atlnewsfan03

3 hours ago, Weeters said:

WTMJ is in bad need of a new set (or at least a major refresh), especially since they started wallpapering it and removing duratrans, leaving the LED back lighting exposed (behind the plexi on either side of the desk). They now have the oldest set in the market, and both WITI and WDJT have essentially received two new sets in the period that WTMJ set has been up.

 

My fear is, since their studio is round, they'll be convinced that the best use of the space is a green wall and floor.

Besides WITI's recent refresh and WDJT, I think WISN got its new set not too long ago.  I'd certainly agree with WTMJ needing a major upgrade... Assuming Scripps has plans to invest in Milwaukee.

5 hours ago, TheRyan said:

 

Considering how close they are in the ratings to NBC Nightly News, I would think the network sees it as a necessary investment to keep them as competitive (in terms of visuals) as possible. 

 

Besides, I think it's good they want to keep things updated for that studio--despite the planned move.   That studio has a lot of history and I'm glad they are going to keep it looking as good as possible to the end of its use.

Valid point about ABC making updates to the WNT set is ABC can't and doesn't need to be becoming complacent.  Besides set and studio updates, we could see graphics updates as well.  We'll have to see how things play out.

I'd agree that the previous "This Is Home" (Gari) and the "Gannett" (Rampage) themes weren't too bad, but Gannett/TEGNA stations butchered them.  Graphics... I didn't really care for Pyburn graphics (used with Gannett theme).  The USA Today style color-coded graphics weren't too bad, although the color-coded tabs were a bit over the top.  I don't care too much for "C Clarity" (Sixeme Son) music.  Current graphics is okay.

KUSA had its custom music (Third Street Music) from 1995-2009, and KARE had its custom music (also by Third Street) 1996-2013, as they didn't get Gannett package.  Their custom music packages could easily be their versions of MCTYW (still heard on WPVI) and Chroma Cues (WJZ's longtime theme music).  Portland and Bangor stations had "Good News" (Gari) for longest time.  WFAA having "The Spirit of Texas" signature in their news music, before Belo sold out.  It'd be a sad day for WNEP if and when they're forced to dump the Cliff Schwartz version of MCTYW for C Clarity.

Besides TEGNA stations having newscasts with non-traditional names (like the current WKYC mess, WUSA's morning news, WTSP newscasts, WXIA newscasts, etc.), I wasn't a huge fan of the Rundown/Lineup concept.  I believe that was something started on WGRZ by their former news director Ellen Crooke, and she implemented it on WXIA, and Gannett forced it on other stations.  I also don't care for WXIA's current 11Alive logo either.  I'd have welcomed them bringing back their pre-1993 logo or variation, or maybe a circle 11 logo with the Times New Roman font 11 (1993-2019 logo) with the Alive and NBC peacock to right.  It's a thought.

On 12/13/2019 at 11:57 PM, JCB4TV said:

In Atlanta, CBS had to buy WVEU (WUPA) when they thought no one wanted to affaliate with the eye before eventually moving to WGNX. In Detroit, CBS had a similar issue when they had to buy WPGR (WWJ) at the last moment while in Milwaukee CBS had to move to Weigel's WDJT. In 1994, all these stations were, as you expect, low budget, low rated, poor signal, independent stations that had to be vastly improved in order to gain respect in their communities.

That is true.  For a time, original plans were for WATL 36 to pick up UPN, then WGNX 46 (owned by Tribune at the time) to pick up WB, and CBS to move to then WVEU 69 and start news department from scratch.  Those plans never came to fruition.

On 12/11/2019 at 1:18 PM, TexasTVNews said:

Well, hard to believe it's been 25 years since the big network affiliation switch that took place on September 3rd to December 1994.

 

September 3, 1994...

Cleveland: WJW (CBS to FOX), WOIO (Fox to CBS)

 

September 12, 1994...

Phoenix: KPHO (Ind to CBS), KSAZ (CBS to Ind)

Kansas City: WDAF (NBC to FOX), KSHB (Fox to NBC)

 

December 11, 1994....

Detroit: WJBK (CBS to FOX), WKBD (FOX to Ind to UPN), and WGPR now WWJ (Ind to CBS).

Tampa: WTSP (ABC to CBS), WTVT (CBS to FOX) and WFTS (FOX to ABC).

Atlanta: WAGA (CBS to FOX), WATL (FOX to Ind to WB), and WGNX now WGCL (Ind to CBS).

 

December 15, 1994...

Phoenix: KTVK (ABC to Ind), KSAZ (Ind to FOX), KNXV (Fox to ABC)

 

I could be wrong on the date in Phoenix's part of the affiliation change.

 

I remember the big affiliation switches of the mid 90s.  Atlanta being my home market, I remember WAGA 5 ending its then 45-year union with CBS when they took Fox away from WATL 36.  CBS got lucky in a sense in going to then WGNX 46 (now WGCL), despite the dilemma of CBS almost having nowhere to go.  Next year will also be 40th anniversary of WSB 2 and WXIA 11 swapping out ABC and NBC.

20 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

So they lost their last Creative Director who commissioned a pretty descent package from Rey Rodriguez when he was freelancing (before he created Linear Drift) in 2014. In 2015 that Creative Director left the station and two years lader a new graphics/logo/music was created and implemented to mirror KMGH. The crappy 3D Peakcock in the OTS super is a graphic pulled from the 2002-2004 package.

 

This is actually the best package they had but it was used for such a short time (3 years)!

 

 

That video clip with KOAA graphics.  I happen to notice below the lower-third graphics what looks like "Line-Up" graphic, similar to what the previous Gannett/TEGNA graphics package had underneath its lower-third (Information Bar) graphic.  I kind of find that somewhat unusual for a station to not have Gannett/TEGNA ownership.

1 hour ago, RGSJenkins said:

The last time Chapin's voice was heard in NYC was between 2004-06 on WNYW, and on WNBC from 1995-03.

 

Man, he sounds awful.

4 minutes ago, NateinFLA said:

Completely off topic (but it’s TVNT so ) I have no idea why Bill St. James hasn’t been used by local stations as they look to replace CVD.

I was thinking Scott Chapin was mulling retirement a few years ago.  It wouldn't surprise me if Ed Ansin, owner of stations in Boston and Miami made him a sweet deal to stick around a little while longer.  I'd imagine a few other Fox O&O's and Cox stations still have Chapin voicing their news opens and promos.

Other voice-over I can think of, but not sure if any of the NYC stations use... Names like Bill Ratner, Bob Tracey, and Paul Turner.  I don't know if WPIX still has Jim Cutler.  Good female VO would be Roberta Solomon.  I'd agree that Charlie Van Dyke may be inching closer to retirement.

4 hours ago, TSSZNews said:

It's weird because the previous FTN studio was perfectly serviceable for the Evening News and was only a year or so old - and IIRC Norah anchored EN from there a couple times and it looked really good.

 

 

An 11PM or otherwise late national news won't work - too many are in bed by that hour and it would probably need to be "edgy" to have a snowball's chance. What I do think would work is someone expanding their evening newscast to an hour each night, so there's more opportunity to produce and air stories with depth and not try to jam everything most of the public already knows into 90 second packages--basically put on a watered down 60 Minutes, but every night. That's basically what Scott Pelley's Evening News was, and even in a 30 minute slot it was excellent.

 

As the syndication market falters and more programming's coming in-house, I wonder what network would have the guts to try it. CBS, honestly, is a prime candidate. Their syndie arm just dropped the Insider and while Inside Edition filled the hole in a lot of markets, that time could absolutely be spent putting better content on the air. I bet plenty of station groups would love to not have to pay for another half-hour of programming for their stations.

NBC wanted to experiment with expanding Nightly News from half-hour to full-hour back in the early 80s.  Those plans never materialized.  NYT article from 1981: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/20/arts/stations-board-passes-one-hour-nbc-news.html

If CBS were to expand from half-hour to full-hour, one of a couple scenarios would have to occur.  Easy scenario I could think of would be CBS (A) rescheduling daytime line-up...

The Price Is Right at 11AM eastern

The Young & The Restless at 1PM eastern

The Talk at 2PM eastern

The Bold & The Beautiful at 3PM eastern

CBS having the option of shorten Let's Make A Deal to half-hour, or cancel LMAD for either a new half-hour soap or expand B&B to full-hour.  Or if CBS wanted to move The Talk to 3PM eastern, and put B&B in 2PM eastern.  CBSEN air 6:30-7:30PM eastern or 7-8PM eastern.

(B) CBS convincing its affiliates to air hour-long CBSEN, and having O'Donnell personally visit each of the affiliates.

The only successful hour-long network evening news program would be PBS Newshour seen on most PBS member stations.  It would be interesting to see whether or not NBC would also want to revisit the hour-long Nightly News idea again, or if ABC could be thinking the same thing with World News Tonight.  Only time will tell.

28 minutes ago, JRogotzke said:

I have a question, if the CBS Evening News can't gain viewership and find stability, what if CBS moved it to a later time slot?

I'm thinking CTV National News, BBC News at 10, CBC The National, that kind of route. I'm sure local stations and ownership groups wouldn't like the idea but it would set CBS apart from everyone else and have national network news when other don't, basically no competition. I don't know the feasibility of it or how late local news would work with the Evening News being on later (say 10pm in every market?) but theoretically it could work based off the success of other networks around the world that do it. 

10 minutes ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

If it's at 11 pm (10 pm Central), the affiliates would likely scream at that thought. They would be forced to delay local news until 11:30 pm and it would bottle up everything else including late night shows. 

 

As for news in the 10 pm (9 pm CT) hour, CBS could make their national news a full hour (or have a nightly extra like a relocated 48 Hours or 60 Minutes) but that would cost CBS an hour of prime time. Would the ratings justify it though? What kind of ratings does CBS network TV get in that hour? That might be something really worth considering. CBS affiliates would be able to have a full hour newscast in the 6 pm hour in all time zones in that scenario.

1 minute ago, JRogotzke said:

I was thinking have it air at 10pm in every market. Who cares if it's from a few hours ago, it can always be updated if needed and they have the "western edition" it's the same thing they do now. Local news could come on at 10:30 in most markets unless they choose to have the EN on at 11 then local at 11:30. In terms of the 9pm CT ratings, the other night (10/21/19) CBS got 5.4M viewers. But they wouldn't need to eliminate any of the shows they have, just delay local news by 30 minuets. 

1 minute ago, 24994J said:

IF they were to ever move 'Evening News,' there's no way in hell an hour (or even 30 minutes) of primetime gets dumped. COULD they consider shifting it to 7 ET/6 CT? Sure, but I believe a station or two out east just ended longtime 6:30 local newscasts so they could carry 'EN' at it's normal airtime, likely at the network's recommendation. CBS isn't moving it anywhere. They'll cancel it altogether, before they reschedule.

I kind of don't see CBS wanting to repeat the mistake of filling 10PM hour Monday-Friday with CBS Evening News much like a decade ago how NBC filled 10PM hour Monday-Friday with Jay Leno's failed prime-time talk show.  Plus, I don't think CBS would want to cancel its news show anytime soon.

Things to remember is: (1) Many TV viewers have lost faith in local and national news organizations for a multitude of reasons.  (2) CBS has never fully recovered from the mid 90s affiliation switch, where CBS lost affiliates (in Atlanta, Austin, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Tampa Bay) to Fox, as well as additional switches that took place in Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Philly, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City about that same time.  (3) And whether it's Scott Pelley, or Jeff Glor, or Norah O'Donnell anchoring, or if CBS were to pick a name like Shephard Smith or Ann Curry, ratings aren't going to improve overnight.  This will take time.

9 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

WKYC is making BOTH WEWS and WOIO look waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more watchable by comparison.

 

Also, I prefer Scripps over TEGNA anyways.

It seems to me like TEGNA has lost its way.  Scripps seems tolerable.

29 minutes ago, Breaking News said:

I mean both stations were apple & oranges back when WAGA was CBS.   Despite the numerous ownerships WAGA was solid. It slipped to third a few times, but was able to rebound.

WGNX was an Indy outlet that just got a news department 30 years ago late 88/89, and WGNX got the CBS affiliate at the 11th hour, and as time went on. Tribune was only interested in being independent.  When

WGNO & WGNX started to get a network affiliation.  They didn't do too much investment, but WGNX was solid.  As for Meredith, they bought the station with hopes of making it something big.  However, when numerous

management styles, name branding etc.  It just hasn't done much for WGCL.  Meredith should return the WGNX call letters back to them and sell the station, and start all over like WIAT in Birmingham did in late 90s.

 

I'd agree that WGCL 46, back during their WGNX days was very good, especially during the "Georgia's News at Ten" era.  That ended when WAGA 5 took Fox away from WATL 36, upon ending its then 45-year union with CBS.  Had CBS went to WUPA 69 (when it was still WVEU), it'd probably be another WWJ.  We don't know what WATL would've looked like had they affiliated with CBS.  WGCL having news department benefitted CBS greatly.

Since Meredith acquired WGCL from Tribune, I'd agree with back-and-forth name changes between CBS 46 and CBS Atlanta, outside the infamous failed "Clear News" concept, as well as management and anchor turnovers, hence the "revolving door" status.  WGCL's ratings may not be the best, despite many opportunities recently to jump into 3rd place, and push WXIA 11 into last place.  At the same time, WGCL is profitable (making tons of money).  My guess would be as good as anyone elses... "status quo".

I couldn't see Meredith doing a WIAT on WGCL, as "Daily News" concept would likely fail.  Not sure whether WGCL could experiment with "Eyewitness News", considering "Action News" is on WSB 2.

8 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Ditto on that last part. There has been talk floated recently, affirmed by ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke, about ABC potentially reviving either of the two soaps, now that ABC owns the rights to All My Children and One Life to Live again under their prior settlement with Prospect Park. I think reviving AMC or OLTL over ABC's air would be a backup plan (Plan B or, moreso, C), in case the to-be-rechristened GMA3 doesn't work out; it might be likelier that either - if at all - would end up as web series, either on ABC's web platform or on Disney+.

 

Even if there was a strong possibility that they decided to do a soap revival, there's no chance of bringing back both AMC and OLTL on the ABC daytime lineup, since that would require recouping the hour it ceded to its stations to accommodate those two or offing General Hospital, which doesn't seem like a possibility at this point, even though GH is kinda situated at fourth (last) among the soaps behind Days of Our Lives.

6 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

They could both come back as half hour soaps.

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.

Kind of wonder whether ABC is regretting last year's cancellation of The Chew... Or regretting the cancellations of beloved soaps All My Children and One Life to Live.

I personally miss seeing the soaps, and OLTL especially was getting better when it ended its run on ABC in 2012.

22 minutes ago, AaronQ said:

Can't wait to see how Gray is gonna do WBTV honestly.

I'd agree with WBTV rollout.  Plus I'd be interested in seeing how Gray will do WVUE and WBRC as well.  Also if Gray plans for those 2 Fox stations to switch to "Beyond" music package with graphics makeover.

TEGNA acquiring WTHR and WBNS.  Those stations, IMHO, would've been more suited for the likes of Graham, Hearst, or Terrier.  The soon-to-be former Dispatch stations wouldn't see changes to their graphics and music packages for at least another 6 months to a year.  It wouldn't surprise me if TEGNA could have their sights set on WRAL, KSL, and/or the Griffin stations in Oklahoma.  Nowadays, local media owners have adopted the "go big or go home" mentality.

6 hours ago, JacobC said:

Man everybody was wondering where did Jeff went since he left ‘Evening News’...but June 22nd is the date we must save the date to watch Jeff Glor alongside Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson. Might need to check your CBS stations for times when does CBS This Morning: Saturday starts (mine starts at 7am)

Glor wasn't given a chance to prove himself during his very short time as anchor of CBS Evening News.  In a way, he pretty much got a raw deal in the midst of CBS' on-air personnel changes.  Unless he's got a couple more years left on his current contract, and isn't where he can leave CBS to find work at a competing network.

15 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Since WBNX has so many subchannels, if it is seized and sold to another party, it could be run as a turnkey operation without the main 55.1 (and likely 55.2) feeds.

 

The benefit of Tegna or Scripps getting it would be a tool to compete against WJW at 10pm and even in the morning.  If WJW gets it, that's out of the question (unless they pull a KPLR...)

I like the idea of TEGNA or Scripps competing against WJW at 10PM.  Or they could do nightly 9PM newscast, since WUAB 43 discontinued 9PM last year.

41 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

Actually, MyNet is on WOIO 19.2 between 1am and 3am in an obvious contract burning, sandwiched within the rest of the MeTV lineup.

 

MyNet has no tangible value beyond being a white-label rerun block in prime-time. For all intents and purposes, WBNX is better off remaining an indie with spillover program inventory from whatever duopoly partner they wind up with, if they wind up with one.

I do stand corrected there.  MyNet kind of stayed with WOIO 19 and WUAB 43 family.  I kind of look at MyNet as another PTEN (programming service from the early-to-mid 90s).

9 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I wonder if Nexstar would be able to acquire it to pair with WJW and acquire the MNTV affiliation.

It's possible Nexstar, which is working on acquiring WJW 8, could be interested.  Wouldn't rule them out entirely.

WUAB 43 carries MyNet and CW programming.  WBNX 55 is completely independent of any network affiliation and/or programming service.

On 10/16/2018 at 5:36 PM, CLETVFan said:

Does anyone think that Scripps or TEGNA will or are at least interested in buying WBNX as part of a duoply with WEWS or WKYC?

I could see Scripps (owner of WEWS 5) or TEGNA (owner of WKYC 3) being interested in acquiring WBNX 55.

It'll be interesting to see who'll replace Reed.  If they went with an inside pick, it'd likely be Shon Gables, Tracye Hutchens, Gurvir Dhindsa, or Karyn Greer being considered.  Not sure of the chances Stephany Fisher would be rehired.  Or CBS 46 could go with an outside pick, it'd likely be someone from a competing station, or from a different TV market.  It'll also be interesting to see whether Reed has landed a job at a TV station in a bigger TV market or one of the networks, if she's staying in the TV news business.