tylerSC

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.

On 5/22/2025 at 12:57 PM, cg4 said:

 

Remove the Fox branding? That's only for their CBS/NBC affiliates.

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.

4 minutes ago, mouseboy33 said:

 According to Deadline: She added that she has “made a long-term commitment to CBS News to continue to do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark. I will continue to contribute to Evening News and all of our news broadcasts, including 60 Minutes.”

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?

10 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

A news-heavy, major-market TV station in the nation's capital? I don't see the problem.

 

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.

17 hours ago, gbsgeo said:

 

Wish her well. I would like to see her considered as a cohost for Jenna on the 4th hour. She has filled in before and has the right type of personality for some of the lighter fare on that hour.  And then ask KLG back from time to time, making a guest appearance as she has sometimes continued to do.

On 11/22/2024 at 10:03 PM, Glimmer said:

Norah handling the inauguration before bowing out is classy on CBS’s part 

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.

10 hours ago, TheNewsTV said:

I thought it was strange not to have Sheinelle Jones today. Even Willie Geist appeared at one point in the show.

And of course Kathie Lee Gifford returned to honor Hoda in the fourth hour, where she hosted originally before Jenna Bush Hager. Jenna does a nice job, but I still think I enjoyed the original pairing of KLG and Hoda the best.

I kind of thought they might have Tom Llamas take over for Hoda on Today but perhaps they are saving him for when Lester retires from Nightly News. I wonder if he or someone else will show up as a supporting 3rd host as Craig Melvin has done previously.

WCNC Charlotte also debuted their renovated set today at noon. Main change was adding a new large video wall as the main backdrop behind the desk, replacing several monitor panels stacked vertically. Nice improvement, but the side video monitor wall and weather center remain the same. Overall a generic Tegna look similar to WXIA, but a nice upgrade.

Tegna seems to be upgrading WXIA and WCNC. As WCNC has been staging the anchors at the video wall and side areas in the studio rather than the main anchor desk, for about 2 weeks. It may be a renovation rather than a full rebuild set. Perhaps they are changing the video monitors behind the desk with a new backdrop. And perhaps a similar upgrade at WXIA.

On 3/5/2024 at 4:11 PM, Nelson R. said:

 Molly Grantham leaving WBTV and TV (will remain in Charlotte). 

Sorry to see Molly Grantham abruptly depart WBTV, as she was apparently forced out the door after she declined to renew her contract which expires at the end of the month. Rather than allowing her honorably finish 20 years of service, she was abruptly kicked to the curb wih no appropriate farewell or final broadcast. I would speculate Gray TV offered her an unsatisfactory contract, but whatever the case it is a shame to see her treated so disrespectfully. I hope to see her join WSOC or some other station if she so chooses and a contract is offered. WBTV continues to lose longtime legacy talent, incuding Paul Cameron, Maureen O'Boyle, Eric Thomas, Steve Ohnesorge, David Whisnant, and Steve Crump. Losing heritage credentials and class act reputation. More inclined to watch WSOC.

On 1/23/2024 at 10:48 PM, TennTV1983 said:

 

They've been stepping up lately as far as their in-house builds go. Not just at WJLA, but at other stations as well.

Yes they upgraded 13-WLOS in Asheville about a year ago, also very nice job. Although my antenna in Spartanburg actually pulls in WSOC Channel 9 from Charlotte much better in terms of ABC. And WSOC now has new Cox graphics, but seems a bit overdue for a new set themselves since the current version debuted inn 2012 and has only had a backdrop refresh in the years since. But good job by Sinclair with WLOS and WJLA.

Not sure why they want to remove the network logos from their branding. But I can confirm WBTV has removed the CBS Eye from the Channel 3 logo when they switched to grayOne. But WHNS is still branded FOX Carolina so I suppose the FOX logo will remain there, although they do not appear to have yet converted to grayOne. I receive both these stations with an antenna, so I can visibly confirm these graphics. Here in Spartanburg, WBTV Charlotte comes in strong just like a local channel which I can receive with an indoor antenna, while official CBS affiliate WSPA can be more of a challenge due to VHF. And WHNS comes in good, so 2 strong Gray stations here, although WJZY from Charlotte is also a strong signal, despite Nexstar downplaying the FOX affiliation. So it seems network branding and promotion may vary by market, despite the group package in some cases.

On 9/6/2023 at 10:03 PM, IIN4MU said:

She is no longer on the station website, and offers no hints of an employment change and any of her social media channels.

Apparently Carolyn Bruck may have finally departed WCNC. Need further confirmation here. She was well liked on both the morning and recently afternoon shows. But she has had at least 2 leave of absence periods in the past before ultimately returning. Hope to see her back on a CLT channel. Wish her good luck.

21 hours ago, TennTV1983 said:

No new switches to report, but apparently WBTV has a new logo now - which hasn't made it on air yet (this came from their VUit page).

This is different from the one @Axiom81 shared a few months ago, but the basics are about the same.

I am glad they changed their plan and decided to keep the legacy 3 channel branding in the new logo. WBTV has a strong familiar heritage as Channel 3 going back to the analog era as the first TV station in the Carolinas. Although they did eliminate the CBS logo from the new brand.