CBS News Detroit launches

[CircleWXYZ 181]

 

 

WWJ expanded to a 5pm newscast on Monday.  Noon and 4pm are coming soon, as are the morning newscasts.

[CircleWXYZ 181]

1 hour ago, Samantha said:

 

Having recently done extensive research into the histories of a number of the biggest post-New World station builds, they mostly were staggered over a period of months.

 

KSHB had an existing 9pm news which moved to 10 at the time of switch. A 5 was added in October 1994, a 6 in March 1995, but mornings had to wait until the summer of 1996.

 

WDJT added two newscasts at the same time in its March 1996 news debut and then a third shortly thereafter. Weekend news was added the next year. Took them until 2001 to compete in mornings.

 

KNXV started news at 10 on August 1, 1994. They added a 6 in about October, 5 in December, and mornings and middays in January 1995 when the remainder of the ABC programming moved over.

 

WFTS aired its first news on December 12, 1994, but only at 6 and 11. The remaining newscasts showed up in the first four months of 1995.

 

WGNX was not like many of the others. They were not producing a full line of newscasts until the new millennium: just noon, 6, and 11. It was not until Meredith took over that they added morning and 5 p.m. newscasts.

 

WPTY went in all at once in evenings. When they debuted, they had 5, 6, 9 (WLMT) and 10. It took them at LEAST a decade to start a morning newscast!

 

WWJ started with 6 and 11 (not including streaming hours) and has added a newscast in each of the two following weeks. Mornings do seem like they will take a little longer, and I'd expect that because of the time slot. Evening news additions tend to be more incremental, while mornings require a whole other team of on- and off-camera personnel.

This explains their recent anchor hires.  There’s speculation that WWJ just hired an anchor from cross town rival WDIV..

[Rusty Muck 4378]

This could be a one-off to audition talent or work out logistics, but WWJ just added a newscast for next Sunday night right after the Grammys… ATM there's no newscast scheduled for the following Sunday night@Samantha

Edited February 3, 2023 by Myron Falwell

[CircleWXYZ 181]

6 hours ago, Myron Falwell said:

This could be a one-off to audition talent or work out logistics, but WWJ just added a newscast for next Sunday night right after the Grammys… ATM there's no newscast scheduled for the following Sunday night@Samantha

That’s just a dress rehearsal for the eventual weekend newscasts.  They did this last week for the special edition of the 4pm newscast when they were reporting on the snow storm.  The 4pm newscast debuts on Monday.

[RaleighTVBOI1 81]

On 2/2/2023 at 1:16 PM, Samantha said:

 

Having recently done extensive research into the histories of a number of the biggest post-New World station builds, they mostly were staggered over a period of months.

 

KSHB had an existing 9pm news which moved to 10 at the time of switch. A 5 was added in October 1994, a 6 in March 1995, but mornings had to wait until the summer of 1996.

 

WDJT added two newscasts at the same time in its March 1996 news debut and then a third shortly thereafter. Weekend news was added the next year. Took them until 2001 to compete in mornings.

 

KNXV started news at 10 on August 1, 1994. They added a 6 in about October, 5 in December, and mornings and middays in January 1995 when the remainder of the ABC programming moved over.

 

WFTS aired its first news on December 12, 1994, but only at 6 and 11. The remaining newscasts showed up in the first four months of 1995.

 

WGNX was not like many of the others. They were not producing a full line of newscasts until the new millennium: just noon, 6, and 11. It was not until Meredith took over that they added morning and 5 p.m. newscasts.

 

WPTY went in all at once in evenings. When they debuted, they had 5, 6, 9 (WLMT) and 10. It took them at LEAST a decade to start a morning newscast!

 

WWJ started with 6 and 11 (not including streaming hours) and has added a newscast in each of the two following weeks. Mornings do seem like they will take a little longer, and I'd expect that because of the time slot. Evening news additions tend to be more incremental, while mornings require a whole other team of on- and off-camera personnel.

I used staggered wrongly… WWJ is going quicker than all of them. It crazy WPTY took a decade. But you forgot Jax and WJXX they did a full-slate of newscasts on the first day they were not in a new world market but you know what I mean. KEYE did so also.

[Samantha 2896]

2 hours ago, RaleighTVBOI1 said:

I used staggered wrongly… WWJ is going quicker than all of them. It crazy WPTY took a decade. But you forgot Jax and WJXX they did a full-slate of newscasts on the first day they were not in a new world market but you know what I mean. KEYE did so also.

 

Yeah, I should have thought of that. WJXX was full force at news launch, but the caveat was that the newscasts launched 10 months after the station. Allbritton had its launch priorities all the wrong way with that station (having had to get it on the air much sooner than anticipated at ABC's behest).

[T.L. Hughes 890]

On 2/2/2023 at 8:14 PM, Myron Falwell said:

This could be a one-off to audition talent or work out logistics, but WWJ just added a newscast for next Sunday night right after the Grammys… ATM there's no newscast scheduled for the following Sunday night@Samantha

Speaking of, when does WWJ plan to begin offering regular weekend newscasts? For that matter, when will production of WKBD’s 10:00 p.m. newscast be transferred from KTVT to the in-house operation?

[Rusty Muck 4378]

1 hour ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Speaking of, when does WWJ plan to begin offering regular weekend newscasts? For that matter, when will production of WKBD’s 10:00 p.m. newscast be transferred from KTVT to the in-house operation?

Wasn’t local production of Detroit Now already switched over to 62/50? I’m not sure most people would be able to see the difference anyway.

 

The timeline for buildout appears to be: add the 4pm, then the noon (and 7pm?) and then weekend evenings… then buildout weekday mornings, with weekend mornings as the last piece.

 

Going by the original “40 hours a week” projection for CBS News Detroit simulcasts on 62, WWJ stands to have local news from 4:30–7am, 9–9:30am, noon—12:30pm, 4–6:30pm, 7–7:30pm and 11–11:35pm on weekdays, two hours on Saturday and Sunday morning and the 6 and 11 on weekends.

[TheRolyPoly 2451]

On 2/2/2023 at 9:25 AM, Myron Falwell said:

They might not be THAT quick—mornings feel like it’ll fall in place by May at the latest—but they’re building this out at a rather steady pace and experimenting with likely talent pairings.

 

You may say that... but at least so far, WWJ has debuted one new newscast every week.

 

First... launch on January 23rd with weeknight 6 and 11pm news, then exactly a week later on January 30th with hour-long weeknight 5pm news. Now, the February 6th launch of hour-long 4pm news.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Noon launches the week after that, then weekend evenings after that, then weekday mornings and finally weekend mornings. Also, if this is done within a four-week span, then they would have its full schedule by March, if that one post that said about that timeline is true.

[CircleWXYZ 181]

I think CBS News Detroit is doing way better than what anyone anticipated.   WWJ is obviously targeting a whole new audience and a lot of people are tuning in.  That interview from TVnews.net really spoke volumes.  
 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/talking-tv-cbs-goes-live-with-news-at-wwj-detroit/?no_cache=1675554224&fbclid=IwAR3hARN5O_Io7MOlA7oQvGfVGLxgsmeu_dJpcBN6La-CF-HwsQHQLrWAL2Y&mibextid=tejx2t

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by CircleWXYZ

[abric 181]

I have been watching since their launch and I am impressed. At times, it almost feels like they have been doing this for awhile even though they just started. Possibly thanks to rehearsals. 

[BluesNews 186]

12 hours ago, CircleWXYZ said:

I think CBS News Detroit is doing way better than what anyone anticipated.   WWJ is obviously targeting a whole new audience and a lot of people are tuning in.  That interview from TVnews.net really spoke volumes.  
 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/talking-tv-cbs-goes-live-with-news-at-wwj-detroit/?no_cache=1675554224&fbclid=IwAR3hARN5O_Io7MOlA7oQvGfVGLxgsmeu_dJpcBN6La-CF-HwsQHQLrWAL2Y&mibextid=tejx2t

 

 

4 hours ago, abric said:

I have been watching since their launch and I am impressed. At times, it almost feels like they have been doing this for awhile even though they just started. Possibly thanks to rehearsals. 

It’s refreshing to see a network like CBS no less who had a history of making their O&Os fairly cookie cutter take the time to do their research, spend time in communities, and really execute a brand new product that is a product of the city that it’s in, right down to the set design.

 

It speaks volumes that they’re in this to win this finally with WWJ, even though the station has been the red headed stepchild of the group for nearly three decades. But leadership currently in place at the O&O division finally see a chance to make waves, and they’re blossoming something truly unique and exciting.

 

Whether that translates into ratings and will unseat the market leaders WDIV, WJBK, and WXYZ will remain to be seen, however I think CBS will be okay with whatever comes out of it regardless. They seem to be focused less on trying to unseat the others and more focused on setting their own course in our growing streaming world.

 

WWJ might be setting a trend for the next decade of local news here, which is something I never thought I’d ever say. The streaming-first community-first focus makes me feel like this is this decade’s WSVN-tabloid style in terms of trendsetting. I hope I’m right, because local news in general needs a revamp and badly.

[Rusty Muck 4378]

12 hours ago, CircleWXYZ said:

I think CBS News Detroit is doing way better than what anyone anticipated.   WWJ is obviously targeting a whole new audience and a lot of people are tuning in.  That interview from TVnews.net really spoke volumes.  
 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/talking-tv-cbs-goes-live-with-news-at-wwj-detroit/?no_cache=1675554224&fbclid=IwAR3hARN5O_Io7MOlA7oQvGfVGLxgsmeu_dJpcBN6La-CF-HwsQHQLrWAL2Y&mibextid=tejx2t

 

The times I’ve watched the 62 simulcasts, I’ve been struck at how they deliberately pace stories and allowing them to breathe. It’s the polar opposite of most other newscasts in the entire industry but at the same time, it’s like they watched that 1980 aircheck of WABC Eyewitness News @HulkieDhas cited in the past as recommended viewing for TV executives and copiously took notes.

 

[DirtyHarry 727]

1. I love talent with great/interesting voices. Everybody sounds like high school kids these days! Love interesting talent like Milton Lewis. Lively, entertaining--nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Why bore people to death with a bunch of milquetoast stiffs? It's the local news. It's not really as serious as some people pretend it should be.

 

2. Wow, a demonstration that actually looks like it could be organic. Can't remember the last time I saw something like that on TV. Now it's predominantly all rent-a-mobs.

 

3. With the Atlanta rumors, maybe they should have held on to some of those CW stations they previously divested. Like Providence, Columbus and Indianapolis. CBS News Providence? CBS News Indianapolis?

Edited February 5, 2023 by DirtyHarry

[Rusty Muck 4378]

7 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

3. With the Atlanta rumors, maybe they should have held on to some of those CW stations they previously divested. Like Providence, Columbus and Indianapolis. CBS News Providence? CBS News Indianapolis?

CBS still has that LPTV in Indianapolis. Just saying…

[DirtyHarry 727]

I think you guys are on to something about Atlanta. If you go to their website, not a single mention of CBS that I can see, at least not on the home page.

 

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com

Titan TV (through their website) shows the ANF Logo and not CBS.

 

 

[DirtyHarry 727]

Also: This is going to dovetail well with CBS having the rights to Big Ten Football this season. Big Ten on Saturday, NFL on Sunday ... maybe they can get some traction for the station with a slick-looking newscast.

[Horizon 269]

No wonder why they must've been delayed so many times since announcing their return to news. They wanted everything right and they didn't launch until the full quality was perfect. Take it like a company that was releasing a new product. You see something wrong with one of the new features. Do you release that product with the flaw, or just delay it until you fix it? A quality company would delay it, and that's the case with CBS News Detroit. By the way...you don't see many companies doing that nowadays

[T.L. Hughes 890]

10 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

I think you guys are on to something about Atlanta. If you go to their website, not a single mention of CBS that I can see, at least not on the home page.

 

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com

Titan TV (through their website) shows the ANF Logo and not CBS.

 

 

TitanTV identifies the vast majority of major network stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV, as well as many Univision, Telemundo and UniMás stations) using the station’s logo, not the logo of the network they carry (like what TV Guide, Zap2It and other TV listings sites do). This is also true of most independent stations listed on the site. Most of the time, the network logo is only used as the identifier if the station or a subchannel carries a diginet, or a religious or public television network.

Edited February 6, 2023 by T.L. Hughes

[CircleWXYZ 181]

Heard a 9 am and 12 pm newscasts are coming.

Edited February 6, 2023 by CircleWXYZ

[DirtyHarry 727]

3 hours ago, T.L. Hughes said:

TitanTV identifies the vast majority of major network stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV, as well as many Univision, Telemundo and UniMás stations) using the station’s logo, not the logo of the network they carry (like what TV Guide, Zap2It and other TV listings sites do). This is also true of most independent stations listed on the site. Most of the time, the network logo is only used as the identifier if the station or a subchannel carries a diginet, or a religious or public television network.

 

Yeah, but not a single CBS logo on their homepage? You really have to dig on their website to find any reference to CBS. I couldn't find any. Since the Detroit News launch seems to be going well, don't be surprised if Atlanta isn't next. They already have a 30-minute newscast produced in Dallas.

 

Also, if you dig back into google, there was an announcement in March, 2020 about Meredith re-upping with CBS. The previous renewal was in 2017 so we are on a 3-year timeline.

 

Sorry if this is speculation, but given what the WANF website looks like, I think it's more than speculation at this point.

[ATLNewsExpert 455]

28 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

Yeah, but not a single CBS logo on their homepage? You really have to dig on their website to find any reference to CBS. I couldn't find any. Since the Detroit News launch seems to be going well, don't be surprised if Atlanta isn't next. They already have a 30-minute newscast produced in Dallas.

 

Also, if you dig back into google, there was an announcement in March, 2020 about Meredith re-upping with CBS. The previous renewal was in 2017 so we are on a 3-year timeline.

 

Sorry if this is speculation, but given what the WANF website looks like, I think it's more than speculation at this point.

Ok sorry if I've been living under a rock throughout this thread's time but what's the speculation/rumor over WANF?

Edited February 6, 2023 by ATLNewsExpert

[DirtyHarry 727]

4 minutes ago, ATLNewsExpert said:

Ok sorry if I've been living under a rock throughout this thread's time but what's the speculation/rumor over WANF?

 

I think over on the other thread they said that CBS is dropping CW in Atlanta and at least one other city. That's not speculation. The speculation part was that they were going to turn Channel 69 into CBS for Atlanta. I think given what you see when you go to atlantanewsfirst.com you can take that out of the speculation category. I think it has legs. Just my opinion.

[Georgie56 3307]

52 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

Yeah, but not a single CBS logo on their homepage? You really have to dig on their website to find any reference to CBS. I couldn't find any. Since the Detroit News launch seems to be going well, don't be surprised if Atlanta isn't next. They already have a 30-minute newscast produced in Dallas.

 

Also, if you dig back into google, there was an announcement in March, 2020 about Meredith re-upping with CBS. The previous renewal was in 2017 so we are on a 3-year timeline.

 

Sorry if this is speculation, but given what the WANF website looks like, I think it's more than speculation at this point.

They have the same hour-long NOW newscast the independent and CW-affiliated stations (except WPCW and KMAX) have. 
 

It could go either way. The fact WANF doesn’t have any CBS branding is interesting, but if CBS decides to cut all ties with channel 46, I think both Gray and Paramount would be happy. Paramount could start CBS News Atlanta on channel 69 and Gray could turn WANF into Atlanta’s KCAL.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Georgie56

[ColtFromGulfcoast 709]

17 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

They have the same hour-long NOW newscast the independent and CW-affiliated stations (except WPCW and KMAX) have. 
 

It could go either way. The fact WANF doesn’t have any CBS branding is interesting, but if CBS decides to cut all ties with channel 46, I think both Gray and Paramount would be happy. Paramount could start CBS News Atlanta on channel 69 and Gray could turn WANF into Atlanta’s KCAL.

Yo, what exactly has Gray Television done that would provoke CBS to leave WANF?? Everyone keeps saying this. I don't get it. 

 

 

If CBS wanted to move to 69, they'd have done so back in 2006 or a long time ago.  There is a reason why they sold 69 only to regain it coincidentally just after merging with Viacom. If things went South with the CW, they'll just either run an independent, do something else we don't expect them to do with 69 or sell 69 into a duopoly with one of the other stations and MAYBE get something back.  But I don't even see any reason why they'd dump the CW as long as they still have that small ownership stake. Otherwise, they'd have dumped the full 100 in Nexstar's lap.  To say nothing of just how badly Gray could screw CBS up if CBS really tried to pull its programming from 46. Remember, there are many more CBS stations owned by Gray. 

 

By this logic, WTTV should still be the CW affiliate and WBXI should be CBS.

Edited February 6, 2023 by ColtFromGulfcoast