Encore 323

Two days ago as of this typing (Friday 4/17), WESH 2 evening anchor Summer Knowles said goodbye to the station after 10 years with them. Let’s see what she will do next.

With Leslie Lopez gone to NYC to work in the ABC News climate and sciences unit, I wonder if KABC is considering bringing soon to be ex-KTLA meteorologist Kacey Montoya on to the team (if she wants it) to cover maybe the weekday 7-8:30am streaming slot/11am shows to lessen Brianna Ruffalo’s load or on weekend nights to have a fully certified meteorologist there because Niku Kazori is not fully certified, despite her earning some credentials during her time as weather anchor at KCBD 11 in Lubbock. At the same time, anybody can do the weather these days as long as they know something about it and look good, so maybe removing Niku is not a big deal to them right now.

This now means that they will finally be competing in the full 5 to 6:30pm block like all other stations but Sharon just needs a co-anchor now.

WWL decided to run a very long close tonight at the end of its 5pm newscast with the new music and it was around 2 and a half minutes or so. In addition to that, KYTX CBS 19 also debuted the new graphics/music earlier today and this is the video of tonight’s 6:30pm newscast.

After 6 years, KPIX’s chief meteorologist Paul Heggen is leaving the station and going back east to be closer to his family and has a new job lined up so we might be seeing him on air somewhere over there soon. https://youtu.be/9wtFrYzs8iI?si=C67k-Dxr3f0dftp5

At 5am PT this morning, KXTV (ABC 10) in Sacramento launched the new Pixel Lens graphics/news theme. https://youtu.be/8lSPSNSE0Do?si=d-kFD0FZ1LoWRCS2

Now that this graphics and music package has reached the Scripps News channel, hopefully the rollout process will start to move a little faster to the rest of the local stations that have yet to receive it.

With all the editorial censoring going from politicians, the media, along with the drama regarding the Nexstar takeover of Tegna, and the devastating losses that came with it, and the losses that is to come with it, this last statement from Ernie really means something.

It’s Oscar Sunday and ABC 7 rolled out a big promo at 12:45pm today during Oscars coverage featuring the stability of the talent, breaking news, weather, and traffic coverage on Eyewitness News Mornings, 7 DAYS A WEEK, and of course, AIR7. Wendy Granato has really been making her mark with ordering these promos, hiring good talent and showing off what makes ABC 7 so trusted over the last couple of years since Cheryl Fair’s retirement because I don’t think the station has done this much promos since the 2000s from what I remember. KTLA can’t even match this level of stability on their morning news anymore with all the Nexstar layoff drama going on there.

Former longtime FOX 5 anchor Ernie Anastos has died at the age of 82. He also worked at ABC 7 prior to FOX 5 as stated in that thread. As many of us know, he was one of the remaining living legends in New York news, and his storytelling made a big impact on the entire Tri-State area. May he rest in peace.

I said what I said because most average viewers doesn't really pay much attention to certain minor details. With that being said, I also find discussion about news sets interesting. I hope that clears up your confusion with me.

This is exactly what I said before HanSolo's comment. These little details do not matter much to people because most average viewers don't have the time to be comparing and contrasting those things. Most people would say just give me the local news I need to know and that is it. * The above statement is just a reflection of how most average viewers think and does not reflect how I view and discuss local news aesthetics, just in case anyone is confused. *

I was showing my dad, who is from the Caribbean and has lived in LA for over 50 years a video of the new set and he thought that the monitor in the foreground of the main new desk was showing the skyline of New York City even though it is clearly Downtown LA. To be fair, Downtown LA has changed a lot over the years and most people either pass through the area/don't have the time to actually take a good look at the skyline unless you are hiking to a viewing point or something like that. Most average viewers should know what DTLA looks like but I get why it is challenging for some folks.

Here is a clip from Eyewitness News Mornings at 6am featuring John Gregory, Rachel Brown, Tony Cabrera, and meteorologist Shayla Girardin in today for Leslie Lopez the AccuWeather center (not seen/behind this photo). I like how the sunrise elements are incorporated into those window walls for the morning show. The 7 and 8am streaming shows will definitely utilize that interview area for sure.

You’re right about that because I also wish that we had access to recent numbers so that we don’t have to go by conventional thinking or old data but this is what it is right now. WABC keeps making New York’s #1 News claims at the beginning of their talent opens on Eyewitness News and in promos and I am not saying that they are not one of the leading stations in New York because they are but if they are not #1 across the board anymore, then it would be nice to see some new proof from someone who is on the inside.

Here is the photo version of ABC 7’s new state of the art set, one of the LARGEST local news sets in the country to date. The last couple of photos was just taken at around 5:15pm this evening showcasing Marc Brown, Michelle Fisher, chief meteorologist Dallas Raines, and meteorologist Danny Romero behind him updating the traffic maps for the evening traffic reports. As already stated by myself and others, the studio is basically a near-replica of WABC but just suited for KABC’s needs and it feels like something that you expect from Southern California’s News Leader. The debate between KABC and KTLA on who has the higher quality studio in the LA market goes either way or both ways depending on what metrics you use.

This new set is wonderful and reminds me of KTLA's set. Matter of fact, it's on par with their set. There are some things that feel grander than what KTLA has like the AccuWeather center and the big Circle 7 on the floor, but KABC always takes it a notch higher when it comes to certain aesthetics. The set here is the best in the ABC O&O group and I can't wait to see how the vibe of the set will be during the afternoon/evening shows and the early AM news.

We are now in the month of March and I have a feeling that KABC’s new set will launch on Sunday, March 15th, which is the same day that the Oscars will air across the ABC network and we all know that they tend to make big changes and announcements around Oscars season, so let’s see what will happen.

It will be nice to see this new graphics package make its way west of the Mississippi soon, so hopefully ABC 15 will be next as we get into March as we see by that new “In Your Community” banner.

The ratings have not changed very much because WABC’s “Channel 7 Eyewitness News” continues to be New York’s #1 News in early morning, midday, evening, and late night as it has for the last few decades. WNBC’s “News 4 New York” is a close second, with WCBS’s “CBS News New York” and WNYW’s “FOX 5 News” trading third and fourth places, and WPIX’s “PIX 11 News” being dead last. In the 7-10am and 10pm slots, FOX 5 is #1 with PIX 11 a close second.

If Tribune had the money and resources to buy majority stake of the CW network before the pre-pandemic merger with Nexstar in September 2019, none of this stuff at KTLA would be happening right now. All of what was Tribune’s news producing CW stations would be safe for that matter.

Oh, this is just f***ed up stuff that DEATHSTAR forced KTLA to do this week. Kriski spent 35 years, Parker spent 20 years, and Walker spent 15 years respectively, so that’s 70 YEARS of experience combined that is now out the door. I loved watching these three people on a regular basis and for them to just disappear suddenly, is just disturbing. This is also a reminder that no job is sure and that anything can happen at a moment’s notice. Hopefully other LA stations pick up some of the affected named and unnamed talent, if said talent choose to go that route.

Well we can’t say all because KNXV, KSTU, WFTS, WPTV, WXYZ, WTVF, WTVR and the MTN group continue to be bright or semi-bright spots in their markets but Scripps in general does a bad job of running a lot of their stations these days, so there is no surprise why many of them finish dead last.

In Phoenix, it was Chris Merrill’s last day with KTAR News 92.3 FM and he says that he took a bigger opportunity and I’m assuming that it might be at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles because he already has a show on that station on Sunday evenings and they are making changes to their weeknight 7-10pm lineup. This also means that the short lived “Chris and Joe Show” ended it’s course in the 2-4pm MT slot. Merill’s now former co-host will now be in the 6pm slot as listed below. As a result of this, KTAR will be making some changes to it’s weekday lineup starting on Monday 2/9. • 5 to 8:15 a.m. — Arizona’s Morning News (Anchored by Jim Sharpe and LaDona Harvey, no changes) • 8:15 a.m. to Noon — The Mike Broomhead Show (no changes) • Noon to 2 p.m. — The Ramsey Show (no changes) • 2 to 6 p.m. — Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos • 6 to 7 p.m. — Arizona’s Evening News (Anchored by Becky Lynn and Joe Huizenga) It really had to take 6 or so years for KTAR/Bonneville to bring back the Evening News in a radio market that is now on the fringe of Top 10 status, despite the recent stunt in the population growth rate. Better late than never, especially in a midterm election year.

This has also been discussed in the ABC O&O station and graphics thread but KABC just switched to the WABC/WLS version of the ABC 7 logo at 5pm and here is a video from Studio 31 to confirm that. https://youtu.be/XDF_M8-JctY?si=ZX4Z0QC0Sd0KM53h