nycnewsjunkie

A few comments on the branding side of things: FWIW, there isn’t a single 3 in sight on the set itself. However, you’ll notice that the desk and one of the big screens have “Eyewitness News” logos imposed over what looks to be the new graphics. These details aren’t indicative of anything (and they could very well be temporary,) but they’re interesting to note. As far as the set itself, it’s a massive improvement, and it feels much more spacious than before.

Some pics:

I agree, and I don’t think CBS is expecting to cut into KTLA (that would be more of an added bonus than a realistic expectation.) I think it’s mainly about putting on programming that’ll at least get better ratings than morning programming they currently offer on 2/9. And if KCBS takes a ratings hit (as if it hasn’t already,) it doesn’t matter. They’re all under the same umbrella anyway.

It’s not that Tegna is full of sinister suits that want to see their employees lose their jobs (though they make up for their lack of cynicism with their incompetence at running their stations.) Tegna wants the deal done ASAP for a much simpler reason. Dave Lougee and company are getting golden parachutes if this merger goes through, and there’s a significant termination fee if they cancel the deal. Why terminate the deal when you have everything to lose if you do? And it’s not evil at all to want the thing dead. This deal kills competition, and in turn kills local stations. While someone like Byron Allen would probably just do nothing with the Tegna stations, that’s still better than a hedge fund operating on a “cut, cut, cut” philosophy.

As I said earlier, I made that post before seeing KCNC’s Twitter page. Given that there’s no mention of their local identity, it’s pointing toward going full CTV. Still doesn’t explain KCAL though… EDIT: And I’m not sure they’re worried about black and gold graphics as much as they’re worried about a station looking like WJZ pre-2018 if they don’t standardize. But more importantly, consistency would allow the stations to work seamlessly with the network division. CBS must have calculated that while viewers might be jolted at seeing local identities disappear, it’s not like they’ll stop watching a station’s newscasts on that basis alone.

When I made that post, I actually didn’t realize that KCNC completely rebranded their social media pages as “CBS Colorado,” without any mention of channel 4 or anything, so that lends some evidence to your theory.

Wasn’t there some sort of termination fee associated with the deal though? That may be why they’re hoping the deal goes through, despite all the obvious issues with it.

To be fair, their attorneys responded to the FCC and essentially stated that the concerns were irrelevant because Apollo was “too small to trigger FCC attribution rules.” IMO, that’s a deflection. Regardless of size, Apollo will still have interests in competing stations in multiple markets.

To be honest, a graphics color change is not determining whether someone watches a station (it’s not like they changed it to fuchsia,) but I do think their established identity is certainly a determining factor. However, I am curious about the ratings for the CBSEN in Pittsburgh compared to other markets.

The FCC is extending the comment window on the Standard General/Tegna deal. https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-gives-tegna-commenters-more-time No doubt that the issue over Apollo’s involvement complicated matters.

I’m assuming you’re referring to WLNY, now WNYW. Thing is, you can’t really compare the two. WLNY was a small LI station that was allegedly bought in exchange for a golf membership. There were never serious investments made, and when CBS bought the station, they actually cut WLNY’s news department entirely. Meanwhile, KCAL is a station that built a solid reputation for itself in the 90s, and carved out a niche audience by doing news in prime time. It also helps that they hired away Jerry Dunphy to give them credibility on day 1. By the time CBS bought them, they had been well-established for a while. I’m not an expert on the market, but it seems to have gotten to the point that KCAL has a better reputation than KCBS, even though they’re under the same umbrella. And besides, if your stations are going to air local news from 4-11am, why split it between KCBS and KCAL and force viewers to change channels at 7am? KCBS gets to show live national news (which no other station does), while KCAL gets better programming in the morning than it has now. Both stations can concentrate on their specific audiences. It’s better than showing a newscast that pulls a whopping 0.0, which in turn hurts the national morning show.

This is gonna be a long one, so my apologies to everyone in advance. That quote certainly points to changes, and explains the increased emphasis on “CBS News” online and with their local/national streaming services. However, “unify our brands” doesn’t mean there aren’t room for exceptions, nor does it have to mean that local identities vanish at all. The main reason I point this out is because of a few key quotes from the Variety article on the situation in LA: That second quote is from Wendy McMahon herself, and she directly references “KCAL 9 News.” That’s not to say that you’re wrong and that they won’t eventually unify the brand there, but there is a clear emphasis on a strong brand for their morning news. Even with brand unification, management still values placing emphasis on a successful local identity. If it’s that important for a station like KCAL, I fail to see why it’s not important for a station like WJZ, which has built its identity, good reputation, and successful news operation on their call letters. That said, there’s still the question of radio: The more I think about the radio issue, the less I think it matters in the long run for two reasons. First, while the KDKA situation caused a bit of an uproar directed at the TV station, I think most people know the difference. The classic example of this is none other than WABC. WABC TV and Radio have been separate operations for close to 15 years now, and the radio station could not be more different from the TV station. They aren’t associated with ABC in any way whatsoever (they’re affiliated w/ Fox News Radio IIRC,) even though “ABC” is in the name of the station. Yet, you don’t hear too many cases of people calling WABC-TV, ABC News, or Disney demanding that Bernie and Sid be fired. Besides, the kind of people that do complain to the TV station are probably not the type of viewers that stations are looking for anyway. Second, rebranding a station like KPIX as “CBS News Bay Area” will actually create confusion in that market. It will unintentionally create a false association between KPIX and KCBS radio, even though they no longer share common ownership. This is certainly true in the case of KYW. That’s a Group W station that could really use a branding shake-up. However, legacy doesn’t always hold back the network news division; in fact, it often enhances it. Look at WRAL. When NBC moved there from third-place WNCN, they hit the jackpot. Their overall ratings went from last to first virtually overnight. That is because a station like WRAL, with strong news programming and a good reputation built around a local identity, contributed to the growth of NBC programming in the market. It’s well known that there’s more overall trust in local news than national news in the United States, so even with brand unification, there is no convincing reason why the successful local brands at CBS must go away. That kind of move would hurt the successful local stations more than it would enhance the national operation. Again, this (very long) post isn’t to say that you’re wrong and that CBS isn’t thinking along the lines of 100% brand unification; it’s only to say that there is evidence that CBS still wants some regional emphasis at their more successful stations. It’s certainly true that the CBS O&Os are generally last-place stations that have been run into the ground by David Friend, Peter Dunn, etc, and that their more successful stations are in comparatively smaller markets. However, when you have stations like WJZ, WCCO, KDKA, and WBZ that have built their success around their local identity, there’s no good reason for CBS to throw those babies out with the bathwater. I could be wrong, but I think management realizes that.

Exactly. And the “ratings hit” that KCBS will take on isn’t the worst thing in the world. They’re already ratings-challenged in the morning, so they might as well blow it up. They’ll at least have the distinction of being the only LA station airing live national morning news, while the morning shows on 4 and 7 will be 3 hours old. Meanwhile, KCAL can compete in the morning with something other than infomercials and “The 700 Club.” If they do it properly, they might be able to provide a more straightforward alternative to the infotainment-oriented shows on KTLA and Fox 11.

Either way, that seems like an obscene amount of local news for the market. There’s a midterm election coming up, so they’ll certainly be raking in the ad dollars. Also, I suppose this gives doctor’s offices something to put on in the waiting room.

Eyewitness News was a better fit for Lori, but IIRC WABC was dealing with a…situation with both a horrible GM and a horrible ND. As for Ernie, he was in his mid 70s when he left in 2019. He’d already stopped anchoring the more traditional 5/10p newscasts at that point, and he probably just wanted to retire after a long career. Speaking of which, today is Ernie’s 78th birthday. Happy Birthday Ernie, and keep *plucking* along.

It sounds like Indie-Band News and Chris Crane had a baby.

I’d be fascinated to see the daily viewership of WLNY. I don’t think it’s a station people really watch, unless you’re really into sitcom reruns and court shows. It doesn’t have a legacy that’s known throughout the market, and it’s precisely the kind of station where a “CBS News New York” newscast actually makes sense. I hope they don’t move back to the CBSN studio though, as that set looked extremely low-budget.

I’m just as perplexed as you, but in a way, it makes sense. IIRC, KCBS is near last in the mornings, and try as they might, they can’t dig themselves out of that hole. CBS itself has an interest in boosting its overall numbers for its national morning show. Doing this kills two birds with one stone, while simultaneously making KCAL more of a hyper-local station. I know this will inevitably lead to more speculation, but I don’t see this happening elsewhere in the station group. IMHO, this is a situation that is unique to KCBS/KCAL. KCBS is especially weak among the O&Os, and KCAL is a station that could use the extra news programming. Although, running news from 4-11am sounds insane, and they better hire more people for that. EDIT: This portion of the Variety article explains the reasoning.

This reasoning makes some sense when it comes to WCCO, KDKA, and KYW, but not WJZ. WJZ shares call letters with a Baltimore sports radio station, but that station doesn’t brand w/ their calls. Most people probably wouldn’t know that there even is a WJZ radio station unless they pay attention to the TOH IDs. The WJZ brand originates (and is best known from) from the TV side of things. Brand standardization might alleviate confusion in those markets and restart failing stations in other markets, but when it comes to Baltimore, they would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

While I’m leaning toward this argument, I wouldn’t be so sure of it. I’m not sure if this was covered (my apologies if so), but CBS Pittsburgh’s YouTube channel looks to have changed their profile picture and banner to “CBS News Pittsburgh.” Their icon was previously “CBS Pittsburgh,” in line with the old CBS (City) idents of years past. However, their new channel banner is noticeably missing references to either KDKA or WPCW, which were present in the old banner. This isn’t conclusive evidence of a change on KDKA’s end, as their channel has (AFAIK) always gone by the CBS (City) brand, but the complete absence of KDKA branding certainly supports the standardization hypothesis. Again, I don’t think we’ll be able to gauge what will happen until we see station promos closer to the fall.

Well, don’t paint us “New York types” with a broad brush. I’ve seen it and commented on it, as have numerous others. I think it’s been established that the CBS News (City) Now brand is being extended to the non-CBS stations (sans KCAL).

Yeah, I’m gonna have to disagree on this one. This package looks so cheap that it would actually be a downgrade from WAVY’s current package. If WRIC’s package debuted 9 years ago, it would still look dated. Hell, I’ll argue that WABC’s package from 2013 looks more modern than this 3D bathroom tile nightmare.

I tend to agree with that argument, and if CBS even goes with the CTV-style branding at all, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made exceptions for their market leaders. WCCO, WJZ, KDKA, etc are known by their longtime brands on social media, billboards, a weather tower (in CCO’s case), and their vehicles. That’s too much successful brand familiarity to change overnight for the *chance* that the other markets improve. That said, we likely won’t know anything for sure until we see station promos in August/September. Some signs point to brand standardization, other signs point to keeping the call letters, etc. We’re all making guesses at this point, and none of them will be reliable until we see more.

WCVB has promoted Cindy Fitzgibbon and Mike Wankum in the wake of Harvey Leonard’s retirement. Cindy will gain the title of Chief Meteorologist, but will remain on the morning/noon newscasts. Mike Wankum, currently on weekend evenings, will become the new weeknight meteorologist. IMO, well-deserved promotions for both. https://www.wcvb.com/article/wcvb-stormteam-5-meteorologists-cindy-fitzgibbon-mike-wankum-promoted-july-8-2022/40550090#

I suppose only 4/15 consistently good stations isn’t exactly a great track record for the station group, so you definitely have a point there. And it certainly makes sense to ditch Enforcer (if that’s in the works.) IMHO, that music had its day, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the back of it in favor of something new. That said, I still don’t understand how going the CTV route with local branding would increase ratings at the dead weight stations. WFOR, KYW, WBBM, etc. may not have anything to lose by ditching their local titles, but what would they have to gain that would make them stand out from WSVN, WPVI, or WGN? Considering that they might also ditch the local brands of the more successful stations, they’d be gambling away successful and proven names for the remote possibility that they improve in other markets. It sounds like cutting off one’s nose to spite their face in their competitive markets (one could include WBZ as being competitive for CBS too, given WHDH’s loss of NBC.) You’re right that WWJ will be branding as CBS News Detroit, but you could say that’s because WWJ (TV) never carved out any distinct identity whatsoever. This kind of branding actually works for their case, as it puts the power of a big network brand (even if their national news is incredibly weak) behind a station that has little to no news reputation to speak of. It’s entirely possible that you’re right, and they go the CTV route. I suppose there’s also a non-zero chance they go generic for their struggling stations while keeping local brands intact on their more successful ones. There’s also a chance that the local brands don’t go away at all, even with the new “CBS News” brand on certain newscasts and online (see posts from @Geoffrey in the WCBS thread for potential evidence of that.) The whole thing still seems like a bit of a crapshoot to me, and I know we’re just making very early guesses, but it’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens in the fall.