MediaZone4K

NEW to YT: Weekend Today (2003) David Bloom death, the same morning. It's nice that they brought in the weekday anchors to hold down the fort with Soledad after Bloom's tragic passing.

'Today' 1963 (3 days after JFK's Murder). What's striking is the novel like descriptive language from Hugh Downs concerning the pomp and circumstance of the president's funeral! You just don't get this anymore!

Ultra flat green logo box for earth day! Like the concept. Would have been cool if it were the circle 7 interior that was green. 

On 4/14/2022 at 11:57 PM, SoFloTVClassics said:

 

On 4/14/2022 at 11:57 PM, SoFloTVClassics said:

9/11 coverage from Knoxville, TN

Cool to see coverage of that tragic day from smaller markets. At first I questioned why they would name a newscast "volunteer news".... until I realized it was Tennessee's nickname.

I also hardly hear southern accents when I see news clips from the south,  presumably because the talent might be plants from out of state as reporters tend to move through markets.

On 4/14/2022 at 11:57 PM, SoFloTVClassics said:

 

On 4/13/2022 at 8:28 AM, Geoffrey said:

 

Does a shooting where no one even suffered life-threatening injuries really warrant national anchors on the scene? Sometimes events in New York get treated with exaggerated importance simply because it seems so much bigger to the entire staff.

 

I was working at at station one night when there was a minor car accident outside the front of the building during our newscast. People in the newsroom got excited and sent a photographer down there because they wanted video on the air as soon as possible. In the minutes that followed, cooler heads prevailed and it was determined that it shouldn't even register as a story.

 

Clearly a subway shooting is a much larger story but I think network producers based in New York need to take a breath.

I get this pov. I will say that the idea of a mass shooting/smoke bombing in the NYC Subway, the climax of years of being dangerous, is what drew the national hype. Add a manhunt to that and it's the perfect storm for media hype. International stations like 9 Australia were covering it. I even had relatives calling me from out of state to check to see if everything was alright.

2 hours ago, MisterBill said:

 

FWIW, this constant coverage when they don't know all the details, it's not a current situation and no new information is coming in doesn't seem warranted. I know that it's a big story and a terrible thing that happened, but having the anchors and reporters just talking about what happened is not a good use of air time when they could be showing regularly scheduled shows. They could easily have broken in when more information became available.

Good perspective. People get the impression that the station doesn't care when they see regualr programming running. Perhaps in a major event like this where no new details are immediately avalible, it might help to run a red ticker at the bottom of the screen  with updates, or a message to say that the news team is following the situation. 

49 minutes ago, DMA said:

There's been a major subway shooting/explosion AND the Lieutenant Governor has been arrested. WNBC has dumped out of Today, WCBS has left Drew, and WABC is still with Live...tells you all you need to know of WABC's priorities here. 

Wow!

11 minutes ago, nynewslover said:

I would agree the talent really isn’t strong as they once were. And the product isn’t all that great. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous with what Sam Champion goes on air wearing (1/2 the time not even a jacket) Bill Ritter in my book has no credibility and his comments are ridiculous (his social media posts about how many masks he’s wearing and how many Covid tests he’s taken arent so great either). And I would rathe see someone else at 5.. I would agree the strongest team they have right now is Joe and Sandra. Michelle needs a weekday spot at the desk. 
 

I actually like Maurice and Kristine at 5 fwiw. 

Agreed that Joe & Sandra are the strongest team and that Maurice & Kristine are strong at 5. 

I dont mind male anchors steping outisde the blue black gray suit monotony, so longs as its in the relm of business formal. ESPN anchors nail this. Sam's choices however sometimes look odd . 

EDIT: Overall I like WABC's team because it has the least reporter turnover and great, consistent anchors.

Aside from the need to update the aesthetics, the music is fine. Actually I'd opt to return to the late 80s/early 90s version of Cool Hand Luke.

In terms of news product I think WABC has the most recognizable brand but WNBC is my prefrence. WNYW has the weakest news product outisde of it's feature specials like Street Soliders. WPIX isn't strong either outside of the "Morning News". Overall News 4 and Eyewitness News are the strongest news wise. 

Is no one behind the scenes speaking to Ritter about his editorializing or does he have leeway as the station's lead newsman?

10 hours ago, NYPhillynews said:

I’ve felt WABC’s visual on air presentation feels very medium market. They could learn a thing or two from their sister station WPVI in Philly about in house graphic creation. 
 

KABC has the best on air visuals of any of the O&O’s Imo 

Agreed! KGO and KABC look much better. WCBS currently has the best set in the market and WNBC has typically been the market's visual presentation champion.

9 hours ago, WeatherandTraffic said:

Because their days are so long, especially the morning shift. In at 3am and out by at least 1:30. No wonder why Amy Freeze left. 

Yes! I wonder if the talent ever pushes back against increasingly earlier start times? I suppose there's no money in going the WSVN route and re-running your 11pm newscast at 4:30am? 

Again, due to earlier start times, stations should have an AM team soely handle mornings, have a midday team for  11a/12p & 4/5 pm and an evening team for 6 & 10/11pm. 

23 hours ago, nynewslover said:

The lighting of the overall set seemed off too me.. it also looked like they are slightly less social distancing.. 

Its very dark blue for a daytime newscast. This would more fly for anything 5-11 pm.

Again, WABC is good at news but their visual presentation has never been strong.

7 minutes ago, froyo49 said:

From Brian Stelter's Reliable Sources newsletter: Norah O'Donnell renews with CBS News

 

 

The link to the story referenced in the newsletter: https://puck.news/norah-odonnell-makes-her-next-career-move/ 

I'm actually surprised by this.

Judge Mathis & Millian are hangin in there hopefully!

On 4/4/2022 at 9:57 AM, noggi said:

 

You're asking if anyone watches the morning show that happens to have the most total viewers? (Today wins narrowly in some demos). 

 

They must be doing something right... it's almost as if a majority of viewers don't care about news and would rather wake up to something softer and more digestible. 

I don't think GMA is all that great of a news/entertainment program anymore --- neither is modern Today. GMA's news product feels hard to sit through as half their stories go beyond the typically hyperbole. Basically, Inside Edition Lite.

The only reason I suppose GMA is still number one is because ABC has strong local stations. The Robin/George/Lara/Josh/Sam period was strong. The addition of Strahan (however unnecessary) has as made their anchor line up even more recognizable. GMA is better at pop and out of studio segments like when they went to a school to promote Abbott elementary.

Edit: To me, GMA has stronger personalities. Michael and  especially TJ have great energy. Add them to George as the hard news man and Robin who's a great bridge between the serious and light stuff. 

Today however is better at news and feature stories, but it hasn't fully recovered from the Ann Curry debacle. The program has been significantly dumbed down since the fourth hour was added, even more so following Meredith and Ann's departures. Katie Couric said it herself in her biography: the hard news segments got shorter and true crime stories increasingly appeared in the 7:00 hour.

On 12/18/2021 at 4:37 AM, bmasters1 said:

 

So basically, no matter how old or new it is, if it's Sony-owned, it's blocked on YouTube?

Yes. Prime example, most accounts posting clips of The Young & The Restless eventually get taken down.

On 3/30/2022 at 7:59 AM, wabceyewitness said:

If it were another public figure such as an actor who takes a leave of absence from a TV show or a singer who cancels concert dates, the press would speculate and demand answers as to the cause.  There’s often a double-standard in television news when it comes to on-air talent, who are public figures, and their lives. Suddenly, the newsroom decides to respect a person’s privacy to the point of not even acknowledging anything has occurred. 

On 3/29/2022 at 11:12 PM, 24994J said:

When, hopefully it's not true, but either way, it is nobody's business what "family" thing kept her off the air.

I was wondering where Liz was so I understand public curiosity. In her position however, I'd do the same. Keeping my business private, and give a bland answer to explain my absence. I'd want the public more concerned with my journalistic work than my personal life. 

2 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

WCBS brought in Dick Brennan to anchor with Jessica Moore before the grammys. I'm guessing Maurice/Kristine/Lonnie will pop up after as per tradition

It's Dick and Jessica at 11 according to the teasers.

NBC Nightly News (1991) my favorite of their various newsroom world map backgrounds. Love that the background changes based on shot, so studio segments dont look monotonus.

Third image: I'm surprised the  background had depth. I assumed it was flat and we'd see the newsroom from that angle.

NBC's Today (1956)

The upper floor couch area looks nice, I like the yellow one on one interview chairs. The tiled "GMA" video wall next to the carpeted group discussion circle looks nice. It works for today's video wall area but it's not superior to the textured living room sets from days past posted here earlier. The L3 graphics aren't all that.

Good Morning America revamp (1999). About as homely and middle America as it could get!

15 hours ago, Mrknowitall526 said:

Why did the morning show "sit in a living room" kind of atmosphere ever go away?

I feel the same. The video wall trend doesn't give the homely effect that the old physical living room sets used to. 

I really wish Kaity and Brenda were given weekday slots, they could've anchored the 6PM news daily (if Pix had a 6PM newscast back then). Tamson & Korey are just there... PIx needs more faces in the evenings to mix things up.

SUGGESTION:

A team: 4 , 6 & 6:30pm

B team: 5 & 10pm

I was wondering myself it it was a green screen. Aside from the headlines, IMO Sunday Morning doesn't really need to be live because it's primarily feature pieces. 

22 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

or Dick Brennan who's already on their roster. Dana and Dick anchored at 5 today. They should split it Maurice/Kristine 5 and 11 and Dana/Dick 6 and 9pm (which only totals to 1 hour given the 9 stays a half hour).

Dick Brennan is who I ment to say, I confuse the names at times.

The split is a good idea...or I would put them at noon & 6 to cut down on the morning crew being there from after about 3 am.

Flipboard News cites the Soap Opera Network --- which cites Broadcasting & Cable --- stating that "The Drew Barrymore Show" will air in two half hour blocks beginning next season. If this is true it looks like the first step out the door for the sophmore show. I like Drew's friendly personality, but her talk show never clicked for me. Drew had too much hyper-enthusiasm that it felt unnatural and slightly irritating. 

On the positive side her show had a great set (that does't look cheap, especially in HD). Moreover it's 70s themed design was imppeacable, especially the Drew's news set.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/flipboard.com/@soapoperanetwrk/tv-news-fnfiu132z/report-the-drew-barrymore-show-to-air-in-half-hour-blocks-for-season-three/a-EN-I0uc_TU-UVHQHyKHg5g%3Aa%3A3382278662-e92c825d9a%2Fsoapoperanetwork.com%3Fformat%3Damp