tylerSC

Since Nexstar acquired WJZY from FOX, they have totally disassociated from the FOX network news coverage. They rebranded from FOX46 to Queen City News. They never air any FOX News reports during newscasts. On special reports, they either have the local talent anchoring national coverage with sourced video, or they air News Nation coverage. If the TEGNA deal finally goes through, it will be disappointing to see them eliminate NBC News coverage from WCNC. And a bit ironic if the NBC News Channel is still in the same building.

Around this time WCNC also built a tall 2000 ft tower west of Charlotte, giving them a much stronger signal and wider coverage area on par with WBTV. I receive strong OTA signals from WCNC, WBTV and WJZY in Spartanburg, SC even though WYFF, WSPA and WHNS are the official Upstate affiliates. WCNC has a nice visual presentation, but still ranks behind market leaders WSOC and WBTV in the local news ratings. Is the NBC News Channel still located in the same building, or have those operations returned to DC and New York?

That McDonald's next to the WUSA Broadcast House used to be a classic Roy Rogers. Featuring the roast beef sandwich, burgers, and famous fried chicken. After the failed Hardee's conversion from Marriott it eventually became a McDonald's. I used to see the Channel 9 talent dining in there back in the day. Now most Roy Rogers remain in the distant DC suburbs in Northern Virginia and around Frederick, Maryland.

In Charlotte, Nexstar will now operate WJZY, WMYT, and WCNC acquired from Tegna. With FOX, CW and now NBC. Are they likely to combine broadcast and news operations under one Queen City News brand? I don't foresee 2 competing news operations in the same market under the same owner. Not likely to compete against themselves.

I think I heard Hoda may also be coming back to participate.

Th Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cease print operation in December and go to a digital only platform. End of an era for your traditional morning newspaper. Owned by Cox Enterprises, it was split from the radio-TV division acquired by Apollo as Cox Media. WSB News-Talk Radio and WSB-TV Channel 2 remain the leading broadcast sources in Atlanta, although WSB Radio has struggled to find a strong personality to replace the retired Neal Boortz from a decade ago. Channel 2 Action News still dominates, and WFVT and WSOC remain strong performers in Orlando and Charlotte. Is the remaining Cox Media broadcast division still a likely candidate for acquisition? And who remains the likely contender?

I have seen the new weather graphics on WSOC from Charlotte.

Longtime religious broadcaster and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart has passed away at the age of 90. Talented preacher, singer, musician. Cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley. Overcame scandal in the 80's and founded SBN, SonLife Broadcasting Network. Still preaching, singing, and playing that famous piano up until just a few weeks ago. Survived by wife Frances and son Donnie.

ABC had the most extensive coverage of the Iran bombing Saturday night, with Whit Johnson anchoring a full hour ahead of NBC and CBS who joined in later to cover Trump's speech from the White House.Then David Muir was the only lead anchor called in to take over coverage at 10pm. Then he anchored World News Tonight with a special Sunday night appearance, and Tom Llamas made it back to the anchor chair on NBC for a special Sunday appearance also. Nothing special on CBS, as Jerika Duncan anchored the Sunday newscast as normal. My preferences remain with ABC.

Tom Llamas is doing a decent job so far, but I find myself still missing Lester Holt. Which begs the question, I wonder if they will still have Lester participate in special breaking news events or election coverage? Not as the principle anchor in which Tom will now assume that role, but as an elder statesman offering his perspective? Or would that create conflict similar to David Muir and George Stephanopoulos where lines had to be drawn? Or perhaps allow Lester to do special interviews or contributing reports? If they allow Savannah Guthrie to participate in special events coverage, certainly they could still make room for Lester. I would like to see that, in addition to his role on Dateline.

I was not aware of that. But why would they decide to remove CBS/NBC logos but not FOX? And do they have any ABC affiliates? I personally prefer network logos as an identifiable aspect of the station. Especially heritage stations such as WBTV in Charlotte which has been a long term legacy CBS affiliate since day one dating back to 1949. And I especially dislike WJZY in Charlotte becoming Queen City News and a very understated FOX Charlotte, rather than the former FOX 46. Although that is a Nexstar decision rather than Gray in that scenario.

Yes the Nexstar graphics used by WSPA do look similar in font to GrayOne. In Charlotte, WBTV has GrayOne but the Nexstar graphics on WJZY look a bit different than WSPA. I receive very strong signals from WBTV and WJZY in Spartanburg, even though WSPA and WHNS are my true locals. But from Charlotte, I think WSOC is the best overall news station, although you need more of a strategic antenna to pull in their main signal or the translator here. From Greenville, WYFF is my preferred news station.

WHNS in Greenville-Spartanburg is overdue to update to the Gray graphics package. They are still using old Meredith graphics. And will they follow the Gray trend and remove FOX Carolina from their branding? They haven't used Channel 21 in years.

Disappointed Tegna NBC affiliate WCNC Charlotte has cancelled their Sunday morning political program Flashpoint. It was an informative program with newsmakers and political leaders that aired after Meet the Press, as sort of a local version. Good program, sorry to see it go. Victim of cutbacks, I suppose. They are now airing infomercials in its place. WSOC still airs its Political Beat program on Sundays on the Cox ABC affiliate in Charlotte, and the Hearst NBC affiliate WYFF in Greenville-Spartanburg still has their Sunday news and public affairs program.

Nice upgrade for Raleigh/Durham. But they need to upgrade and modernize the news studio at WSOC. Although I realize the Charlotte ABC affiliate is owned by Cox and not Disney/ABC. But overdue for an overhaul in the Carolinas' largest market.

I think they should return the CBS Eye logo to the bottom screen graphics. The solid one next to the correspondents name and the transparent one during the rest of the broadcast. They still use the logo on the other CBS News broadcasts as well as entertainment programming. And I think they should still use the Washington studio when major vents of the day originate from DC. Such as State of the Union, election and other political coverage. The DC studio is still a very nice studio and can easily be modified for various broadcasts. Although most of the time the new Evening News can still remain a New York broadcast.

They could return her to the morning news since Nate Burleson is now busy with the game show and sports telecasts, but I think he has been a good addition so I don't foresee any changes there.

I always enjoyed Bob Scheiffer hosting Face the Nation and the CBS Evening News. Washington insider, very congenial, appealing presence. Margaret has a harder edge but does a good job.

Have they announced yet what Norah's next assignment may be? Or is she leaving CBS?

Yes DC has always had strong, legendary news stations. Back in the day on WRC you had Jim Vance, Doreen Gentzler, Bob Ryan, George Michael and Arch Campbell. And WUSA featured Gordon Peterson, Maureen Bunyeon and Warner Wolf. And WJLA had Renee Poussaint. Great talent back in the day.

Yes very nice to allow Norah to anchor the Inauguration coverage, which is good since she has anchored the political coverage the past few years. Gives a since of continuity and completion to the election coverage, and good be a way to introduce Dubois and Dickerson into the coverage if they choose to. Might be helpful to the transition.

Has there been any word regarding Hoda's future plans with NBC? Or has she totally departed the network?

I think the CBS Evening News may be the best network broadcast, both journalistically and aesthetically. And Nora O'Donnell is polished, polite, and professional. I just don't understand why they are making these talent changes. Well, nevermind, I guess it all comes down to the ratings and the demographics. But I thought Nora otherwise was doing an excellent job. In previous generations, growing up, my preferred news anchors were Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and then I transitioned to Peter Jennings.

And I guess it is still too scandalized to consider bringing back Matt Lauer, and it probably would cause backlash and a PR issue. Which does beg the question, reminiscent of his famous old segment, "Where is Matt Lauer?" Although it would nice to see Katie and Meredith make some return appearances. They sometimes show up now and then, and I believe are still in good standing. And maybe have KLG guest host with Jenna sometimes, but she has apparently moved on to personal projects in Tennessee. Craig Melvin is a solid choice, and a guess they decided to leave Willie Geist on Sundays and MSNBC. But will definitely miss Hoda and her positive attitude and pleasant demeanor.