tylert 1 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 WTAE has changed its branding from Channel 4 Action News to Pittsburgh's Action News 4. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I personally don't like it. Why do we need Pittsburgh in the brand? In case we forgot what city we were in? It looks awful squeezing Pittsburgh in a small font on the bug. Definitely a step backward in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrelevator 28 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm fine with the name change. However, it is a mouthful. When they're saying it on air they really should just shorten it to Action News 4 or Action News. I wish they would make their old slogan, News 4 Pittsburgh, their brand (like WNBC News 4 New York). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.L. Hughes 750 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 In fairness, the layout of WTAE's logo for news programming already displayed the news title as "Action News 4" to begin with; it does seem odd to m that the newscast title differs from its on-air graphical display to how it is supposed to be read as. Also, it isn't really different from what some other stations brand ("Northwest NewsChannel 8" or "Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Also, it isn't really different from what some other stations brand ("Northwest NewsChannel 8" or "Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4"). It may not really be different, but it's incredibly awkward on the tongue to say. "Pittsburgh's Action News 4." It doesn't flow like the examples you gave because that S to N transition isn't there. They're having to go from S to A. It works if you force your mouth open. "Pittsburgh's NewsChannel 4" would be so much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmasters1 377 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 It may not really be different, but it's incredibly awkward on the tongue to say. "Pittsburgh's Action News 4." It doesn't flow like the examples you gave because that S to N transition isn't there. They're having to go from S to A. It works if you force your mouth open. "Pittsburgh's NewsChannel 4" would be so much easier. ^This! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrelevator 28 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Oh yes, that will work. "This is Pittsburgh's NewsChannel 4...at eleven" vs. "This is Pittsburgh's Action News 4...at eleven" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylert 1 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 It may not really be different, but it's incredibly awkward on the tongue to say. "Pittsburgh's Action News 4." It really sounds awkward when a reporter is ending a live report with a location, "live from WASHINGTON, I'm ______, PITTSBURGH's Action News 4." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4165 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 WJW has used the "Cleveland's Own" slogan since the mid 80s, and the newscast opens are "Cleveland's Own, FOX 8 News." But that is to the extent they have used that slogan in station branding... anything more would be silly and overkill. I betcha in 6-9 months, Hearst will alter the branding to be "Action News 4" in newscasts, "Pittsburgh's Action News 4" on newscast opens and promos, and "Pittsburgh's Channel 4" (or even "Pittsburgh's 4") on general station promos and IDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1110 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 When WPHL was doing its own newscasts, they actually did insist on it being called "Philadelphia's WB17 News". It never appeared in any graphics, mind you, but that's what anchors and reporters had to say - even though it is quite a mouthful. Even when WTXF was Fox Philadelphia, they didn't use the full station name for newscasts - they used "Fox Ten O'Clock News", and reporters signed out with "Fox News". Which is probably why they reverted to Fox 29 in 2003... EDIT: And of course, Philly's Action News should be mentioned. They use that name in so many ways - opens say "Action News", promos have used "6ABC Action News" or "Action News on 6ABC", and reporters still sign off with "Channel 6 Action News". The main logo has read "ACTION NEWS 6" since 1995, though the horizontal version has the logo positioned to the left. I wouldn't classify this as a branding problem at all, surprisingly, because... well, 6ABC and Action News are strongly linked together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 When WPHL was doing its own newscasts, they actually did insist on it being called "Philadelphia's WB17 News". It never appeared in any graphics, mind you, but that's what anchors and reporters had to say - even though it is quite a mouthful. Even when WTXF was Fox Philadelphia, they didn't use the full station name for newscasts - they used "Fox Ten O'Clock News", and reporters signed out with "Fox News". Which is probably why they reverted to Fox 29 in 2003... EDIT: And of course, Philly's Action News should be mentioned. They use that name in so many ways - opens say "Action News", promos have used "6ABC Action News" or "Action News on 6ABC", and reporters still sign off with "Channel 6 Action News". The main logo has read "ACTION NEWS 6" since 1995, though the horizontal version has the logo positioned to the left. I wouldn't classify this as a branding problem at all, surprisingly, because... well, 6ABC and Action News are strongly linked together. Lord! I just tried saying "Philadelphia's WB17 News" out loud and I think that's worse than Pittsburgh! Imagine of WFTS or KSHB branded themselves as "Tampa Bay's ABC Action News" or "Kansas City's 41 Action News." Way too long and obnoxious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 What was Hearst high on? Normally they make good decisions; here they goofed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 What was Hearst high on? Normally they make good decisions; here they goofed up. Local management likely made this decision, not Hearst corporate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panewswatcher69 26 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Did anyone know that this was going to happen? Seems that it had been in works for while since they were able to prep on-air presentation, right after Feb. sweeps too. Also, over last twenty years, WTAE does not know what it wants as their on-air branding and slogan - WTAE 4 News, Channel 4 Action News, Where The News Comes First, Taking Action for You, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 802 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I agree Channel 4 in Pittsburgh has some branding issues, and not just them but so many stations have branding issues. A station like WXYZ, WSB, WPVI have stuck with Action News for years, but Channel 4 in Pittsburgh should have stuck with what they already had. Once again they will change their name and the cycle will continue. Would love to see what the latest ratings report had to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newscopter7 198 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think its always dumb to incorporate a city's name into a station's branding. I know I'm watching local news in Pittsburgh. Same for CBS Atlanta, NBC San Diego, et al. When I'm talking with someone about something I saw on the news, I say I saw it on Channel 4/KDKA/Channel 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think its always dumb to incorporate a city's name into a station's branding. I know I'm watching local news in Pittsburgh. Same for CBS Atlanta, NBC San Diego, et al. When I'm talking with someone about something I saw on the news, I say I saw it on Channel 4/KDKA/Channel 11. I don't think it's dumb. However, the city name branding does not work for every station or city. In the case of KNTV and KNSD, both stations have different channel positions OTA and on cable in their respective markets. So I can see the need to use the city/market name. Not sure why WTAE felt a need to incorporate Pittsburgh into their branding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Some other examples of state/city branding: "WBMG Action News Birmingham", "NBC Hawaii News 8", "Denver's 7" and "Colorado's 7", "News 4 New Mexico". In these cases it's often because of a large geographic area that this branding is employed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 The issue with me is the name is too clunky. It would work if they went with News 4 Pittsburgh but they tried to have it both ways and keep the Action News label. They have to choose one or the other, it's way too wordy as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Heller 1 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 If you look at it, look at KOCO, when they switched to HD, and got the new graphics and theme song, they changed the branding of its newscasts from "Eyewitness News 5" to "KOCO 5 News" so sometimes when they do get new graphics, music, new set, etc. sometime when they do they either go from Anchor Scripts aka Paper to iPads or they change brandings. Sometimes not all changes are good some changes can be bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlynch 54 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Some other examples of state/city branding: "WBMG Action News Birmingham", "NBC Hawaii News 8", "Denver's 7" and "Colorado's 7", "News 4 New Mexico". In these cases it's often because of a large geographic area that this branding is employed. KXAN went through a period of calling themselves "KXAN Austin News" circa 2008, which is one of the more awkward branding combinations I've ever heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronQ 259 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Some other examples of state/city branding: "WBMG Action News Birmingham", "NBC Hawaii News 8", "Denver's 7" and "Colorado's 7", "News 4 New Mexico". In these cases it's often because of a large geographic area that this branding is employed. Don't forget NBC Charlotte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSC1980 96 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Some other examples of state/city branding: "WBMG Action News Birmingham", "NBC Hawaii News 8", "Denver's 7" and "Colorado's 7", "News 4 New Mexico". In these cases it's often because of a large geographic area that this branding is employed. Don't forget NBC Charlotte. And NBC Bay Area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Some other examples of state/city branding: "WBMG Action News Birmingham", "NBC Hawaii News 8", "Denver's 7" and "Colorado's 7", "News 4 New Mexico". In these cases it's often because of a large geographic area that this branding is employed. KXAN went through a period of calling themselves "KXAN Austin News" circa 2008, which is one of the more awkward branding combinations I've ever heard. Don't forget NBC Charlotte. And NBC Bay Area And lest we forget, News 2 Houston, 28 Tampa Bay News, Nashville's News 2, and NBC Connecticut News. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Don't forget News 4 Texas (KDFW) and Texas News 5 (KXAS). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country News 435 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 KRBC now officially brands as 'KRBC: Abilene's Local News' in their news branding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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