Jess

I see her more days than not... ...well, when I'm watching 6 and I forget to change the tuner to CBS World News Tonight With Scott Pelley. (ABC World News has no world news, so I'm not calling it that out of respect to Peter. Good Evening America is what they air at 6:30pm.)

They're basically doing a "6ABC To Go" for the next few weeks. They were actually doing some online-only cut-ins today. (6abc.com must get a lot of traffic if they're doing that.) One of them I tuned in, like, a minute too early. They had the "6ABC WILL BE RIGHT BACK" graphic... but then they cut to one with the Action News logo and a lower saying "Action News Update Coming Up." This lasted for a couple of minutes.... and was accompanied by their bumper music. Two minutes of listening to the Action News Bumper is awesome. I don't care how repetitive it is. That piece of music is awesome.

Yeah, Nydia was on the noon yesterday and today. And you're right, Sarah is a great anchor and reporter - very, very underrated talent there. The Action News of today bears scant resemblance to the Action News of, say, 1996. It's more female-targeted, it's slower-paced, and a lot of the quirks (magnetic weather boards) have slowly disappeared. Oh, and it's considerably looser. All of this was slow evolution - it wasn't as drastic as the theme song change. When things happen you barely notice - it took me a couple weeks to realize the frowny clouds and the magnetic board were gone. That's because in 1998, one of the key elements they added was a big rear-projection screen to replace the old magnetic maps. And slowly but surely, more computerized elements were added in. And then I mention the "farm system", where they add new talent and gradually work them up to key positions. Stinger animations were added as the years went on, and they even have a custom 615 remix of the theme music that they use for Breaking News, etc. I've noticed other "test" things as well, mostly on the noon. Today, Rick anchored with Nydia Han in for Sarah Bloomquist, and usually they just have one of them solo when the other's not available. A few weeks ago, I saw Matt and Tamela do the noon news, even though Bloomquist and Williams were in (and neither were doing extra shifts). It's not anywhere near as dramatic as the changes made at WCAU over the last two years, but 6ABC has learned how to evolve and change without alienating viewers. No, but look at all the major national news programs. All of the nightly newscasts? Solo anchors. CNN's news hours? Solo anchors. The Daily Show? Solo anchor. (Hell, I even prefer single-anchor Weekend Update. But that's more because the first ones I encountered were Norm MacDonald, then Colin Quinn.) And while there is never going to be another Jim Gardner, Rick Williams, Monica Malpass, Lisa Thomas-Laury, Marc Howard, and even newer people like Brian Taff and Matt O'Donnell have all subbed in Jim's chair and done just fine. Across the street, they've been having Jim Rosenfield solo on days when Renee or Jacqueline are out, and he's excellent. And there are others. I still think that Larry Mendte never needed a co-anchor; his solo stints were way more compelling and dynamic. Larry Kane had that Action News desk years before Jim Gardner arrived, and he's also been better as a solo act (with the exceptions of Alan Frio and Diane Allen). Outside of the market, Ron Magers basically did a tour of the entire studio one night when he was solo. And when WABC decided to just have Bill do the 6pm by himself, he really blossomed - and this was a guy who worked well with many great co-anchors, including the best co-anchor ever (Roger Grimsby).

Yeah, it felt exactly like "hey, let's test this out" to me. The 6 and 11 use crazy camera angles for going to break - it looked completely off to see two people at the desk. This is probably 20+ years of watching Action News speaking, but I think solo anchors, when done right, make a lot more sense than constantly doing these boy-girl anchor teams. Jim Gardner's, like, 20 seconds of banter with Cecily Tynan feel way more authentic than many anchor pairings I've seen.

That is legitimately the first time I've ever seen two anchors handle a 6 or 11pm broadcast on WPVI. They never do this. Never. I don't see why it's necessary, since Perez has done an admirable job handling the weekend broadcasts since Rob Jennings retired. (In fact, he's weekend anchor pretty much; they just haven't added his name to the opens) But yeah, it really really throws me when they go to break and there are two anchors.

Was expecting the move from 4:25 to 4am, at least on one of the stations. Everyone's been going to 4am so frequently it had to happen soon. I'm glad that they're finally doing what I've been begging them to do for YEARS, though - separate the early edition of Good Day from the main show. They were doing that until mid-2003, when they decided to just call the whole thing "Good Day" to coincide with the change to the George Mallet/Kerri-Lee Halkett/Jennaphr Frederick team. Ironically, when they were segregated, Fox 29 Morning News and Good Day were pretty much identical in tone and content. When they called the whole thing Good Day, the 5:30-7am block was straight news, and 7am was more of a morning show feel. Probably also helps that they can now bill them as two separate programs for ratings purposes.

It's going to take some time to get the Belo stations aligned with the legacy Gannett stuff. I'm probably the only one saying this, but I think the Gannett websites and on-air look are great and I'd like those to get to the Belo stations, but we'll see. They'll probably do what Scripps did, and create a brand new package for legacy Gannett and ex-Belo stations.

They're likely done internally at Gannett, but are based on the USA Today site design by fantasy interactive (f-i.com). It actually has some really nice insights, like the fact that most users never access a news site directly from the home page or the section page. I get a lot of the hate towards Windows 8, but the Metro UI isn't one of my problems with it. It's a great UI - for touch devices. Microsoft welding it to the PC version and forcing everyone to essentially use two OSes at one time is the issue. (And honestly, once you install one of the third party start menus, it's actually a decent OS.)

Well, I think we can call it. "I'm Rick Williams, Walter Perez is off tonight". Perez was also in on thanksgiving, which I also thought was significant because they had Brian Taff doing the earlier newscasts. That also means he's been put into the rotation of people who'd fill in for Jim. So congratulations, Walter. You've really earned it.

WIP runs out of the same building as 1060 (they have since they took over 94.1 I believe). They're moving WPHT and WOGL (currently in Bala Cynwyd) downtown, so likely they're streamlining operations. One thing I hope they don't do - and you guys might not agree with me - is rebrand the station as "KYW-3" again. "CBS 3" is just fine, and I like that the TV and radio sides are different entities.

Technically, yes, Good Day is part of Fox 29 News, but when Mike and Sheinelle have epic on-air moments - which is quite often - I figured I'd put Good Day in the title for clarity.

I had them streaming and I had noticed that - was Bill working network/GMA yesterday morning? Because he joined about an hour into the coverage, replacing Toni Yates.

Yes. And Erika Von Tiehl was driving that tank THROUGH CITY STREETS NO LESS. AND SHE HAD ARMOR ON. Seriously, I don't care if you do a story about "YOUR TOILET PAPER CAN KILL YOU", no sweeps story will ever top Erika Von Tiehl Driving The Tank.

Yes, I'm just systematically making threads for all the locals every time they do something noteworthy or funny. So, it's CBS 3's turn! And ahhh. Sweeps. No, not just sweeps, CBS 3 during sweeps. See, while 6 does consumer reports and investigative pieces that are sort of dumb, 29 gives us as much Jeff Cole as humanly possible, and 10 just does newscasts with actual relevant stories that matter to people like they do outside of sweeps... CBS 3 just goes the extra mile. Last sweeps, you'll recall, they asked the eternal question: WHY IS ERICA VON TIEHL DRIVING A TANK? This year, the burning question is thus: WHY IS CHRIS MAY WEARING A FIREFIGHTER SUIT? Oh, 3. I never know whether to laugh, cry, or... ...excuse me a minute... --- Sweeps stupidity aside... I'm finding myself enjoying CBS 3 a hell of a lot more than in the last couple of years. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the graphics. They're much more of an improvement than I expected, since I actually thought the Big Glass Eye, Arial font and all, was a pretty decent look for the O&Os. They keep the good stuff from that look while modernizing them to be far cleaner, sharper, and nicer than before. Maybe it's the music. I'm not as nostalgic for the KYW signature as a lot of people are, simply because, well, they got News In Focus and News In Focus is great. But for some reason, all of the themes since they switched to Enforcer proper have been, well, lacking to me. This theme is easily the best one since News in Focus, and it continues the streak of Gari's latest work being pretty good. Or... maybe, just maybe, it's the talent. I was skeptical about Jessica Dean when the hiring was announced - especially since 10 announced they were getting Jim Rosenfield a week before, and since the pairing of Rosenfield with Jacqueline London at 11 is working astoundingly well. And when she debuted, I wasn't exactly impressed. But since then, I've become a fan. Yes, she definitely is raw and green... but she's likeable. She seems genuine in a way that I wasn't expecting. Maybe part of that is the decision to do Dean's Digital Briefs on CBSPhilly.com - she does a good job of teasing the 11 without sounding like an announcer. In any event, CBS 3 needed a breath of fresh air - and I'm starting to think Jessica is that breath of fresh air. I'm definitely digging her more than I ever did Susan Barnett. I also want to note about Nicole Brewer. Yeah, that clip went viral, and yeah, everyone thinks she's a bitch who hates Carol Erickson. I wish those people who think that could have seen her about a month ago, when she filled in for Ukee alongside Erika Von Tiehl. The entire morning team was fast, loose, and extremely entertaining, moreso than I usually expect out of 3. Nicole really has, well, a "messing around" sort of humor. That doesn't always translate well to television... but I could tell that Nicole and Erika were having a really good time. So basically yeah. CBS 3 has facepalmy sweeps stunts... but they seem fresher than they have in a long time.

I keep remembering contemporary media reports that slated that Rick or Monica was being considered for Marc Howard's spot. I'll go and do some googling about it though. Rob was a couple of years older than Jim - at or near 70 I believe. And yes, in 2002 he was still near the top of his game - but he definitely lost a step by 2012. That said, if Rob's retirement wasn't entirely his choice, I wouldn't be surprised. Remember we still have the across-the-board Disney cutbacks. Rob's salary had to be up there. It's really hard to figure out what gets cut and what stays, because Jim Gardner has to be making seven figures easy. (This also brings to mind the CBS cuts a few years back. The Mendte/Lane shenanigans had to be a blessing in disguise for KYW. You lose the huge salaries they had with minimal blowback, and you have Chris May and Susan Barnett waiting in the wings. Plus Marc Howard had already retired.)

Also, double posting, but this is something I just realized and wanted to say about Lisa Thomas-Laury. She has a rare disease called POEMS, but part of her condition is called neuropathy. It's damage to the nerves outside of the brain and central nervous system. It is painful. I know this because my father has neuropathy as well. There are days when he can just about walk. It's something he has to deal with every single day, and it takes a toll. If Lisa was able to return full-time to Action News, she would have done so. Even if it was something limited like doing the noon news. That her appearances remain sporadic really speaks to the extent of the disease.

I believe they celebrated 20 years as an on-air pairing in the last year or so. They both started around the same time - Monica as the anchor of the 6:30 Action News, Rick as a reporter - but they were first paired in 1992 when Action News Mornings went to 6am to compete with KYW-3's News Day. And let's not forget that period in 03-04 when they were anchoring both Action News Mornings and the Early Edition Of Action News. Really, you can't get much more committed than that. I wish Lisa didn't get ill either, she is a true pro, but in a way it worked out. Like I said, 6 tends to move the next person up when there's a vacancy. If Lisa had stayed, logic would have meant that one of them (probably Rick) would have moved to the 5pm, with the other one staying on the morning shift. I find it kind of funny that the topic of replacing Jim Gardner keeps coming up. First off, "replacement" is absolutely the wrong word to use here. Bill Ritter really said it best: "You don't replace a legend. You succeed him." And he should know - he succeeded Bill Beutel (and has done pretty well himself). There won't be a replacement for Jim Gardner. There will be a successor. Secondly, let's be honest here. Barring any calamity, Jim Gardner is going to be doing the 6 and 11 well into his seventies. He hasn't declined; if anything he's better now than he was twenty years ago, which is remarkable. He's not going anywhere anytime soon.

All that said - is it me or is there trouble with the 4? 10 has chosen that newscast as the one to mount its strongest attack. For the better part of the year, they've run full 22-minute news blocks to start the broadcast, and they now squeeze Ellen's credits to tease and start the newscast. 6 seems to be making panic moves such as shortening the open and downplaying the cutesy elements. And now, apparently, they do a newsbrief at 3pm, a three minute update that cuts into the beginning of Katie. Katie cannot be that much of an albatross for them.

The next 6 and 11pm open will go thusly: Action News. Delaware Valley's Leading News Program. With Jeff Skversky, meteorologist Melissa Magee, AND WALTER PEREZ. Simply put, it's his desk now. I know I said Brian Taff a few weeks ago, and I do truly think he's better than the 4pm news. But Perez has done a remarkable job - he's just slipped effortlessly into that role. There's a reason they haven't been rotating various talent in and out - it has to be Perez now. It's more than just the usual Action News policy of "move up the next guy" - he's more than proven himself in that chair. As for Rick Williams getting weekends... they would have to be complete and utter morons to do that. Which they aren't. First off, as CircleSeven said, he's the lead substitute for Jim Gardner and the natural successor if anything happens to Gardner. Second, you would be breaking up one of the best anchor pairings this market has ever had. He's great solo, but fantastic with Monica Malpass to play off of. They've been successful for over two decades together.

This is the thread to discuss Delaware Valley's Leading News Program. ...but in reality I just started it because I needed somewhere to put this: Yes, that is Cecily Tynan preparing to throw a long bomb at Jeff Skversky, who is at the big board for High School Huddle. He caught it - cue high fiving. Why on earth would I have recorded the rebroadcast?

I'm sorry, I like Adamle, I thought he was awesome on American Gladiators, and he seems like a likeable guy. ...but if you're in WWE, particiularly if you're BAD in WWE.... this will accompany every internet mention of him to the grave.

Because websites in 2013 should look like something you would view on an iPad. You can't design a website strictly for traditional computers anymore. You have to consider different sorts of screen sizes and devices. That's because people aren't just viewing sites on their PCs - they're viewing it on their tablets, their smartphones, their TVs. I myself use my iPad and/or Nexus 7 to browse the Internet most of the time. It's called responsive web design and there's a couple of good articles about it. I'd start with this really well done Wikipedia article, then I'd read the landmark piece by Ethan Marcotte that introduced the technique. From there, you can just google "responsive web design". It's not just a good idea anymore - it's actually recommended best practice, and it's really kind of tricky to do before you get the hang of it. On that note... the USA Today site was and is a tremendously well designed site, and it makes all the sense in the world to duplicate that on the TV station side - especially since they've adopted the color scheme. It's actually really technically advanced - they use flexbox, a brand new CSS layout technique that's just started to gain major support across web browsers. There are parts of the old design that I like better - I'm not a fan of the really big picture slider thing - but this isn't bad at all. I like what Gannett is doing design-wise, both across TV and on the internet. They've really stepped it up on the design front, both on air and online, and I have to give them credit for it.

Baba Booey is a Howard Stern thing. If you're going to cite a crappy shock jock act, cite the right one.

And the body count keeps rising... Congrats Dray!

Meanwhile, I have the ABC O&O whose official stance on using the right ABC logo is "f*** it". Seriously, WPVI uses their own version of the glossy ABC logo in their opens and live-generated 3D logos. It's been that way since 2010. Pretty much everything else utilizes the 2007 iteration of the logo. With two exceptions. The first is the print ads for ABC shows, which I'm sure are done by ABC itself, not 6. (Before they switched to the circle-6, those ads used a version of the 1997 6ABC logo with the entire thing - including the 6 - given the black glossy treatment. It looked really damn cool.) The other exception is the debate WPVI produced itself co-produced with WABC, which is the first and only time I've seen the new ABC logo used on air with the 6. It looks weird. As a result of that I find the worrying about WLS' logo consistency, well, consistently hilarious. Seriously. If 6ABC is okay with using at least three different versions of the ABC logo, then I am too. Besides. We all know that the damn ABC logo should be red in the first place. Or transparent like in the 1993-96 ABC idents, also known as the best f***ing idents to ever air on US television ever.