Abraham J. Simpson

The thing is, when I travel to another market, it doesn’t matter to the bottom line. I’m not measured, I’m not sold as an audience to the advertisers unless I happen to be in an AirBnB or something similar with a set-top box sending metrics. Even then, it’s near microscopic levels that don’t move the needle. Maybe in a market like Honolulu you can get enough as buys from tourism related businesses to get a revenue stream by being the most popular news program for tourists checking the weather. Or they just use their phones. Likewise, moving among two markets that both have a group with a similar graphics package is going to be a fraction of a fraction. The cost savings are going to be your driver, and an opportunity if desired to connect to the parent brand more deeply…while saving some cash along the way. I totally get brand consistency as a corporate value. And if we’re talking McDonald’s, heck yeah that gets a direct benefit since your cash spends the same. And that Target bullseye logo is going to draw shoppers everywhere. If anything, it’s mostly a net win for the groups to be consistent because of the cost savings. Of course there are potential pitfalls—like, I don’t know, messing with WPVI’s theme music. That might be the third rail you don’t touch, lol. I loathe that color green KYW has adopted (and the slogan) but hey, if it works for them, great. Can’t please everyone, and I recognize it as a personal taste issue. I like blue shades, others may want to barf at them. All good in the end.

The thing is: who actually notices? For all the complaints about common elements, how many viewers are actually going to be in two markets with common designs, and happen to watch the stations in question, and happen to pay that kind of attention, and actually care? Effectively no one. Nobody cares if WABC and KABC, for instance, have common design elements. A few people like us on message boards aren’t representative of the public at large.

Or it was something of its time that complemented what HLN did at the time. It lasted longer than HLN in that incarnation, great. It was complimentary to that network, and to what was being done over on CNN. But times change, viewing patterns change, corporate owners change, technology changes, audiences change…and the show reached the end of its purpose for the company.

No matter how many people beat this long-dead horse, Morning Express is not coming back. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not six months from now.

There is considerably more leeway for some of the shows. Not a complete free-for-all, but the timing of some of the shows absolutely varies market to market, and that doesn't take into consideration how things are adapted for western time zones when sports coverage is factored in. But as to zeroing in on use of "the first...." - that may be overthinking it a smidge.

Because that works better for them?

It would be great to see her back, but it seems relatively easy to surmise she is not returning at this point. It's unusual the way this one played out vs other, but whatever the contractual matters and whatever led to the scenario, none of our business.

Couldn't agree more. He's a great explainer, and helps the layperson (cough, like me) understand the more complex topics and how they arrive at the forecasts based on the data. That's what makes limiting as they have so baffling. He spent months doing weekend nights when Melissa left (pulling double shifts on Saturdays no less), filled in for her most Fridays at noon when she normally was there in place of David Murphy, and covered many if not most of the "shore weather" hits for a summer. Yet instead of promoting from within and giving the also talented Brittany the weekend mornings, he was passed right over. As you said, also left off the flower show special (in fairness and balance, I believe he was included in one edition, but most...no). And for years, almost until Jim retired, Chris was conspicuously left off any coverage rotation for the 6 pm shows even if he was covering at noon and they were otherwise shorthanded. For a hot second, he was included once a week on the 10 am show doing what he does really well--showing the patterns and what they meant for general trends over the following few weeks. That seems to have gone "poof" as well. The job listing for this role was somewhat broad, as you'd expect. We all know the "other duties as assigned" thing. It does mention "bolster streaming platforms." Huh. It's not as if Chris does streaming on his own when he's not at work...oh wait, he does. They also have used him for streaming cut ins in severe weather at times, yet...nope. Hire a new person. If I were a betting person, I'd wager the new hire gives Karen relief in the early morning. God knows Karen has earned a little relief there, given she was the one in first even when David Murphy was still there, since he had to do noon most days. But then when one or the other is off, they have built-in coverage, and fewer shifts for the weekender. The listing also specifically mentions field work, so they may envision using her out doing reporting during unusual weather events, not always chained to the studio. OK great, but you had someone in-house who could easily do that. They do a lot, and I mean a lot, right there, as evidenced by their track record. But for whatever reason (hmmmm), the news director forsakes the proven formula of moving people up in this case.

Not necessarily. They tend to get around to updating the voiceovers “in due time.” And they’re quite fine running the short versions with no talent names. Either way, neither requires new graphics.

Paul is the full time producer. Chris has sometimes done some coverage, like one ti e with a tornado warning when they referred to him instead of Paul. He started as the producer, left for on air work then returned. I’d wonder if that’s chicken or the egg. If you’re only getting two and a quarter days work on average, Karen’s days off notwithstanding, heck, I’d spend the time with the kiddos, too. But it’s a little more than that. They’ve clearly limited his exposure on the air.

The posting for that job was up a while ago, so the timing makes sense. What the plans are for using her is another question. While Cecily is giving the party line answer that they've been down a person since David Murphy left, that's also a bit disingenuous. Insomuch as they don't have two meteorologists on the morning shift with built-in coverage when one is out and just making Matt Pellman cover traffic, they made Matt a permanent part of the morning show, effectively replacing Karen's primary role when she took over for David. Still four bodies. The main difference is Chris and Brittany now cover Karen, while there was almost never an "outside" meteorologist before. Brittany is, if not officially, clearly effectively full time, on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. Noon Wednesday-Friday, plus afternoon coverage as needed, and weekend nights for the most part. And for whatever reason, they refuse to throw much more to Chris except the occasional coverage. Is there any compelling reason not to have him do Monday and Tuesday at noon, vs. Adam being in there regularly? But whatever, so be it. So where does this new person fit in the mix is the question. Is she full time, yet again bypassing Sowers getting a full time role? Is she part-time? Does she do the extra-early morning gig and let Karen sleep in a bit to do the second portion of the morning show + 10 am? Where do they need another body on a regular basis?

Yeah, not seeing a compelling reason to shoehorn the new package into the existing open style. Tweak the final graphic of the open, ok, sure. That’s been done plenty of times. And while the current graphics for the newscasts are fine, so are the new ones.

And Steve Harvey has done Feud something like 20 years, far longer than the likes of Dawson and Combs hosted.

Pat Finn as an example was a weathercaster and reporter. He segued into hosting as part of a career path. He may have bounced from comparatively short-lived show to show, but someone like Pat Sajak, Drew Carey or Wayne Brady have made a career of their shows…they’ve just run for a nice long time.

Those game show hosts also came from other fields. They were not sent down from on high to become game show hosts from day 1. Alex Trebek’s own book details how he wound up where he did.

Your commitment to the program and the kids is wonderful.

Warminster? That’s been gone a while. The tower is there, but the big ball (heh, heh, big ball) is long gone.

Indeed, and linear viewership numbers for premium networks are not meaningful. Even their prestige shows get heavy use on streaming/video-on-demand, and it's not an ad model. Apples to cucumbers. It's not so much that NFL games getting the biggest audiences means audiences are not watching other shows, it's that the NFL shows the value of live event programming with mass appeal. It doesn't exist, meaningfully, anywhere else. But you can find just about any flavor of cop show, including international ones, at any hour day or night. CBS makes money on the procedurals in first-run and syndication because they do work. Not like in 1990 because the world is dramatically different. You're never going to get "Must See TV" back when you give the audience that many choices, no matter what you put on. Some will watch in real time, many will DVR/on-demand/stream. The whole ecosystem is part of the calculus, not just one component.

Survivor and Amazing Race aired once weekly, same as usual. Big Brother had a fairly limited holiday run, apart from its customary summer filler role.

A courtesy…to who? It’s not a courtesy to anyone.

Wait, signing off is a matter of the public interest? Huh?

Maybe the 432nd time will be the charm.

There may well be exceptions, but by and large, they don’t need to do that. People are tuning in for quick hits, not long blocks. You can adjust the tone and story selection approach to provide different feelings at different times of day, but people aren’t looking for a local version of the cable primetime shows.

Maybe it’s a figment of my imagination, but it seems like I always hear so-and-so is joining us today, or some variation thereof, when someone is there. But that said, it also wouldn’t phase me if/when they don’t.

That era is over. Yes, many office types do get some flexibility, but anchoring from home? It was a concession to COVID and it’s not coming back save for a similar circumstance.