Travel Forum

[bhratbrat 423]

Hello and good morning. Ever since I have started my job which requires me to travel a lot I have decided to kind of start a mega forum about critquing stations that a lot of people may have heard or markets where people don't really know whats going on. I admittedly travel on the weekend in this case though, so I might not be getting the best of what the stations are producing. I will attempt to go in a chronological order via trip.

 

WACO, TEXAS (July 6-9)

KCEN: Impressed with what London Broadcasting has done with the station and has made it very watchable. Graphics and music are decent and really no inconsistencies with the station

KXXV: A real bastardized version of a Giant Octopus Syndicated Graphics Package in place. The anchors have been there a long time so they have some experience, but it feels totally unwatchable

KWTX Like the new graphics and the newscast felt really informational. Very watchable newscast.

KWKT What the hell was this. I will not be too graphic on my detail but just didn't feel great.

 

MIAMI, FLORIDA (July 13-16)

No real review of the stations here because I was here for three years. Pretty much it was WPLG, WTVJ, WSVN, WFOR as the order of watchablity.

 

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA (July 20-23)

WGAL: Really great newscast. When I was watching this newscast, this was before the graphics changeover to the current Fuze Arts package and new Hearst standard. It was great but it didn't knock the socks off.

WHP: How far has Rob Hanrahan fallen. The newscast just felt disjointed watching it. Its better than where they have been, but its seriously how far can they go.

WHTM: Real great use of there graphics, but their newscast also felt disjointed in some parts. I expected a little bit more from their newscast considering the quality of there sister station in DC, but however that wasn't to be.

WPMT: Tribune has done a real great job of this newscast. The nice anchor leaving promos were a little much but also a very classy way for an anchor to say bye-bye. I also loved how they handled the breaking news of the Penn State Punishment.

 

WASHINGTON, DC (August 3-6; September 7-10)

WRC: Jim Rosenfield on weekends really bring a classy vibe towards the newscast. Always love seeing Jim Vance as well with Doreen Gentzler. Felt really great for both times around.

WTTG: Great self promotion of the morning news. Matt Peeples sounds like a cheap rip off of Chapin. Newscast quality was decent.

WUSA: Totally unwatchable. That cold open for the late newscast doesn't do it for me. It just feels this station is totally lost.

WJLA: Loved watching the newscast and felt really great. Also adding Jacqui Jeras to there mornings was a great move. The promos were very well done.

 

WILMINGTON, DE (August 10-13)

Note: This area is going to be a review of Philadelphia TV stations: Where I was staying at was on the border of Maryland and Delaware

KYW: One word: Unwatchable

WCAU: All of the improvements that they have put into the station is really showing off. I know with the recent events of the hurricane it showed tremendously, but with what they have been doing has been a true gift and a pleasure to see.

WTXF: Really didn't get a chance to watch it, but its great knowing that someone we all know here is the graphics designer there.

WPVI: Seriously the newscast feels bush league at times. I tried to watch the midnight update and couldn't really do it. It is in your face but I started feeling some stuff was bush league.

 

WILMINGTON, NC (October 5-8)

WILM: This is going to be very easy. Look at WRAL

WWAY: No weekend newscast except for a Sunday at 11PM. The station really feels like an also ran station and a forgotten station by there owners. RHRN sounds great here but it also just I don't know. I can't really put a good finger on it.

WECT/WSFX: I am merging these two stations because they are literally in the same small building off of Shipyard Avenue. Great Raycom graphics and great usage of Gari themes by both of them. They use a reporter plus a longstanding anchor for WSFX. For WECT at 11 it is literally recycle the same stuff with a different female anchor and same male anchor. Saturday morning newscast felt even weirder as they literally used pre recorded segments from their weekday morning team plus this weird comedic bit of News Beat for local news in Wilmington. Granted it was a Saturday Morning newscast, but just felt weird.

 

RALEIGH, NC (October 12-15)

WNCN: Somewhat of a decent newscast. They do run a newscast at seven. The abnormal thing is that their main anchors work six days a week with Penn Holderness working Sunday-Friday and Pam Saulsby working Monday-Saturday. Newscast feels like an afterthought with Media General. Also ran a Friday night High School deal.

WTVD Typical ABC O&O. They have changed the font on their opening up to Arial from whatever font they used for time parts. They also had talent opens. Also still using EWN NG 1. Great watchability though.

WRAL/WRAZ: Although WRAL is still a great newscast, it feels something is sorta off with the newscast. No voiceover, and a real rushed open. Still a great newscast but In Sink v.4 doesn't sound right for this station. Also, if you are ever in Raleigh, go down Western Avenue and at least take a look at WRAL in person. Wonderful building that they are housed in and kind of great to be tucked away in the university.

 

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA (November 2-5))

WSLS: Nice use of a different theme and the red WCMH graphics. There friday night newscast is literally 5 minutes and then they go into there 1&10 high school football show for the other 55 minutes. Four/Five reporters that they use for that newscast.

WSET Really great upgrade of Third Coast by Stephen Arnold that they are using with the standardized Albritton Graphics. Also the only one to use a talent open I think with this set. Only three person team on Friday night. They only had a 15 minute newscast with the rest of the show going towards their Football Friday.

WDBJ Fifteen minutes of news. Nice use of simplified graphics for the station. I still miss the retro logo of the station but Impact fits them to a glove. Kind of a newsroom set as well. Forty-five minute High School Football show with a green screen horrible set. But they also had a touchscreen which somewhat surprised me.

WFXR Best possibility of seeing a full WSLS newscast on a Friday night. They run an hour. They only use five minutes with one specified football game for their High School segment. Seemed somewhat watchable, but really it just didn't feel like they could go straight to track. Also the male anchor was wearing an NBC lapel pin on a FOX newscast. I know WSLS produces the newscast, but that was a big pet peave of mine.

 

I will keep adding stuff to this topic. If you have anything to add, please go ahead and add it. Thank you for all the help and have a great weekend.

[Ntropolis 593]

WILMINGTON, NC (October 5-8)

WILM: This is going to be very easy. Look at WRAL

WWAY: No weekend newscast except for a Sunday at 11PM. The station really feels like an also ran station and a forgotten station by there owners. RHRN sounds great here but it also just I don't know. I can't really put a good finger on it.

WECT/WSFX: I am merging these two stations because they are literally in the same small building off of Shipyard Avenue. Great Raycom graphics and great usage of Gari themes by both of them. They use a reporter plus a longstanding anchor for WSFX. For WECT at 11 it is literally recycle the same stuff with a different female anchor and same male anchor. Saturday morning newscast felt even weirder as they literally used pre recorded segments from their weekday morning team plus this weird comedic bit of News Beat for local news in Wilmington. Granted it was a Saturday Morning newscast, but just felt weird.

 

Figure I'll give in my two cents here... I recently moved to Wilmington for school, but have been familiar with the stations here given I have family about an hour away.

 

WWAY does a decent job, I suppose. I don't really watch them much. Their weather dept. is good... Jerry Jackson is a solid meteorologist. Best weather graphics too.

 

I prefer WECT, IMO they do a better job than WWAY (more news, more people). Their facility on Shipyard Blvd. may be old, but last year when they went HD, they added on a new newsroom and studio. Are you referring to Robb Ellis' "6 Things" segment? I enjoy that, haha.

 

I have an antenna and can't even get WILM, so I'm living without CBS at the moment...

[TheTalk 1]

There is a definite race in Harrisburg. WGAL has history on its side in regard to viewing habits, but 27 is definitely making a move to shake up the market. You see it every day in the aggressiveness and quality of their work. Not to say the others are low quality...but you can sense a real race here between 8 and 27 in recent years. WHP and Fox try hard but have been held down by very high turnover. 27 has upped it's game...but GAL is the literal 800pound gorilla. Two cents from a proud Central Pa'r.

[bhratbrat 423]

Another market to add to the list.

 

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS (NOV 9-13)

KRGV: They have just rebranded to 5 NEWS but still using the same graphics when they first went to HD. Also using their custom theme which really does sound good. No more Gill Sans type font and more of an Arial based font with the graphics. Newscasts are real solid. Very great product they are putting out for KRGV.

KGBT: Holy mother of god. I think they might have changed the news music to Enforcer but can't really tell because they only play half the signature. They are in there opens advertising in widescreen and the graphics have dropped off considerably from the Liberty Group package to what they are using now. They had there main anchor Marcy Martinez who works evenings on the morning newscast reporting from Toys 'R' Us live starting at 5:30 in the morning through there morning newscast. They ran a promotion about Autism the Next Chapter where she also reported on that. They had the Jeopardy promo thing for the morning newscasts. They also advertised the local furniture store as supplying their set. It feels like a disaster watching them. They are also advertising they are in widescreen.

KVEO: Sadly I don't have a reveiw as they don't have a weekend newscast, no morning newscast and I wasn't able to watch there 5 and 10 PM newscasts.

XHAB: This televisa local station had a real good newscast but I think it was more from Info7 in Mexico Very unique to see a double ticker and a great presentation.

KNVO: Univision standard HD graphics down here and real great presentation.

XHRIO: No review of FOX Rio. FOX 2 is now on 2.2 as XHRIO is now the MundoFox affiliate.

[bhratbrat 423]

GREENSBORO-WINSTON SALEM-HIGH POINT, NC (December 7-10)

 

WFMY: Very impressed with them. They have calmed down the News 2.0 open to where its not twenty to thirty seconds to where its now ten seconds. They do have a weather garden which looks very nice and it actually doesn't look hokey. Strong newscast. Dislike them standing up all the time on there set.

WGHP: My My My. Great set. Great content. Newscasts felt a little long with the pacing. Graphics is really too oversimplified. There promos actually make it up for me as they are well produced. Graphics feel real slip shod.

WXII: Love the hearst graphics. Love the new music. Shocked to see a weekend travel open. On Friday and Saturday they run a twelve minute newscast and then the rest will be Sports Friday/Saturday. Disliked the choice of feed by using a straight up internet feed for WSSU's highlights. Lazy in that. The set leaves a whole lot to be desired.

WXLV: Can we step back a generation for the logo at least. They do have a newscast now however it only runs Monday-Friday at 6:30 AM, 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM. Newscasts are powered by News14 Carolina. Basic graphics but they probably do more stories in the span of 30-35 minutes than some of the other stations. Weather forecasting however was rushed and its more geared to there weather on the :1's.

[susquvalleywgal 494]

Regarding Harrisburg ... WGAL is the 8,000 lb gorilla here. Yes, they do have history on it's side. But, don't give ABC27 too much credit. The station has gone downhill so much and it's talent is so poor that I would easily say they are the worst station in the market. From Dennis Owens over-ego, to the childish antics of Al Gonoza, the station clearly is not worthy of being a ABC affiliate. ABC27's morning show is the worst, even with bringing Dennis back. Who cares about celebrity birthdays during your weather segment? I don't.

 

But here is where it does get interesting. Lancaster (WGAL) is a good 45 minute drive down 283 from Harrisburg, on a good day. There is a segment of the population who says, "I don't want to watch news from Lancaster, I want Harrisburg". So, they turn on ABC27. And with CBS21 going Sincrap, I think that ABC27 will be #2 for a long time.

 

FOX43 is good, but since they did not renew Jim Buchanan's contract, I don't watch 'em anymore. That's my two cents.

[bhratbrat 423]

Regarding Harrisburg ... WGAL is the 8,000 lb gorilla here. Yes, they do have history on it's side. But, don't give ABC27 too much credit. The station has gone downhill so much and it's talent is so poor that I would easily say they are the worst station in the market. From Dennis Owens over-ego, to the childish antics of Al Gonoza, the station clearly is not worthy of being a ABC affiliate. ABC27's morning show is the worst, even with bringing Dennis back. Who cares about celebrity birthdays during your weather segment? I don't.

 

But here is where it does get interesting. Lancaster (WGAL) is a good 45 minute drive down 283 from Harrisburg, on a good day. There is a segment of the population who says, "I don't want to watch news from Lancaster, I want Harrisburg". So, they turn on ABC27. And with CBS21 going Sincrap, I think that ABC27 will be #2 for a long time.

 

FOX43 is good, but since they did not renew Jim Buchanan's contract, I don't watch 'em anymore. That's my two cents.

And that is why I intend to put the dates up. When I go back to a site I will make a different review of the stations in the area.

[bhratbrat 423]

MILWAUKEE, WI (25-28 JAN, 2013)

 

Milwaukee first off is a wonderful city. I feel and weep for an airport that also lot its main hub status due to greedy bastards (FRONTIER/MIDWEST). Anywhos lets get started.

 

WTMJ: Locals Only by Stephen Arnold doesn't fit this station. I still feel High Velocity V.2 or Impact V.4 would better fit. Graphics are nice and very smooth on HDTV. 3PM news seems really just a filler newscast that Journal does. Why? I don't know

WITI: I hope when they re do the set, they re do everything with this newscast. The strongest point is the talent on the newscast. Graphics are just piss poor. You have a good logo, you have a solid news theme and then you put up junk for your graphics. Also the pace of the newscast just felt a little off but that might have been just some stuff going on.

WISN: Feels like a station that is organized. Everything with the station including the promotions are good. There is a reason why WISN is given a lot of leeway when it comes to there station including an hour long 10 PM newscast every night, and it shows. There product reflects a bunch of the station.

WDJT: News product is really grown from what we used to say WDJT was. Stability with the anchor team has made it a great watch. There is however, one promo that literally turned me off from them and that is their new Super Bowl promo with a freaking look a like Vince Lombardi. I seriously thought while watching the promo, that it was a bad furniture commercial or something, not a stations Super Bowl promo.

 

This trip adds potentially two DMAS (if I make it to Chicago sometime this weekend). Milwaukee as a city is awesome and a city getting back on its feet after the multiple selloffs including Miller to MillerCoors, and also the literal demise of Midwest Air to Frontier.

[bhratbrat 423]

Time to update the post again.

 

ALLENTOWN, PA (FEB 8-11)

Before I dive into the post, I got to watch stations from Philadelphia, WFMZ, and portion of the New York market with WWOR, WNBC, WPIX, and WNYW. This post alone will focus more on WFMZ and the four New York stations as the stations in Philadelphia have already been reviewed.

 

WFMZ: For an independent newscast, for a newscast that covers the Lehigh Valley, this really does the job coverage wise. You are not bombarded by the whole newscast and you can get your news and go. Might be a little hokey, but when you are on an island by yourself, its ok.

WNYW: Seeing Ernie Anastos not say stuff about chickens is a very good start for a review. But in actuality the product they have put out does the job well. Didn't like how on the Good Day Saturday edition (blizzard coverage) that they were just more or less joking around. New FOX Graphics to me still seem off as well

WWOR: Solid newscast and it was great to see Brenda Blackmon and Harry Martin in person. They also did updates once an hour on Friday (during the period I was watching).

WPIX: The product is literally a tale of two different teams and it shows. I watched the 5PM newscast with them standing in front of the chroma key and it looked awful. The PIX 11 Morning News seemed to be on the ball on Saturday morning but of course I didn't like one of the reporters showing off for the camera to push a guy out. Frances Rivera doesn't seem to be excited.

WNBC: It seems the way NBC O&Os are doing there newscasts it fits New York nearly like a glove. IT is a respected news product and something that I won't complain in seeing.

 

OH and if you are wondering, only 6" here in the Lehigh Valley but a nice little freezing rain this morning on the way to the smaller airport here in the Lehigh Valley. They also use NBC chimes to announce the time.

[MorningNews 1293]

Love reading these, just wondering will your job ever take you to Texas or California?

[bhratbrat 423]

It has taken me once to Texas in the Waco area. I will be posting these for wherever new location I go to within a year.

[bhratbrat 423]

​Note: This review encompasses the first market that got me interested in critiquing Television News Broadcasts. Kind of nice to see how much change has occurred since the last time I was here in 2001-2002.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (March 8-11, 2013)

WCBD: It is crazy to think that the sports director is now the main anchor. The newscast seemed cheaply produced but the Media General v.2 Blue Look kind of saves parts of the newscast. Oh and Robb Fowler also saves the newscast. It's bad when your newscast is marginally better than your partner in Raleigh.

WCSC: I know when the first version of the station going under Raycom was purple graphics, this new look literally robs all individuality that WCSC has enjoyed over its history. Also there four PM news is graciously only thirty minutes, because if there was any more fluff packed into that newscast, I would be crying. They also under Raycom had the "RAYCOM Live Link" which literally was a LIVE shot from WMBF up in Florence. They are still number one, but now I don't know why.

WCIV: This is a station where standardization can work if done right. The graphics for WCIV has improved tremendously. Still using Series I of EWN, but that is a little forgiveable. They however, don't have a strong chief when compared to Rob Fowler and Bill Walsh. But they cover everything and content wise, they were more ahead of WCBD and very close to being over WCSC.

WTAT: Graphics wise is literally a mix of Sinclair and Raycom graphics. Fonts and certain elements are Raycom's Standard graphics while the opens and L3 shapes and backgrounds are Sinclair. Everything else including content is WCSC.

[bhratbrat 423]

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY (MARCH 15-18, 2013)

 

If you want to define bastardization of a market, this would be it. Two stations that are in bigger ownership groups with no HD, One station that only has studio HD and one station that is TrueHD. It might surprise you or not which station is True HD and which station isn't.

 

WAVE: Raycom has done a nice job with the station. Station feels unique watching it but it just felt a little hollow with Raycom's standard fare of graphics and music. Nice programming and probably a better choice broadcasting Kentucky vs. Vandy over NBC's Primetime Fare on a Friday night. This station only has studio HD

WHAS: One of somehow Belo's bastard children is ironically first place out here in Kentuckiana. The revision of Newschannel New Generation plus the great GO graphics pack that they have used for a while. One of two stations however still broadcasting in SD and just like Belo's sister station WCNC in Charlotte, it looks like nothing will change. Oh and nice seeing Monty Webb land somewhere after Seattle. Oh and if you are in Downtown, they have a banner on a skyscraper that says Diane's Louisville http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2324/2065509535_f59263053f_z.jpg?zz=1 which is patterned after other adverts in the city. I don't know if they updated the banner to reflect her change to World News

WLKY: Another bastard child of its ownership group (Hearst-Argyle) but, this is one of those where there isn't many bastard children in the group. WLKY has a great set, great content of news and due to CBS they get a lot more in favor of their product.Unique hybrid newsroom set and a bastard of Hearst Argyle graphics (old school) plus an in-house open

WDRB: One, if not the only station that Block somehow does right in WDRB. Station is in true HD, the graphics have somewhat of a simplistic feel to them that caters to it looking like European styled graphics in some instances. The set is practically the same one. Nice use of music on the newscast and really a different feel for a FOX station as they are not in your face and going crazy about the FOX affiliaton.

CN2: This is Insights/Time Warner's Louisville network that covers mainly weather updates. Nice weather gfx but it looks to be cheaply produced. Less said is better on this. However, a unique play on the Insight logo.

 

Another note: They have morning newscasts here on Saturday and Sunday with some starting at 5:30-6 AM out here and WDRB even doing a three hour Saturday newscast uninterrupted which even in bigger markets you don't see every station in town putting out this much effort in their offerings for their weekend newscasts.