The Ever-Evolving Gray Graphics Situation...Thread

[speed053 37]

WNDU's 16 News Now logo has been changed to the new version that doesn't include the NBC Peacock on wndu.com.

[24994J 5550]

4 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

In other news, the de-peackockization appears to be complete at Gray after clicking around a bit this morning

 

This is confirmation enough for everyone. We don't need a station-by-station report on a peacock removal. From here on, said posts will be hidden.

 

Let us know if a station hasn't changed, at all.

[LOWERCASE GUY 261]

I heard this from a colleague who works at an NBC Gray affiliate. It's not an NBC thing. It's a "Gray" thing. Eventually all stations will be removing their affliliation from their logos. The reasoning is to distance the stations from the affiliates and to separate itself from the fake news movement that the national media gets.

 

Basically it's so people trust the LOCAL news and to take on their own branding and identity. 

[CoopInTheHouse 68]

No switch to GrayONE yet, but WMTV got the new brand (15 News) and new music (Unite from Stephen Arnold Music) on Wednesday.

 

 

[nathannah 2400]

NBC Nebraska has split up into two different brands with the Great De-Peaocking of 2023; the eastern part of the state is now branded as "News 2", while KSTF in Scottsbluff now goes by "KGWN Scottsbluff", drawing from their Casper sister. WLUC has replaced theirs with an outline of the Upper Peninsula, which had been in their pre-1990s logos before their Amazing Technicolor CAD Explosion®® logo was a thing (it'll be interesting to see what "Fox UP" becomes because...how do you disambiguate that?)

[tjt24 310]

19 hours ago, LOWERCASE GUY said:

I heard this from a colleague who works at an NBC Gray affiliate. It's not an NBC thing. It's a "Gray" thing. Eventually all stations will be removing their affliliation from their logos. The reasoning is to distance the stations from the affiliates and to separate itself from the fake news movement that the national media gets.

 

Basically it's so people trust the LOCAL news and to take on their own branding and identity. 

Well that makes sense, and I completely understand why. Everyone probably knows what network each station is affiliated with in their area, so that's not an issue. And if not, a quick Google search will solve that problem.

 

I just don't think it should be a group wide thing...

Edited December 15, 2023 by tjt24

[T.L. Hughes 881]

38 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

NBC Nebraska has split up into two different brands with the Great De-Peaocking of 2023; the eastern part of the state is now branded as "News 2", while KSTF in Scottsbluff now goes by "KGWN Scottsbluff", drawing from their Casper sister. WLUC has replaced theirs with an outline of the Upper Peninsula, which had been in their pre-1990s logos before their Amazing Technicolor CAD Explosion®® logo was a thing (it'll be interesting to see what "Fox UP" becomes because...how do you disambiguate that?)

Given that Fox has historically had more rigid branding conventions than the other major networks (the only ones to deviate from using network-centric branding including WSVN, KHON, WDRB and KVRR), I think culling network references from Gray’s Fox affiliates would be much harder to implement. ABC has apparently been requiring affiliates to include the “circle” logo into their station logos, making it also unclear whether they can pull network branding.

Edited December 15, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[CoopInTheHouse 68]

2 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

ABC has apparently been requiring affiliates to include the “circle” logo into their station logos, making it also unclear whether they can pull network branding.

I can think of a few exceptions.

 

And believe it or not, these are all not owned by Gray.

1. WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia
2. WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina
3. KIII-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas

[nathannah 2400]

1 hour ago, CoopInTheHouse said:

I can think of a few exceptions.

 

And believe it or not, these are all not owned by Gray.

1. WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia
2. WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina
3. KIII-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas

The guidelines made clear it has to be added anytime the station does a logo refresh; as all three haven't done that in decades, they get to keep their logos plain (though there are wedged-in added logos for use on Hulu and ABC's live streaming portal). Hearst's stations could have also done technically with their stations like WISN and WCVB but they complied voluntarily to add it in.

[GoldenShine9 1512]

6 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Given that Fox has historically had more rigid branding conventions than the other major networks (the only ones to deviate from using network-centric branding including WSVN, KHON, WDRB and KVRR), I think culling network references from Gray’s Fox affiliates would be much harder to implement. ABC has apparently been requiring affiliates to include the “circle” logo into their station logos, making it also unclear whether they can pull network branding.

 

WBRC doesn't emphasize their Fox affiliation much in their current logo - it is at a secondary line.

[CoopInTheHouse 68]

1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said:

 

WBRC doesn't emphasize their Fox affiliation much in their current logo - it is at a secondary line.

I mean, they were an O&O at one point, so it’s sorta weird it all came crashing down.

[who?cares 254]

WBRC's news dominance isn't built around their affiliation to FOX. They don't need to emphasis it.

[MediaZone4K 2157]

On 12/4/2023 at 7:12 AM, Denver Murray said:

 

Well, I certainly appreciate that they did not pick an entirely red theme for the graphics.  Gray doesn't look bad at all... Way better than what WWBT Richmond has. It's SO red you cannot even see what's in the background of the graphics! Very distracting.

I actually like this!

Agreed. The new color scheme, logo, and anchor desk are all pretty decent. The branding is  questionable. I'd call this a better looking WANF.

On 12/5/2023 at 3:47 AM, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

This is absolutely awful. First, the fact that they are using red tends to indicate Breaking News, which is exactly what Alert insinuates. This is why First Alert Weather has always struck me as bad branding for weather too. You're going to burn out your audience if all news product is branded as "First Alert" instead prioritizing the content. Ultimately, having clear brand and design language is really needed to inform viewers and boost ratings... This won't do it.

I'm not against the use of red as main station colors but it conveys unncessary urgency just like the "First Alert" branding. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by MediaZone4K

[HSV cheesehead 99]

10 hours ago, who?cares said:

WBRC's news dominance isn't built around their affiliation to FOX. They don't need to emphasis it.

On the opposite side of the spectrum their is WVUE in New Orleans, where the O in the FOX logo seems to be adjusted for local branding:

(how did FOX even let them do that in the first place)

[CircleSeven 1955]

Some of those already had a "non-network" logo on the website header, prior to the latest purge.

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by CircleSeven

[HSV cheesehead 99]

13 minutes ago, LOWERCASE GUY said:

Not sure when this happened, but perhaps ABC is next?

I dont think that 21Alive had the ABC logo since the rebrand, but I am not entirely sure, on their VUit page there's no logo present.

[cxd7346 232]

It’s a company wide initiative to improve our local imaging and branding.

 

Not to be rude but you might as well wait because soon you’ll be able to put every Gray station on your list that doesn’t have a network logo included in their branding. 

[Axiom81 67]

On 12/15/2023 at 10:32 AM, CoopInTheHouse said:

No switch to GrayONE yet, but WMTV got the new brand (15 News) and new music (Unite from Stephen Arnold Music) on Wednesday.

 

 

I will tell you, the new open is MUCH better than the old tired 20 year old music they had before. Not sure why they didn't just flip to GrayONE at the same time. 

[hmaxhanson 650]

On 12/16/2023 at 7:14 PM, HSV cheesehead said:

I dont think that 21Alive had the ABC logo since the rebrand, but I am not entirely sure, on their VUit page there's no logo present.

That's likely for use on both the ABC and NBC channels, which since the Gray buyout have both been called 21 Alive.

[T.L. Hughes 881]

WVVA has updated its logo, and is now using a secondary slogan, "Here for You", which is not referenced verbally in the opens (unlike the primary "Two Virginias' News Leader" slogan). The station has also replaced "The Rock" with "Stream".

 

Note the error in the voice track, compared to the open used, and the text misalignment/overlap in the time/temp bug:

KSNB and KNOP have also adopted new graphics, but, curiously, what they adopted isn't GrayONE, but what appear to be modifications to the graphics they introduced in August 2022, with new opens in tow.

 

Both stations have also changed news themes (swapping one Warner-Chappell package for another): KNOP switched from Gari's "The NBC Collection" to 615's "Seize the Day", while KSNB switched from said Gari theme to 615's "Tower V.6".

Edited December 19, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[aandersen93 5]

5 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

WVVA has updated its logo, and is now using a secondary slogan, "Here for You", which is not referenced verbally in the opens (unlike the primary "Two Virginias' News Leader" slogan). The station has also replaced "The Rock" with "Stream".

 

Note the error in the voice track, compared to the open used, and the text misalignment/overlap in the time/temp bug:

KSNB and KNOP have also adopted new graphics, but, curiously, what they adopted isn't GrayONE.

 

Both stations have also changed news themes: KNOP switched from Gari's "The NBC Collection" to 615's "Seize the Day" (swapping one Warner-Chappell package for another), while KSNB switched from said Gari theme to 615's "Tower V.6".

KSNB has been using Tower V.6 since August 2022, and kept it for midday news open, but the evening shows now have the Seize the Day theme as well like KNOP does (both are controlled in Lincoln) and are ending the show with a live shot of their control room at KOLN in Lincoln.

[tyrannical bastard 3926]

My only issue with the "stripping" of affiliate logos from these stations is that these affiliations lend a form of credibility to them.  Bad actors have been lifting and creating fake logos for use on illegitimate "news" sites for the sole purpose of spreading disinformation.  Even with FOX affiliates, despite any link to their affiliates and "news" channel.  The link between them is minimal and any well-educated person should know that.

 

 

On 12/16/2023 at 7:36 AM, who?cares said:

WBRC's news dominance isn't built around their affiliation to FOX. They don't need to emphasis it.

 

Being a heritage station and Raycom's idea to use their highly visible longtime neon sign as their main brand is a brilliant branding move.

Same with WAVE in Louisville resurrecting their "WAVE" logo from years past.

Edited December 19, 2023 by tyrannical bastard
Clarification

[Daybreak 287]

It appears WWBT has done away with the NBC logo as well. https://youtu.be/BaKNE-vKjuU?si=rxsDSX2t58JPNjtJ

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Daybreak

[GodfreyGR 650]

2 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

The link between them is minimal and any well-educated person should know that.

Key words: Well-Educated. Too many people click the first Google result and fail to fact-check themselves. 

[HSV cheesehead 99]

19 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Note the error in the voice track, compared to the open used, and the text misalignment/overlap in the time/temp bug:

KSNB and KNOP have also adopted new graphics, but, curiously, what they adopted isn't GrayONE, but what appear to be modifications to the graphics they introduced in August 2022, with new opens in tow.

 

Both stations have also changed news themes (swapping one Warner-Chappell package for another): KNOP switched from Gari's "The NBC Collection" to 615's "Seize the Day", while KSNB switched from said Gari theme to 615's "Tower V.6".

Its entirely possible that there's now two version of GrayONE, with version A being what we have seen with WAFF, KMOV, WCSC, etc and version B being what we are seeing on KNOP and KNSB. Other than the ticker and font there certainly are similarities between the two. Its possible there test alternative packages in smaller markets.

 

Additionally, this could be an alternative to be primarily used by ABC affiliates, but optional for others.