The Ever-Evolving Gray Graphics Situation...Thread

[MidwestTV 1358]

47 minutes ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

OMG this was waaaaaaaayyyyyy overdue.... They were using a package from, when late 2000s, early 10s?

One thing that didn't change: Lazy 7-day Forecasts -- For years and years, their 7-day forecasts just look like this.. A suggestion of an even number or 10s, 20s, 30s, etc.. 

What a bizarre 7 day. No specific numbers, except for Wednesday night and Thursday? Everything else gives them a massive 10 degree range. And what exactly are 0s/-0s? Do they mean single digits? That should be 1s.

[T.L. Hughes 958]

21 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

What a bizarre 7 day. No specific numbers, except for Wednesday night and Thursday? Everything else gives them a massive 10 degree range. And what exactly are 0s/-0s? Do they mean single digits? That should be 1s.

0s° mean plus single digits (1° to 9°) and -0s° mean minus single digits (-1° to -9°). It doesn’t make sense to use categorical temperature designations for the highs and lows since Michigan’s UP isn’t very large (not even markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco that have regional climate variability have stations that do this). Extended forecasts usually show forecast temps for the station’s primary cities of service/largest city.

Edited December 11, 2024 by T.L. Hughes

[GoldenShine_10 263]

10 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

0s° mean plus single digits (1° to 9°) and -0s° mean minus single digits (-1° to -9°). It doesn’t make sense to use categorical temperature designations for the highs and lows since Michigan’s UP isn’t very large (not even markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco that have regional climate variability have stations that do this). Extended forecasts usually show forecast temps for the station’s primary cities of service/largest city.

 

Very lazy I agree, although there is usually quite a bit of variance between near the lake (i.e., Marquette city) and the interior, the latter of which can be brutally cold in the winter.

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

38 minutes ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

Very lazy I agree, although there is usually quite a bit of variance between near the lake (i.e., Marquette city) and the interior, the latter of which can be brutally cold in the winter.

None of the stations in the Grand Rapids market do this... And there can be wild differences between Holland/Muskegon and Grand Rapids

[nathannah 2792]

2 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

0s° mean plus single digits (1° to 9°) and -0s° mean minus single digits (-1° to -9°). It doesn’t make sense to use categorical temperature designations for the highs and lows since Michigan’s UP isn’t very large.

And don't forget that there isn't as robust an observer network (or even WeatherBug) for smaller markets where you can confidently provide solid number ranges, the weather office has to cover a wider swath of geography with some variation, especially to the northwest of Marquette, and that this is usually an area that measures snow in the tens of inches rather than fractions. These broader ranges are pretty well expected and were still generally used in even middle markets up to the 2000s. Also WLUC does more detailed regional breakdowns outside the 7-day, along with with ski reports, so the finer details are in the forecast, if not in that graphic.

 

It's certainly better to provide a range rather than what stations do with those '(station number) degree guarantee', which pointlessly forces mets to have a solid number for the next day or else (most of them contribute to charity if they hit it but like most of these gimmicks such as 'round up for the hungry', just donate the money and do promos about the big donation).

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

If they really felt like giving an ounce of energy to it, they "could" do a microclimate forecast like many of the CA stations do... Do a 7-Day for Lakeshore, Inland, and the Mountains to the West....

[GodfreyGR 812]

4 hours ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

If they really felt like giving an ounce of energy to it, they "could" do a microclimate forecast like many of the CA stations do... Do a 7-Day for Lakeshore, Inland, and the Mountains to the West....

WLUC has a weather team of three- and one of them doubles as an MMJ. Far smaller department than most CA stations (KCAL has 7, for example, with some of them working 2 a shift) and the average salary for a TV met in the UP of Michigan is certainly far lower than that of one anywhere in CA.

I guess my point here with respect is that they "could" do the microclimate, but it's also for lack of better words an "I don't get paid enough to do the extra work" and/or "we don't have the staff/resources" situation. I would assume that those who have lived there a season or two know when it says "20's" if they are on the upper or lower bounds of that scale based on their geography to the lake.

[TennTV1983 870]

TIL the GrayONE package was not simply just a Matt Quinn job, but was a project done jointly with Tristan Bresnen.

 

Videos of Tristan's work can be found on his new website: http://www.redterror.tv

 

 

[aandersen93 6]

Meant to post this a while ago, but KOLN did some minor refinements to their graphics for the weather talent last month. Still using in house folks it seems, undoubtedly from the graphics hub staff I would bet, and still no Gray One but some minor elements of it show up in promos. They've also been still making new ones for thinks like their Night Beat and Morning Pulse streaming studio products.

GrayOne is nice, but I like this custom package even more. It continues to give them an identity of their own.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2024 by aandersen93

[nathannah 2792]

Just spotted on WBAY; ticker's made the change so we'll see if we get a launch today or before Christmas.

[LOWERCASE GUY 296]

3 hours ago, mrschimpf said:

Just spotted on WBAY; ticker's made the change so we'll see if we get a launch today or before Christmas.

That is their new severe weather ticker system Called MAX Alert Live. (We just updated here as well.) All Gray stations, when they switch over to MAL, will look like this regardless of whether they have GrayONE or not. (Some stations still have the old :LIVEWire system and have not converted over to the new software yet.)

[T.L. Hughes 958]

30 minutes ago, LOWERCASE GUY said:

That is their new severe weather ticker system Called MAX Alert Live. (We just updated here as well.) All Gray stations, when they switch over to MAL, will look like this regardless of whether they have GrayONE or not. (Some stations still have the old :LIVEWire system and have not converted over to the new software yet.)

Based on the similarities in the ticker layout, I’m assuming MAX Alert Live is the same alert system that Nexstar uses on most of its stations (like KFOR and KFDX).

Edited December 18, 2024 by T.L. Hughes

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

We got another new GrayONE client... WTOK Meridian, Miss.

 

 

[Guest]

On 1/15/2025 at 8:39 PM, TheRolyPoly said:

We got another new GrayONE client... WTOK Meridian, Miss.

 

 

GOD that 11 logo is so bad.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

48 minutes ago, ctmajka said:

GOD that 11 logo is so bad.

It goes back to the 80s-90s....if you think it's bad now...
 

Now their WLBT simulcasts will blend right in....

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Ii debuted at 1pm PT but here's the 2pm PT open. Welcome to GrayONE, KVVU.

 

 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Another day, another new GrayONE client. This time... WCTV Thomasville/Tallahassee.

 

https://www.wctv.tv/2025/02/06/welcome-new-era-wctv/

 

 

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

13 hours ago, Kingpeytonifx said:

I noticed that WBKO has started incorporating GrayOne into their weather graphics and station IDs, though it hasn’t debuted yet. I made a video and took a screenshot to document the changes. Looks like an update is coming soon! Has anyone else noticed this at other Gray stations?

Yes many Gray stations will usually start integrating GrayOne with the weather intros and updated logos... Update is iminent, but could be 1 week, could be another month.. WNEM was using GrayOne Weather Intros for well over a month before switching over...

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Yeah. Same thing with WCJB. Some bumpers, IDs, and promos with GrayONE but nothing more. It has been more than a month too that WCJB has had them but as always, implementation takes time, whether its weeks or even months.

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Let's welcome KKCO/KJCT Grand Junction to the GrayONE party.

 

 

 

 

[appleachian 138]

WITN changed their slogan from "Most Watched, Most Trusted" to "First Alert" - what a terrible slogan for the station as a whole.

 

Still using the same blue graphics package.

[nathannah 2792]

WBAY is at Gray...Half right now. They have the ticker and the bug good to go, but the older-gen weather, main graphics and L3 system is still in use (I assume the plan is to have it all done by draft night on the 24th for sure). It actually still works together despite the two different design languages.

 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

On 4/8/2025 at 7:45 PM, nathannah said:

WBAY is at Gray...Half right now. They have the ticker and the bug good to go, but the older-gen weather, main graphics and L3 system is still in use (I assume the plan is to have it all done by draft night on the 24th for sure). It actually still works together despite the two different design languages.

 

 

I decided to record the first three minutes of WBAY's noon news yesterday to see it in action for prosperity. Yes, I'm plan to do more videos like this again but not as consistent or as much as other YouTubers.

 

 

[hfiles 105]

Action 2 News at Noon reverted back to the old ticker and the old time/temp bug today.

 

EDIT: Old ticker at 4pm too.

Edited April 10, 2025 by hfiles

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

WUAB has a "new" logo....as they transition back into an independent station when the CW moves (back) to WBNX.
WBNX is now owned by Nexstar and from what I'm hearing, is now being operated remotely by one of Nexstar's hubs.

 

It's a long time coming.  WUAB has suffered greatly since the Raycom days and going independent again will hopefully be a good thing, especially since Nexstar has watered down the CW into a crap network with "wider" appeal.