MidwestTV

Anyone else think it's time for Phil Griffin to go? Doesn't seem like he's been able to accomplish much, and if anything, things have gotten worse under his tenure.

They're the highest rating thing on msnbc aren't they? They won't be going anywhere. More people watch msnbc on the weekends when they aren't airing news compared to the weekdays when they actually are. That must sting.

Not a bad name. Meh, I disagree. If they're trying to take a more serious, hard news approach to their product, hiring more Republicans wouldn't help that. They'd also probably be seen as trying to become Fox News 2.0.

But what would you change the name to? It also sounds like, from the article, that the staffers there didn't like the idea. NBCNC (NBC News Cable)?

There were rumors back not too long ago that the Now in Kansas City would either be canceled, put on hiatus, or moved. Seems like that's no longer happening since they changed it to a 2 anchor format earlier this month or late last month. However its ratings are still abysmal. I believe it's only placed 3rd one time, above Ellen, but that had to have been an anomaly because it went right back into the gutter. There was once a day it rated sub 1.0...

My first mistake was reading the comments. Why did I read the comments? I hope this is as true as what the sentence implies. msnbc doing more straight, hard news is a very exciting idea. However I don't think having Brian Williams anchor for two hours is a good idea at all. msnbc has enough credibility issues the way it is, the last thing they need is the man who was removed from the highest rated evening newscast in the country due to lying and falsifications in his reporting anchoring the news again regularly. Viewers will have a very hard time believing anything he says. Either way, these changes are very very much needed for the network, the question is whether or not they'll actually work. Seems that Rachel Maddow and Joe and Mika are untouchable though.

For KSHB at least, it's just a mess. Hand held cameras everywhere so everything is shaky and dizzying, constant weather teases without a full weathercast until late into the newscast, often times has a tabloid feel, covers more entertainment and technology stories than actual local news, the Now national segment is anchored by someone who, I feel, is not experienced enough. It's destroyed KSHB's evening newscasts.

What's the point? No one is really looking at it, and it's flying high so it's not like anyone will notice. As far as I know, KSHB didn't update the logo on theirs after they rebranded in 2012. The only change to the paintwork was adding KCTV's logo to one side of it once they entered and SSA over the copter.

This is apparently over http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/foxs-local-news-experiment-in-charlotte-is-scrapped/152257 Never even knew it was a thing, but the idea sounds terrible. Would have been nice to see it in action.

But they're on cable. Roberts is the first for any of the major broadcast networks.

Via Facebook, it seems that Thomas Roberts is the first openly gay man to anchor an evening newscast for a major network. Here's an article I pulled from Facebook's trending feature. http://www.advocate.com/media/2015/07/18/watch-reporting-tonight-thomas-roberts-first-out-gay-man-anchor-network-news

Wow, it's only been one year? Perhaps Scripps will take a look at it and see how the show has done over that year. They'll find that they never climbed out from #4, had occasional bouts of #5, and that it adversely affected their 5 and 6pm newscasts as well. But probably not, since this is Scripps. Something that's interesting to note is the Now's Facebook page; after one year it's only garnered just over a measly 2,500 likes.

I don't like the font they use for "News"

I believe that this is unlikely. Scripps time and time again has expressed their support for all of their original programming and that they're "giving it time" in the hopes that viewers will catch on to it and starting watching it. They've even acknowledged that some of their stations have seen significantly lower ratings since they premiered! You would think that after Let's Ask America was canceled, and The List was bastardized in attempts to make it "better," plus The NOW plunging some stations to dead last in their market, they would try and figure something out that would be better, but they haven't. They're cheap, stubborn, and probably in denial that all of their ideas have, frankly, failed.

Seems like a refresh of their what, 2010 L3?

And the HAIRRY goes to...http://getgoodhead.com/the-hairrys-local-newswomen-with-the-best-hair-by-state/

Same with KSHB. I'm curious to know whatever happened to the rumors that The NOW KC would either be canceled, moved, or replaced with a traditional newscast. They've made it a two-anchor format now, so it's obviously not being canceled or moved, but it's still not working in the market.

^ It would look so much better, in my opinion, if it was exclusively the NBC peacock up there. Additionally, this happened. Pretty hilarious. http://www.newscaststudio.com/2015/06/27/view-mistakes-nbc-peacock-for-gay-pride-avatar/

Jacky Harry, who has covered sports in Kansas City for 40 years and is the current sports director at KSHB, will retire on June 30. Man has been around for decades, but actually isn't that well-liked in the market. http://www.kshb.com/about-us/kshb-tvs-jack-harry-announces-retirement-after-40-years-of-kansas-city-sports-coverage

I hate both the old and new looks equally as much, but if I had to choose one then it would be the old L3's. The roundness of them looks better and it's easier to discern the different lines of text (in my opinion). The new ones seem slightly reminiscent of Today.

The past few posts have really made it clear how much Scripps' existing stations have struggled...many of them are in the bottom half, if not just last, in their markets. If any progress is made, Scripps makes a decision that ends up hurting them and pushing them back down.

No way that will happen any time soon, if ever, unless something gargantuanly disastrous happened, especially when you consider the fact that Scripps and Journal have just merged. A more likely scenario is that Scripps either sells off a bunch of its station or splits up into different companies.

I agree with FTV Live here: Answer: no. You're a TV station. Come on now. It's one thing to decide to have a larger digital presence, but to completely do away with an assignment desk, as well as 4 positions in addition to the freaking news director is absurd. "Real-Time Desk"? Sounds like a poor attempt to sound hip and cool and up-to-the-minute. I doubt the grown adults in the newsroom think that.

I think Christa will still be anchoring the 10pm as their presser says that Ally will "initially be anchoring the 5 and 6pm." That would imply that Dubill will now be on the 4 and 10.

Well that was fast...and...convenient. Massive changes are happening at KSHB. Mike Marusarz, who just joined KSHB as the new primary male anchor for their 5, 6 and 10pm newscasts just last month, has a new co-anchor at 5 and 6pm...his wife. Rhiannon Ally, who used to work at KCTV before she too moved away with Mike, will now anchor the 5 and 6pm newscasts with her husband. She replaces Jadiann Thompson, who anchored the 6pm. Thompson left the station last week for WHDH in Boston. However, the real surprise is that she's replacing Christa Dubill at 5pm. Christa Dubill appears to have gotten a demotion and now co-anchor The NOW KC at 4pm with Justin Wilfon. Christa Dubill is arguably one of the most annoying, sometimes self-centered, anchors in Kansas City, and has had moments where she's been rude to her co-workers on air. http://www.kshb.com/about-us/41-action-news-welcomes-rhiannon-ally-she-joins-husband-mike-marusarz-on-the-anchor-desk