Roadrunner

1 hour ago, Yankees4life said:

KOVR is using the newest version of Enforcer it seems here

Forgive me if I'm mistaken but I think this is actually a derivative (or the same, not sure) of the Enforcer cut that WCCO uses. The whole version usually plays during the close of WCCO newscasts (I think). So I don't think this is new. As far as the new Enforcer cuts, I think KCNC is the only station to use it regularly (and I'm honestly not a fan --- it's so...dark. And oddly foreboding.)

16 minutes ago, Newsboy22234 said:

Why does WBBM have news on at 6:30 tonight . They usually air Entertainment Tonight at 6:30

Probably to do with the fact that the impeachment documents handover ate up a large chunk of the news time so ET got preempted.

Make of this what you will but this is a place for scoops and discussion, after all:

I choose to believe Yashar since he tends to drop things he can vouch for.

But this is an interesting development, nonetheless. Yashar mentioned that David Muir is not going anywhere and that is very evidently true, so then it is fair to understand maybe why Tom is leaving. I just didn't think his time would come so soon, especially since NBC has its own case of bloat. Timing-wise, this scoop comes after ABC's chief political analyst Matthew Dowd announced his departure roughly two weeks ago, so I'm wondering what's to come in the pipeline. As for Tom, some tweeted that Whit and/or Linsey would make for good replacements for him and I concur. 

35 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

A lot of these criticisms are not unique to GMA only, most modern day morning television has become a glorified infomercial all across the globe. The first 45 mins of the show is really still quite great and packed with load of news though.

Agree that the top 45-60 minutes are still relatively valuable (read: better than nothing) when it comes to gathering info if it's your only form of morning news. The trend has been in the works for a long time now, but I'm sure the increased polarization and political nature of the news cycle has forced a lot of the soft material to dip into a significantly more syrupy-sweet feel-good infomercial-adjacent nature to balance the harshness of the rest out. After all, the bar for "good" news is so low now, so of course, it has little substance and works well for settling into a daze of background noise and dopamine-fueled consumerism. GMA will likely never go back to something more serious and news-heavy, given how good their ratings are right now.

Also, yes, the set is hiddy. Even the show during the days of when Gibson and Sawyer were there made so much better use of the Times Square factor. Now, they could basically be in a remote studio and no one would bat an eye. And I like blue, but that extreme splash of blue everywhere with the occasional and awkward yellow or orange make no sense. Throw the whole thing away and start again.

I agree with those who think Sarah should be the new permanent 4PM anchor as that would lead to the least amount of disruption. The weekend newscasts are the most disposable (sorry Walter) so I think placing someone like Jaclyn as his co would work out great and also get her to feel out the anchor position. I'm thinking the pandemic obviously partially derailed those plans but none of us knew Jeannette was going to leave either at the time, which has now opened the doors for more shifting.

I also think the morning team should definitely not be tampered with, unless the ratings are showing the morning show isn't cutting it anymore (which I'm unaware of). Channel 6's biggest asset is its longevity and familiarity so to move that team around would already make a gradually shrinking audience more grouchy in the morning.

1 hour ago, Nelson R. said:

Also Brigida Mack left the station last week...

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJpBSNLDBKb/?igshid=kqpxbuy0jpo7

I don't keep up enough with Charlotte and NC media in general so thanks for always sharing. Excuse me being uninformed, but I'm a bit surprised about Brigida as she joined WJZY to much fanfare and I really thought this would be her big comeback. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. 

Clearly WJZY is now trying to turn out a comprehensive operation. Not holding my breath as to how it'll consistently do against the heavyweights but maybe the many years of tweaking will finally get to make it something. And don't mind me, but a better cut of Beyond and a better VO would be nice.

I personally think Cheney is just fine and the criticism isn't warranted here. Novack might just be out for an extended period of time and I personally never viewed him as a full-timer either, even if he's been with the station for years. 

For any avid watchers, in addition to Michelle, two more reporters left in 2020 Q4: Lori Corbin & Gabriela Milian. Sad to see them go, and especially for Lori's role specifically, as I don't think they will be looking to fill it again.

News from Miami: Sunbeam continues to be the center of the universe with its offshoots every which way

WTVJ - NBC 6 - hires two new anchors for its morning team (first reported January 6)

Both incoming talent have notable Miami experience.

Constance Jones comes from WRIC in Richmond as its evening anchor after roughly two years there.

Before that, she spent less than a year at Atlanta's WAGA and nine years at Miami's WPLG. 

Here's hoping she can settle back in in familiar territory.

Kris Anderson comes from Sunbeam's WHDH in Boston as its morning anchor after seven years. 

The Miami native launched his career as an intern at WSVN.

The official morning team was Roxanne Vargas, Sheli Muniz (both anchors), Kristin Sanchez (traffic), and Adam Berg (weather).

Since (what I believe) the pandemic began, NBC 6 made changes that they failed to officiate, so I had skepticism that this was their permanent direction.

Here's a summary:

• Roxanne and Sheli were moved to noon & 4PM (and will now stay there)
• Kristin became co-anchor 
• Johnny Archer joined Kristin as co-anchor from weekend evenings (now since solo anchored by Alina Machado or Keith Jones)
• Kelly Blanco assumed traffic duties (in conjunction with entertainment and features reports)

The new anchors are expected to join this current morning team in February, with roles shifting around (and also making for quite a large group).

I don't think WTVJ will be able to challenge the market leaders but regardless, hopefully it will make for a stronger operation.

Some troubling news from a troubled station here:

As mentioned, admittedly not an avid viewer so I'm not sure if she was already being phased out by year's end of 2020. 

But regardless, these developments are very sad.

Joe Vazquez, one of the most prolific and consistent reporters at KPIX (not forgetting, stable, considering most of his colleagues have come and gone very frequently), is retiring from news after 16 years at the station and 35 years in the business total. KPIX is such a shell of what it used to be and this is definitely a loss. Not that it will actually do anything, but hopefully with the coming of the new set, can some rejuvenation be ushered in for a station that desperately needs it.

16 hours ago, dombrown2222 said:

I would hope for a guy like Bill Ratner, but it also seems that the booming voices of yesterday are becoming a thing of the past, and it's sad to see. 

I don't have much to add other than that I agree with you and Ratner would be great but since he's not getting any younger either, I don't see him as a viable long-term partner if ABC does go ahead with their much-rumored graphics overhaul, which would impact their branding in more ways than one. One of the people I've found that I like has been Jeff Collins (most notably at KTTV so wouldn't work for KABC). As for going a different direction, after CBS employed a woman for its new "Weekend News" opens, could we finally see more female VOs gain prominence in local broadcasting? (e.g. high-profile artists as Randy Thomas and Cedering Fox)

Also slightly unrelated, so do excuse this if it's not allowed, but I'm definitely speculating ABC will redesign the station websites (and possibly the apps as well) once they do rollout whatever changes they're rumored to make. Regardless of what happens, ABC has had the current web design since 2015 and tech has changed a lot since then. Hopefully they can continue to embrace consumer-focused innovation (even having off-hour looping newscasts akin to Fox would help).

Accompanying Denver article here: https://tvnewscheck.com/article/257340/nexstar-launches-nextgen-tv-in-denver/

The article also includes a list of Nexstar stations that have converted to 3.0 this year.

A development re: Seattle - https://tvnewscheck.com/article/257329/one-media-3-0-launches-stirr-radio-app-in-seattle/

ONE Media 3.0 (owned by Sinclair) has combined both TV and radio so viewers can now receive programming from both mediums in the new format.

The service is marketed as STIRR XT, which first appeared in Nashville as a pilot. 

The radio channels will be available to anyone with a NextGen TV connected to the internet.

More new developments in ATSC 3.0:

• Capitol Broadcasting, owners of Raleigh-Durham's WRAL (NBC) and WRAZ (Fox), began broadcasting in 3.0 today. 
  • This makes 9 stations airing with the new technology. WRAL's launch is also in partnership with WARZ-CD.
• Launches in Seattle
  • Tegna's KING (NBC) and KONG (indy), Sinclair's KOMO (ABC) and KUNS (Univision), Fox's KCPQ and KZJO (MNT), and Cox's KIRO (CBS)
  • Biggest simultaneous launch of all major broadcasters after Tampa earlier this year

On 7/29/2020 at 1:59 AM, Roadrunner said:

As promised, Portland (OR) witnessed deployment of ATSC 3.0 tech across seven stations on July 28, covering pretty much most of the English-language programming in the area. 

• Meredith - KPTV (Fox 12) + KPDX ("Fox 12 Plus")
• Nexstar - KOIN (CBS) + KRCW (CW)
• Sinclair - KATU (ABC)
• Tegna - KGW (NBC)
• Oregon Public Broadcasting - KOPB (PBS)

Portland will be the host of a cable TV test for 3.0 technology. All stations that transitioned earlier this year will work together with Comcast to "test how NextGen TV signals could best be transmitted by cable TV systems."

Learn more here.

4 minutes ago, Newsboy22234 said:

WBBM got new curtains in the newsroom I believe it’s because they hosted the CBS Weekend News this weekend 

Indeed. It's not determined to be permanent but I think it will be because the WBBM newsroom was otherwise drab and not indicative of a particular bureau for global viewing purposes.

1 hour ago, TVNewsLover said:

On a separate note, are Natasha and Alexandria no longer anchors of the 4PM? Ukee and Jessica have been anchoring it since Covid hit, and it doesn’t seem to be as fill-ins.

If I'm not mistaken, they were originally demoted back in May along with the infamous layoffs. It seems like their attempt at 4PM news with a different take did not pan out.

Ok this is one of those posts (not very substantive), but I feel this was slightly interesting to see -- the color and format (with the black behind the eye and the thick blue bar) look kind of like a "transition-esque" thing compared to anything else we've seen with the CBS look. Sorry if this has already been brought up/isn't new. 

Anyways, besides this, the overall chyrons have not changed so nothing else is implied or obvious. 

CBS Weekend News debuted its brand-new open yesterday.

This should be a harbinger for what's to come with the rest of their news product and branding.

Also, they've integrated the new 'CBS' font into the chyron for "CBS Weekend News", replacing the old 'CBS'.

However, they've only changed the "Weekend News" font to the new one in the open and not the chyron, so I don't think this integrates well.

17 minutes ago, RGSJenkins said:

Powered by KTVT.

Yes, thanks for reminding me. This is an obvious obstacle.

1 hour ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Seems strange that CBSTVS elected to have WWJ be a 3.0 participant, but not have WKBD sign on a 3.0 signal as well.

I'm sure there's [whatever reasons] but it's a good point considering WKBD is basically CBS's current primary news outlet in Detroit. 

Diane Deaton from WAFB is retiring after 37 years as meteorologist at the Baton Rouge station.

Her current role is morning meteorologist and her last day is December 18.

Steve Caparotta will fill her spot after her departure.

Deaton, among many others, deserves a nice, long break from the hurricane season from hell, whose scale none of us could have truly anticipated.

So for all of the work and sleepless nights Gulf & East coast meteorologists had to deal with this past summer and fall, I raise a huge glass to them. 

News here from Detroit

Five channels switched over to 3.0, including the big 4 networks.

Scripps' WMYD (MNT / 20) + WXYZ (ABC / 7), Fox's WJBK (2), Graham's WDIV (NBC / 4), and CBS's WWJ (62)

WMYD is the host station.

Coming with this development is "the launch of the “Motown 3.0 Open Test Track” for merging automotive applications with NextGen TV."

More as follows:

Quote

"The goal of the Motown 3.0 Test Track is to provide another research and development environment for the automotive industry to road test proof-of-concepts and connected car solutions using the internet protocol (IP) capabilities of the new broadcast TV standard. Transformative advances in core TV broadcast technologies made possible by ATSC 3.0 give terrestrial broadcasters new abilities to deliver Infotainment and IP data services to an infinite number of vehicles simultaneously, as well as to the displays and devices in them — whether on-the-go or in the garage....In the future, automobile makers will be able to, for example, update millions of in-car systems simultaneously at a comparatively low cost to today’s manual systems. This is just one of the exciting innovations we see available through this IP capability."

Brian Lawlor (Scripps President)

Initial participants in the Motown project are LG Electronics, Amazon Web Services, and LTN Global.

34 minutes ago, 24994J said:

Morning traffic anchor.

Thank you. Yes, I forgot this position had been unfilled after Alysha was canned.

So, I don't have concrete info and if anyone has an FTVLive membership for his Patreon, it'd be great if someone could kindly share, if allowed. 

Just a small observation as follows.

After mentioning a current SF-based talent was bound for LA, I (and some other scornful blogger) have deduced that he was talking about Robin Winston from KRON.

I've done some barebones sleuthing and am speculating she will be joining the KNBC team, but I'm ultimately unsure as to her future position.

KNBC has such a breadth of anchors & subs so I'm confused how she might otherwise fit in among the lineup (especially if it's the weekday morning team), though if she joins the station as a GA reporter, then they could definitely use some of those.

Sharri Berg has been tapped to lead the new streaming weather service.

Berg is current COO of News and Operations for FTS & also EVP of News Operating at FNC.

The service is scheduled to launch with the debut of the "Fox Weather App" in 3Q 2021 and will also include a new website and streaming service featuring local/regional/national updates + live programs.