MediaZone4K

10 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I honestly believe the only shuffling that needs to be done is amongst the 4 afternoon/evening anchors. Have Dave & Liz anchor at Noon and 5pm, and Bill & Sade at 4pm, 6pm, and 11pm. That way each anchor pair is on 2 hours and no one from the morning anchor team (Shirleen) is being stretched. They should invest in an additional weather person honestly.

Agreed about the stretching. I think more stations should move away from the practice of having early morning anchors also do the noon newscast. That's honestly a crazy schedule from about 3:30 am to after 1pm (for anyone working in or out of media).

11 hours ago, MetroCity said:

WABC has never been big on shuffling current anchors around unless there is a very good reason (such as when Diana Williams retired). 

I like the consistency of  ABC 7's talent. WCBS and WNYW have too many shuffling faces amongst their reporters. WNBC isn't far behind but they have a decent anchoring and reporting crew. Overall, IMO, Eyewitness News & News 4 are the best in the market. WNYW, WPIX and WCBS (outside of Maurice & Christine) are all iffy.

On 5/18/2021 at 2:23 AM, Liugrad2020 said:

How about Joe and Sandra at 5?

To accommodate that I'd put:

AM Ken & Shirleen

Noon & 4pm David & Liz

5p Joe & Sandra

6 & 11p Bill & Sade 

But the anchor lineup is solid as it is across the board so I'd just find someone to anchor with Sade at 5 other than Bill.

41 minutes ago, Liugrad2020 said:

Perhaps SB is being considered for a weekday spot?

It would be cool to have Sandra as Sade's co anchor at 5, instead of stretching Bill between 5, 6 and 11, but she and Joe are a strong weekend duo so I'd leave that alone.WABC really has the strongest anchor lineup in the market.

What is it about ABC o&o's that they typically dominate?

On 5/14/2021 at 11:01 PM, RealNews18 said:

Anyone know what’s going on with Sade? She hasn’t been on at 5 but has been on at 11. 

Noticed this as well. I've been seeing Sandra Bookman alot at 5:00.

The 7 a.m. half hour on Thursday with the Liz Cheyney interview was pretty good. Today could be a quasi serious, respectable news program again, if it tried. Its also great that they re incorporated the news reader role with Craig Melvin.

I'm seeing an additional 10am ET hour of GMA. I don't see a live bug on screen, so not sure if it's pre-redorded during the 9a ET hour when affiliates are airing local morning news, or if it's a repeat of the 8 a.m. ET hour?

2 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

What was the 09/10 look again?

This was the 2009 redesign. I liked the moving green red orange color lines concept on the upper bar.

The approx 2012 remodel would have been better had it been centered rather than attached to the right, leaving too much space on the left.

The 2013 update was just atrocious.

To its credit, this new L3 (if the white boxes were added to all graphics and not just the breaking news one) looks better than GMA and CTM's, which isn't saying much. I'm surprised to hear myself say this but the generic white box would have elevated the look in this case.

GMA is just a big blue box and CTM's graphics (as someone stated) looks like an unreal news program on a TV show. Their best L3 was their debut look in 2012.

Except for the previous package, Today has really struggled with lower thirds since they axed the 2009/2010 look.

The previous look was better, cleaner, and simpler. 

IMO I like the diagonal sides concept but the angle looks too steep.

The breaking news L3 on the other hand looks better because of the white box addition, instead of the solid color taking up the whole bar.

On 4/15/2021 at 6:15 PM, LoadStar said:

I still run into people that think FOX and/or FOX News are owned by Disney. They heard about Disney buying 20th Century, and didn't realize that the purchase excluded FOX and FOX News.

Does Fox care (at least in my view) that have a brand confusion issue? The news division casting a shadow over the entire entity.   WFXT "Fox 25" in Boston even went as far as to rename themselves "Boston 25" to escape the Fox News associated conservative bias misidentification from viewers. 

On 4/15/2021 at 6:09 PM, newscopter7 said:

The collateral impact to GMA if CBS snagged Stephanopoulos might make it worth it. 

Off topic from CBSEN but I think TJ Holmes has the right lively personality to co-anchor with Robin and Michael.

As for CBSEN, Bob Schiffer was a great successor and I wish he had stuck around until his  retirement in 2015 for stability sake. Schiffer staying on CBSEN, Williams then Holt on NNN and Koppel on WNT (had he not left ABC) would have been a great continuation of the big three era.

Fox News  as well as CNN & MSNBC are bad for the American public. They provide a hyperbolic sense of urgency to many continually unfolding matters and instill a fear in their viewers of the opposing political side. It's unfortunate that a lot of the less media literate will eat up whatever CNN, MSNBC, and Fox spews. 

What I've also noticed is that many average viewers don't make a distinction between The Fox News Channel, the Fox broadcast network and their local Fox affiliates. Case and point, someone I know questioned why I would watch "Fox News", after I had shared a screenshot of a weather forecast from a local Fox affiliate. 

Similarly, a friend of mine expressed skepticism that a network like Fox (associating it with the Fox News Channel) would air something like "Empire" , unaware that  broadcast Fox had a history of airing urban and (and less conservative oriented) shows like In Living Color, Martin, Living Single and Married With Children.

Interestingly enough big Fox airs shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons which have openly lampooned Fox & Fox News. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other major media entity that lets such sharp in house criticism of its parent corporation go uncensored. 

As I've expressed before CBS News doesn't really have in house talent that could sustain the Evening News. The few exceptions would be perhaps Ted Koppel, and maybe Leslie Stahl. They need someone that posses a "super anchor" like presence, commanding of audience attention.

Gayle, Norah, and Jane Pauley have the right personality for mornings. Oprah & Gayle function very well as the "big prime time special interview" getter that ABC had in Diane Sawyer and Barbra Walters. I like Margate Brenan (she does well occasionally subbing for Norah on CBSEN) and John Dickerson on politics.

IF for speculation sake they were planning on replacing the Evening News anchor, I think they would need to snatch a big name from an outside network. Someone like Shepard Smith, Wolf Blitzer, or George Stephanopoulos among others. 

I don't mind all the shows being under a single brand but MSNBC should have stuck with the 'MSNBC Live' brand IMO. It gives a continuous coverage feel, and average viewers probably just say their watching MSNBC rather than the program name unless it's Rachel Maddow or Joy Reid etc....

The new L3's  are more of the same but I prefer them over the previous package. Regardless cable news could stand to diversify itself from this heavy white box look. No gloss, no shine no transparency, just flat and white. From what I've seen sports channels like ESPN have completely outdone cable news where graphics and set design are concerned.

Their early 2000s look was strong and more creative. Followed by their mid 00s and early 2010s looks. 

What is the alternation pattern for WCBS between the main set and the CBSN set? So far it seems they use the CBSN studio for noon, 6 p.m., and weekend evenings and nights, and the main set for all of the times. In other words, anytime there's a solo anchor broadcast?

4 hours ago, MetroCity said:

New York is too different from region to region for one statewide newscast to find traction. Upstate people hate downstate people; the (NYC) northern suburbs don’t care about anything or anyone other than Metro North; Long Islanders are too busy being stuck in traffic; and everyone hates Staten Island.

 

I think the solution for WPIX is to move out of Midtown East, and move to Queens. Then, build a newscast and image that is New York City, other than Manhattan. Forget Manhattan news. Concentrate on the other four boroughs and their 7,000,000 residents. 
 

It’s harder to do, and requires some real outside the box work. But it would give New York something it doesn’t have: a newscast that resembles and reflects New York.

I like that outer borough centric approach. But instead of Queens, I'd say move to Brooklyn which seems to be the second epicenter of the city now.

The older WPIX had a more urban appeal maybe they can bring that vibe back. ( Fox 5 sort of has that going for them with Lisa Evers and Street soldiers). Perhaps they could attempt a WSVN tabloid hard-boiled type newscast to set themselves apart from the other stations. Was always curious how that approach might work in New York.

16 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Wonder Fox is studying a new format. GDLA has become heavily focused around Michaela P as well.

Hopefully not. Neither she nor Lori can carry that 3 hour broadcast solo. Can't belive it but the PIX 11 Morning News is beginning to grow on me with that team vibe they have now.

I've been noticing Rosanna anchoring GDNY solo. I'm surprised they wouldn't give her a fill in host for that 3 hour slot.

13 hours ago, Camera1 said:

This new desk is starting to look familiar.  Just needs some flowers in front.

if only morning news sets could look that great again.

The new Fox o&o logos are too plain. The blue/red rectangle logos and WNYW's 90s logos were more creative. 

15 hours ago, Liugrad2020 said:

 

 I thought she was good was mornings and Ann was better for evenings.

Last off topic thing to add, agreed about Elizabeth vs Ann.

21 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Honestly, the breaking news should be handled by whoever is in studio at that moment. Anything up until 1:30ish should be George and everything after should be David. I also feel that they should be each other’s primary backups on their respective programs.

Agreed! Plus, special events like the Inauguration or the Election, they can co-anchor. 

1 hour ago, Liugrad2020 said:

I don’t think this would happen but it would be something if TL was headed to CBS and not NBC and he ends up anchoring the CBS Evening News.

Tom is okay but I doubt he'll give CBS the rise it needs. Heck the only person I see at CBS with has the "presence" to be lead anchor is Ted Koppel, lol. If only he were younger and up to it! If he didn't retire in '05 he would have been a solid replacement on WNT instead of Vargas and Woodruff. 

On 1/25/2021 at 7:48 PM, Gavin said:

When she was unfairly latinolized by the terrible Elizabeth Vargas. 

Speaking of Elizabeth Vargas, I always thought she had a good personality for mornings. I saw her co-anchor on a 90s Thanksgiving Edition of "Today' and she was pretty solid. 

6 hours ago, MorningNews said:

I’ve grown to really admire George on GMA but honestly he and David Muir are better suited for each other’s programs than their own.

 

Besides that point, George is just a better breaking news anchor than David seems to be. I don’t like this development but David is pulling 10M viewers a night, he can ask for whatever he wants.

I'm inclined to agree! David Muir has a personality that can shift from the "seriousness" and breaking news to the fluffy crap of GMA. George is more stiff. He's good at hard news, breaking coverage and politics. But yes, it does seem odd to have George come in to anchor coverage in the afternoon when David is there, then alternate weekends on This Week. I'm surprised they don't co-anchor coverage of events like Lester and Savannah do on NBC. 

Hypothetically, if they wanted to compromise George and David could do a dual head anchorship like Huntley/Brinkley. They could split duties like the early days of WNT where George would cover politics and international news and David covers the U.S. and the fluff. As you pointed out David brings in the numbers so I wouldn't mess with that. 

Crazy! I was just tinking about Matt Gutman's previous suspension when I saw him reporting on the Tiger Woods crash.

Lester is pretty solid as anchor of Nightly News, David Muir is pretty good too (ABC News however....). The only Evening News anchor I see could being unseated in the near future is Nora O'Donnell, not that CBS has anyone better at the moment.