nycnewsjunkie

Looks decent…for 2010. Maybe it’s just me, but imho both the graphics and music are a downgrade from what they replaced. They both look/sound well past their expiration date, and they just debuted. If only Tribune’s creative services team was kept…

I’ll go as far as to say that the outgoing package looks better than some of the newer graphics packages being churned out by Gray and Nexstar. That said, the new Wx graphics look fantastic. If they are a harbinger for a group-wide package, that will be a welcome development, especially for WABC and other stations with aging/less than stellar graphics.

As mentioned in the original post, Fox is providing coverage of the hearings. They just aren’t providing full, uninterrupted coverage on FNC. They’ve opted to put the main coverage on Fox Business and distribute it to affiliates that want it. Given that FNC’s talking heads are usually on air during the time the hearings are scheduled, this isn’t really a surprise. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if many Fox affiliates decide not to take the network’s feed and either A) provide their own coverage or B) show highlights on the late news. IIRC, WJZY ended up cutting from Fox News to NewsNation on 1/6 itself, given FNC’s subpar coverage of the actual event.

I’m surprised it supposedly isn’t COVID-related, given that the other anchors (at least from what I’ve seen) are distanced on the desk together, rather than being in separate studios.

Thanks for the info, I must’ve just missed seeing it on air. Several other Nexstar stations have their helicopters in the air, so taking one down in a place like NYC didn’t sound right to begin with.

I haven’t seen it on air for some time, but I don’t know if they dropped it entirely. Would not be a very good move if so.

Imho, CBS screwed themselves more than they screwed Jeff. One can argue that Jeff somehow has the better end of the deal today. He works almost exclusively on Saturday mornings with a good cohort of people, and might even get another shot at the big chair down the road if/when CBS decides to fill its ranks with people who know what the hell they’re doing. In the meantime, he can sit comfortably knowing that he’s not involved with this current fiasco.

I guess when you have a penny-pinching, micro-managing boss, an alleged narcissist as your chief anchor, and friction between the two, that doesn’t translate to high ratings or a good product. The relationship between O’Donnell and CBS News seems to be a marriage of convenience, and a dysfunctional one at that.

On May 26th, BBC Director-General Tim Davie announced plans to cut staff and services in an effort to save £500 Million annually over the next few years. The plan is billed as a “digital-first” initiative to modernize the corporation, but is being implemented after the British government announced a freeze of the television license-fee at £159 ($200) for the next two years. The BBC is funded entirely by said license-fee, and the current UK government has previously criticized this method of funding. Highlights: BBC World News will merge into the domestic BBC News Channel. BBC News will serve as the sole news channel for both the UK and international audiences, though there will be some separate broadcasts for the British and world feeds. BBC Four and CBBC will cease linear broadcasting, and will become digital-only services through BBC iPlayer. Radio 4 Extra will cease linear broadcasting, and will become digital-only through BBC Sounds. The regional news program in Oxford will be axed this November, and will merge with the news program from Southampton. The BBC will request Ofcom to lift some restrictions on BBC iPlayer “A number” of BBC World Service languages will become online-only. 1,000 staff are projected to be cut over the next few years. Links: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/plan-to-deliver-a-digital-first-bbc/ https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61591674 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-61593568 https://deadline.com/2022/05/bbc-close-cbbc-bbc-four-linear-channels-1000-redundancies-expected-public-broadcaster-next-few-years-1235033365/

That NewscastStudio article cites a single Broadcasting & Cable article, which suggests that both stations will move into a shared workspace. I assume both stations will get new sets when they do, but the B&C article doesn’t mention that. The “Potential Studios” section of the NS article doesn’t cite anything, so I’m assuming it’s speculation on the part of the author.

These website rebrands don’t have to translate to TV though. It’s entirely possible that the “CBS News (Insert City)” branding on websites and streaming platforms are simply designed to generate traffic to the main CBS News website by integrating the local station sites into it. Heck, the station websites/social media accounts have been branded as “CBS (Insert City)” for years, and station logos were hardly present. Local branding has been deemphasized on the digital side for quite some time. I could be wrong, but if they were really going to dump the legacy local brands (a la CTV), you’d think they’d have done it by now.

It’s going to be an uphill battle on two fronts. First, ratings. Many of us (myself included) wish CNN could transform into its 1990s self and just do the darn news instead of running whatever hyper-partisan narcissism they ran under Zucker. I’d also like to see long-form reporting/documentaries on “investigations or far flung human dramas.” However, straight news and in-depth reporting don’t make for high viewership on a rolling news channel, and documentaries are more expensive to produce than shows where pundits rant into a camera. There’s a harsh reason why every cable news channel (including the zombie that is NewsNation) ends up as some variation of Fox News instead of France 24: many Americans (regardless of party/belief) would rather be coddled to instead of seeing politicians questioned rigorously. Second, reputation. Over the past decade or so, CNN has become known for catering to Northeastern middle/upper-class liberals. That image has become especially problematic under Zucker, and it won’t be easy to erase. CNN would have to completely overhaul opinion programming and clearly separate it from the news division before it even begins to shed Zucker’s influence. Here’s hoping Licht & Co. pull it all off, but there is a long road ahead.

I was confused about that as well. Does the streaming service have any features other than extra severe weather coverage?

CBS has every reason not to sell KDKA. Even though their stations are obviously not always their #1 priority, KDKA’s position in an AFC market means strong ratings and revenue that they’d be foolish to get rid of. They’re also arguably the best station of the bunch, so even if CBS decides to sell some stations, I doubt KDKA is going anywhere.

ABC has been reading the news in the present tense for a while, although that really accelerated after David Muir took over WNT. I guess that style of delivery is supposed to make the news sound like it’s happening in real time, but it’s devolved into being unintentionally hilarious, given that they aren’t even speaking in complete sentences anymore. It’s certainly a departure from Peter Jennings’ style of delivery.

What works in the USA doesn’t work in the UK. That’s not just because of Ofcom regulators. Unlike the United States circa 1996, the UK is already saturated with various outlets that cater to the right, especially in print media. Those outlets, like The Spectator, for example, are not only more established, but also have a healthy digital presence. As a result, startups like GB News and TalkTV are fighting an uphill battle for their own demographic. This is especially true for GB News, which launched with massive technical problems and managed to anger Andrew Neil enough to leave for Channel 4 of all places. Granted, the TV landscape is a bit different. Channel 4 is almost explicitly left-wing, while the BBC is accused on all sides of being biased against them (in other words, they’re centrist.) However, when the UK television audience is looking for a wide range of views represented in the news, a niche “shock jock” talk channel with the likes of Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow isn’t going to work.

It honestly benefits TWC to have weather coverage in prime time. Even from a ratings standpoint, severe weather is far more interesting than whatever they put on after 8pm. Do you know if their derecho coverage was paywalled for those in the affected area? Would be disgraceful if so.

To the person at Nexstar Creative Services who keeps insisting on shoving the desk in the corner: You can stop now. We’ve seen enough. BDI has done much better work in the past (including the previous WTTV set if I’m not mistaken.) This new set’s a bit of a let down imho, but if it gives them a bit more space, it works. I just wish Nexstar would focus their investments on their stations’ journalistic output instead of throwing money at replacing a set that still looked pretty good.

I’d make an exception for WGN, but that’s only because they had the wisdom to leave well enough alone over there (so far) and not because of any improvements they’ve made.

I’m a bit miffed at the idea of yet another streaming service to sign up for and missing my local announcers (full disclosure, I’m a Mets fan,) but Jason Benetti is a class act and the inclusion of some regional analysts is welcome. When it comes to the booth, NBC is already off to a better start than Apple TV IMHO.

Perhaps the branding changes are just on the digital side, then. They could be sticking with heritage/local brands on TV while emphasizing the connection to CBS News on most social media sites. Those changes could also be a way of generating more traffic to the main CBS News website (given that the local websites are integrated with CBS News.) That actually makes more strategic sense than wiping away local branding wholesale.

Normally, I’d argue that de-emphasizing a heritage brand is a terrible move, but given the collateral damage caused by the Wendy Bell hiring, it actually makes sense in this case. KDKA 1020 is a talk radio outlet that no longer has anything to do with the TV station, and the call letters arguably have a stronger connection to radio than TV (a similar comparison can be made to WABC-TV, which only references their call letters in station IDs and legal disclaimers.) That said, I’m not sure why CBS wants to de-emphasize local brands on all of their stations, given that there tends to be more trust in local news than national news (and CBS News isn’t exactly dominating the ratings in mornings and evenings.)

I guess they couldn't decide on the branding. They slapped a "KDKA" in a white square next to the CBS News Pittsburgh logo. They clearly spared no expense with that /s.

In terms of the newscast format, this isn’t the first time WABC broke convention. Witty anchors like Roger Grimsby and the whole concept of “happy talk” were specifically implemented to break from the traditional newscast of the period and stick out from their competitors. However, deciding not to cover a news conference on TV and breaking into programming late don’t fall under the “breaking convention” strategy. WABC still does a solid job overall, but they could’ve done a bit better with today’s coverage IMHO.

Forget the music… it looks like he’s spreading himself WAY too thin here. Again, I appreciate that he’s at least providing an alternative in a market where there’s really only one good station (KFSN), but when his main newscast alone is a bare bones show with limited local news on a low power station, he’d be better off doing one thing at a time. There comes a point where you can’t do it all yourself and expect the eyeballs to roll in. Also, naming your operation after yourself seems a bit off-putting imho, but I guess you could chalk that up to me being particular.