ABC 7 Eyewitness News thread

[CraigViewer 107]

21 hours ago, 24994J said:

There's been an internal East vs. West "fight" going on since they decided to standardize graphics. The earliest demos of the package, spearheaded to a degree by the Chicago brain trust, used the WABC layout, and this was before the 2021 network logo change and short-lived co-branding rules. That said, there was a point around that time, pre-2023 launch, when the KABC/KGO layout would have spread to all four 7s, but they ultimately decided to keep the Ws and Ks separate.

 

...until now. The word I've received is that the new KABC set will be without any ABC meatballs, anyway, only solo Circle 7s, but that that logo change will happen by the time the set debuts.

Interesting.  I have observed that since KABC got both a new general manager and new news director in recent years that they there are seemingly leaving their mark, given the new set and the addition of quite a few new on-air talent, who are actually not bad at all.  In my humble opinon, that's a good thing that they are threading the needle between those refreshes, and retaining their stability that they have continued to have over many years now.

Edited January 7 by CraigViewer

[FiveNews 482]

So we know KABC is on a temp set, with their new set slated to debut in March. Is their temp set using a green screen? Looking at the video below and others, the shadows around the anchors and the lighting makes it appear to be a green screen. I want to be optimistic and not hope so since I feel a station like KABC could have done something in the newsroom to not make their temporary setup appear so cheap.

 

 

[24994J 5888]

1 hour ago, FiveNews said:

So we know KABC is on a temp set, with their new set slated to debut in March. Is their temp set using a green screen? Looking at the video below and others, the shadows around the anchors and the lighting makes it appear to be a green screen. I want to be optimistic and not hope so since I feel a station like KABC could have done something in the newsroom to not make their temporary setup appear so cheap.

 

 

It's a green screen. WLS did something similar back in the summer, when their set had some work done. It's low-frills and less dynamic, but it gets the job done. As always, the average viewer won't notice or care.

 

 

Edited January 11 by 24994J

[Encore 323 79]

 

On 1/5/2026 at 4:57 PM, rkolsen said:

There have been some interesting ads airing on KABC, if you look you’ll notice a subtle difference. 

Here are some additional parts to that promo.

The voiceover, who is Roger Rose, says here that “Everywhere News Breaks, We’re There Monday to Friday with Marc Brown and Michelle Fisher, David Ono and Jovana Lara, and Weekends with Liz Nagy and Jory Rand, Covering SoCal 7 Days a Week, ABC 7 Eyewitness News” (with a Southern California’s News Leader end tag of course)

 

This shows viewers that all of the evening teams are stable again across the entire week and that the coverage we expect from Southern California’s News Leader will remain top notch and to the point. The station is gearing up for its next chapter and no other LA station besides maybe KTLA, will come close to the same level of talent stability and set execution. I like what I see so far but we will see what happens in March, when all the new stuff debuts.

Edited January 19 by Encore 323

[FiveNews 482]

I'm curious to see if Michelle Fisher will pick up the 11pm as well. Marc Brown is more than capable of handling the 11pm on his own, but Michelle would be a great addition as they already anchor the 5pm together. 

[CraigViewer 107]

If I had to guess, ABC7 will debut their new set as well as any other on-air changes around the time of this year's Academy Awards.  In year's past, given the fairly large viewership for the Oscars, I have noticed they have introduced new station promos during programming on Oscars Sunday.  And, this year, it gives them that opportunity to introduce the changes, as well.

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

So Jovanna is Ellen Leyva's replacement at 4 and 6pm? It looks like it.

 

Sorry if I'm a bit behind.

[TVNewsLover 861]

52 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

So Jovanna is Ellen Leyva's replacement at 4 and 6pm? It looks like it.

 

Sorry if I'm a bit behind.

About 8.5 months behind, but that is correct. 

[GraphicsMan 345]

Wow I hope KABC morps like WABC but not too much keep a SoCal style. I’m really gonna miss the old logo but hey KGO still has it.

[24994J 5888]

9 minutes ago, GraphicsMan said:

Wow I hope KABC morps like WABC but not too much keep a SoCal style. I’m really gonna miss the old logo but hey KGO still has it.

 

KGO is obviously dumping it, too. We just don't know their timeline.

Edited January 21 by 24994J

[TVLurker 389]

I know the WABC logo is coming to the West Coast but why must they do such a minor change just to have every station they own conform to each other?

[MediaCriticLA 22]

2 hours ago, TVLurker said:

I know the WABC logo is coming to the West Coast but why must they do such a minor change just to have every station they own conform to each other?

That's exactly the reason. It's a minor change (so minor that mostly only people who read this site will notice), and all of their stations will have a consistent identity.

Edited January 21 by MediaCriticLA

[GraphicsMan 345]

On 1/21/2026 at 1:09 AM, 24994J said:

 

KGO is obviously dumping it, too. We just don't know their timeline.

KGO might as well pick up “Eyewitness News” brand if that the case.

[norcalTVfan 58]

7 hours ago, GraphicsMan said:

KGO might as well pick up “Eyewitness News” brand if that the case.

KGO will not pick up “Eyewitness News.” For decades, KPIX (in both Westinghouse and CBS days) aired its newscasts under the “Eyewitness News” brand. 

[Dave Lampstein 287]

It’s also an incredibly tired, dated brand. Would be insane to launch it in 2026.  
 

Fine for other markets for the sake of nostalgia I guess… but nostalgia does nothing for revenue. 
 

Would love to see it and “Action News” go away. 

[TVNewsLover 861]

1 hour ago, norcalTVfan said:

KGO will not pick up “Eyewitness News.” For decades, KPIX (in both Westinghouse and CBS days) aired its newscasts under the “Eyewitness News” brand. 

Agreed. However, I always wondered why they never picked up the Action News name back then. Sister station at the time, WXYZ, took the same approach back then but used the Action News name because WJBK, the CBS affiliate at the time, was using Eyewitness News. Same with what would become future sister station WPVI. 

[norcalTVfan 58]

1 minute ago, TVNewsLover said:

Agreed. However, I always wondered why they never picked up the Action News name back then. Sister station at the time, WXYZ, took the same approach back then but used the Action News name because WJBK, the CBS affiliate at the time, was using Eyewitness News. Same with what would become future sister station WPVI. 

KGO couldn’t because KTVU used “Action News” for a minute in the 70s before to “The __ o’clock News” branding for a couple of decades.

[Georgie56 3661]

1 hour ago, Dave Lampstein said:

It’s also an incredibly tired, dated brand. Would be insane to launch it in 2026.  
 

Fine for other markets for the sake of nostalgia I guess… but nostalgia does nothing for revenue. 
 

Would love to see it and “Action News” go away. 

People in Philly, NYC and Atlanta would disagree.

[Dave Lampstein 287]

1 minute ago, Georgie56 said:

People in Philly, NYC and Atlanta would disagree.

Rabid fans, yes. People, the general public, no. All of these stations have had secondary brands for decades. 

[GraphicsMan 345]

3 hours ago, Dave Lampstein said:

It’s also an incredibly tired, dated brand. Would be insane to launch it in 2026.  
 

Fine for other markets for the sake of nostalgia I guess… but nostalgia does nothing for revenue. 
 

Would love to see it and “Action News” go away. 

The people in Raleigh-Durham (WTVD), New York (WABC), Los Angeles (KABC), Houston (KTRK), Chicago (WLS) and for Action News Philadelphia (WPVI) would disagree.

1 hour ago, Georgie56 said:

People in Philly, NYC and Atlanta would disagree.

I would riot if WTVD dropped the “Eyewitness News” brand they had the brand as long as I’ve been alive.

[HanSolo 469]

People do not need to be rabid fans to recognize the brand. Brand equity and recognition matters. Sometimes of course there is a good reason to move on from a brand, but there are more cases it has far more downside risk than upside potential. 

[Dave Lampstein 287]

Yeah, but that’s not the case here. 
 

Sad thing is, we’ll likely never know. Local news content and branding hasn’t really evolved much in the last 40 years. 

[TVNewsLover 861]

4 hours ago, norcalTVfan said:

KGO couldn’t because KTVU used “Action News” for a minute in the 70s before to “The __ o’clock News” branding for a couple of decades.

I was aware of that, but I thought KGO adopted the “eyewitness news” format along with the “Channel 7 News Scene” branding in 1970 and KTVU didn’t start using Action News until 1971. Perhaps my dates are off. 

[sfomspphl 545]

2 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I was aware of that, but I thought KGO adopted the “eyewitness news” format along with the “Channel 7 News Scene” branding in 1970 and KTVU didn’t start using Action News until 1971. Perhaps my dates are off. 

 

I see NewsScene in TV listings in 1971. Can't find Action News. But....KFSN in Fresno was Cap Cities at that point and using Action News. Maybe that was considered too close. 

 

WCCO was using NewsScene as of 1970, that and a station in Illinois were all that popped up in a newspaper archive search. 

Edited January 23 by sfomspphl

[Vlad 406]

Well at the end of the day all local news stations are really just two formats, Action News and Eyewitness News with the vast overwhelming majority of local tv news stations in the country adopting mostly a blend of the two formats. Here's a ChatGPT AI explanation:

 

 

 

Edited January 30 by Vlad