GodfreyGR

It’s what they’re going with… here’s the jackets and coffee cups (from their staffers on Twitter).

KBJR (Duluth) going back to combined branding for newscasts starting Monday.

I'm going off of another site that claims the 3pm is temporary only through the election. Something in that other sites words as a "money grab"...

Almost two months later, turns out to be a correct prediction- KBJR/CBS3 morning newscasts are combined- Staff from both shows were merged, live reporting in the morning added, and KBJR is now using "F1RST ALERT" Weather branding with the old KBJR/Quincy graphics. That said, looking at their website, the morning newscast will rebrand as "Northern News Now" at 5a and 6a. Evening newscasts appear untouched for now with the exception of weather on CBS3 using the KBJR graphics- otherwise the CBS3 show still has their own branding.

They're still hoping to find the next Walter Cronkite... Someone older and more seasoned to go up against all the trendy TikToking Whipper Snappers the other networks have (every pun intended)

By then Norah's next contract will be up, he will cost much less and won't do any worse in the ratings.

I mean, every branding/graphics package they've had since 2007 features the rectangle of "WCCO". Only difference is that the CBS Eye is currently attached to it. Thank to Jon Ellis for archiving all of these screengrabs! http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/captures/mn/wcco.html

Lifelong Minnesotan here- even if you are correct, they will take a sweet long time to kill off the best known branding/call letters in the state. They had the opportunity to unveil the CBSN MN brand to the tens of thousands who walk by their booth at the state fair and every sign, banner, and giveaway had the classic WCCO logo on it. Along with the billboards, you don’t spend that kind of money on promos and giveaways (even if they are paper fans and reusable grocery bags) to flip it right away.

A little off from graphics, but holy billboards CCO is marketing the hell out of their 4:00 show. One digital billboard flipped to three different “The 4” billboards in a row. Is there really that much $$$ in that time slot?

For the record, that’s pretty traditional for all 4 major stations to close up shop and head back to the studio on Labor Day. People still doing the fair want to see the sights, eat the food, and go home since it’s the first day of school for most of the state on Tuesday. I’m sure all 4 will have a reporter out there to say they’re still “Life from the fair” Weekend shows from the fair are also usually limited if the station has any college football games airing since it’s hard to keep a live audience captive if the game runs long, but it looks bad on air if you’re live from the fair with no one standing around your studio to show off how popular you’re newscast is.

The 4pm has been running since last Thursday from the State Fair (big deal up here!). Tuesday should originate from the studio. To make the case for CCO possibly not being the first, the stations are so preoccupied with their State Fair studios I wonder how much time they have to work on anything else over the 12 day run?

Yet...

Anything that drew an audience will be moved to Paramount+ and whatever Warner/Discovery does with HBO Max. And the DC Universe fans will move with them.

WDAY/Fargo has been at 7 for most of the summer. Granted, some of them don't usually appear on screen at WDAY and do web-forecasts for the newspaper websites (I.E., The Duluth News Tribune). Could also speculate that some would transfer over to doing forecasts at KVRR/Fargo if the FCC ever approves that deal (KVRR's chief met Rob Kupec left this spring to run for State Senate in Minnesota and no permanent replacement has been named).

KBJR is stronger, yes. But with two states (three, if you want to get technical since there's a couple counties in Michigan's UP) they have done a good job after the "NewsCenter" breakup to make KBJR6 a Minnesota-heavy newscast and CBS3 a Wisconsin-Heavy newscast. Given that both stations share reporters and a newsroom, the only real cost differential is that Quincy has 2 studios and 2 control rooms in the Lake Avenue studio that they operate simultaneously. Each station also has their own anchor teams and meteorologists (Which Gray might keep- Looking at KVLY in Fargo, similar is done for the 4pm-7pm news blocks that alternate channels every half-hour). What I see happening in Duluth is consolidating Morning newscasts, Weekend Newscasts, and Breaking news/weather cut-ins, but leaving weeknights alone.

Both have been tried (Indiana's NewsCenter and Northland's NewsCenter, respectfully) when both stations in the duo had the same GM under Granite (KBJR had Dave Jensch) and it simply did not work. Evidence: individual station brandings and newscasts were brought back under Granite, and kept under Quincy. Speculation would say ratings caused that (In Duluth, WDIO widened their lead over KBJR during the NewsCenter days). Does that mean it can't be done in Duluth again? Of course not- I went to college in Fargo and watched what Gray did with KVLY. Just suggesting that Gray is also smart enough to look at the history books and realize that just a decade ago it didn't end well. Also worth noting- when Granite tried the combination in Ft. Wayne and Duluth, they did not try it in Peoria (to my knowledge).

It was CBS' first OTT Hyperlocal- and I'm sure it was an experiment to see if it would work. My guess would be since all signs point to CBS being all-in on this, that any new streaming-exclusive sets will be better in many respects. This made my morning! I was beginning to think my couple weeks of calling it he Gayle King show on this board was only irritating people (probably was, but someone else called it the same!) I think in hindsight, what Senators Booker and Menendez (et al) were doing by bringing WWOR's license into question was poor. Empty shell for WNYW? Yes. However, in the last decade where half-decent news accessibility is extremely important, an NY Newscast that at least covers news in your state when news happens is better than the syndication central that WWOR has become. FOX has proven to be reasonably dedicated to local content on their second fiddles- WFTC being a good example with a couple hours of news (actual newscasts- not just KMSP's repeats) and (pre Apple-TV deal) showing MN United Soccer games on nights Bally wasn't. Now, Fox has the money and ability to do a NJ-central newscast- and they kind of did at one point. It can be a good flank to WNYW if done correctly (correctly = costs money). I think about what KBJR/KDLH did in Duluth for a while under Granite ownership with KBJR going more heavy on MN news/weather/sports and KDLH going more heavy on the Wisconsin side (Off topic, the irony here is that KDLH is licensed in MN, KBJR is licensed in WI). Then along comes a few sales of the station and as a result the more cookie-cutter newscast duopoly. Point is, a WWOR newscast need no be 100% NJ centered, just heavier on that side of the border than WNYW and others.

That's actually a pretty cool wrap as far as news vehicles go!

Probably. I wish CCO hadn't ditched the "weather watcher whistle" for the CBS 5-note tone. I still argue the "If it isn't broken..." argument. WCCO desperately needs a graphics refresh like all the CBS O&O's; but they have done a good job going with what they know works in the market- a set that has aged shockingly well for being 10-years old (minor updates, of course), iconic branding, and recognizable air staff. On the other side of town, KARE11 used to be #1 with that same formula, and now they're just happy to be in the Top 5 (as of Nov 2021).

Here it be (mobile version that is)...

Pretty sure @ABC 7 Denver meant KXAN not XAS. It's Monday.

The only people who care about the host issue are the Karens on Facebook who don't realize Trebek can't be brought back from the dead. Jeopardy generally gets higher ratings than Wheel- Using it as a stronger lead-in for NBC Primetime.

Didn't that get rumored once and caused one of the infamous Kelly Ripa freak outs?

Weather Center, but there would still be space for a small set. And with Brad Edwards reassigned to CBSN Chicago, they could put a small enough set in to give the OTT a different look from the traditional news set?

And WCCO has made the switch https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/