MediaZone4K

Let's just take a moment to celebrate how far CBS has come aesthetically. That newsroom looks great and I love the brown accents on the graphics package. It reminds me of Katie Couric era CBS Evening News. I would argue CBS News now has the best sets of big 3 broadcast networks. I don't recall WCBS or CBS making a formal on air announcement of John and Maurice taking over CBSEN. The OG press release also described Margaret Brennan as leading the political coverage whenever news breaks. I'm curious to see how this dynamic will play.

Agreed. Other than ad revenue there's no reason for MY 9 to still be on the air. It hasn't been worth watching since UPN went defunct. When first learning about the industry, I was surprised New Jersey doesn't have it's own DMA. But again, Jersey is well covered by New York and Philadelphia stations. For those who can still afford cable there's News 12 --assuming they still do a good job. Likewise, due to the state's geographic and cultural proximity to both cities, is a dedicated DMA necessary? Perhaps any New Jerseyans here feel differently?

Norah's current set is great. After the NYC relocation I would either hope for a recreation of Nora's DC set, something like this photo, or that virtual media wall set on CBS 24/7. Honestly the 24/7 set might be more unique since the CBSEN has tried everything at this point.

I get that part. And yes, a licensed station not fulfilling its obligation technically is an issue.... but does that matter in the grand scheme of things if stations licensed to neighboring communities are providing you comprehensive coverage?

Granted WWOR is licensed to New Jersey but why is the state so protective of the station when channels like 4 and even 7 cover New Jersey pretty well?

Sidebar, this is a great looking desk and set and hopefully it or one like it is used once CBSEN relocates to NYC.

Move the local news up to 10-11/9-10c so they can get that full hour of ad revenue. Put the late shows on 11/10c. I would imagine being seen earlier would help their ratings. Nightline especially would benefit from being earlier. Now, networks now only have to fill 2 hours of lack luster content a night. The solution should not be what some Fox stations do: news at 10 and 11pm ET (a full 90-95 minutes). News departments are stretched thin enough.

John Dickerson hosting tonight At some point he and Maurice should co-host or at least appear on screen together so viewers can get used to them.

I declined to say decades because I don't recall exactly when they stopped having primary hosts like Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace were originally.

A lot of us are seeing Scrippscasts as this major shift to the industry, but I'm beginning to realize the anchorless newscast concept has existed for a long time. This is perhaps the first serious attempt on daily local news. 60 Minutes has not had a primary host for years now, and has correspondents presenting the stories themselves. I cannot find the article anywhere but IIRC a New York City newspaper wrote about a NYC station, NBC New York Non-Stop perhaps, testing the idea of anchorless news broadcast around the late 2000s. ASU Cronkite School of Journalism also put out a pretty smooth college broadcast employing the same concept. No anchor newscasts are not the end of the world especially as we shift to digital. But it poses the risk of job elimination and a plain impersonable product. I'm especially curious to see how smaller markets with more VOs than packages pull this off. I don't mind it being a method of news delivery but I don't want it to become the standard. Scripps former Senior VP who was instrumental in this concept discusses it further here. Interestingly, and scarily, he has moved on to Graham. He brands himself as a "disruptor" and "innovator".

Almost looks Nexstar-ish with the tile and white light boxes. Not the worst, not the best set. Meh.

The previous Judge Judy show was better than the current. If a show like Judge Judy has a thousand plus library of episodes with evergreen scenarios, there's no sense in taking it off the air just because it's not making new episodes. Old sitcoms remain in syndication but there's this general feeling that daytime shows should be buried once they stop making new episodes.

It's good to see people who have actually been reporters elevated to positions of power in journalism. In general....Too often we have bosses, especially news directors and producers, who expect the wold. They have no idea about the timing and logistics needed to pull off field reporting and make slot because they were never reporters.

I am glad you mentioned this, I had similar observations. MSNBC is not the channel for breaking news anymore. It is largely political commentary. NBC News Now appears to be where the network is diverting their general news coverage to. Amid all their faults, CNN and The Fox News Channel are better at diverting from politics to cover breaking or general news. The exception I saw was Sean Hannity using his show to say FEMA funds were being diverted to illegal immigrants. MSNBC may break for a moment to cover an actual breaking story, but goes back to their status quo, orange man bad.

To rephrase... If I was being pushed out (as it seems) I wouldn't volunteer to be in the middle of a hurricane. But perfect point that events like the VP debate and this hurricane coverage would be waste to ease viewers into getting used to Maurice and John.

West Palm Beach is now going wall to wall in the aftermath of the tornadoes. WFTS appears to have the most on the ground coverage during landfall.

National update: Lester Holt and David Muir are anchoring on the ground in Florida. Norah O'Donnell however is in studio in Washington. She is however on her way out so I wouldn't blame her for opting out of storm coverage if that's how it went. West Palm Beach Stations were apparently going commercial free during their newscasts due Milton related to tornado outbreaks.

Interestingly Norah is the only evening news anchor not in Florida covering Milton. Don't blame her though. If I was on my way out I wouldn't do it.

Agreed. The Internet's 24/7 news cycle makes non-stop storm broadcasting somewhat unnecessary. Conversely, storm coverage is the draw factor for local stations especially in natural disaster prone areas like Florida. Unless Tampa outlets are using relaxed coverage as an opportunity to evacuate and let the staff tend to their lives, this is puzzling. Even more peculiar: the markets getting the outer effects of the storm, not the market getting landfall are going wall to wall? This might be a domino effect. Once one Tampa station decides to go nonstop, the others might follow to be competitive.

I can agree with that. If their delivery is declining and their appearance becomes disheveled, that's a good reason to hang it up. I'm just very careful of telling older people we don't want to see them anymore. Conversely, I've seen stations tell talent that they look too young to be taken seriously. It might be off-putting to see someone who looks 17 talking about retirement savings, but again, work should come down to ability and job performance over years lived.

As of Tuesday evening, non stop coverage in Ft Myers and Orlando, Tampa apparently not. Perhaps this is to allow station employees a chance to tend to their families and belongings?

Late to the party, I noticed ARC Morning Shows popping up across Sinclair. It means "Authentic, Relevant and Community". From what I saw out of WHAM and WPEC, they're very CW/Fox-type morning shows. I like this as opposed to straight news in the morning. Not a bad idea, could have used a better branding title though.

Interestingly I'm seeing WBBH WZVN Fort Myers go wall to wall, but (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't see any Tampa stations doing so (yet). Ironically, Tampa/Sarasota is supposed to be the market that gets a more direct hit.

SW Florida cant catch a break, Especially considering recovery from Hurricane Ian is still relevant. I wonder if Fox 4 will go live like their counterparts in Tallahassee, instead of a Scripps cast. I remember them going wall to wall during Ian prior to the Scripps cast cuts.

I can agree as long as you are not associating being a certain age with needing to quit. If ratings are low and an older anchor with a maxed out salary is not moving the needle, that's a legitimate reason to go. If there are mental or physical ailments preventing the anchor from doing their job effectively, that's a reason for them to go. But simply being over 65 is not ---not saying you're saying this, but this is a common attitude. Sidebar, if age is a factor, I'm surprised they took Sandra off weekends for a weekday slot. Then again, noon is the least consequential broadcast.