New Hearst Graphics '24-'25

[TVLurker 389]

4 hours ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

I've been wondering -- how many people actually notice things like this?? Is it really as big of a deal as many of you make it out to be?

do keep in mind that WCVB and WMUR can both be seen in Boston and have the same network affiliation.

Edited September 13, 2025 by TVLurker

[Recovering Producer 410]

4 hours ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

I've been wondering -- how many people actually notice things like this?? Is it really as big of a deal as many of you make it out to be?

 

Not a big deal, and likely any perceived negatives of brand confusion (which is mostly vibes, even if they have research) are made up for by improved operational efficiency.

• Graphics hub doesn't have to create deliverables for old, new, and alternative looks, one of which was only used by two stations at most. (Which would explain the order of the rollout so far, to minimize time with 3 active looks in use) 
• When sharing content, preproduced graphics inside a story don't have to be re-made when shared between the two stations.
• Once everyone is on the common look, depending on how thourougly their ENPS and graphics systems are interconnected groupwide - it is entirely possible supers or fullscreens for groupwide content (DC bureau, special projects, etc.) could be stored in a common location and dragged and dropped into any station's rundown.

And let's be honest, most of the people who nitpick aesthetic music and graphic elements of TV newscasts are, well, here.

 

I worked at an operation that did two brands of newscasts with different graphics. Workflow headaches for everyone. If I had a dollar for every time the wrong graphic look popped up or wrong brand name was said in a reporter track on the other station, I would have had a respectable secondary income source. 

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

3 hours ago, TVLurker said:

do keep in mind that WCVB and WMUR can both be seen in Boston and have the same network affiliation.

 

I mean, at this point, maybe just collapse into 1 station and treat WMUR like a semi-satellite.

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

8 hours ago, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

I've been wondering -- how many people actually notice things like this?? Is it really as big of a deal as many of you make it out to be?

 

Here's the thing.  WMUR used to use different graphics packages than WCVB and the rest of the Hearst group.  Soon after they were acquired by Hearst in the early 2000s (then known as Hearst-Argyle), WMUR used a customized version of the camera graphics, which was also used by KITV; and they were using The B Package for their theme music.  The reason for this was because WCVB and WMUR were overlapping, given their proximities to one another.  They had to avoid confusion due to FCC regulations at the time.  WMUR also continued to use the B Package until 2011 when they switched to the Hearst TV News Music Package, using the signature "No One Covers New Hampshire Like We Do".  In 2013, they debuted their customized version of the diagrid v1 graphics and the Hearst Classic music package.  And in 2019, WMUR received an updated version of their customized graphics, still looking different from WCVB, but now optimized for 16:9 instead of 4:3.

Edited September 13, 2025 by HearstArgyleFan90

[mre29 1967]

On 9/12/2025 at 7:36 PM, TVLurker said:

how will people be able to tell the difference between the two stations now?

 

Oh, I dunno..... station logo in the lower corner of the screen, on-air personalities viewers associate with one of the stations, the weather forecast covering a certain area....

 

 

[TVLurker 389]

54 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

Oh, I dunno..... station logo in the lower corner of the screen, on-air personalities viewers associate with one of the stations, the weather forecast covering a certain area....

 

 

corporate would like for you to notice if there's any difference between the two images. 

 

[mre29 1967]

54 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

corporate would like for you to notice if there's any difference between the two images. 

 

[snip]

 

Those aren't on-screen graphics during newscasts. Next?

 

[TVLurker 389]

19 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Those aren't on-screen graphics during newscasts. Next?

 

What I'm trying to prove is the only difference between the two stations is the news programming and branding. There is nothing regarding differences in scheduling, both stations air the same type of programming on the same times.

 

It wouldn't be a problem for me if it were a station in a market further away from Boston but you can see the station from Boston and vice versa. And it's a low number channel. 

 

I'm wondering how it's possible that Hearst can run two stations with different news departments but identical schedules and overlapping signals. That's my main beef.

[Recovering Producer 410]

28 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

What I'm trying to prove is the only difference between the two stations is the news programming and branding. There is nothing regarding differences in scheduling, both stations air the same type of programming on the same times.

 

It wouldn't be a problem for me if it were a station in a market further away from Boston but you can see the station from Boston and vice versa. And it's a low number channel. 

 

I'm wondering how it's possible that Hearst can run two stations with different news departments but identical schedules and overlapping signals. That's my main beef.

 

Manchester is part of the Boston Market. WCVB is almost certainly a top 4 rated station, while almost certainly WMUR is not a top rated 4 station because it targets a subsection of the market, so a perfectly legal combination when that was the metric for allowing a company to own and operate two stations in a DMA. 

 

Just a different type of duopoly from the other ones in the Boston TV market.

 

(Also, ew, Boston Market. Too many newsroom Thanksgiving dinners spent eating that at my cubicle! ) 

[l_miro 245]

28 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

I'm wondering how it's possible that Hearst can run two stations with different news departments but identical schedules and overlapping signals. That's my main beef.

 

the FCC licenses stations to a given area - WCVB (RF 33) is licensed to Boston, MA and WMUR (RF 9) is licensed to Manchester, NH. Some Boston viewers being able to pick up WMUR, and vice versa, is because of how signal propagation works and FCC rules on signal emissions, antenna height above average terrain (HAAT), and contour dBu, power, ERP

 

Hi-VHF channels 7-13 has 36 dBu noise-limited contour (blue circle) and 43 dBu city-grade contour (red circle)

UHF channels 14-36  have 41 dBu noise-limited contour and 48 dBu city-grade contour

 

As long as those stations are staying within the designated boundaries for their zone (Zone I in this case), and ERP/power limits, they are in compliance, regardless of who else can receive them "outside" of their market.

Similar case in South Florida, Scripps owns WPTV (RF12) licensed to West Palm Beach, FL and WSFL (RF 27) licensed to Miami, FL but each enroaches almost 50% into the other station's licensed area, much more than WMUR and WCVB do

[WCX-TV 24]

Be on the look out, several Hearst stations will launch new graphics this week.

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

5 hours ago, WCX-TV said:

Be on the look out, several Hearst stations will launch new graphics this week.

Will it be like the last roll-out except ABC stations are the first get the new look (WCBV & WMUR switched over), or will it be random this time?

 

I can't wait for KOAT to get the new graphics.

Edited September 20, 2025 by HearstArgyleFan90

[WCX-TV 24]

8 hours ago, HearstArgyleFan90 said:

Will it be like the last roll-out except ABC stations are the first get the new look (WCBV & WMUR switched over), or will it be random this time?

 

I can't wait for KOAT to get the new graphics.

WESH will be part of the roll out. Unknown which other stations will debut at the same time. Noon newscast as usual.

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

28 minutes ago, WCX-TV said:

WESH will be part of the roll out. Unknown which other stations will debut at the same time. Noon newscast as usual.

And this rollout will be quicker than the last one in 2018 (Diagrid v2 being rolled out first to NBC stations, then WLKY & KCCI a month later, and finally the ABC stations), right?  Is WESH switching to the new look on Monday?

Edited September 21, 2025 by HearstArgyleFan90

[WCX-TV 24]

9 hours ago, HearstArgyleFan90 said:

And this rollout will be quicker than the last one in 2018 (Diagrid v2 being rolled out first to NBC stations, then WLKY & KCCI a month later, and finally the ABC stations), right?  Is WESH switching to the new look on Monday?

From what I am told Thursday at noon. Still a few things to tweak.

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

I'm surprised WESH didn't get them first, like they usually do...

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

8 hours ago, WCX-TV said:

From what I am told Thursday at noon. Still a few things to tweak.

What other stations will get the new look around the same time as WESH?

[WCX-TV 24]

19 hours ago, HearstArgyleFan90 said:

What other stations will get the new look around the same time as WESH?

WLWT just dropped a hint into the roll out. 

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

On 9/22/2025 at 1:01 PM, WCX-TV said:

WLWT just dropped a hint into the roll out. 

 

I am wondering if this will be in the same order as the rollout of diagrid v2 in 2018: NBC stations first, then WLKY & KCCI, and then the ABC stations (although WCVB and WMUR just switched to the new look).

 

Also, it would be interesting if some stations rebrand their newscasts upon getting the new look, especially as there has been a tendency to drop either the eyewitness news or the action news moniker in recent years.  Imagine KOAT rebranding their newscasts to something like "KOAT 7 News" and they also stop using Bank Gothic in the logo.

Edited September 24, 2025 by HearstArgyleFan90

[LOWERCASE GUY 296]

Looks like WLWT and WESH launched their new graphics today. KCRA dropped a hint on their weather page (their Map Room.)

[Georgie56 3661]

WISN has launched D25.

 

 

[HearstArgyleFan90 46]

KOAT also launched their new graphics.

 

Edited September 25, 2025 by HearstArgyleFan90

[MediaZone4K 2664]

On 9/20/2025 at 9:52 AM, WCX-TV said:

Be on the look out, several Hearst stations will launch new graphics this week.

Seeing the new WESH graphics. The previous look was fine with some 3D dimension. What a downgrade, IMO. Way too flat. 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

WESH
 

 

WPTZ
 

 

WLWT
 

 

KMBC

 

 

KCRA
 

 

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

KOAT needs to work on the time/temp bug... But other than that, this is how a group-wide rollout should happen.