MediaZone4K

5 hours ago, FiveNews said:

 

Going to play devil's advocate here. I have seen these type of graphics before. I feel that ABC News was trying to convey that the correspondent was reporting out of the ABC News "New York" bureau/HQ. I don't think it was meant to be misleading.

Fair point. 

Similarly, Somara is live in NJ for a story about storm threats in the south. Phil Lipoff is live from some -- again -- undisclosed street in NY for a story about anti semitism in Pennsylvania. I get "presence" but it feels nonsensical to do these elaborate field live shots from locations unrelated to the story/topic. I haven't seen this on the local level.

7 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

The whole concept of a live shot is deceptive 99% of the time. A reporter is “live” somewhere hours after the actual news event has occurred. Nothing newsworthy is shown to the viewer in a live shot. All the newsworthy content is shown in the prepackaged report with footage from hours ago. 
 

Whether they are live at the scene, on a generic street outside the studio, or at a place somewhat related to the location of the news story, the whole concept gives a deceptive sense of presence and urgency. 

Personally, live shots are only necessary when there are visual elements to seen, details to a story that are still developing, or when an event happens so close to a broadcast that there is little time to assemble a package.

Big market stations especially love to have a reporter standing at an already wrapped up story at night where the scene is barely visible. 

In an era where we watch news on our own time rather than live tv, the impact of going live for live sake becomes dulled. 

Something I've noticed on WNT as well as NNN. After the synagogue shooting in Albany, NY, none of the networks had time to send their reporters there as it happened so close to their broadcasts. Instead of presenting the stories from the newsroom or studio, ABC had a reporter standing on some unspecified street with a heavily blurred background and a locator graphic marked "New York". 

At least the background on NBC was more visible and the reporter is infront of what looks like a synagogue --- which they didn't bother to specify.

It's perfectly acceptable to stand in front of a synagogue in Manhattan to talk about anti-semetic incidents across the country. But to have the background be indecipherable and ambiguously  labeled "New York", without specificity for state vs city gives an almost deceptive sense of presence.

I like the "portrait mode" effect, but it defeats the purpose of a live shot if the audience cannot see what you are standing in front of. Nothing to die over, small critique.

1 hour ago, noggi said:

 

I'll bite. Just had a nice little glass of bourbon, so let's see what we can come up with:

 

When I first started working for TEGNA, I felt like they didn't get enough credit for what they were trying to do. They were investing a ton of money into the brands of these stations and bringing in some interesting people to shake things up on the marketing side. It sounded really exciting and I got sucked into it, leaving a well established market-leading station to jump into this mess. It's no exaggeration to say when I was sitting in the hotel the night before my first day watching WUSA9, I felt immediate regret in my decision and I started working immediately to leave. (It took nearly three years to get out... woof.)

 

When I look back at it all, I think one of the biggest problems is that the news and production folks at these local stations have absolutely no idea how to make good television. Is that really their fault? I don't know. Local news has looked essentially the same since the 1940s. Desk. Chair. Backdrop. Want to shake things up? Have the anchor stand. That backdrop? It's now a monitor. That's about as groundbreaking as these people know what to do. (And that's not just TEGNA, it's an industry-wide issue.)

 

So now you want to revamp your morning show and you bring in a comedian... again, not exactly revolutionary. It's been done. But news leadership is really afraid to lean into this concept, so it's just another straightforward mediocre newscast with a comedian randomly dropped in. The comedian has no one to play off of. Your news anchors and reporters aren't funny, they don't know humor. So you have awkward interactions throughout the show. You blow millions on marketing this 3rd or 4th place show to get folks to "sample" it. Sure, there is a slight spike in ratings - people drop in, have a look, say "what the hell is this?", tune out and never come back. 

 

TEGNA would fly in folks from various departments from their stations all around the country every few months for "innovation summits" at their HQ. I got invited to one. A lot of interesting ideas. Absolutely no way to execute it. An idea I had got piloted in Cleveland (of course, I never saw a bonus, not that I expected one ). They flew out the comedian from DC to host it. It was awful. You know why? Your producer who graduated from Elon's school of journalism has absolutely no clue how to make good television. They know how to copy and paste from the wires and re-write stories from the 11p to drop into their AM shows. (Just kidding, that gets copy and pasted as well.) 

 

I could go on and on. I haven't even started in on the mediocre general managers with sales backgrounds - that might be an even bigger issue. You think the guy from sales who got the corner office knows how to make good television?? They have an eye for talent? Absolutely not. 

 

Local television news isn't dying, it's dead. You're just watching zombies now. Waiting until the next hedge fund comes in to turn the lights off.

Obviously experiences differ by station...but good lord, are any of these news corporations good? Do I dare ask about Gray television

Thoughts on Tegna? I've seen the station group criticized for how it manages newscasts and news departments.

Aesthetically speaking, Tegna stations are way more pleasing on the eye than Sinclair, Scripps, and in a lot of Nexstar. 11 Alive Atlanta looks far better than it did 10+ years ago sets and graphics wise.

13 hours ago, RealNews18 said:

During the banter at 6:00 tonight Liz had made a comment (to which the guys replied) and she responded with that’s what happens when you anchor for 3.5 hours straight. It was kinda funny. Lauren anchored with her at 4 and 5 

Lauren is always a good and common fill in.

Sidebar...Lauren like so much of the talent has been there at least 20 years! 

What is it about Channel 7 compared to the other NYC stations that they've retained reporters in particular for so long? My first assumption is the pay. 

9 hours ago, MorningNews said:

I don’t disagree with any of this but again these shows have built their strengths on the viewers connections to the personalities. It’s an unreasonable expectation to document childbirths, marriages and illnesses but demand privacy for divorce, absences, etc.

My personal philosophy... be as scarce as possible with the viewers about your personal life, on air and online. Have separate social media accounts for work and your personal. Make the personal social account accessible to friends only. People crave personal narrative to create drama. Don't make it easy for them. 

On 12/6/2023 at 12:43 PM, Abraham J. Simpson said:

I never understood the degree of hullabaloo over two consenting adults doing whatever it is they do. The issue with their spouses is among all of them, not anyone else’s business. But whatever, what’s done is done and the world goes on, ideally not hearing one more word about their love lives, wherever they ultimately go. 

Per Vulture, Holmes was sleeping with a female staffer --on work premesis-- which was ABC's grounds for firing. I don't recall what justified Amy's axing.

Aside from all this, scandals like these make you weary of going into the news industry as an on air talent. Especially at the national level, you become a public figire which heavily shrinks your private life. Arguably this is self inflicted but TJ's wife supposedly hired a PI who leaked the pics and made this a spectacle. 

Rickey Smiley was onto something when he said being "medium famous" is the sweet spot. Known enough to get into places, but not famous enough to be hounded by paparazzi and have your entire life in the tabloids. 

On 12/4/2023 at 6:22 PM, EJ Velazquez said:

Looks like ABC 30 (Fresno/Central California) has officially made the switch! Streaming the Live @ 3 now! Tried getting my best screenshots from premiere evening.

C'mon WABC.

On 11/26/2023 at 1:43 PM, mountainave said:

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes have inked a podcast and content deal with iHeartMedia.  It's unclear if Robach is still in discussions to join NewsNation.

 

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/amy-robach-t-j-holmes-iheartmedia-podcast-1235775921/

TJ & Amy have to stew in their mess for little bit, but does their offense rise to the occasion of never working in the industry again? No. 

Let some time pass. When their distracting presence fades, then they may be able to get a job again.

On 12/5/2023 at 1:03 AM, CircleSeven said:

 

WCBS actually had The People's Court at 4pm before Judy's return to Channel 2 in 2006 (after 7 years on WNBC). 

 

Before that newscast ended completely in 2003, it was truncated to a half-hour at 4:30pm.

 

Filling that first half hour in Jan. 2002 was the Weakest Link. And that got replaced the following fall by Millionaire.

 

CBS 2 was ahead of its time with a 4 PM newscast, which really became common place post Oprah.

If WCBS wanted to try another attempt at four --hopefully not-- it might work nowadays.

it's amazing to see all these attempts to boost The CW this late into its existence.

On 9/23/2023 at 12:46 PM, Geoffrey said:

I don't think it's necessary for MSNBC's anchors and reporters to mention the fact that one of their colleagues is related to a figure in the news for corruption. But I think it would be necessary for her to mention that at the top of her show as a reason why she is not covering one of the week's big stories.

 

I think it's unfair to punish or sideline Alicia for her father's troubles, but perhaps it would be good to have her skip this weekend.

On 9/23/2023 at 2:20 PM, Abraham J. Simpson said:

Not all situations are comparable. Chris Cuomo crossed a huge ethical line. That doesn’t mean every other person related to a public figure in hot water is going to cross a line. Keep her off covering that story, fine. If there is evidence she crosses a line, do what needs to be done. Don’t assume a problem where one is not indicated and stymie her career for something she did not do. 

Totally agree. Let her acknowledge that she won't cover the controversy because that's her dad, move on, and let her do her job. 

I miss the days when weekend mornings was Alex Witt for like 4 hours straight. Glad to see she's getting some good airtime in the afternoon.

32 minutes ago, TheNewsTV said:

 

I don't know how they haven't thought of launching a newscast at 4pm yet.

On Ch 2 or 55? If you mean Ch 2, hopefully not. Judge Judy would probably do better in the ratings. I'm surprised they put Hot Bench in that slot and pushed Judy back to 3 rather than leaving Judy at 4 and Hot Bench at 3.

On 11/30/2023 at 1:22 AM, Colortini said:

I think it’s been on at least a month. I saw it the one day randomly while waiting for the news at 9am to begin. Honestly, the morning crew works the worst hours. At this point they really need to be excused altogether from the news at noon because their day is too long—I mean, unless they enjoy doing it. They really could just replay the morning news instead of the 7/8am news because it’s all the same information, unless something serious breaks after the morning news is over. 

Totaly agress, but I suppose they want that live factor for weather and traffic.

Since The Couch didn't work, and I don't recall seeing any promos for morning news on WLNY, I wonder how long this will last.

On 11/30/2023 at 10:50 AM, NYNewsCoverage said:

They could give the News at noon to Cindy, so her hours would be 9am and 12pm, and Mary and Chris 4:30-8:30 (although that still is long)

Agreed. Cindy is great and only doing one newscast, they might as well utilize her for both.  They can also have John handle some segments in the 7-9, Sam Champion style, to lighten the load off of Chris and Mary.

Good Day DC's Jeanette Reyes is leaving WTTG. She says it's focus on her kids. Reyes and her husband/morning compeditor Robert Burton from WJLA went viral for their humorous "news couple" social media videos.

Bittersweet because she's in the prime of her career. This feeds into the "can we have it all" discussion: successful careers, and time with family.

Fox and MSNBC succeed in primetime because they have well-known or decently developed pundits that command an audience, and are good at marketing side projects like books and podcasts (Maddow, Hannity). Outside of Anderson Cooper, CNN lacks draw factor at night. 

Gayle and Charles were obviously an attempt to bring in well-known personalities, but things look iffy. 

I support Licht's vision of a news first

CNN. If there is to be political commentary however, primetime is definitely the place to confine it. 

I would get a right, left, and independent personality to each have their own show. Pundits with decent social media draws, who aren't spewing misinformation.

21 hours ago, Abraham J. Simpson said:

The one-man band crews, yeah, that’s hard. But then again, many jobs are rough, and you push through and hopefully move on, whatever your field. 

Again, fair points.

Unfortunately, from working in the industry and seeing journalist vlogs, it seems people are leaving for PR in droves because of that...among other problems. 

21 hours ago, Abraham J. Simpson said:

And look, if someone really does actively watch all day, on say NBC, is that all that different from someone watching CNN etc? Today occupies four hours but by design the 9 and 10 am hours are different. NBC News Daily is different again. 
 

A lot of the topical talk shows like The Talk, and The View discuss the very same news headlines. So even non-news products are feeding into the repitition.

Overall, my point is, is it possible to do something profitable, different , and of good quality that draws ratings---rather than low effort programing.

3 hours ago, Abraham J. Simpson said:

They likely do, but that’s not important. This has proven to be a good, compatible option and a better fit in their lineup. If the viewers reject the newscast, then by all means, take a look at what you can do. They aren’t, at least as of today, no pun intended.

 

Yes, stations have added local news as a trend. But repetitive isn’t an issue if, like most viewers, you’re not watching it all. I leave the house by 5 am most days, having caught some of the 4:30 newscast. It doesn’t matter if that content repeats in large part as I’m not watching. My kid typically watches just the 6:30 segment ahead of school. Doesn’t matter what they ran earlier. People by and large aren’t watching 3 hours intently. Some may have it on for hours for background noise, or the feeling of company like my grandmother did back in the day. She didn’t much know or care what most of the lineup was…other than All My Children…it was simply sound in an otherwise empty house.

14 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Lifestyle shows? Home renovation shows? Travel shows? I'm sure NBCU has some of those available in its back catalog.

 

Both fair points.

It seems stations aren't going for retaining a daylong audience but rather catching people in and out. For the people that do watch daytime tv for hours --I would like to see the percentage who still do--all news all day must suck. 

The issue also lies on smaller market one man band MMJs who's news directors may be asking to turn a package multiple ways for the umpteen newscasts.  

4 hours ago, ELISYSYN said:

From what I have heard, Hearst and Graham run their stations well. Also they don't own as many stations when compared to Gray, Nexstar, or Sinclair, which allows them to invest in the quality of their stations.

Sinclair and Nexstar especially. Nexstar pays their employees like crap, while Sinclair stations pay a bit better, but look abysmal. Some Sinclair sets look like cheap college/infomercial productions and their graphics are basic and boxy.

I dont hear must criticism for Hearst and Graham. 

1 hour ago, mrschimpf said:

And that's why it's the perfect thing to watch during work or out in public. Very few talking heads, you can jump in and jump out, the graphics aren't complicated or flashy, and it's a show without MorningSave '82,000% off this Bluey toothbrush trimmer' spots. I'm happy with it, though I wish NBC News Now had control over breaking news rather than having to hand off to the Today or Nightly teams; when they do have to cover it they are much better at it than when the 1A control room and correspondent egos get in the way.

 

GMA3 was fine for awhile, but then the 8am hour team seemed to get more say and once that certain couple got forced out, they were able to get the show they wanted for the most part where it's all about selling and harmless news at noontime.

I suppose my issue with News Daily is that it's yet another newscast on station lineups that are already saturated with heavy and repetitive local news output.

Then again, the syndication options are dry. What could NBC have put there? They've been reduced to airing Dateline  on o&o stations.

I'm surprised. NBC News Daily It's a basic headline run down newscast like Early Today.

Having seen so much criticism across these threads for companies like Sinclair, Tegna and Nexstar, I wanted to pinpoint what you all think are the prime issues with station owners like these. Anything from how they manage their stations and treat their employees, to their news presentation styles. Are there any strengths to their methods? O&O groups included. 

In Pablo's lovely tribute package they said and showed him anchoring with Cindy Hsu. It had a 6:30 time stamp so I'm guessing AM and weekend since Cindy was in the clip. Anyone recall that pairing? It must have been in the early 2010s based on graphics.

EDIT: