TennTV1983 743 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Caught under the radar in all of the discussion about Media General and Lin Media merging, WKRG in the Mobile/Pensacola market is in the process of replacing their news set with a new one. No telling if it's going to be a completely new set or simply a refresh with some new pieces added, but according to a video they posted on Facebook, construction is expected to take a couple of weeks to complete. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152290200522500&stream_ref=10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 They need it. BADLY..... From the looks of things, they've already ripped out the old "Mark your Calendar" interview area and it's taking on a brick/stone look similar to the existing "Take 5" set that's been around since 2011. The weather center is gutted as well. I'm just hoping it's not one of those sets that uses too much brick and stone. I was hoping for more of a WCMH-style approach. Perhaps a new graphics package is on the way as well. Wonder if it will incorporate tablets? ...and if Media General is making this kind of investment in WKRG.....then it's probably a good indication that WKRG is the station they are keeping, and WALA will be sold off. Then again, WJW did the same thing in 2007...got the FOX look and set right before FOX dumped the station to Local TV. Little has changed since, even with Tribune in control...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Another check of WKRG's Facebook page shows that workers are dismantling the main anchor area. I'll be curious to see their temporary set. First WKRG and now WFLA....I guess Media General finally got the hint that these stations are in DIRE need of new sets! They also say that WKRG's set will be designed by the same person who did Oprah's set....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 On WKRG's Facebook page, the new set is beginning to take shape. It has sort of a WCMH vibe to it thus far, but has wooden floors, brick walls, and a plasma monitor wall in the center. I'm wondering if a graphics and music change is in the works as well. It's desperately needed as well. When WALA and WPMI upgraded their sets and graphics, they kept their news music with little changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 According to our favorite TV blog out of Mobile, the set is being designed by David Weller design...who looks like they haven't done a news set in YEARS....by the looks of their website. ..and the "Oprah" set they did was WAAAAY back in the 1990s. And the set will debut on Monday, the 14th! That seems a little rushed, but we'll see if they can pull it off Here's their website wellerdesign.com and the story from Examiner....http://www.examiner.com/article/wkrg-tv-news-presenter-reporter-provides-updates-about-new-newscast-set Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Attached are a couple of new WKRG set pics with their morning show. It appears as if they are going to use an in-house or MGFX logo modification and a graphics look in a similar type of color scheme to the current look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesapeakeTV 310 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 That logo...eww. Who do they think they are, KALB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 That logo...eww. Who do they think they are, KALB? Yeah totally agree. I hope that logo is just a placeholder and a rough draft of things. Most likely it's the real thing ugggh! That have had that 5 and the oval swoop since 2002ish, but that news type that was reworked just doesn't flow and fit. It's tacked on and out of place. Just my opinion, but that station needs its longtime CSD back in the saddle. Sadly since CSD Robin Delaney was let go during the recession cutbacks and Sam Day, their high end promo producer subsequently left, the station has never recovered from those two employee losses. Once the MG/Lin merger goes through, I hope they invest in a bonafide marketing department - one that answers to the GM only. I have a feeling if that's the "new logo" that it will be overhauled come next year. IMO, the rest of the set, from what has been revealed, looks to be a nice fit for the station and market. Their approach has always been an aww-shucks, homely approach, so it that regard the set is a fit. For the love of God, fix the damn logo and get a real marketing team in place there...not a news director that calls the shots over promos and who once produced them in iMovie!!! C'mon WKRG - get it together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 It sort of looks like the package WVTM is using, minus the tablets I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning! Ironically, it was KALB that ripped off WKRG's logo. WHLT did too, but they're still a sister station of WKRG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 so. much. brick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEOMatrix 1295 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Attached are a couple of new WKRG set pics with their morning show. It appears as if they are going to use an in-house or MGFX logo modification and a graphics look in a similar type of color scheme to the current look. My goodness! this set already looks dated and ugly and the less I say about the logo the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I wonder if that light panel on top is a false ceiling....now that is something that has REALLY been out of practice since the 1980s. Here's how it's pulled off, courtesy of WEWS from a behind-the-scenes video featuring their 70s set.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I want to like this set, I really do. But it just looks so outdated, even with the monitor panels. It has a late 80's feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Considering that they still show Andy Griffith in prime access, that set will look futuristic to most of the market haha. Seriously I'm hoping that logo was a rough in-house throw together for the set rehearsals and that the opens and bumps will have something much more refined.... but something tells me that probably won't be the case. That freakin' 5 and oval swoosh logo need to retire the f*** out... heck even a revert back to their old boxy WKRG 5 logo from the late 90's and early 2000's would be a step up from this latest modification they made. Guess tomorrow morning will be telling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 743 Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Time lapse of the demolition and reconstruction: WKRG went from outdated to generic in a Gray TV kind of way. They could've done much more with their studio than this. EDIT: And yes, WKRG is now using WVTM's new graphics (smartphones, buttons and all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Noon open had the JDK music and featured the WVTM iPad-iPhone-esque graphics package. The logo looked decent enough in the open, but looks horrible as stills (bug, etc) just my opinion. The logo looks like a tack-on with the "NEWS" type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: I had to watch it for myself before I share my thoughts..... It is indeed the WVTM graphics package, complete with tablets. My gut reaction, the music DOES NOT match the package AT ALL!! They should have switched to the Stephen Arnold stuff. That, and the logo modification make's WVTM's version of the look seem polished. The OTS and bumper graphics take it a little too far with the tablets we all love to hate. I liked that the news crawl was simpler and less empty than the old one was...but that could change if they decide to "sell" it like they did with the old one. The logo is a hack-job. The "NEWS" seems very out of place on it and the bug is somewhat awkwardly animated. As for the set, the anchor full camera shots look virtually identical to WPMI...the only difference is that the skyline shot is facing westward with the Mobile River in the foreground, whereas WPMI's shot is facing east towards the river. WKRG's is a 9 monitor array, where WPMI's is only 6. The brick looks cheap, and the wires showing in JB Biunno's shot looked bad too. The weather center seemed crammed in the corner and doesn't seem to serve a visual purpose at all rather than a bunch of computers in the background. I did like that they added an overhead camera for bump shots though. Since they're an Ignite station, they're likely limited in what they can do with their cameras, ruling out pushes, pan-ins, pan-outs, or any type of art shot. It is a departure for Media General to use this company for the set, since most of their other efforts have been through FX, with the only exception being WJAR. It looks better than some of their other later efforts like WSLS...which looks very much like it was done on the cheap. There's still the primetime shows, so there's more to see set-wise. Overall, I give it a D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 That monitor wall behind the desk probably should have been 15 and left at that and the brick just makes everything look so unfinished! The weather center was virtually eliminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country News 435 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Like usual, I like something which is almost universally hated. I think the brick is a good feel, although I think there should have been less of it. The set covers all it needs to, and the kitchen area looks very good. WKRG is not a very big station, and this is a relatively good set for such a small market. - Mr. I Like Outrageous Things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Watching the 5 and 6. It's starting to grow on me....a little. One of the things I like about the new look is the typography. It has that John Christopher Burns feel to it with the font usage, and use of kerning. The flow is MUCH better than the old graphics with the animations being much smoother and more refined. I still HATE the excessive use of tablets from OTSes, to squeezebacks, even on the weather intro! I think they reversed the tease from how WVTM uses it, with the full screen graphic revealing the tease overlay, and not the other way around. The package does a decent job with localization...something that WKRG has lacked for the last several years in their graphics and opens. The set has it's ups and downs. They are using cross-shooting for the 2-anchor format instead of the head-on shot used on the noon show. They are going from the overhead camera to a pushed 2 shot, something they have rarely done on air before. Rose Ann Haven's side of the set has those vertical LED's in the background, while the other side has the anchor on a brick wall with two plexiglass cutouts on each side. They really need to take care of the rat's nest of cables on the floor of the "web center" and tweak the lighting on the weather center. I did like the sports shot with Mel and Randy and the vertical LED monitor between them. Outside of the newscast itself, it's as if nothing else has changed. All the promos STILL have the old logo and look on them, and the website and facebook page both have the old logo on them as this post is being typed. There's still pieces of the OLD pre-MGFX look on-air on the ALDOT traffic cams! Of course, it was the same way when they launched the previous package using centralized graphics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swillh2k2 203 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 So why does MG have FOUR separate graphics packages again? --the iPad graphics (WVTM/WKRG) --the blue and silver graphics (WNCN/WJAR) --the circular graphics (WCBD/WCMH/the small market stations) --the WFLA graphics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3469 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 So why does MG have FOUR separate graphics packages again? --the iPad graphics (WVTM/WKRG) --the blue and silver graphics (WNCN/WJAR) --the circular graphics (WCBD/WCMH/the small market stations) --the WFLA graphics They still have a centralized operation out of Richmond that services their legacy stations (pre-Young). It's better to have four packages than one since they can target their efforts better towards the markets they serve, and they can still service these looks with elements that work with all 4 packages. This doesn't factor in the Young acquisitions, which consist of yet another look (or two) plus KRON. Add the LIN stations, and you can toss any uniformity out the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country News 435 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 They still have a centralized operation out of Richmond that services their legacy stations (pre-Young). They do service the Young stations for some things, and will service the LIN stations in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTVNews 1366 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 WKRG officially debuts the new set. http://www.newscaststudio.com/setstudio/wkrg/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike91 66 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 The brick ruins what would be a pretty decent set. It gives off the vibe of an apartment or a restaurant, not a news set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.