Mrknowitall526

She doesn't always fill in for them, though. It's really bizarre. I think I can recall times when she still just did reports and it was, like, Monica & Brian or Rick & Shirleen. Maybe something to do with Brian's & Shirleen's contracts? I wish Sarah Bloomquist would fill in more often on the 5 pm, but she is really a great reporter as well, and I think they would really miss her reports. She's one of the few reporters I can recall that makes such an easy transition between anchoring & reporting. Matt O'Donnell obviously also was an exception! David Henry used to be a substitute anchor but I haven't seen him in a chair in probably at least a decade.

I wonder if Sharrie Williams will take over the 4 pm slot with Brian Taff? She still really doesn't seem to have a definite purpose. I don't watch the 4pm very often or the 10pm on PHL17, so I don't have much of an opinion, aside from the time I saw her in a breaking news situation and she wasn't the best ... but that is hard to do on the fly and a skill that comes with time.

Monica Malpass has been reporting at 11 pm a lot lately - wonder why the sudden change?

A few weeks ago they debuted "Drone 6" on the news...but I haven't seen it used for anything yet.

I've had some time off this week, and find it really irritating that at least 3 times this week they have aired the exact same packaged report on a story that aired at 10 pm the night before, at noon the next day. They must feel that their respective audiences are too mutually exclusive to notice/care.

The owners are very religious (name is "Marantha Broadcasting Company" which if you don't know is a rough translation of "Come, O Lord") so I bet that might dictate some of what they air. On the weekends they definitely air a lot of religious shows. At 8 PM every night they show Dr. Phil, and 9 PM Steve Harvey. But the Dr. Phil episode they air at 8 PM is from the previous day, almost like it's a 2nd run?? Possibly because a Philly station also airs Dr. Phil? And this week's Steve Harvey episodes (just checked) are from 2 weeks ago. Odd. I often thought it would be a neat idea for them to branch out into original, local programming - like LOCAL dramas or comedies, starring local people, about local things. I think it would be interesting, especially since there are so many artsy-type programs (at Muhlenburg College or Moravian College, for instance). Probably expensive though.

Just what 69 needs is MORE judge and court shows! They show at least 4 episodes of Judge Judy in a day.

Was the verdict really a surprise to anyone? George was probably gone for the day already, and David hadn't arrived yet? It wasn't a "developing" story that would require updates, so maybe Dan was the first person who was available?

I remember one time they had some BIG technical issues for the 10 pm news and just re-broadcast the 6 pm show with a crawl at the bottom stating why!

I'm waiting for the time when the traffic report is done in front of the green screen and not the way it is now. The traffic reports they have a really high quality and interactive, I love the traffic flow maps and the drive times - which actually update in real time.

The voiceover for the noon show now says "69 News at Noon, live from the PPL Center"

That is odd - why have anyone at all fill in for Walter and not just Sarah??

Yeah, it's definitely that, just in a different color.

Just watching my recording of the 5 pm news from the PPL Center - I really think this is a great thing for WFMZ! It brings a new sense of "urgency" to the newscast. I really hope they end up using it for more than just the noon show everyday.

Channel 6 just started showing "#6abcAction" scrollling in the bottom, red/yellow part of the L3's, on the same line as the clock, during live reports. I've been waiting for them to update the graphics, but this is just so gimmicky!

The evening newscasts will be broadcast from PPL Center this Friday, coinciding with a hockey game the same night. Will be interesting to see what they do!

That's really interesting, I wonder what they plan to do with the newsroom at PPL Center? Is 8 live trucks a lot? How many do the Philly stations have?

So there was a report about the new studio on the news at 6 on Friday night. The only people in the studio during the broadcast are Eve & Jaciel - because of the the small space, everything is controlled by the regular control room on South Mountain, including the cameras, lights, and video wall. When they switch over to the weather they show a split screen with "PPL Center Studio" and "Weather Center" and surprisingly there is NO delay between the two spots. They must have a pretty hefty fiber connection between the two locations, especially to be able to control the cameras remotely from 5+ miles away.

Just heard a promo on the 10 pm news for a "ribbon cutting" for the PPL Center studio, Friday at 11:30 am - you'll get the chance to meet Eve & Jaciel and also watch the noon newscast live in person. How....interesting?

But 3 AM is really excessive. Are people really getting up that early when it snows to check the weather? 4 AM, I think, is the limit that makes the most sense.

I would agree, especially for the fact that most days they don't go to a commercial break until 6:45. And the instant index is so toned down it's barely even noticeable.

Yeah, they didn't say anything about it at all! And, it looked like the weather team was still back at the regular studio. They just showed them in a split screen with "Weather Center" and "Newscenter" written on the top. I don't get it- are they making a full move downtown, and this is to try it out, or they will keep two studios? I'm not sure, really, how there would be room for a newsroom and all the other stuff at the PPL Center - but I don't get the purpose of a 30 minute broadcast from the PPL Center, either, at a newscast that not everyone will see.

Only the noon show at PPL Center? That stinks! Wish they'd picked 5 or 6.

PHL must have a different/better encoder, though, because I don't notice the distortion as much on 17. Is this actually happening, or is it just me being picky/crazy??

Has anyone noticed an increase in "mosquito noise" digital distortion around the L3s? I have noticed it the past month or so. It's also pretty bad around the 6ABC logo/clock in the corner. I have Directv, and posted in a forum about that, and someone said it has to do with the way the network encodes/compresses its broadcasts. Interestingly, I put on Action News at 10 on PHL17 last night, and the effect seems to be much less there than on 6. Which doesn't really make much sense since it's the same newscast and I would assume the same equipment being used!