MorningNews

I don’t think it’s a bad idea for WPLG. I mean, what else can they do when losing network affiliation other than fill up on news and syndications?

It’s a pretty significant breaking news story this evening and CBS is phoning it in. 

Yeah they were using tight shots in front of a smaller video wall. The news and weather reports shared the video wall.

Some tech issue in the main studio I guess.

13 minutes ago, Jase said:

 

Is it possible they're both off this week?  Ratings have been solid/stable, so there's no reason to get rid of them.

 

Missing premiere week of the new studio may be 'suspicious', but it could be mean nothing at all....

Eva Pilgrim presented a report in the 7:30 half hour this morning.

I think this is just the reality of broadcast media today. ABC News has generally found the formula for success across their shows so there isn’t much incentive for deviating from it. Especially in a period where cost pressures are as pronounced and the shows continue shedding viewers.

It’s notable that they didn’t really acknowledge on-air that they were leaving Times Square until 1-2 weeks before the move. It seemed very lowkey until last week. I set my expectations pretty low from there and in the end I like it more than I expected. That said:

1. I wish there were more physical elements to it. The only permanent fixture looks to be the anchor desk and the all screen format feels like “The Morning Show.” That kitchen set up sucks.
 

2. The studio looks massive, cavernous even and very empty. Some cooler tones would help.

3. Rooftops on that side of town are tough because of the wind but I really liked how they opened the 8am hour. Studio C is in the basement but how cool would it have been to have a GMA patio or some outdoor element to preserve that TSS element.

The best part of all of it is the new logo inspired by one of my favorite visual eras for the show. 

What we’ve seen so far looks great. The new on-air package borrows a lot from the GMA3 look.

I never thought the lighting in TSS was particularly bad but the lighting at 7 Hudson Square is a significant improvement. 

Shifting to content for a moment, the second hour of Saturday GMA was almost entirely an infomercial. It could be for any number of reasons especially with TSS production mostly stripped but I just don’t like that. 

On 6/8/2025 at 7:16 PM, RealNews18 said:

I’m wondering if we’ll see an “official” announcement about Pedro this week? Mike took over the 5 last Tuesday and Pedro was on vacation so it would make sense. 

Just saw the first promo with his image and name included alongside Shirleen, Brittany, Sam and Heather’s for 4:30-7am. These same promos did not include him earlier this week. I guess that makes it official.

39 minutes ago, mouseboy33 said:

I 100% agree. Im not a fan of ABC News visual design. (sets/graphics). But for them to rebuild the dark cave for world news tonight instead of creating something fresh new and modern is ridiculous. I cant understand that logic. It also shows how scare the design teams are that if they make even the slightest change that audiences will run. Probably why European news sets/music/graphics are so modern. Particularly in Scandinavian countries. So Im not thinking ABC will do anything innovative or modern or different with the new GMA studio. It will be laden with wood and shiny metal and tons of various busy patterns and a shiny floor or a wooden type floor. 

A floor made out of screens isn’t innovative or modern? If that’s what it ends up being is quite unlike anything GMA has ever had or anything the other morning shows have.

Sam mentioned that they’ll be able to broadcast “from anywhere in the world” because the studio is mostly screens including the floor. It’ll be interesting to see what they come up with.

1 hour ago, mountainave said:

 

GMA essentially phased out its use of Times Square. This was no accident.  It's expensive, there are security concerns, and most importantly, they've known since at least 2018 that they'd be moving from Times Square and wanted to gradually make Times Square less central to the broadcast so viewers didn't feel like they were watching a completely different show after the move once this day came. 

 

Ten years ago, the anchor desk sat in front of a "window" overlooking Times Square, multiple live segments and weather updates occurred in the Times Square plaza, and Times Square audience interaction was a staple of the show.  Today, they could move the studio to Oklahoma and you wouldn't notice a difference.

 

Yep - I remember it being speculated here years ago that they’d leave TSS as they started limiting the exposure years ago. When they did the last set update they blocked off the second floor windows and limited the views of the first floor to the two windows on the street.

Actually spent the morning at GMA for the send off. The cast took photos and said goodbye to the crowd. Production even let us take some of their signs home. End of an era for sure.

They used to be massive draws for viewership. Both GMA and Today drew pretty big artists for the release of their albums, part of their tours, etc. That said, the shows have changed so much that the concert series feels somewhat out of place these days.
 

I recognize 2-3 artists from GMA’s announced line up. Today’s line up is a ton of has-beens. 

I wonder what the summer concert series looks like moving forward. Hudson Square isn’t close to Central Park, it would take forever to get between the two during that time of day.

I’m not mad at Terry for keeping it real.

20 minutes ago, NowBergen said:

There may have been some personal issues behind it, or a negotiation with ABC.  Neither of which need to become public.  Whatever, I'd just accept the decision.  

Totally accepted the decision, no protest from me. It’s simply an interesting observation.

I also don’t understand the staggered departure from 11pm and then 5pm. Would’ve been more grand to just have it done at once for his and Mike’s sake.

2 hours ago, mouseboy33 said:

Tom seems like a nice guy. But his delivery for me lacks the gravitas of Brokaw, Williams and Holt that preceded him. He has a delivery similar to that of David Muir. Im not a fan of the breathless clipped style. That NBC and ABC now uses for the past decade. The reporters dont even use complete sentences anymore. After watching Tom Llamas for a few minutes. I had to switch to CBS. I was Night News viewer for decades. But Im kinda done now. Ive always had respect for NBC News as an entity. BUt i cant take it the tik tok style delivery. 

I agree with all of this. He’s such an underwhelming anchor and presenter that it’s hard to believe he’s the flagship anchor for NBC News. Maybe we’ll feel different about him when he’s had the role for a few years but then again I’ve always thought this of him. It seems like NBC just wanted to find a Muir answer.

End of an era. Interesting that he said he’ll remain at EWN at 6 for years to come. 
 

Mike Marza is going to do great alongside Sade.

Yeah I’ll try to grab a screen image of it next time if I remember. It ends with Shirleen, Brittany, Sam and Heather standing in front on the old set. It preciously included Mike.

They’ve also been running the morning promos with Mike Marza edited out. I would have figured they had the AM succession plans all sorted by now.

Something you don’t see too often (or ever?) - Liz Cho filling in with Toni Yates for this Sunday morning’s newscast.

Great retrospective of Lester’s NN tenure, it’s hard to believe 10 years has flown by since he was elevated from weekends. He’s always been one of my favorites. 

We’re veering off topic here but I’ll add that I think a lot of these points are extremely valid and the primary one is just that the window on the world doesn’t attract the same hype it once did, similarly to the morning shows themselves.

I walk by Today pretty often on my way to work and the size of the plaza crowd these days vs 5-10 years ago is a stark sign of the times. 

1 hour ago, carolinanews4 said:

I genuinely don't understand the angst regarding Nightly broadcasting from Studio 1A. Is it just sentimental longing for a dedicated space?

 

From a business perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense to build a standalone studio for a show with a 22-minute runtime where the studio itself is on camera for a few minutes. The economic realities make Nightly's use of 1A completely reasonable. Heck, Nightly started switching the show from the 1A control back room during Brian Williams' tenure. I don't see the practical need for a big production space for a solo-anchored newscast like this. ABC World News Tonight uses a shared studio space, but outside of a bump shot, the show is mostly a static shot of David seated in front of an LED wall. And this is the top-rated evening newscast, and on occasion, has been the most watched show on television. 

 

So while the set in Studio 1A might be a little long in the tooth, it seems perfectly serviceable. Lester's ratings didn't drop when they moved to 1A. And I doubt Tom's would spike if they had their own space. When budgets are being slashed, the priority should be to keep investing in newsgathering resources. Building a new set to say you have a dedicated space doesn't seem like a good use of shrinking resources. But I might be missing something here.  

I suspended the business case and practicality of a separate space by clarifying that the audience doesn’t give a sh*t about this stuff. Most people who have made the observation, like those here, aren’t the majority of viewers.

1 hour ago, Jase said:

 

And hopefully a new studio is in the cards too. Studio 1A has never felt right for Nightly, imo

I know this is one of those things viewers probably don’t actually care about BUT I hate it. NNN is an institution, it feels beneath its history to not have a dedicated space.