MediaZone4K

6 hours ago, 24994J said:

Ginger and Somara Theodore can handle 90% of what the network needs, with frequent calls to the affiliates for weekend fill-ins. They call up Sam to do a little weather & a little entertainment stuff, but there's zero need for him to return to the network, full-time. I like Sam, but he can't (won't) commit to 5 days a week at his current job, so why would anyone expect him to commit to a hard schedule at the top?

 

Frankly, if the network's 2 meteorologists (which Sam is not) were men, I don't think we'd have this constant conversation, pushing for Sam's return. Just saying.

I don't really see gender as a factor in this. 

If anyone is pushing for Sam's return, I would attribute that to his popularity, not because a "need" for a male meteorologist.

3 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

 By the end the only thing Rob did was pointless live shots in front of the Tappan Zee.....

Yes! Very pointless lives!

21 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Rob Marciano has been fired.

 

 

Yikes! Blatant speculation ahead...Does this leave room for Sam Champion do national weather content (not the weekends Since Sam apparently works 4 days a week). 

5 hours ago, MorganRadfordFan22 said:

He’s looked more frail compared to when in recent months?

In these interviews, one from nine months ago the other from a year ago his face appeared less drawn. His voice fading but not as weak. 

It appears WXIA has moved their hour-long noon newscast to 11 am. Their local lifestyle show Atlanta & Company and  Daytime Jeopardy now occupy the noon slot.

IIRC, 11 Alive had Atl & Co at 11AM then  paid programming at 11:30 as a weak lead in to the noon. Today, morning anchor Aisha Howard, and Christie Diez, were anchoring. Previously the much-promoted 4 pm team of Faith Jessie & Johnathan Martin were moved to noon as well.  (TV Passport)

Former CBS Evening News host Dan Rather was on CBS Sunday Morning today, his first appearance on the network since his 2006 ouster. Remarkably,  the Evening News has remained unstable in the 19 years since Rather left the desk in 05.  The piece was well done especially the shot of Dan under the old oak tree.

Sadly, Rather apprears more frail than he's looked in *very recent* months past. 

On 1/28/2024 at 12:06 PM, Jascarter said:

Beautiful tribute to Charles Osgood today. And really made you see how much the show is a former shell of itself. Charles was so curious and seemed to bring that curiosity into the show each week. Jane Pauley really doesn’t do that, and is there to really just introduce the stories. If Charlie was still hosting, it would still be on set. Otherwise where would they put the piano???

Toward the end, Charlie (who I loved) did little else but introduce stories. Jane turns a package now and then. 

Dan Rather was on CBS Sunday Morning today, his first appearance on the network since his 2006 ouster. The Evening News has remained unstable 19 years since Rather left the desk in 05. 

One of the biggest rationales for non competes in journalism is safe guarding intellectual property. From my time in a newsroom I can tell you that photographers and digital writers (who aren't under contract) are privy to just as much intellectual property and "company secrets" as reporters/anchors and producers (who were under contract). So, IMO that doesn't hold up. 

This might be a radial leap but contracts should be abolished for all LOW WAGE employees. It's one thing to lock in Hoda Kotb or Robin Roberts for two years when you pay them millions. But small to medium market MMJs/Reporters making around $20 an hour should have the freedom to leave if necessary, especially because companies do not care about living expenses etc..

Aside from wanting your face exclusively on their channel, contracts are typically a mechanism for stations to curb high turnover. They lock talent in rather than improving the working conditions (and pay) that cause the turnover to begin with. 

5 hours ago, C Block said:

 

 

He's writing this as if the industry isn't already a revolving door of talent. Has he watched the news at all in the last decade? Even in big markets, it's pretty astounding how much attrition there is on and off screen. I don't think I could name more than a handful of reporters on competing stations. When I turn on Denver TV, there's barely anybody recognizable to me on there.

 

 

Just look  at market 1! Half the reporting staff at WCBS, WNYW, and WPIX and to a lesser degree WNBC are unrecognizable---and this is the highest paid market. The only station that has heavily retained reporting talent is WABC. 

It's almost insane that a company can fire you (or you leave them) yet they can dictate your post employment actions in a "free country".

Anchors aside, I highly doubt the audience will abandon a station in droves if a reporter switches from say KABC to KNBC. So the rationale for post employment non-competes doesn't hold up to me.

Related anecdote --- During college I applied for a $12 h/r job at Uniqlo who said we couldn't hold any simultaneous retail jobs.  If someone is working in retail, most likely they only qualify to work within the industry. So how can you tell them they can't seek supplemental employment in their field?

Not surprisingly this same company that recruited directly from college campuses also told students with 8:00 a.m. classes that had to be able to close at 1:00 a.m. a few nights a week --- so I'm pretty sure they don't care.

Not sure where else to post this....Apparently the Federal Trade Commission has banned non-compete clauses. The announcement from the FTC website promotes NDAS as a better alternative to keeping trade secrets rather than non-competes.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes

The report criticized the clause as an exploitative practice to keep employees locked into low wage jobs rather than employers treating their employees better.

During the State of the Union President Biden criticized non-competes for banning a fast food worker from taking a simultaneous job at another fast food restaurant.

Any thoughts?

My question is.... does this ban now mean that a reporter can work at say ABC 7 and NBC 4 simultaneously, or does it just mean that ABC 7 cannot tell a reporter they are banned from working within X miles of their station for X months (post employment)? I'm thinking the latter.

In situations like these, I'm a big advocate of pre-recording the newscast and airing it after the game, instead of keeping the talent around to go live after the game. I don't think the audience cares whether or not the newscast was recorded live (in that instance). 

4 minutes ago, RealNews18 said:

No shocker Bill Ritter let his opinion show, station management should put a stop to it, you don’t really see any other local anchors including at his own station doing this, just him. 
 

I do agree with the whole weather team line up. Reagen has the personality for the lighter weekend morning newscast and would work great with Michelle. Brittany does great in the morning with the team and a promotion for Jeff is well over due 

Being the lead anchor (though not the longest tenured anchor) I'm sure he can get away with more than others at the station.

With the exception of Rosanna Scotto, I agree that I don't really see other anchors doing this

3 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

 As much as I admire Bill and as hard of a worker as he is, he should’ve not been brought in, as he was too close to the story, and it showed. On Saturday they were doing a story on how Trump was using the situation to fundraise, and Bill added in his own commentary. And I say this as someone who is not a fan of Trump. 

I like Bill too. But again, he needs to keep his side commentary to himself.

By his own admission he was expelled from college for leading an anti- war protest. I don't disagree with him for doing so, but it does show that Ritter is a strongly political person. That's okay. Just don't let it bleed into your reporting. 

On 3/25/2024 at 1:45 PM, Vlad said:

 

 Plus the 11 pm on Fridays is the lowest rated show

I'm surprised Saturdays at 11 doesn't hold that title. 

On 4/14/2024 at 2:33 PM, TVNewsLover said:

It seems that Sam makes his own schedule. 
 

On another note, Bill and Pedro co-anchored Saturday at 11pm with Lee doing weather.

Speculation: Sam wants his GMA gig back, but Ginger is there, so he can't.  

Two male anchors plus the lead anchor and meteorologist in on a weekend! interesting.

On 4/14/2024 at 6:24 AM, JTT said:

Why do they need a different anchor for Sundays?  Why can't the Saturday anchor work both days and have a couple of weekdays off like Mondays / Tuesdays or Thursdays / Fridays?  Or find someone that can anchor on both Saturdays and Sundays while also contributing during the week without working everyday.

(Not that anyone wouldn't be happy to anchor a national evening newscast) but they might be  having trouble finding people who want to give up both days of their weekend.

On 4/2/2024 at 5:05 AM, RealNews18 said:

It looks pretty cool I will definitely have to tune in and watch it at some point, it’s definitely something different even from the channel 5 format. 

Yup, but I think Ch 2's experiment though is executed better than Ernie's. I remember a segment where he sat at the edge of his office desk style anchor desk and he was holding a baseball or something to talk about that subject. It felt a little cheesy/contrived, but  I still appreciate the effort they made in delivering a non standard newscast with positivity.

The earthquake coverage really highlighted the difference in tone between the two stations. From what I saw of the extended coverage and Noon, CBS 2 had John and Cindy stery covering this in a serious tone. Meanwhile, around 11am on Fox 5 Rosanna, Curt and the GDNY crew were expectedly more light hearted. Rosanna even said she though she could could have been drunk since the earth was shaking, lol. 

10 hours ago, RealNews18 said:

It looks pretty cool I will definitely have to tune in and watch it at some point, it’s definitely something different even from the channel 5 format. 
 

As for the “no tie” I’m a little surprised that Maurice would go more casual where this morning Chris is still in a tie, I could see the morning show being a bit more casual or even if Maurice anchors the new 6 show (Sam Champion, Mike Woods and of course Mornings at 10) but I’m surprised for the 5pm show 

As much as we should be focused on journalistic quality rather than wardrobe, it does impact viewers in part.  

If CBS was trying to make things feel different with no tie, I don't really think it's effective, because so many reporters already do it.

I enjoy when male talent like Shannon Sharpe or Nate Burleson stepping out of the conventional blue/black/gray suit look. Sports anchors do this well. We have a very homogenous news talent style and newscast format across the industry---I won't declare that switching up style will add more viewers, but adds personality at least. 

Love the dim, warm lighting and the blue/purple gradient of the set. Hope they use it for the 11:00 news. 

I liked the sit down debreifs with Elle McLogan and Tim. I also like that they're trying the borough *reporter concept such as Elle covering Queens.

Not bad changes. They *add a little variety to the standard format.

I thought the point of removing Dick and Dana was to have their full A-team on at at six, not just Kristine solo. I still don't see why Dick and Dana couldn't do this? 

13 hours ago, badabing said:

Additionally, Maurice went without a tie and open collar for 5pm today, which was… different. 

Perhaps to give off a more informal vibe? If they're tweaking wardrobe to affect viewer perception, Nate Burleson does it well! 

Overall CBS 2 News is a clean cut solid news product. I definitely watch them more than I do Fox 5 or PIX 11. But again their presentation feels stiff minus a few personalities like Lonnie, Marcia and John Elliott. 

On 3/29/2024 at 8:53 AM, nycnewsjunkie said:

t’s also entirely possible that she was ready to retire and he wasn’t.

We should probably shift this to the WNBC thread before the moderators step in.

I will say that Sue definately wasn't ready to retire. She said at 10:58 that she hoped to be employed elsewhere, even at least once a week. 

6 hours ago, Abraham J. Simpson said:

There is zero chance Y&R gets cut. Less than zero. If this new show makes it to air, the Talk is toast. 

I would love to see The Talk go . 

Let's be cautious about speaking in absolutes when you also absolutely said soaps were done for. You've also questioned wether CBS would actually get rid of The Talk. 

The fact that they're even entertaining the launch of an hour long soap in 2024 is indication that wildcards are possible at this point. 

On 1/31/2024 at 9:57 PM, FiveNews said:

To the latter question- FOX TV stations management have issued a directive to expand news at the O&O stations. 

 

 

Absolutely loving the dark lighting and neon contrast on the set. It fits the vibe of late night news. Though I'm not one for the infinite expansion of local news, I appreciate that Fox O&O stations try to get creative with their formatting.

On 2/1/2024 at 2:21 PM, JTT said:

I wonder if the stations will add a weekend morning newscast?

Must be, because I was wondering how much more can Fox stations expand, unless they're aiming for KTLA level output.

https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2024/03/the-gates-cbs-george-cheeks

Apprently the President and CEO of CBS, George Cheeks, says The Gates is likely being developed as an hour soap. So that furthers the question of where will it fit? 

Plus, --correct me if I'm wrong--none of the soaps that started out as an hour were successful.

We can endlessly speculate, but as always, wait and see.

Either they pushed back the start date or I was mistaken but April 15th is the start date. The middle of the month rather than the 1st does seem like an odd time to start a new newscast though.

6 hours ago, Route66Fan said:

One problem with this schedule is that CBS affiliates in the Central & Mountain time zones may balk at the idea of having a network show at 9AM. 

This would not push the line up into 9am. All this is doing is splitting Y&R in half to fit The Gates.

But yes, what confuses things further is that the CBS daytime lineup isn't standardized across timezones. Y&R aires at 11 AM PT, then news, then B&B which screws up the carry over audience method.

16 minutes ago, Colortini said:

Harry has always been my favorite morning anchor, especially when paired with Paula Zahn on CBS. A total class act, and I always hoped when CBS fumbled and NBC picked him up that he would take over Today, especially after the whole Matt Lauer scandal. Either way, a great career indeed. Happy retirement, Harry—you’ll be missed but job well-done!

Harry & Hoda. That would've been great come to think of it!