nycnewsjunkie

8 hours ago, C Block said:

It's not about cost-cutting, it's about more effectively using the power of owning two stations. By putting different and better programming on both stations, they can sell ads on both stations. Right now, they're trying to sell ads on a newscast nobody watches on one station, and infomercials on another.

 

There's no guarantee that people will start watching right away, but there will now be more reason for viewers to linger on both of the stations CBS owns, and it's at least a more compelling sell to potential advertisers. 

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.

1 hour ago, noggi said:

So apparently the key to building ratings growth is:

 

new set

confusing/mediocre branding 

more hours of news than anyone else

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.

4 hours ago, VHSgoodiesWA said:

Broadcast primetime TV is a mix of stale sitcoms, tons of stale and stupid reality shows, the same washed-out crime dramas (i.e., CBS's THREE FBI: "Insert Here" shows, multiple NCIS shows, multiple CSIs) and the same washed-out medical dramas. Then they jump the shark, add relationships to the shows instead of focusing on the premise of the program. The Good Doctor used to be about an autistic savant doctor. Now, it's about his relationships with women and the relationships between other doctors/nurses at the hospital. Grey's Anatomy - same thing.

The Goldbergs keeps going even though the 'kids' are now in their early-to-late 20s. I don't know how they do, the show has jumped the shark since the loss of George Segal and Jeff Garlin's departure. Abbott Elementary isn't that bad, on the other hand, and nor is Ghosts on CBS, but sitcoms for the most part have no life to them anymore. And yes, political messaging has destroyed many of these primetime shows. They just can't seem to have an unbiased plot on a drama or sitcom anymore - it has to show activism in some way.

 

Game shows - you can't seem to find any contestant on any primetime or daytime show (except maybe Jeopardy!/Wheel) that isn't on five energy drinks' worth of caffeine. The Price is Right is one of the biggest examples, but even the last few primetime shows (The Wheel, Beat Shazam, Press Your Luck) are like this too...

 

Late night TV shows have also declined to new lows. Same jokes about former President Trump EVERY NIGHT on every single show. We get it, I can't stand him either, but he's no longer POTUS. Surely is there anything else to make fun about? Segments are mundane and cookie-cutter compared to previous hosts (Leno's Headlines, Craig Ferguson, Geoff and Secretariat, Carnac on Johnny Carson). They have little to no creative value to viewers. I love Bill Maher, but I don't watch any other late night show. That ship sailed when Letterman, Ferguson, and Leno retired.

 

Even the soap opera fans are noticing extremely poor writing and the lack of nuance on Y&R, B&B and General Hospital, compared to 20-30 years ago. Days already went to Peacock (to die, probably). It looks as though the rest of the soaps are also on life support.

 

Do NOT get me started on cable TV. What was entertaining (Cubs games and Bozo on WGN, great movies and Night Tracks on TBS, Cartoon Express on USA etc.) has become a wasteland of binge-watching repeats, zillions of commercials (of which Limu Emu gets at least 1/3 of the airtime), and reality shows that keep getting worse by the year. TruTV aired 'Jurassic World' last night. The channel for live, rolling court coverage and analysis is now running not just hours of Impractical Jokers, but also MOVIES. What gives! Nickelodeon = zillions of SpongeBob repeats with oodles of commercials. Food Network = tons of food competitions, very few how-to cooking shows. Where art thou, Essence of Emeril, Barefoot Contessa, etc.? TWC spends all night running Highway Through Hell repeats (and all day on weekends) and once in a while, they will shove those away if there's major tornadoes. The ghosts of Dr. John Hope and Dave Schwartz haunt the studios, I bet. What was Chuck Roberts and Gordon Graham on Headline News 24 hours a day has turned into WEST WING repeats. Oh, and a zillion Forensic Files showings. Might as well call it TNT2 at this point. TLC's constant reality garbage, same with Bravo, USA, MTV, Discovery Channel. GSN's constant Harvey Feud repeats, too! Isn't he on a few other cable channels...TVLand maybe?

 

Honestly, I'd be fine only getting ESPN, ESPN2, and a few other sports networks a la carte. The rest of cable TV is garbage. Yes, that includes CNN/FOX News/MSNBC. 

 

Honestly, I stopped watching TV for the most part after the start of the pandemic. And for the most part, except for some sports, and maybe the local news, I haven't come back. I would rather watch a classic movie or Seinfeld repeat than 95% of what's on TV nowadays.

 

RANT OVER.

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.

19 minutes ago, abc7 Man said:

Is this the first NYE they are on at 10? I remember in the past they were on at 11 but reduced to 30 minutes (instead of 35 minutes for weekday or 60 minutes for weekend)

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.

2 hours ago, The Frog said:

SBJ's John Ourand predicts that LIV Golf will make a deal with The CW, and says that there's some "smoke" to this prediction (38:55).

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.

19 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

It appears Nexstar is taking two steps backward in their "digital first" mandate.  Live streams of their newscasts are apparently coming to an end next month.  

They will be delayed at least 2 hours.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2022/12/21/nexstar-to-end-live-stream-newscasts

 

The endless quest for retransmission money appears to be the reason.

If they keep this stuff up, they'll end up like Bally Sports, and price themselves out of existence when the pay TV providers kick them to the curb and the networks begin pulling their affiliations.

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.

43 minutes ago, SFTV said:

They still mention “KPIX 5’s *reporters name* has the latest” the website is still referred to KPIX.com 

 

I’ve yet to see new mic flags

You’re right, my mistake. Sorry

33 minutes ago, Myron Falwell said:

There is a significant contingent of nostalgia-driven posters and they’re usually the loudest people in the room.

 

They can have their opinions on CBS going for unified branding and music not Enforcer being A Bad Thing but CBS is doing this because they see it in the best interests of the network and their station group. The execs in charge have determined that The Old Way Of Doing Things is no longer going to work.

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.

3 hours ago, Briella said:

This forum is very nostalgia heavy, and most here have an extreme attachment to graphics and their local stations (see the argument about Pittsburgh needing everything to be black and yellow) Nothing new will ever be ok unless it keeps the same colors, names, numbers, style, anchors, sets, bumpers, idents, while also being new, fresh, exciting, up to date, and representing their area with little call backs and touches that bring a tear to your eye and you can say "That's my station". 

 

It's pretty funny when you look at it objectively. Times are changing, get over it.

Apparently the point is to show headlines, which is what it does.

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.

1 hour ago, iron_lion said:

I keep hearing it said that flatness is more mobile friendly. In what way? 
 

It's  a fair statement to not nitpick too much given that the average viewer just cares about channel content more so than presentation elements. A tweaked logo isn't the end of the world. On the contrary, a large portion of what we critique here like lighting, studio setup, and graphics, only industry junkies would care about. My point remains though, a lot of these graphical "updates" networks are doing to their logos seem to take a step backwards.

 

The NBC news logo IMO is the perfect all around peacock design to settle on. White borders with depth, gloss, and gradient to the colors.

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.

2 hours ago, iron_lion said:

This was unnecesary and not an improvement by any measure. First ABC ruined their logo, then CBS gets a miniscule screen bug, now this. Its like the networks are dertermined to spend money for a worse product. 

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.

2 hours ago, CLETVFan said:

TJ needs to go as he's becoming a bigger distraction with all the crap that's come out involving him.

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.

1 hour ago, NYTV said:

Here's her farewell to ABC on her Twitter

I must be really slow with this stuff, because I didn’t even know she left CBS2 to begin with.

33 minutes ago, CaptainNews said:

KCAL has essentially become a competitor with KCBS in itself, which is not a good thing, for obvious reasons (just look at KCAL's 10pm and KCBS' 11pm ratings)

I don’t think comparing 2 stations in 2 different time slots really counts as competition, but I assume your point is that KCAL has the higher-rated newscasts. Is that really a bad thing? It’s the exact same news department, and the revenue is all flowing in the same direction.

14 hours ago, kfc513 said:

OK, I know the "let's make the secondary station more prominent than the primary station where newscasts are based at" thing has been done before elsewhere (remember FOX45 News on ABC22 in Dayton?). But it doesn't make any sense here. KCBS is the West Coast flagship of CBS with the combined 2/9 news operation that will be named CBS News Los Angeles, except now it will originate from KCAL, the independent station, while KCBS, the West Coast flagship of CBS, will be relegated to secondary status.

 

If this isn't the definition of @$$-backwards management, I don't know what is.

I don’t know if I’d call it “ass-backwards management” (not yet, anyway); it’s more like throwing in the towel on channel 2 in the morning. I can’t blame them. Keep in mind that their current arrangement has KCBS airing a newscast that draws a big fat zero in the ratings, while KCAL airs infomercials. As unconventional as this new arrangement is, it’s better than what they have now (although they might want to consider promoting the damn thing).

That’s not saying much, of course. The spiel about “making KCAL a major player” is BS, and I imagine that management is smart enough to realize that they won’t be a major threat to KTLA or KTTV. The broader point is that KCAL can air its own programming (via CBS LA’s news dept), and the extra airing of CBS Mornings can give the show a ratings boost (albeit, a very small one). Sure, KCBS loses morning news, but when no one’s watching it, it’s not like anyone living in LA is going to give a damn.

If they really are launching on KCAL tomorrow, you’d think they’d do a better job promoting it. I haven’t seen anything on their website that promotes a Dec. 5 launch (other than program guides), and I assume they aren’t airing promos on KCBS/KCAL. AFAIK, nothing promoting a specific launch date on social media or YouTube either.
 

Maybe it’s me, but I don’t know if you have any hope of getting viewers for this thing if you aren’t even telling people when/where to watch it. Unless, of course, they aren’t launching tomorrow.

I know Meade is popular around here (and I quite like her myself), but I can’t say I’m surprised that she’s leaving. Her program always had a bit of a niche audience, and since it was the only news program on what’s become a true crime channel, it’s always been out of place. While I personally think it’s better than New Day, its lighter tone means that it wouldn’t fit in with the rest of CNN’s programming. Hopefully she finds work elsewhere (she’s too good not to).

Still, I really don’t like this whole “cut to success” mentality that Discovery is implementing across CNN (and across the entire company, for that matter). Yes, CNN desperately needed to change, but making the network irrelevant is not the answer.

17 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

And why Discovery is still not considering winding down networks continues to be beyond me; I know the RTC is why

You kind of answered your own question there. Still, the amount of zombie networks they have is astounding.

14 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Umm? Aren’t they both married?

Yup, afraid so. I guess it’s a good reminder that people in TV news (or in any place of public prominence) can be as wonderful or as horrible as anyone else.

32 minutes ago, alaskanews said:

What is this absolute nightmare of a brand? Where are your eyes supposed to look? How much of this mouthful is going to be used on air? "You're watching CBS News Los Angeles This Morning on KCAL." "KCAL CBS News Los Angeles This Morning starts now." WUT.

I’m not sure if they’re planning on keeping it this way, but the branding looks and feels temporary. I’m not a fan of it either, but I suppose it’s necessary given that CBS airs a bunch of newscasts on two LA stations. I wouldn’t be surprised if it all becomes “CBS News Los Angeles” at some point.

On 11/8/2022 at 10:14 PM, jd285 said:

The BBC posted earlier tonight on their election live blog about Trump’s interview with NewsNation. Needless to say, the way they described the network is something to say the least.

On that subject, apparently the interviewer (Markie Martin) is the sister of Margo Martin, Trump’s Deputy Director of Communications. That relationship was not disclosed.

I know I should really stop giving NN undue attention, but when they’re interviewing the former president like this, it’s kind of hard to ignore.

FTVLive referred to the network as Fox News Lite, but even Fox News has greater levels of transparency. NewsNation is more like Diet Newsmax with a side of Fredo.

2 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Paging Nexstar....time to get into the 2020s.....
https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2022/11/8/does-your-station-have-a-streaming-channel

IIRC it wasn’t until recently that KLAS started streaming online. And that’s a station in Vegas.

This is where Nexstar should’ve been investing instead of trying to create CNN/Fox News Lite.

15 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

This is the same outlet that made it seem like Norah O'Donnell was on her way out at CBS, before she wasn't.

 

It seems like this may be based on a single source, described as an "insider,"  but that doesn't even necessarily mean this person works there. I don't even see this "insider" describing a situation they witnessed or citing a person he or she heard this from. The Post has a political axe to grind and this story is perfect for them. Take any Post gossip with a spoonful of salt.

A good rule of thumb that’s worked well for me: If it’s a sensationalist piece from the NY Post/NY Daily News, there’s a 50% chance it’s horsecrap.

5 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said:

I'm not. Think of all the unforeseen issues that are likely to happen with the launch (like anytime a station launches a new graphics package, for example, let alone a whole new newscast). Having those issues right before the biggest story of the year when viewership is up and more eyeballs to catch a possible major issue makes for a bad first impression.

 

Recent example is KSAZ last night testing their election ticker... And whoever runs that for them probably isn't brand new to the job.

Good point, the last thing the stations need is for more people to see them screw up. That one KSAZ issue could send Arizona’s election into a tailspin just because of all the craziness surrounding it.