Greggo

One of their anchors announced it will debut Monday!

Update: One of their anchors posted on Facebook that rehearsals on the new set started today. So … soon.

The project is pretty substantial … it’s not just the set. Other parts of the building are being worked on as well, including moving some offices and even relocating some restrooms. Everything has to be sequenced. With regard to the set, they had to remove a load-bearing wall to enlarge the studio. That’s quite a task. Last estimate for completion that I heard from one of their anchors was “early 2023.” The shot they used during the debate was super tight because not everything was done. Just a couple months earlier, they had to do the farewell for their longtime evening anchor in the parking lot because of all the construction. The temp set was too small to crowd everyone in. It looked just as bad and cheap as you’d imagine. With February sweeps less than a month away, that’s probably a good guess.

I get it … FTV said today they’re down by half. The people left are probably burned out due to all the OT they’re being asked to work. Understandable in a small market, but not in Houston. Why the hell did they allow it to get that bad? Things aren’t anywhere as dire at any other large market station that I can think of. New ND and GM are both very experienced and have plenty of connections they could work to try to find people. They have (or had) one producer who arrived from tiny Lake Charles many years ago. Certainly there are others who would kill to make a jump like that. Better pay, larger city and a ton of fancy toys to make your shows better, such as their storm tracker and their chopper. Hopefully they can bring back the 4:30a show at some point. Dumping it makes them look weak and a bunch of people were complaining about it on social today, with some folks saying they were switching stations. You can’t help but think the numbers at 5a will drop at least some without local news as the leadin. If people get their start elsewhere each morning, many likely won’t switch when the clock strikes 5.

KPRC/Houston will no longer air a 430a newscast starting tomorrow (Monday, 1/9). An extra Early Today will air in that timeslot. Seems like a bizarre move for a station in such a large market, esp one that has had a lot of momentum lately. Their 4:30a newscast is around 15 years old now and every other Houston station is on the air at that time. KRIV goes on even earlier at 4a.

Doesn’t really look like anything that special. Considering all the hype.

Shocking! Looks like it may not be a Nexstar corner set.

Well, maybe not. Looking like a runoff.

Pretty big anchor shuffle announced this afternoon at KPRC/Houston: 11a, noon and 4p anchor Christine Noel is leaving. Weekday morning anchor Lisa Hernandez is her replacement. Former weekend morning anchor Sophia Ojeda is returning just a few months after she left to take over the weekday morning shift. Switch happens later this month. Lots of changes there since the new GM arrived. https://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2022/10/big-kprc-2-2022-anchor-changes.html

The dreaded corner set is spreading

I wouldn’t allow a bunch of curious people from the Chamber who are eating and (presumably) drinking booze to wander around the brand new studio. (I say this based upon similar events I’ve attended.) But maybe that’s just me …

Precisely! Amen.

Wondering if we are seeing parts of the future KXAN set in tonight’s gubernatorial debate? This is quite an elaborate setup to only use on an occasional basis. For those not in Texas, it’s being held at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus. I guess we shall see …

The huge ad for an AC company on the weather desk? Awful!

He’s a young, very good-looking guy with some news chops in Hollywood. I can totally see him getting picked up by ET, Extra, Access Hollywood, etc.

They’ve moved to the temp set, located in the station’s main conference room. Looks a bit dated, but not awful. One of the main anchors said in a Facebook Live that it will be 3 months until the new set is ready. And that’s even with them dismantling the old weather center (that hadn’t been seen on air in ages) and other areas of the studio ahead of time to speed things up. Apparently in the new set there will be “screens everywhere” with “lots of walking around.” Interested to see what Sinclair has cooked up. These folks deserve a nice set after hanging on to the old one for almost 2 decades.

It’s bizarre that he felt the need near the end of his post to say it was his choice to leave. Pure ego. Um, you’re going from Detroit to Chicago. It’s a clear promotion. No need to explain yourself other than you being afraid someone might think you were demoted … to a bigger market.

Um, no. Look at her social media and tell us it’s appropriate for someone in her position in a Top 10 market. It’s “ME. ME. ME.” She even blocked FTV because he’s called her out before for posts she’s made. (And yes … I know others have blocked him too.)

After the dumpster fires at KTLA and KTVI in recent days, I’m sure Nexstar (and Mester and Faust) are thankful the spotlight is now on NY1’s Erick Adame https://nypost.com/2022/09/19/nyc-weatherman-fired-after-webcam-nudes-sent-to-boss/

The latest Nexstar dumpster fire. With that audio leaked and the language he used, it would be hard to imagine him back at the anchor desk. He (allegedly) swore 40 times in 4 minutes, saying some really awful things to her.

If they want to be taken seriously about weather, they need someone other than Ella.

Considering Mester praised Drafs at least twice that I can recall in that 5-minute rant, it seems pretty clear she was likely going to allow some sort of goodbye and was overruled by corporate. Maybe pre-recorded. Who knows? After yesterday’s stunt, yes, Drafs probably is pissed — and rightfully so — because she got dragged into this on air. He even showed a picture of Drafs with Lynette! It makes her look bad, like she doesn’t have control of her staff. Unfortunate all the way around. I will say it is interesting to see how the others reacted. Telles seemed uncomfortable but supportive. The two fellas were just plain awkward, with one not saying a single thing and the other rambling for a short bit before getting cut off.

Some odd last-minute changes at KPRC/Houston, made by the new GM who just arrived from KSAT. With less than a week’s notice, Houston Life gets demoted to its old spot, 1p, starting Monday. It was just announced on air today. The show had been on at 3p. But the changes start earlier, at 11a. The Midday newscast gets shortened by 30 minutes. A day-old episode of ET airs at 11:30a, instead of 12:30p. The noon news expands to an hour. So still 90 minutes of news, just in a weird configuration. I’m not really sure why they insist on running the ET repeat. Just do 2 straight hours of news. Putting it in between two newscasts is … bizarre. Anyway, Houston Life as said above airs at 1p, where NBC News Live was supposed to run. Now, NBC News Live will air at 2p (Is there even a live feed at that hour?) and Dr. Phil is at 3p. NBC News Live will kill the afternoon momentum, IMHO. Anyway, this is all dramatically different from the schedule they had been promoting just days ago.

The temporary set is in a conference room. I don’t see it being kept around to be used by Telemundo Austin. Plus, they only have one control room so there’s no way they could do 2 shows live at the same time.

First look at the temp set. I certainly hope it’s not done yet. Pretty bland.