nycnewsjunkie

Wasn’t NBC trying to sell off their RSNs a few years ago? They already sold their D.C. channel to Ted Leonsis, and the only reason why the rest weren’t sold off is because they couldn’t find a buyer. Besides, NBC is in the middle of budget cuts and they’re more interested in national sports contracts. I doubt they want to pour money into more RSNs.

KYW hasn’t changed their graphics yet, but their newscasts are now officially called “CBS News Philadelphia.” This intro is from Wednesday, and was taken from their streaming feed. IMG_5800.MOV

If I had to guess, it’s probably because Peacock is starving for content (and subscribers). Also, IIRC, they can’t simulcast on Peacock and USA due to some archaic reason related to cable.

@ABC 7 Denverbeat me to it, but half of the PBS NewsHour is made up of talking heads, and, no offense to fans of the show, but most people don’t want to watch that crap. It’s a big reason why PBS never moves beyond its very niche audience. Not to mention, it has always been a very slow newscast, and was considered as such even when the big networks were doing slower-paced newscasts. Many European networks seem to find a way to do stories with depth and context without boring their viewers to death; I don’t see a reason why we have to pick between a sleep aid and the desperately frenetic product that the big networks are putting out now.

I’ve gotta hand it to CBS. They took a clean, cohesive intro and managed to make even that look cheap. Also, why do they insist on repeating the same 9 notes of the theme music before every headline in this new intro? It’s repetitive and annoying.

FWIW, the anchor desk graphics have changed.

It looks like a cheaper version of a Fox News set from 2010. Not a fan of this set at all, but considering the fact that Sinclair is taking a bath on their RSNs, I’m not surprised that this was the end result.

These (rather blurry) pictures look to be more legit. *If* these are real, they don’t look that bad to me. They’re not the best looking sports graphics I’ve ever seen, but I don’t know if I’d call them “divisive.”

What an awesome way to use TikTok. It’s informative and entertaining at the same time, and it’s precisely the type of content that appeals to people of my generation (20 to 40-somethings) without being self-centered. This is the stuff local stations should really be encouraging, especially since TikTok is a much better platform for short-form content than TV. Never thought I’d end up following a radio station on TikTok, but that was good stuff. IMHO, TikTok itself isn’t the problem, and even the occasional non-news posts from anchors aren’t necessarily bad either. It’s not like anchors/reporters have to be stenographers without personality; after all, personality is part of what draws people to watch local news. It’s only a problem when people go overboard and use TikTok at the expense of reporting. IIRC, that reporter who worked at KSEE barely had any news-related content on her TikTok. That’s fine if you’re just some random user, but not if you’re using that account to promote yourself as a journalist. I don’t think managers should be forcing/encouraging reporters to turn themselves into vacuous influencers.

Nah you weren’t harsh, we should wait for the reveal. And that subway tile is a nice touch without going too overboard; using too much of it might clash with the overall design.

Sorry if I gave the impression that I was jumping to conclusions; I was just saying that I wouldn’t be a fan of those graphics *if* they were going to be used. In hindsight, while the ticker looks similar, it may be a new package. We’ll see what it all looks like on the debut day.

The set looks great, but if they end up using these graphics (see below) in market #1, I might just vomit.

KPIX uses the box logo during syndicated programming. AFAIK, they still use the old Group W logo for the legal ID during network programming.

I watched some of their newscasts yesterday. As @ThunderJay27 pointed out, they’ve already eliminated all verbal references to the “Eyewitness News” name (except for the intros). They’re ditching the brand, and it’s for the best. It may be associated with the station’s early history, but it’s also associated with a long period of low ratings, as well as the racism of the Dunn/Friend era (see this article; viewers even referred to the newscasts as “White-Witness News”). The name doesn’t carry the goodwill that it does in NYC, for example, where the “Eyewitness News” name actually fits the newscasts WABC puts out. I know KYW wasn’t successful the last time they dropped the name, but this rebrand is nothing like the last one. They aren’t completely retooling the newscasts with people nobody knows. The anchors and reporters are all the same. They’re even making a conscious effort to heavily promote Ukee Washington. The only thing that’s changing is the presentation.

I never really understood why the black and gold color combo generated such passion on either side of the debate, but then again, I’m the most pedantic person I know, so who am I to judge? I wasn’t a huge fan of how it looked on the outgoing package, but I could see that color combo working well with the new graphics. Just as long as they don’t do something stupid, like gold text on a black background (or vice versa). Also, the new newsroom looks fantastic.

I think it’s safe to say that CBS Detroit falls into the “fewer legacy viewers at risk” category. Not only is channel 62 hard to get to for OTA viewers; that station (in its current form) doesn’t have much of a legacy to speak of. I generally agree, but it depends on how much CBS is invested in attracting OTA viewers in Detroit. Moving their virtual channel would only impact people who don’t have cable or streaming. I’m not sure if the number of antenna-only viewers in the Detroit viewing area would make that a big enough concern. Plus, CBS is putting a big emphasis on their streaming news networks anyway, so their Detroit OTA channel probably isn’t their highest priority right now.

I’d have to see it on air to make a good judgment of it, but it looks like it’ll be slightly different than the renderings indicated. I suppose that’s because of the low ceiling. Still, it’s miles better than anything they’ve had prior. It looks like they just put lights where the ticker was going to be. They probably figured it would look too busy, and it would barely show up on air anyway.

Yup, that’s exactly what it was. I can understand the argument that the personal lives of news anchors, no matter how unpleasant, should be kept personal. The problem is that TJ and Amy were doing everything not to keep it personal. That’s too much of a headache for ABC’s liking.

I’m going to do my best to play devil’s advocate for this asinine “censorship” thing, if only to try and understand the logic behind it. Newsmax may stream everywhere, but they largely cater to the same demographics as Fox News. It wouldn’t surprise me if the vast majority of their viewership is from cable/satellite customers, and there are a great deal of satellite customers in rural, more conservative areas. The cable/satellite business may be on its last legs, but Newsmax (and other similar networks) live and die on that business. The problem for them, other than the obvious long-term unsustainable nature of the business, is that they don’t even make money on satellite. According to Ars Technica, DirecTV did not pay Newsmax to carry the channel under their previous agreement. It’s not as though they can ask for a few less cents. Newsmax likely can’t afford to have a large chunk of their viewership not pay for the network. Thus, cue the “political censorship” circus. The political angle of the messaging is there to get their viewers riled up. As you mentioned, they have bigger names, higher ratings than NewsNation, and “respectability” (for lack of a better word), so they can generate a lot more publicity with this stunt than OAN ever could. I’m sure DirecTV will be inundated with calls from people unintentionally asking the company to raise their satellite fees by carrying Newsmax and paying for it. Plus, there are already Republican members of Congress accusing DirecTV of political discrimination. It’s a desperate move on Newsmax’s part, and as @NewEgg00 mentioned, Newsmax will soon be cancelling itself by getting rid of free streaming. It seems that their last-ditch hope is to raise enough of a commotion to force DirecTV to pay for the channel.

I look forward to their future employment at NewsNation. /s

Your snarky attitude is duly noted. I’ll keep it in mind from now on.

I’m gonna disagree here, I actually like it. Granted, the graphics definitely have that “in house, small market” quality that I can’t quite put a finger on, and there are better ways to do minimalism, but for a station in freakin Northern Michigan, this is great. I’d prefer it if my local station used something like these graphics instead of the Frankenstein’s monster of a package that WISH-TV is using now. Not everything has to have a bunch of glossy, flying 3D BS distracting you from everything. Those looks are far too common these days (looking at you, Nexstar and Gray). It seems like a lot of designers are stuck in that late 90s to early 2010s period of design, and it’s good to see a station break the mold.

These are all good points. I’ve learned to forgive the technical stuff; yes, one could argue that they should clear these things up before broadcast, given that they’ve been preparing behind the scenes for a while, but first day jitters are normal. I’m not really a fan of how they put the logo in a white box, but that might be temporary for all we know. As someone who can be unreasonably pedantic about sets and presentation, I actually don’t mind that it doesn’t look “ultra flashy.” Having the newscast done in the newsroom is rather refreshing, and they did a good job freshening up the WKBD newsroom. What I didn’t like was the awkward story selection. I get that they want to have exclusives, but the top story on your first newscast really shouldn’t be about a fired basketball coach. I also agree on the lack of local reporters. If they wanted to make a good first impression, they should’ve had field reporters on day 1. Still, it’s a hell of a lot better than no news at all.

I agree that not *everything* has to be flat, but IMHO design shouldn’t just stay stagnant in the early 2010s. You could’ve told me this stuff was from ten years ago and I would’ve believed you. I guess it’s not terrible; we’ve seen worse on some Nexstar and Gray stations, and we’re talking about a small station in Pennsylvania. Still, I would’ve gone for something more up to date.

The Daily Mail is reporting that TJ Holmes also had an affair with an intern. Their source describes Holmes as “a predator who took full advantage of his position” One should proceed with caution considering the source, but if it’s true, this can’t be good. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11649639/T-J-Holmes-sex-office-ABC-intern-13-years-junior.html