carolinanews4

I second @JackityJack's comments. People in the industry are watching WJZY closely. Nexstar is looking at all aspects of this station as they believe it was under performing due to poor allocation of resources under FOX. For example, FOX requires stations to execute a heavy quarterly marketing spend. This was evident early in WJZY's run as a FOX affiliate. They plastered the region with billboards and radio/cable commercials for their Fox News Carolinas Primetime, as it was then known, which was a trainwreck...as most products are at launch. Instead of quietly launching, working to find their voice, and THEN advertising, they spent heavily and drove curiosity viewing of a bad product. This put them in a hole that one could argue they are still working to climb out of. The list goes on, but that's just one concrete example. As for talent departures, there's no drama. As contracts end, Nexstar is looking to put their own stamp on talent. While it is always sad when contracts aren't renewed, it comes with the territory. And when you are on a morning show that still scratches every now and then, it can't be a surprise that the new owners are looking to shake things up. None of this is evidence of FOX returning to Charlotte. It is just a new owner looking to invest in their new property. Whatever your personal opinion of Nexstar is, that's your choice. But people at rival stations and inside WJZY are watching with curiosity as Nexstar amps up the investment for the future.

It has been a little over three months. I really don't see how the timetable of a new set could possibly portend the sale of a station. I also think it is unfair to say that this is a product of poor planning because it doesn't fit someone's personal timetable. Plus what are these supposed "weird issues" WJZY is having with this rebuild? Just because people on this board think the studio should have launched by now, doesn't mean that it was ever the station's timetable. I think it is fine to wonder when it will be debuting but to travel down the path that this set timetable means the station is for sale, that people didn't plan, or that something has gone wrong is conjecture that is unwarranted.

Maybe someone can help me here but I fail to understand these broad doomsday statements. Saying that "NewsNation has lost a majority of its staff" is simply not true. There are about 150 people on staff at NewsNation. Have over 75 people quit? Sure they have lost a few key leaders, and I'm not downplaying that, but to say a majority of their staff is a gross exaggeration. And I still don't understand the "cut losses" concept. People on this board have been clamoring for it to be shut down since the day it launched. This product is a little over 6 months old! FOX News took 6 years before they became a ratings juggernaut. MSNBC took much longer. And both of those channels took far more start up cash than NewsNation did. As long as Nexstar sees long term potential, I believe they will give the channel time to find an audience. All it takes is one marquee program and they can build around that. O'Reilly was the cornerstone for Fox while Olbermann was the ticket for MSNBC. I do agree they need a better programming strategy. The all-things to all-people programming strategy is no longer viable. I would advise them to take a "heartland" approach. I hear a lot from friends in the middle of the country that news is too focused on NY and LA. Maybe being in Chicago then can build a news product for middle America. That certainly would distinguish them. Their ratings would probably be modest, given the population density. But it would give them a target audience for programming and ad sales. In any event, with a lot of people's jobs on the line I'm sure not rooting for a failure. I hope they are given time to find their voice.

NBC News Channel and WCNC are in completely separate buildings. They are neighbors, but the buildings are not connected except for a wiring conduit.

I heard that same rumor. I talked with a buddy who worked at Speed, now FS1, and he said it was nothing more than a rumor. Internally there were never any discussions about it. He said Fox had a preference to keep local and national under separate roofs for redundancy purposes. He pointed to how WNWY has stayed on the Upper East Side while cable cousin FNC is in Midtown. Plus they had, at the time, maxed out their studio space on Harris Blvd. So there wouldn't have been floor space for a local round-the-clock news operation. That all made sense to me. What didn't make sense is why on earth they chose to stay put instead of building out space elsewhere. Heck, WCCB's studios seem like vast Hollywood Studio Lot compared to WJZY. But ultimately the management team responsible for launching the station decided to invest resources elsewhere. Then once they stumbled out of the gate, Fox wasn't going to give them any more money until ratings - and thus revenue - picked up.

Jason Harper posted a behind the scenes walk through on Twitter. Their space is beyond small as that building was not constructed with a news producing station in mind but they are making the best of it. Personally, I think their newsroom set up is the best their on-air look has been since the station became a FOX affiliate.

I agree. For CBS News, I think this is an upgrade for their on-air look and feel. In my opinion, NBC News normally has an edge in graphics presentation. Their look tends to be more cohesive and refined than the others. However, I think that this CBS open has better production values than the odd piece-by-piece overhaul of NBC Nightly News.

The 7 p.m. news hour was due to NBC Sports' coverage of the US Open. Golf coverage was from 4 to 7 p.m. So News 4 at 6 and NBC Nightly News slid back an hour. I believe Chuck does currently have a co-anchor at 6 p.m. Natalie Pasquarella had been paired with Chuck for a while now. Did something change?

I'm not sure it is accurate to say WRAL did Brad Johansen wrong. Yes, Crabtree delayed his retirement but that is not why he is no longer at the station. According to the Fayetteville Observer, "there was an employee violation and a personnel matter that needed to be handled immediately." That doesn't sound like the station did him wrong nor does it sound like the station decided not to offer him a contract. This appears to be a termination of an employee for cause. Johansen had already assumed Crabtree's hosting duties of the station's public affairs show, "On the Record" and was the primary fill in. By all accounts he was going to be kept on until Crabtree's retirement. That is until this alleged violation.

When I first saw this studio I wasn't a fan. To me it just looked like someone played a game of "how many LED elements can we cram into one space". (Maybe it was the ribbons crisscrossing the ceiling that pushed me over the edge.) The whole thing seemed designed specifically for election coverage but seemed like it would be too over the top for routine coverage. I must admit, based on how TV3 was used for this 20/20 special, that I was wrong. This studio definitely has a visual versatility that ABC lacked in its previous primary news studio. I'm still interested to see how it gets adapted for daily use but now my curiosity is based on intrigue instead of skepticism.