sanewsguy

 

I wish that WCNC was called 6NEWS again.

 

I don't. They're on 36, not 6. I don't care for cable positions especially because satellite and U-verse doesn't conform to it

Meanwhile, KARE is now using some in-house elements and is using Video Helper tracks instead of TiH:

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well that depends on - what is "crappy"?

 

The opening cut is horrendous. The WWL cut is the one they should use. I know you don't like This is Home, but it's definitely one of Gari's better works as of late. There's cuts I hate like that one, then there's really good cuts like the WWL one, the one KING and WWL use for weather, the traffic bumper, the sports bumper etc.

 

Fun fact: When I was visiting WLS today, I asked the lady at the front desk if anyone actually comes by to look at the public file, and she said that in the 2.5 years she's worked there, only 3 people have been documented looking at it.

 

I wonder if those 3 people were FCC agents....

Why does KGW have to use the crappiest cuts of TiH?

Alright, so I was watching Channel 5 News and I saw this:

 

 

Looks like they are in the early stages of implementing the graphics.

Not trying to defend number 3, but not everybody has a computer....

 

Then again, I don't who actually cares about the public file other than the FCC itself....

 

First, about WWL. I never understand why they never had a weekend morning newscast, while WDSU had it for a minute. I'm guessing they putting alot of resources into their 4½ hour weekday morning program.

 

As for Gannett, didn't one of its stations eliminated a weekend morning newscast at one point?

 

Wasn't WUSA that station? They had weekend morning newscasts a few years back but at present do not have any.

 

Speaking of This Is Home, the entire theme and cuts of This Is Home can now be heard on SoutherMedia NMSA.

http://southernmedia-nmsa.com/#3,1,1699

 

Not the best editing. Where he got the original source material from, when you begin playing the montage, for a split second you can hear the tailend of whatever preceded the intro cut.

 

Other than that minor nitpick, sounds great. Definitely enjoy it.

While all these new stations are getting the graphics, one station that's had them,WUSA, found a way to really butcher the open. I hate three note sig played in the tease as a transition. And they have some crappy in-house graphic for the wx sting now:

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OK, so WETM gets to go HD and get new graphics and Nexstar has owned them for a year and a half. Yet KAMR and KMID are STILL in SD and using the same graphics they were five years ago. KAMR and KMID have both got to be Nexstar's stepchildren, since they work with an extremely small news staff compared to similar size or smaller stations like KFDX or WETM. I guess the mantra is Nexstar is "invest in them only if they do well in the ratings"...

They couldn't have just incorporated the old 18 into the new logo?

 

I'm betting if anything, KENS will be among the last to switch and the website will switch before the graphics. A tease for the newscast and the newest promos coming out of KENS still use the 2012 Belo look.

 

 

KENS5.com has made the change to the Gannett style website this morning.

 

You heard it here first.

 

In all seriousness though, this website looks so much better than what they had. Easier to navigate and will probably become the site I go to for news.

 

But I hate they now use their acutal logo instead of this in the header:

 

That logo actually was an improvement over their main logo.

 

There is also the possibility they might not do any graphic launches this month because of sweeps.

 

July sweeps doesn't really matter. Doubt that's a factor otherwise WHAS wouldn't have launched at all until after sweeps.

I'm betting if anything, KENS will be among the last to switch and the website will switch before the graphics. A tease for the newscast and the newest promos coming out of KENS still use the 2012 Belo look.

 

I did notice something a few minutes ago that perturbed me about WHAS's use of "categories" to delineate the content of each story. They used a teal-colored travel category when discussing a local bridge closing and some other construction work. I get that this is technically "travel" information, but when I think travel I think of something like a trip to a faraway location, rather than having to take the longer way to work in the morning. Does the Gannett package really not have a category for traffic?

 

 

They use that same color for traffic as well as travel.

 

 

A work commute technically IS travel.

 

 

Yeah. I know that. But that doesn't mean they can't place the word TRAFFIC on there. Again, that would lead to the impression that they're talking about traveling to a vacation desitination, and not an actual morning commute segment. I don't see anything wrong with changing its graphic to TRAFFIC.

 

The perfect example of why I hate the color coded system here. No two people interpret the categorization of a story exactly the same. Again I may not have filed that under travel but rather news. So again leads to the confusion over the color system and what gets filed under what.

 

I am critical of the Gannett package because in this example it shows how there is no structure of writing a lower third.

 

From the WHAS embed:

 

"ALEX SCHULMAN - @WHAS11ALEX

2ND STREET BRIDGE ACCIDENT CIVIL LAWSUIT"

 

Obviously, I object to the top tier. I don't like the dash, and his handle should feature a Twitter icon below his name, then have the slug run by itself. On top of that, (correct me if I am wrong) but the headlines are not in 2 lines. So if a story is very wordy, then the L3 can be so tight because its trying to fit the text onto that single line. That's just crazy.

 

You know what I've always wondered (and furthermore why I hate this package)? Who determines which story gets what color? I understand they have a key they go by. But let's just say there's a massive tornado affecting the region. Would they use yellow for weather, or blue for news? There's no definitive answer to that, because one producer may categorize a story differently from another.

 

Scott Jones over at FTVLive said it best:

WHAS in Louisville is trying to make the news easier to watch....."trying" might be the keyword here.

 

 

 

The station says that viewers told them that they were tired of flickering graphic animations that added nothing to the story they were watching. Now our new, easy-to-read graphic design actually helps you watch the news.

 

Sounds like a great idea right?

 

Maybe not.

 

WHAS explains their new graphic format and it seems a bit confusing, plus you need to learn what all the colors mean?

 

They write, that on the screen during the newscast, the first line of type tells you what’s happening right now. If you have the sound turned down, or if you just walked into the room, the first line will tell you exactly what’s happening on the screen.

 

The second line of type tells you what’s coming up next. If there’s a story you’re interested in, the second line will tell you when to expect it. Those stories are also color coded to help you find exactly the kind of news you want, and see when it’s coming up:

• Blue – General News
  
• Bright Red – Breaking News
  
• Yellow - Weather
  
• Green – Money
  
• Purple – Life
  
• Orange – Technology
  
• Dark Red – Sports
  

At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a ticker of all the latest news from WHAS11.

 

How about just telling us the news with video and forget all the graphic crap?

 

I know, it's a novel concept.

 

Thanks a lot news consultants.

 

 

He's right. You shouldn't have to learn how to navigate graphics. All newscasts really need is a lower third to tell people the name of a person being interviewed, and maybe a full screen graphic if there's information that the viewers may want to know. That's it. There's really no need for tickers since nobody reads them. No need for the rundown because nobody reads that either. Time and temp somebody can check on their cable box or phone. And I think we all know what channel we're watching. And if I wanted to follow a reporter on Twitter I would just look them up there. No need to give me their handle.

 

I can understand the color concept for newspapers, as many local ones, even ones not owned by Gannett, like the San Francisco Chronicle, use color coding for sections. But TV is not the same as a newspaper.

 

Thanks a lot news consultants for sure.

It's not that unusual. KMOL used the same SSB in the 80's.

OK, I think they're actually having problems with it. Note the "11@11" sting in the video at 1:12. I went to WHAS11.com and pulled up the video of the news story because I thought it was interesting and wanted to watch it (interesting story BTW and worth the watch).

 

Anyways, in that video, which looks like it comes directly from the control room since it doesn't have the bug, the music in the "11@11" sting sounds on note and correct.

 

Watch it here: http://www.whas11.com/video?id=265587821&sec=553357

 

Strange. Their livestream seems to be the same as what's going out OTA since the bug and end of ABC programming is seen. I wish we had a user from Louisville here to confirm whether or not what is heard above is what's actually going out OTA in Louisville.

 

I still don't change my opinion about WHAS being stuck in the 80's...

 

Oh god, the music sounds awful.

 

Also, you just know that if they dumped the "11" they'd probably replace it with some ugly, overwrought POS.

 

KTHV's logo looks flawless and professional compared to WHAS:

Watching WHAS seems so depressing, that all of their owners over the years really don't care about this station. Listening to their version of "This is Home" it sounds like a worn out record. The set looks like it has to be at least 20 years old. The lighting in that studio is awful. It seems dark in there and the anchors look like ghosts. I don't care if it was "refreshed" it still looks old. They still have a really ancient logo from the 1970's on the outside of their building. The current logo dates from the 1980's and it's showing it's age. I don't care if you gloss it or replace the circle with a box or add the current ABC logo it still looks old and worn. They've had the same VO for like 30 years. There's a reason I prefer all the other stations even WDRB. WHAS I think has rated 4th place at one point and it shows. They seem to be content with having a outdated feeling to them.

 

I hate to say it but I don't think they have audio issues (since the anchors sound fine). I highly think it's intentional. They want the music to sound direct out of the 80's. Way to take a semi-decent news theme and make it sound like crap.

 

Just look at this open they played at 11:

 

I don't expect much from Gannett honestly but they really need to address WHAS but I guess not.

Cox has finally given KOKI their stamp of approval. Fox23.com now uses the layout all the other Cox stations use and additionally, they decided to rename the 10AM lifestyle show to "Tulsa Live" from "Great Day Green Country". That also got new graphics getting rid of the Newport-era look for that show.

 

Now, all they need to do is move away from the Clear Channel complex and they'll be set. I still find it kind of odd they're in the same building as their competitor. Cox also owns radio stations in Tulsa so that's what makes it interesting. The radio stations are located separately from the TV stations. Furthermore, KC Lupp, the co-host of Tulsa Live, is a DJ for Clear Channel's KMOD. It gets even weirder because DJs from Cox radio station frequently appear on Tulsa Live.

 

Jacksonville also suffers from the same situation, being in the same building as their competitor with the radio stations located separately across town.

 

Maybe it's just me but I really dislike these picture in picture over the shoulder video graphics that seemed to have been rolled out in the past year at various Hearst stations.

 

(image clipped)

 

Here's a iPad screenshot from tonight's 11 PM newscast on WBAL showing various weather graphics:

 

It looks a bit better on television in HD.

 

But, I don't understand why they use it to show either live helicopter footage or a taped piece from the ground. Why would they choose to relegate good footage that is procured and transmitted to the station in HD to such a tiny picture frame? I'd rather they air the video full screen with the anchor doing the voice over. If they are gung-ho on keeping the anchor in frame why don't they put the footage on the 100" rear projection screen behind the anchor. In the past they have blocked the camera angle where the anchor presenting the segment fits perfectly with the monitor behind them keeping everything in the 4:3 safe zone.

 

Seems like a waste of a projection screen just to have some background graphic when that can be easily accomplished with duratrans for a fraction of the cost. If you're going to pay the extra money to have one, then use it well. It would've been great to use that screen to show that footage. Or if they have some plasma on a stand by the cameras with the anchor still in the background, then that would be a better idea too.

 

I really wish stations here would use the projection screen like they do in Australia. THAT is how you use a projection screen/plasma. And the sets aren't even that elaborate.

so you can see how they use their set there and why so many US stations fail with their set designs.

 

Also a minor thing but you couldn't have found a better cap? That anchor's facial expression is very creepy...

 

Basically, when the New World deal hit, KTBC were the non-sensational, hard-news operation in Austin, so they promised they wouldn't "Foxify" things and stuck to almost exactly their old schedule. By 2000, they had a new set, new music, an entirely new weeknight anchor team, and had pretty much Foxified everything, so the charade was pretty much gone and I guess that's when they decided to pull the plug and move to 9:00.

 

They still put out a great product though, not as sensational as I have seen from other markets such as KTTV or WOFL, for instance. They're the worst in Austin when it comes to state political coverage however, which I find unacceptable for a station in the state capital.

 

As for everything getting "Foxified", well that's what happens when you're taken over directly by the network. Not the same leeway they would've had under New World.

The music doesn't sound right with Bill Ratner's voice. He is not a very authoritative voiceover like the music evokes and they should've switched to someone else or not used a VO at all.

 

The logo looks odd with the CBS eye next to it. There was nothing wrong with it before.

 

Why does the graphic say "Breaking" not "Breaking News"? Just something I'm nitpicky about...

 

You already know I hate the Gannett graphics with a passion so I don't need to repeat that.

 

I hope KENS tries to resist getting this for as long as possible. I admittedly haven't watched a newscast on that station in over seven years because the product they put out is horrendously bad. But I will start watching them regularly JUST to see if they're running promos for the new Gannett graphics since no other person in this market will likely post anything about it.