bmasters1 413 Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 What is meant by the branding of a station or newscast as being a certain market's "News Leader"? For example, the newscasts of WWL in New Orleans were for the longest time not only billed as Channel 4's Eyewitness News, but also as "Louisiana's News Leader."
WXmanTim 88 Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 Usually based on ratings data and consultant speak.
Breaking News 839 Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 It would have to be ratings wise some stations are looking at HH, others use demos, and then you have to think about the 1st station in the market to sign-on. Example: KSTP 5/ St. Paul-Minneapolis goes by Minnesota's News Leader. Now they were the first station in the state/market to sign on, along with Hubbard owning properties in the state. Ratings wise it been since the early-mid 80s the station was tops in the ratings. So for a station that in third place in some time slots and #2 in some it all depends what Minnesota's News Leader means to that station.
bmasters1 413 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Posted October 18, 2015 It would have to be ratings wise some stations are looking at HH, others use demos, and then you have to think about the 1st station in the market to sign-on. Example: KSTP 5/ St. Paul-Minneapolis goes by Minnesota's News Leader. Now they were the first station in the state/market to sign on, along with Hubbard owning properties in the state. Ratings wise it been since the early-mid 80s the station was tops in the ratings. So for a station that in third place in some time slots and #2 in some it all depends what Minnesota's News Leader means to that station. That's the best answer right there! I have also heard KTRK in Houston being branded as "Houston's News Leader," and WABC in NYC being simply called "The News Leader," among others.
C Block 1566 Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 Yeah, never underestimate the consultant fetish that's found in a lot of places. That's mostly where those dumb taglines come from.
oklahomanewsman 210 Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 KFOR Calls themselves "The News Leader" "The Weather Leader" etc. I think it just sounds dumb but it's just my opinion. I like the "Where The News Comes First" slogan the best.
Weeters 1969 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 It means just about as much as whatever the current slogan of Pepsi means. It's a tagline that managers and consultants come up with to "sell" the station.
channel2 982 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 KFOR Calls themselves "The News Leader" "The Weather Leader" etc. I think it just sounds dumb but it's just my opinion. I like the "Where The News Comes First" slogan the best. KUSA calls themselves "Colorado's News Leader", and once used "Where News Comes First" along with it. Whether or not that was to get around the trademark, I don't know ("Where The News Comes First" originated at KCRA in Sacramento, and is a trademark owned by Hearst Television).
Guest NewsHound Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WAGT in Augusta, GA was once billed as "Georgia-Carolina's News Leader" but they've always been a distant 3rd place. Take it for what it's worth, which isn't much.
TexasTVNews 1378 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 KDFW FOX 4 is currently using "The News Leader" branding after they dropped The News Station branding.
TennTV1983 807 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WTVF in Nashville uses "Your News and Information Leader" as their slogan, which has been in continuous use since the late 1990s.
TheRolyPoly 2592 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WTVJ used to use South Florida's News Leader until their news department started to collapse and ratings were falling. WSVN has been #1 since WTVJ's fall.
rkolsen 1686 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WBAL uses it in promos which is apt because during the past few sweeps they've won almost every time slot in viewers and demos. WJZ likes to use Marylands News Station, which I think implies they're the news leader. It would have to be ratings wise some stations are looking at HH, others use demos, and then you have to think about the 1st station in the market to sign-on. If we're talking about that WMAR plays essentially a sign on promo every morning before America This Morning saying they're Maryland's pioneer news stations.
plnewsfan 9 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WRC likes to use Washington's News Leader slogan in the nation's capital.
TheRolyPoly 2592 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WJZ likes to use Marylands News Station, which I think implies they're the news leader. Also similar to WSVN, which uses The News Station, which can also imply to WSVN being the news leader in South Florida and they have been for quite a while now.
Rusty Muck 4405 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 Also similar to WSVN, which uses The News Station, which can also imply to WSVN being the news leader in South Florida and they have been for quite a while now. WSVN has called themselves The News Station since 1993 or so (WHDH also has used that slogan for quite awhile). From early 1988 until then, it used the slogan South Florida's News Station. And WTVJ used the Where The News Comes First tagline from 1995 through 1998, when the station moved from channel 4 to channel 6.
Surplus Engineer 38 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 It's branding. It means whatever they want it to mean. From a consumer standpoint, it means nothing at all.
Eat News 4745 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 When I'm news director my station branding will be... "Channel 73 News..... F#&K Ya!"
A3N 1002 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 When I'm news director my station branding will be... "Channel 73 News..... F#&K Ya!" Wrong channel, LOL... In San Diego we've had/have: San Diego's Local News Leader (yet, ratings wise not even close) San Diego's Breaking News Leader (What ever the hell that means, it's not like the other stations don't cover breaking news) San Diego's More Local News Station ( I guess you could say they would constitute that as being the leader of local news) San Diego's #1 Source for news. I'm missing quite a bit, but you can tell that the consultants here are lazy.
Rusty Muck 4405 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 WJW's "Cleveland's Own" branding has withstood the station's sale from Storer to KKR/Gillette, an affiliation switch to Fox, Fox actually owning the station, and the first generation O&O standardization in 2007 (where they never even implemented "The Most Powerful Name in Local News" slogan by any stretch).
eyewitness_news 5 Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 In the 1990s WFSB used the "Connecticut's News Station" slogan.
oklahomanewsman 210 Posted October 20, 2015 Posted October 20, 2015 KUSA calls themselves "Colorado's News Leader", and once used "Where News Comes First" along with it. Whether or not that was to get around the trademark, I don't know ("Where The News Comes First" originated at KCRA in Sacramento, and is a trademark owned by Hearst Television). In that voiceover in the mid to late 2000s before they got the mandated stuff from Gannett/TEGNA it said "From Colorado's News Leader. This is the Number 1 rated 9 News at 10."
Weeters 1969 Posted October 20, 2015 Posted October 20, 2015 Alright. This is becoming a list thread and the question has really been answered by a few people already. Closing it.
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