MediaZone4K

Is Fort Myers even that lively of a metro area to require that many newscasts? (wouldn't combine with previous post)

I thought WSVN was extreme then I saw KTLA. At least KTLA's morning product is infotainment. WSVN has a straight hard newscast in the morning time. if they can pull off Deco Drive for this long I'm sure they can try their hand at "Good Day Miami".

IMO thats the issue, more news. I'm not sure how high quality of a news product NBC News Daily will be if we use the Today Show and Nightly News as a barometer, not to mention MSNBC. Its probably going to be more of the same, COVID, Climate Change, Ukraine, Jan 6th/Trump, and Inflation, viral video, wash-rinse-repeat. Plus, I think the pessimism stems from the fact that daytime television is now beoming a vat of stale repetitive talkshows, and local news overload. As bad as soaps have become people still like the idea that a bit of traditional comfort viewing remained in daytime. If you think this is bad, WBBH NBC 2 in Ft Myers, FL barely has a daytime lineup outside of news. The only thing keeping them from a 7 PM newscast is Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

About a two years ago I though CNN was hopeless and done for, then a few rays of light in the post Zucker era. Will CNN finally be great again? Don't want to get my hopes up because the 2024 election is right around the corner so CNN might go back to non stop Trump coverage mode. Never forget when Ted Koppel told Brian Stelter the reality of what CNN had become:

19 years ago today was the great Northeast blackout of 2003:

I was thinking of that pattern too, but I opted for the simplest split, Mon-Wed/Thu-Fri. Understandable. Profitability aside, my point was that the five new one-hour episode per week model is contributing to soaps quality struggles. Poor quality is part of the reason why audiences have drifted away from the genre. If soaps reduced their episode output and show length, that would lead to fewer *perhaps better* scripts and a smaller cast. A smaller cast means a smaller budget, more focused stories, less actors to pay, and fewer sets. Better quality might not get Luke and Laura level audiences to watch in droves but it would get some of the dedicated fans who gave up to tune in again. I'm not sure if Days of Our Lives on Peacock will have a five day or one day per week output. I'm curious to see if fans of the genre would be accepting of a one new episode per week structure.

For example CBS has two soaps. Y&R would air Mon to Wed from 1 to 1:30 and B&B would air Thu-Fri from 1-1:30. Give the affiliates that empty 30 minutes. (If this were a different time period I would say repeat that same pattern with As the World Turns and Guiding Light in that empty slot.)

Didn't MSNBC see ratings imporvement in 2015 when Andy Lack lessened the opinionated programming and ran with more (albeit biased) news. Seems backward that they would move in the opposite direction. I guess they're trying to be the leftist answer to Fox News but it hasn't worked for them when they stray too far off from news. I loved the olden days when Alex Witt took up like 5 hours on wekends with "MSNBC News Live". Back when they were partnered with msn.

Im surprised they wont just cancel her already. As far as I've read Hot Bench was a decent preformer in the ratings, yet they moved it to experiment with Drew Barrymore.

I love Cindy on weekends against Pat Battle and Michelle Charlesworth. I dont necessarily think a 9am newscast is the best thing for WCBS, but I think the most sensible option would be to have Cindy do 9 AM and Noon, to relieve some of the hours off of Chris and Mary (working pre 4am to about 1pm). What happens now, Drew Barrymore sliced to a half hour or Hot Bench at 9:30? Elise is more suited for a serious nighttime newscast. John Elliot has the personality of an essentric/lively morning weather person a la Al Roker, Bill Evans, Linda Church, Willard Scott, Ira Joe Fisher, etc.. it was literally nonsensical to remove him from the newscast. What was the reasoning, to follow the mostly female anchor trend in the mornings? CBS has the look, all they need is just some more lively talent and locally authentic newscasts. Fox 5 and Pix 11 are really good at feeling like really local NYC stations.

Do we see NBC News Daily lasting? ABC's The Chew and The Revolution are both gone. Surpisingly CBS has held down the Talk and Lets Make a Deal (replacements for As the World Turns & Guiding Light) for over a decade now. Yet another hour of news covering assuredly the same topics, or another celebrity guest talk show isn't really needed either, but we still have it. The only way I could see soaps surviving is if they're truncated to 30 minutes two or three days a week with cast trimmings, rather than a hard five day a week one hour model.

That Jay Scott has a great announcer's voice! Rolanda Watts great as always, wish she would have became a bigger newscaster outside of the talk show. WNBC was really graphically solid during the early 1990s.

Lollllllllll! Why isnt Bianca included in the 9am hour? Unless Fox 5 wants to keep the rotating guest host format?

Probably posted already but this is the one of the earliest WNBC newscasts I've ever seen online. Eastern Airlines crash & more local news from 1975. Featuring Churck Scaborough, Tom Snyder & Dr. Frank Field Earliest NYC newscast I've seen overall. WCBS (1965) featuring Robert Trout.

Chrlamagne that God and Rosanna were good this morning for the discussion segments. I like that the other anchors gave dry opinions without getting into full blown opinionated debate. Has anyone noticed how stretched out and pixelated the Central Park skyline background behind the ice cream sandwich couches are?

That's not necessarily a bad thing. News overkill is done to the death on alot of stations with nothing but repeats, fluff and the same stories every other station is doing. Then again I suppose the point of more hours of news is not to get the same audience watching continuously for hours but the ability to have different audiences tune in at multiple points during the day for news at almost any time of day.

Funny, I also had Marcia Kramer (and John Elliott) in mind as the exception to the rule. I second your point about the emphasis on 2's Westchester & Long Island whereas PIX 11 & Fox 5 feel more borough oriented. "CBS News New York Now on WLNY" is a mouth full and doesnt roll off the tounge. CBS 2 News really bounced back from 2007 onwards after about 10 years of mess, but it seems like they're just going back down the same rabbit hole again. On the bright side, CBS 2 has the best set and video wall in the market.

idk who opted for it to be replaced by the current 5 second trash intro.

As I said before CBS local's problem is that it feels like a generic corporate model duplicated across many cities with no uniqueness to individual cities. Even though NBC ABC and Fox all replicate models across O&O's, each station has its own distinct feel. Fox 29's Mike Jerrik is uniquely Philly as Fox 5's Greg and Rosanna were uniquly New York. WNBC stands apart from WTVJ because of its use of Rockefeller Center and the christmas tree, ice skating rink and close residence with national NBC News. Not to mention the CBS local reporters (especially in NYC) don't stand out and just seem like transplants from different markets.

Breifly at 15:35, Church Scarborough fills in for Brian Williams on Weekend Nightly News in 1995.

6:00 is an understandably preferable slot as it's not too early or late of a shift and it's the lead in to the evening news. I like how strong of a role Bill Ritter still plays (despite some of his on air commentary) given that once anchors reach a particular age their role slows down. I actually had no idea Ritter was was in his 70s until he started graying. To bring it back to WNBC, I hope to see Chuck at 6 for as long as possible!

*IF that was the case, the top brass --or any job for that matter-- is gonna want more for their money than just 30 mins for $2 Mil. (recognizing that anchors do more off camera as well). Then again Chuck also does just 30 minues now. Across markets, 6:00 seems to be the place where they plant vets who aren't ready to hang it up yet. Chuck Scarborough, Bill Ritter, Ernie Anastos (retired now), Dana Tyler, Jim Gardner in Philly, Bill Beutel back in the day. I assumed 6 PM was the most critical afternoon newscast but it seems like 5 (and 10/11pm) is where stations put their "fresh, newer" faces these days.

Sheba and Sibila were pretty decent anchors, and I though Sheba was good with Tom Llamas, but Sue Simmons didnt need to go. Sue should still be with Chuck weeknights at 6 (and maybe even 7) up to this day. Chuck has not had a stable partner to this day. Add to that anchor lineup these days is pretty scattered with Natalie and David individually anchoring 14 different newscasts. Out of curiosity, why was just Sue axed and not Chuck aswell? I remember Sue kept saying in her last broadcast "I hope to find employment elsewhere", which made it clear she did not want to go. Overall that was a major NY broadcasting blunder along with eighty-sixing Jim & Kaity on PIX weeknights.

Yes! i'm curious to see My 9's numbers. I wonder if later hour reruns of Fox 5 talk shows gives them a bump. For example, being able to see Wendy Williams at 4 o'clock because you're missed it at 10 AM.