MediaZone4K

23 hours ago, TheRyan said:

 

My personal opinion is that graphics design peaked about when HD become commonplace on local stations around America.  Now, it's quickly becoming an overload of blandness and uninspired hoopla.  

 

And specifically in regards to ABC, I think WNT has decent graphics.  It strongly reminds me of the early to mid 2000s when Peter Jennings was still anchoring.  But their L3s aren't very impressive, I will say.

Agreed about modern TV graphics being bland. Graphics are so flat and dull now. 

In regards to HD, high-definition has not been kind to cheaply produced daytime television, many local newscasts included. Case and point being Tamron Hall's talk show and 'The Real' talk show. The lighting on 'The Real' especially is so fluorescent and washed out. 

9 hours ago, JosiahCubed said:

The graphics have been like that for years, even on CBSN (National, not local).

ABC's graphics are no prize either. NBC News has its flaws but it's graphics and studio design are usually the better of the 3 networks. You'd expect TV news graphics to get better as time advances but they seem to be getting worse.

Who is running the graphics at CBS? CTM, Evening News and Special Reports lower thirds look like PowerPoint slide creations. 

1 hour ago, MorningNews said:

I think there's a little more to it than the competition shake ups, GMA and Today are virtually the same levels of trash.  Both shows feel so rushed with an abundance of gimmicks and bad content. Today just has better production value.

 

Completely agree on Michael Strahan being a terribly under-qualified host for this show. It is painful watching him conduct an interview, I think the last time I watched he was interviewing a kidnapping victim and it was awful. He and Lara are virtually interchangeable so I'm not sure why they insist on keeping them both around.

 

I'm hoping for a major overhaul of the program in the next few years.

GMA and Today are both largely unwatchable, but Today is slightly better in story choice. GMA (and Today) habitually overuse "breaking overnight", "shocking" video etc.. CBS This Morning isn't all that but it's the more intelligent of the three programs with a more relaxed pace. What's on GMA these days would be acceptable from Inside Edition or Entertainment Tonight but not a show branded under "ABC NEWS".  Hopefully both shows make major changes in the 2020s. 

On 10/10/2019 at 7:36 AM, MorningNews said:

George Stephanopulos is coming up on 10 years as anchor of GMA. On Dec 14, he will have been part of the show for as long as Diane Sawyer was and just 2 years short of David Hartman’s run. He’s been part of the most successful period in the show’s history. Not at all what I expected when announced back in 2009. 

I'm sure it has to be frustrating for him to have to do some of the tabloidish silly content on the show. I really liked the dynamic when it was Groege, Robin, Lara, Josh and Sam. It was still tabloidish but watchable. The show feels crowded and over the top now. I like Michael Strahan, but they should just keep him on sports and maybe entertainment. Have Robin & George at the forefront more, get more "intellectual" content like there was under Hartman, Lunden, Gibson and Sawyer, and bring back that relaxed vibe. But they're still #1, so they've found what works for them. 

The news about Matt is upsetting because above all he was good at his job and the show was great under his tenure (pre 2013). He had a good thing going for him, all he had to do was not be a jerk. Moreover it was dumb of NBC News to hire Megyn Kelly for $20+ million. What they should have done was improve the 7-9a block with more intellectual story choice then axe the third and fourth hours.

He has a tabloid-ish kind of voice which makes him perfect for WSVN  or something like Hard Copy or Inside Edition, seems kind of off on WABC. He sounded great on WNBC  and WNYW though.

Guess the one saving grace at WCBS is its main studio and lighting is perhps the best in the market currently.

On 8/27/2019 at 12:20 AM, atlnewsfan03 said:

 

I agree with both AMC and OLTL coming back as half hour soaps, instead of full hour soaps.  Less is more.  Soaps having such rich histories and legacies associated with them.

I could see CBS mulling over reviving 1 or 2 of its canceled soaps, shortened to half hour broadcasts, if Let's Make A Deal or The Talk was to get axed.  As the World Turns, much like OLTL, was getting better near the end of its run.  Guiding Light may have been in trouble in its last years.  Or I could see Capitol being revived, even though it's been gone since 1987.

Agreed, less is more! At least the Talk and Lets Make A Deal have held their slots for the entire decade since GL & ATWT were canceled. ABC on the other hand scrapped 40+ year old OLTL & AMC for shows that lasted no time at all. If the soaps do return they'd be better off as half hour shows with better writing than they had in their final years. As much as I love those long running venerable sopas, I must admit they've been on a quality slide since the mid 2000s. 30 mins might be better for their strained budget..smaller cast, less content to fill 5 days a week. Likewise, given General Hospital's current quality they'd be better off being chopped to a half hour.

Prefer the KABC graphics. The current WABC package looks flat and bland. These graphics were my favorite of WABC's. Clean, sloid, and the triangular mics were a nice touch.

Woahhhh......stong reaction. Easy, its just a discussion, just sharing ideas. 

 I did not write, nor did I mean to imply that Jim and Kaity were coming back. I simply suggested that seeing them at 10pm again would be great. Might not be realistic but nothing terrible about stating that it would be cool if they'd return. The last thing I would want to do is spread misinformation. And since Jim and Kaity were removed we havent had an anchor pairing that lasted as long as them, which isnt't fake.

The saturated 5-7 pm part is also not fake either. Channels 2,4,7, and 5 all have newscasts at 5 and 6pm so it was a suggestion that PIX stick to mornings and 10pm. Moreover there were two attempts at a 6:30 newscast which havent lasted. 

Awards dont necessarily equate to viewers or actual quality, there have been complaints in the thread about WPIX, there is even a how to fix WPIX idea thread which means  that despite awards there is some desire for change at the station amongst viewers.

As for the Barclays set, it was just a suggestion that they could go back to the idea, and build off of it. 

I like channell 11 news, and there is nothing wrong with sharing a desire for some tweaks at the station. 

Yes accuracy is important. Spreading "fake news" was not the intention of the post. We get passionate about this common subject of intrest but we can share ideas or unpopular opinions. 

4 minutes ago, Action Newsroom said:

You just noticed that?

Welcome to the club.

For a while actually, good in the sense that it allows the o&o's more of a measure of individuality.

Going waaaaay back here, the "steps"/platform leveling design of the 70s was cool, since every station set is the same these days (desk, video wall displaying skyline), a modern take on this might be a unique way to switch it up:

Noticing ABC's O&O graphics aren't as uniform as NBC & CBS. Liking KABC's on air look. It'd be cool to see this used on WABC.

At this point, WPIX might have to go back to news at 5-9 am and 10 pm only. The saturated 5-7pm slot is already dominated by WABC, WNBC, and WCBS, who all have basically identically formatted newscasts.

WPIX has always been a standout in the mornings and at 10. With Greg Kelly out at GDNY for about a year now, better graphics, a better set, and maybe (another major overhaul in the mornings) might give them a boost. A massive move would be to improve their street side studio at Barclays Center and do a Today plaza styled show. GDNY did this well when they went live from Times Sq for the super bowl. 

Likewise, a Jim Watkins/Kaity Tong 10pm reunion would be awesome and well overdue. WNBC pushed Sue Simmons out and hasn't had a solid replacement for her since. Just like WPIX pushed Watkins and Tong out for Applegate and we've had musical chairs at the anchor desk ever since. 

True.

The local news in NYC is feeling saturated with chs. 2 4 5 7 11 & 10/55 all having newscasts, with roughly the same reporting style (5 &11 having a few unique tweaks), plus 24/7 repeats on News 12 & NY 1, and CBSN NY

It would be nice to see WNBC relaunch a good quality version of the old "Live at 5" (before it became a regular style newscast).

The 4pm newscast is unnecessary. I can't see WNBC beating Eyewitness News or Judge Judy at 4:00. With all the news in NYC, more newscasts are just over the top. Perhaps the stations should adopt a less is more attitude when it comes to news output.

Hypothetical.....Today overhaul suggestion:

Anchors: Lester & Hoda

Newsreader : Natalie Morales 

Weather: Al Roker

Eliminate the 9-11am block, bring back the pre 2013 show format

GMA within itself became a clone of today when it moved to Times SQ in 1999, and now Today is getting beat in the ratings by it's once lesser duplicate

I miss how Today was up until Meredith left....CBS This Morning is almost the closest thing to that now, the more intelligent of the morning shows but it still pales in comparison to old Today

Yes, Fox stations are excessive with local morning news from 4:30-10am, or even KTLA 4am-12pm....local news is becoming saturated, GMA and Today should stay but CBS given their history might have to keep their options open in the AM

Scott Pelley is a decent journalist but he was a bit stiff/bland for the evening news....the broadcast hasn't been itself since Dan Rather cooked his own goose or even when Bob Schiffer left

I don't see Norah lasting long in the evenings...she can come off as snotty and biased at times...the evening news requires a "voice of God" personality like Jennings/Brokaw/Huntley etc...

The morning shows are really searching high and low as to how to get a better audience.....

GMA needs to lessen on the pop culture non sense and return to the Gibson/ London era format.

Today needs to simply go back to what they were doing when they were no.1: hard news, intellectual discussion/ guests, and return to 2 hours instead of 4 hours.

CBS....if having a national morning show hasn't been working for 50+ years now, just go the Fox/CW route and give the affiliates the airtime for a 5-9am local morning show at this point.

I like Gibson but moreso on GMA than World News

GMA has become so silly and tabloid, I like Robin George and Michael but the show could really use a bit more hard news and "intellectual" segments like it was under Lunden and Gibson

Liking that Fox 5 News is attempting to stray away from sloey fires, shootings etc..the typical local news coverage but the station still isn't the "go to" outside of GDNY in comparison to Chs. 2, 4. & 7.  

I would like to magically see Earnie Anastos & Kaity Tong perhaps reunited at 6:00 or 5:00

WNBC could use a lower third overhaul. The top graphics which displayed the date in the last image is basically unnecessary much like the gray bar at the very bottom of the screen beneath the crawl. Sounding old fashioned, but I liked when screen bugs were transparent, and only lit up when the "lower third graphic" popped up to display an anchor's name or informarion. I'm assuming the purpose for a lower third always displaying a headline now is so that audiences know exactly what the story is about when they turn to the station.