era; * KOKH: 1997-1999, a relatively short-lived gold package used during the "Stravinsky" era; 1999-2000, the year prior to the renaming of the 9:00 p.m. newscast from "The Nine O'Clock News" to the "Primetime News at Nine" (there is a complete 1997 edition of the 9:00 p.m. show, using the initial 1996 package, available on KOKH's YouTube from the date of Murrah Building bomber Timothy McVeigh's sentencing), as well as anything from the "Newstouch 25" era pre-Fox-affiliation

Doubtful they'll do that. Even with the divestitures they chose to make, they would be just enough under the market cap where it would be able to keep WISH/WNDY. Not to mention that there is no ownership conflicts between MG and Nexstar in Indianapolis, so...

A little odd that the DOJ chose to make this ruling on account of the fact that Nexstar already agreed to sell those stations to the aforementioned owners weeks ago, incidentally to garner DOJ and FCC approval of its merger with Media General.

Along with those, here are some mid-90s clips from KCTV and KSHB: KCTV 5 p.m. open from September 20, 1994, anchored by Valissa Smith and the late Wendall Anschutz (uploaded by VHSgoodiesWA): And, KSHB 10 p.m. open from August 4, 1996, following the Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta Summer Olympics, anchored by Elizabeth Alex and Tom Lawrence (uploaded by tvmattkc):

Some additional finds from the Kansas City area, the first three come from WDAF-TV: WDAF weekend 5 p.m. open from October 1992, featuring former WBRC anchor Karen Church (uploaded by tvmattkc): WDAF news update from a morning break in NBC's coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics, anchored by Sue Abrams and featuring now-KSHB chief meteorologist Gary Lezak [back when he still had hair] (uploaded by tvmattkc): A reel of WDAF promos from an unknown date [on either a Saturday or Sunday] in 1992 (uploaded by tvmattkc): WDAF Sunday 10 p.m. newscast from 1993, anchored by Larry Blunt. Also features a portion of The Kansas City Sports Machine with Frank Boal (uploaded by pannoni 8): Footnote: Having looked at the WDAF clips, IMHO, I'm questioning why the station dumped its 1992 graphics when it switched to Fox. The graphics introduced along with the Newschannel 4 brand were actually kind of superior for a mid-market station in the early 1990s; the graphics used for its first year as a Fox affiliate were OK (the open was cool, but the rest of the look was so-so), but kinda pale in comparison to the 1992-94 look and what I have seen of the station's 1995-97 graphics package. (continued below)

Right, I forgot. I should have meant that assuming The CW moves from Channel 21 once KBJO becomes KNPG/NBC, would Telemundo stay on Channel 30.1, be moved to a newly created subchannel of that station or, probably more likely, move to a newly created Channel 21.2?

Telemundo would have to go somewhere. Either it gets moved to Channel 30, or stays on Channel 21, but gets moved to a subchannel once the main feed joins NBC. I don't see how it gets dropped entirely, even though a Telemundo affiliate would be better suited for the nearby Kansas City market rather than St. Joseph, the News-Press and Gazette Company's relationship with Telemundo is seemingly about as tight as ABC's with Hearst and Scripps or Fox's with Tribune.

I'm curious how this will affect news programming on KNPN. The article linked above states that KNPG and KNPN combined will carry 28 hours of news per week, compared to the 19.5 hours that KNPN runs now. KNPN currently airs news from 5:30 to 8:00 a.m. and noon-12:30 p.m. on weekdays and for a half-hour at 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. nightly. I assume that, based on the schedule, KNPG will simulcast the first 90 minutes of KNPN's morning newscast as well as its 5:00 p.m. show (unless they plan to move KNPN's early evening news back to 5:30), with the remaining newscasts being exclusive to the respective stations.

OOOOKAY, odd use of that emoji to follow that rib. But since no one got hurt in this incident, they did have a little levity with the thing on Wednesday's edition of KAUT's Rise and Shine, actually playing "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel at one point during the show.

Well, it's happened again. WDSU anchor Scott Walker has been mistaken for the Wisconsin Governor of the same name. This time by Donald Trump, who in congratulating his one-time rival Presidential candidate (whose Twitter handle is @ScottWalker) on a speech attacking Hillary Clinton and the assessment of her email investigation by FBI head James Comey, accidentally linked his message to the Twitter account of the Scott Walker not running a U.S. state (@ScottWalker6). http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/donald-trump-mistaking-wdsus-scott-walker-for-gov-is-not-uncommon-for-the-tv-anchor/40810178?src=app Of course, being mistaken for someone more well-known could have been worse. Look at the social media crapstorm that WBAL sports anchor Gerry Sandusky went through when the former Penn State assistant football coach (whose name is spelled with a "J") was charged with and later convicted of paedophelia/rape.

Yes, and it's unlikely that KFOR will get a new set until the new building is constructed. I should have elaborated that what Wes Milbourne inferred was that preparations were ongoing at the site of the new facility in the lead-up to the start of the main construction process. So it took almost two years to get construction on the new KFOR/KAUT building to even begin.

Staff at KFOR/KAUT were evacuated early this morning (July 20) when a piece of equipment belonging to the Uninterrupted Power Supply unit in the duopoly's rack room suffered a catastrophic failure around 3:40 a.m., with staff reporting power flashes in that area. Smoke from the fire could be visible within the KFOR weather center, as staff were preparing for the station's morning newscast, which was delayed by one hour due to the fire and evacuations (an impromptu newscast was streamed on Facebook Live during the 4:00 a.m. hour, with KFOR presumably carrying a feed of Early Today once master control operations resumed around 4:30 a.m.). Once NewsChannel 4 This Morning went on the air at 5:00 a.m. after Oklahoma City Fire Department officials gave the all-clear for staff to return to the building, since the computers powering those aspects were offline, pre-roll video footage, the time/temp/logo bug and lower third graphics were absent for much of the program (side-by-side graphics and weather graphics were not affected). The computers delivering the affected footage and graphics were brought back online by 7:00 a.m. http://kfor.com/2016/07/20/kfor-evacuated-after-fire/ http://kfor.com/2016/07/20/kfor-crews-talk-about-how-they-handled-early-morning-fire/ As a side note, when noting the age of the affected equipment in an interview with reporter Ashley Kringen during the morning newscast, KFOR/KAUT president/general manager Wes Milbourne confirmed that pre-construction preparations on the new studio facility previously announced to replace KFOR's 63-year-old building are underway, rounding the completion date to be sometime around 2018.

KUSA is launching a new half-hour newscast aimed at people who "don't watch TV news". The program, Next with Kyle Clark, will debut on August 5 (the night of the Summer Olympics opening ceremonies), in place of the 6 p.m. newscast. http://www.denverite.com/next-kyle-clark-next-kyle-clark-8827/#more-8827

A few things: First off, the open is kinda cool, in its own strange way. And, with how the time lapse shots are ushered in by a water splash and closed by a running purple-hued waterfall, it places a bit of a nod to one of the things that Kansas City is known for, its abundance of fountains. Secondly, it looks to me as if the graphics package that WDAF used during its first year as a Fox affiliate was a heavily reworked version of its 1992 graphics package, sans the zig-zag OTS and full-screen graphics (based on what few clips I've seen of WDAF's on-air look in the two years before the switch from NBC) that screamed early '90s and seemed out of place on a news program. The shimmer transitions in the teases/bumpers are a bit of a giveaway. Finally, up until the NMSA uploaded an audio clip of the 10 p.m. open in the above video this past weekend, they actually listed the version of Prime News used by WDAF as the "WFTX Version" of the package. They've corrected that now, but not the timeline as to when WDAF used the theme, since it seems that Prime News was replaced by what the site refers to as the "alternate logo" variant of Impact in 1995 (the NMSA still lists that theme as having been used from 1997 to 1999, when the "remake" version of that edition of Impact was used), when it adopted a new graphics package.

What seems strange to me about WFLD's new 5 p.m. newscast is that it's only airing on weekdays. The other Fox O&Os air their early evening newscasts seven nights a week, even as some news-producing Fox affiliates owned by other groups have chosen to avoid putting local news in the 5-7 p.m. time period on Saturdays and Sundays because of the increasing amount of sports overruns and starts within that slot on those days.

WFXL has pared down its news lineup again. The station has cancelled the weekend editions of its 10:00 p.m. newscast, just four months after cancelling its morning newscast FOX 31 News: Good Day. As pointed out by Roly (WSVNFan) on his blog, since 2011, WFXL has gone from producing three newscasts (totaling 28.5 hours a week) to now only producing one (totaling five hours a week), starting with the cancellation of its 6:30 p.m. newscast. Ironic as some of its news-producing Fox-affiliated sisters (such as WBFF, KOKH, WZTV and WLUK) have begun to bulk up on news in the past two years. https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/wfxl-dropped-only-weekend-news-say-aint-so/

Not to mention, the 10:00 p.m. news addition at KRON was already posted on this thread... tagging Roly (WSVNFan)'s blog post as a reference.

It's interesting Hearst is all of a sudden launching prime time newscasts on their MeTV subchannels in markets where it doesn't operate a duopoly. The only problem though is, the 10:00/9:00c time slot only accomodates newscasts in that slot Sunday through Fridays, since Me airs half-hour sitcoms during that hour on those nights. On Saturdays, the slot is occupied by the two-hour-long "Svengoolie". Maybe the network should shift that to 11:00/10:00c, so as to prevent stations that air nightly newscasts from joining it in progress, unless they offer a tape-delayed feed of the show to affiliates.

Although it's a little late to report this, KOKH added a midday newscast at 11:00 a.m. this past Monday (March 7). The 9:00 a.m. hour of the Fox 25 Morning News, which was removed as part of a concurring scheduling shuffle to make room for the program, in which the lifestyle talk show Living Oklahoma, which the station debuted in October, was moved from 10:00 to 9:00 a.m. (effectively shortening the morning newscast to four hours), while The Wendy Williams Show was moved from 11:00 to 10:00. The midday newscast is essentially an extension of the Fox 25 Morning News, even featuring the "around town" feature reports, traffic reports normally featured only on morning newscasts and the recently added "Live Desk" (in which Keaton Fox, who was moved from his role as co-anchor of the weekend edition of the 9:00 p.m. newscast in February to serve as anchor for segments on the morning show), which originate from a monitor bank at an area of the newsroom once occupied by the anchor desk used from the start of its news department in 1996 until the newscasts moved to a dedicated set in 2014. https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/03/05/kokh-adding-midday-news-this-monday/

KRON will soon be competing against KTVU at 10:00 p.m. for the first time since the failed "Early Prime" experiment involving it and KPIX in the early 1990s. As reported by FTV Live and relayed by Roly Ortega's Changing Newscasts Blog, the station will debut a nightly, hour-long 10:00 p.m. newscast in May. However, oddly, the addition of the program will result in the existing 11:00 p.m. newscast being slashed by 15 minutes to 15 minutes in length. https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/kron-getting-back-into-1000-pm-news-7-days-a-week-1100-pm-news-shortened/