Jess

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.

We're sure. He's not a Marvel villain. Actually, he kind of saved the company from some real nasty villains - rampaging shareholders - and took it out of bankruptcy. CBS News reporter Dan Raviv wrote the actual book on Marvel's woes, Comic Wars: Marvel's Battle For Survival. It's finally made its way to Kindle and I'm about to dig in, but it's a very business-heavy book as far as I know. Probably much more accessible is this unofficial history of Marvel that covers everything, albeit not in much detail. I highly recommend it, especially when you consider that certain fly-by-night companies were trying to turn Marvel "into the next Disney".

Wanted to pipe something in here that may be of interest. There's a name I think we all should consider now. Issac Perlmutter. Who is he, you ask, and why is he important? Because he's the president of Disney's most important division right now, Marvel Entertainment. ...and more importantly, since Steve Jobs' passing, Disney's #1 individual shareholder. Perlmutter's Marvel is run quickly and efficiently, with not an expense spared. If you order a paper clip too many, you will have him screaming on Line Two. I'm certain this 10% reduction was "recommended" by Ike...

Actually I'd go a bit further than that. ABC's online streaming platform, especially in the last few years, is more robust than most other groups. (Presumably this has something to do with the WATCH ABC platform.) I'd actually put the ABC and NBC streams at the top of the list as far as quality and accessibility go.

"Storm Team 4". Euuuugh. That just sounds really small market to me.

I have bronchitis, therefore you get videos. All are in HD, including the NBC 10 News at 7, which was simulcast on 10.1 that night and allowed me to get the open in that format. NBC 10 News at 7 HD Montage: Comcast SportsNet Daily News Live Open: Best Use Of 10's BREAKING NEWS Sting Ever: WTXF Good Day At 4:25/Steve Keeley vs. The Newsroom: WTXF Promo Montage, including one that directly calls out KYW and WPVI: WPVI Special Report Graphics/Stingers 2010 (w/ neat "returning to program" slide):

WPVI's new summer opens with new Charlie Van Dyke voiceover.

Something I should have posted long ago - a damn near full (2 minute!) WPIX News close from 2006, with that amazing theme...

Q: What happens when you have a contest and draw the name of someone who works at the rival station down the street? A:

I needed to post a Harry Kalas clip, so:

Niiiiiiiiiice! Great job WPVI! Also important - they put up two very very old promos featuring some of the rare promo cuts of MCTYW. One has the vocal theme, which is announced as "the family of friends singing for Action News". The open has to be no later than 1977 (they mention Larry Kane)... and I think it's VERY possible that everything - certainly the promos at least - dates from when the theme was first used in 1972.

The WNBC clip has some rare, RARE footage of Grimsby on Live at Five. Must watch!

I also posted the famously short-lived news theme from WPVI in 96:

So I'm taking requests for old Philly stuff. I laid the groundwork out in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLdtn8cJwTc

I reopened up my YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/hulkied I'm not gonna go and create a 400 clip archive - there's other sites for that, and I donate my clips to them - but I figure as something to showcase some of the more oddball stuff it'll be fun.

Not actually a bad open, IMO, but the logo issue is worth mentioning. They went to the Octagon 4, then a plainer "4" (not the same as before) while painting the set beige. Then News 4 New York was launched with the "zig-zag" 4 logo before settling on the modified logo a few months later. Through all of this, promotions retained the 1970s "4" logo next to the Proud N, despite the rather radical logo changes used for news. They did not drop that logo for the new one (the revised die-cut 4) until 1981.

Not just the color. GO did the package apparently... and basically every single thing they've done in the last year or so looks exactly the same...