WDR Graphics/Set/Theme changes

[compubit 670]

As of 5 Sept 16, WDR in the German State of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) has update their graphics, which I noticed on the regional news/newsmagazine Lokalzeit.

 

New:

 

Old:

 

http://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/lokalzeit/index.html

 

GOne is the longform open (:30) and in is the short graphic wipe to a video from the first story, as well as the classic Lokalzeit theme.

 

I equate this change going from WPVI's action news open to the new NBC or CBS O&O very short open...

 

Sad day, IMHO is western Germany.

Jim

[compubit 670]

And Aktuelle Stunde ("News Hour"):

 

New:

 

Old:

 

Gone are the "vertical blind" effects for large screen displays.

 

Sets are an improvement, but I'll miss the theme/open... I believe they're getting ready to go HD over the air (currently partially HD on Satellite and cable).

 

WDR is the only regional public broadcaster in Germany that breaks the state down into city-regions for local news (BR breaks Bavaria in half). All other broadcasters are at the state/city-state level. It's analogous to Pennsylvania having its existing markets (broken up a little further - i.e., Allentown has local news separate from Philly, and Johnstown and Altoona have separate newscasts - but Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois are statewide, but Texas is split into two parts - north and south). This the reason newspapers survive in Europe - for true local/regional news...

 

Jim

[djlynch 54]

The shot from :30-:40 in the video of the new studio seems like an excellent example of why standing news desks don't work very well for particularly tall or particularly short anchors. It doesn't even come up to his hips and she would barely be visible over it unless she was on some kind of a riser/box. (Not to mention that he kind of overshoots the top of the display that I assume was designed as a backdrop for close-ups.)