nycnewsjunkie

The problem is, this isn’t a reconciliation of strategies at all. They’re basically disregarding the CBS brand entirely. The new rebrand across the CBS stations is supposed to unite the linear and digital products. That’s why the KPIX rebrand works; what you see online is virtually identical to what you see on TV. In LA, the linear and digital products are actually more distant after the rebrand. The website is linked to CBS News, but outside of KCBS newscasts, there are zero on-screen references to CBS. This is even the case for the CBS News Los Angeles streaming channel, which is where the screenshot is from. Granted, this is probably a non-issue in Baltimore, but not in the second most populous market in the country. To be fair, one could argue that KCAL does have that problem. For many people who aren’t TV junkies like us, the abbreviation “kcal” refers to a kilocalorie, not a TV station. If they want to reconcile their brand legacy, why not do what KPIX did and co-brand everything? That way, people associate KCAL with CBS, which is the whole reason this rebrand was supposed to happen in the first place. Going all in on “KCAL News” only to later drop the brand like a hot potato isn’t a good way to leverage brand legacy IMHO. In fact, it may even alienate people in the long run.

Brian Williams would have been a complete turn-off, and not just because of his exaggerated war stories. His MSNBC newscast was a poorly disguised opinion show, and that doesn’t translate well to the evening news. I’m not really sure why people ever considered him to be a viable option. If Khemlani was considering him, that’s poor judgment on his part.

I think people were wondering why CBS is calling it “KCAL News” when the whole point is to unify every station around CBS News (especially in big markets like LA). Even on streaming, there are barely any visual references to CBS News Los Angeles (at least, not yet). If the goal is building around a strong local brand, this is a success. If the goal is brand unification w/ CBS, this fails. Furthermore, the KCAL News brand does not translate well cross-platform; the website and app are built around CBS News, but there are barely any references to CBS News on the newscasts themselves (outside of KCBS newscasts). That being said, KCAL is the stronger brand, and it’s much better to build around “KCAL News” than have two separate names for the same product. On its own, it’s a great (and sensible) rebrand, but if the goal is to build around CBS News, it doesn’t accomplish that.

Climate change implications aside, they can’t even get the phrasing right. Data is supposed to be interpreted, not debated. “Debating the data” is like debating if 1+1=2. But my expectations for these people were never very high.

Did they ever really need two sets? I get the feeling they only had them to emphasize two different brands for the same news operation. Now that they’re unifying everything together, it seems logical to unify studio presentation as well. Besides, the last few months showed that the two stations were able to operate out of one studio just fine.

I understand that you live in the market, so I won’t pretend I understand LA more than you or anyone else here. That said, they’ve already hit rock bottom in terms of ratings, and they needed to try something different. As far as brand sense goes, there’s more brand sense w/ “KCAL News” than there was when they were using two names for the same news operation. I think there’s room for criticizing how they went about it (I pointed out the lack of promotion), but most of the things you mentioned (like the name of the damn helicopter) are things most people don’t care about. And if you’re criticizing them for not telling people where to watch *CBS* Mornings... I can’t help you there. I’m happy to criticize when warranted, and this thing may end up not working out, but saying it’s DOA after one day is a bit much IMO.

Dude no offense, but one rando on Facebook isn’t evidence that the whole thing is a disaster. It’s day 1. Look, they had a rough start this morning, but these things don’t always start smoothly (look at KOTV a few months back.) The assignment desk isn’t perfect, but as I said elsewhere, at least they’re peeling back the curtain on news gathering and trying something no other station is doing. That’s how you stand out. Keep in mind that the alternative was a morning newscast that got 0.0 in the ratings and a network that was airing morning infomercials instead of live programming. I’m happy to point out some flaws, but this is an improvement by every stretch of the imagination, and I think we’re overreacting if we say otherwise.

I mean, isn’t it obvious enough? They can go to CBS. That’s the least of their issues. That being said, the audio issues…holy crap. Several mics keep cutting off, and now I can’t stop hearing that audio hum in the studio. First day jitters are normal, but they‘re really having problems today.

Here’s KCAL’s launch (h/t @Georgie56 on another thread.) Also, some screenshots of KCAL’s sign on, the severe weather ticker, the CBSLA streaming feed, and what was seen on KCBS at 4am PT.

See, this is the kind of promo they should’ve been going with a month ago. I know not everything was ready yet, but you have to give people something to look forward to. I don’t think making KCAL the primary station is a bad thing at all, but *if* the goal is to build around CBS News, that should be indicated on some level in how they advertise themselves. Yes, KCBS is a ratings trash heap compared to the more stable KCAL, but this is still the nation’s #2 market. CBS will have to make its brand more prominent at some point (especially with the streaming component factored in).

I think the more confusing thing (at least for me) is why they aren’t calling it “CBS News Los Angeles.” I get that KCAL gets viewers and KCBS doesn’t, but when the whole point is to unify the branding and put CBS News at the forefront, this doesn’t exactly help. You’d think they’d at least do what KPIX is doing and cobrand the newscasts, but they’re not even doing that. I haven’t seen any mentions of CBS News Los Angeles outside of the website and references to the streaming channel. It’s all “KCAL News.” On the last CBS2 Morning News, they introduced the entire KCAL morning team. At one point, one of the anchors said something to the extent of “it’s a little confusing, we’re trying to get used to it ourselves.” When even the on-air talent is confused by the arrangement, and most viewers won’t find out until tomorrow because of a lack of promotion, I don’t think they’re setting themselves up for success. I like the overall strategy given the ratings mess at KCBS, but I don’t like the implementation so far.

It really would’ve helped if they’d actually promoted the damn thing instead of waiting for the 11th hour to do it. It made sense to move most of the local news to a station that actually gets ratings, but the branding is going to be confusing, and is counter to what CBS is doing in the rest of the country. Not even WCCO, arguably their most successful station, is going to get this treatment (I know it’s because of the radio station, but still). Is CBS so damaged as a brand in LA that they have to put the KCAL name on everything? That set does look fantastic, though. I’ll give them that.

Nailed it. I’d love it if we could get stuff a la carte too, even though that’s never going to happen. Outside of live sports, I barely watch TV. I get my fix from streaming, a little bit of social media, and YouTube (which costs absolutely nothing). Local news too, but even that doesn’t require traditional TV anymore (unless your station owner acts like they’re in the 1990s.)

I would like the branding more if a) CBS weren’t integrating their stations news departments into CBS News and b) they weren’t simulcasting an hour on KCBS. When you’re relaunching KCAL with only minimal references to CBS News LA (which I’m sure we’ll see on KCBS), it runs counter to what they’re trying to do, especially when KCAL News is going to stream on the CBS News LA streaming channel. I guess they want to leverage the KCAL brand, given that KCBS has never had much luck in that market. When you consider that, I guess calling it KCAL News makes sense in the short term.

First time in my recollection. All big 4 stations are on with news at 10pm ET this year.

For tonight’s 6pm, Sade Baderinwa filled in for Sandra Bookman and joined the rest of the regular weekend night crew. I’m assuming they’ll be on at 10pm as well.

I know it’s just a rumor, but this actually wouldn’t surprise me in the least. It would probably end up being a time buy, with LIV producing everything and paying Nexstar for the air time.

This is dumb. I’m sorry I don’t have a more original thought contribution, but it’s so dumb that I can’t even begin to comprehend it. These people actually think they can live and die on retrans fees. For all of Tegna’s intelligence-insulting gimmicks, Sinclair’s extreme political bias, and Gray’s cheap/outdated visual aesthetic, those companies can at least understand one thing: they know where their audience is and where to grow it. Nexstar looks to be run by people who are too stubborn to understand that, to the point that they’re even killing off the damn web streams. It’s been said before, and it’s worth repeating: big market company, small market mentality.

I don’t know if any other market has someone like a Jim Gardner. I know other cities have people who’ve anchored for a long time, but I’m not sure they’ve had the same cultural impact/relevance that Jim has in Philly. I mean, the dude had people tailgating in the parking lot for this. Nobody deserves it more, though. Happy retirement, Jim.

You’re right, my mistake. Sorry I mean, I totally agree that CBS needs this shakeup, but I can understand the criticism on some level (and I think it goes beyond music and channel numbers). For all the corniness about the way American stations have continued to identify themselves, it at least gives the impression that your station belonged to your community and not some faceless corporate entity (reality notwithstanding, of course). That’s not to say that CBS O&Os have felt that way (especially under the old management), but some of the vestiges of unique identity were still there. That’s going away now, even at the legacy stations, and one could be forgiven if they felt that their local outlet didn’t really belong to them anymore. Again, not that David Friend cultivated that sense of belonging, but the vestiges were still there. That being said, you’re right, it had to be done. CBS is too big of a company to have most of their stations flailing in the ratings and being irrelevant. The association with CBS News definitely grants them some level of prestige IMO. It’s just that losing local characteristics comes with its own risks. Considering the state of most of those stations, though, I think it’s more than worth it, and at least they’re trying *something* with them.

Considering that you’ve got 10 people liking your post, and that a sizable number of people in this particular thread have offered nothing but uncritical praise for what CBS is doing, your perception is mistaken. Yes, there are people who don’t like it, and prefer stations to have individual characteristics, but that’s their prerogative. They’re allowed to have an opinion too. As far as my personal feelings are, I really like this rebrand. The graphics are miles beyond what they replaced, and IMO, they’re the second best looking local news package out of the US that I’ve seen (the best being NBC’s). although I’m not a fan of the way they use the call letters in what is very likely a temporary branding. The call letters in a box don’t look good next to the “CBS News X” really look sloppy IMHO. (EDIT: I probably should’ve noticed that already, but I really notice it now having seen it on air). I get that they’re trying to transition things over, but they’ve already been doing that for more than a year. In KPIX’s case, I don’t think the anchors/reporters even mention KPIX once. If you’re going all in on CBS News, go all in now.

As for the “why is flat better for mobile?” question, I’m far from a design expert, but I think this article puts forward a good argument for it (and explains it better than I ever could). Long story short, flat design allows for greater contrast and more flexibility. When you’re working with a smaller amount of space, gradients and gloss can be unnecessarily complicated and distracting. It’s the same reason why IOS and Windows dropped their old glossy designs they had for their operating systems several years back. I’m not against the old peacock or anything, but on the subject of NBC News, their visual presentation is looking rather dated IMO (although not nearly as dated as ABC). I’m sure they’ll eventually adapt their graphics to suit the new peacock, but I doubt they’re in any rush to do it given the similarities between the logos. I can be nit picky about this stuff myself, but I honestly didn’t even notice the changes when the new promos first aired. That’s how subtle they are IMO. But to each their own.

Because of a logo change? That’s a bit of an overstatement IMHO. ABC and NBC’s new logos are more mobile-friendly, and the new CBS bug is less intrusive. Besides, we’re the only people that are consciously noticing this stuff; all of these changes are so minuscule that I’m not sure it’s even worth calling them different logos.

Soo Kim has plenty of friends in high places, that’s for sure.

I’m sort of surprised that having an affair with two married coworkers while being married yourself doesn’t violate a morality clause of some sort, especially since this is Disney we’re talking about. That said, as reprehensible as TJ or Amy may be in their personal lives, I’m not sure firing them would be a good precedent for the rest of the company. Even though TJ may have had a habit of $h*—ing where he ate, his relationships were consensual, and unless ABC has an explicit “no fraternization” policy, I’m don’t think they’d have any justification for firing him. Same goes for Amy. EDIT: Kim Godwin herself stated that TJ’s actions were “not a violation of company policy,” so ABC would have no justification for firing him.