WBBM-Ch. 2 considers moving newscasts upstairs from showcase street-level studio

[sg9018 10]

In today's chicago tribune,

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-wed-phil-rosenthal-28jan28,0,1248999.column

WBBM-Ch. 2 considers moving newscasts upstairs from showcase street-level studio

Phil Rosenthal | Media

January 28, 2009

Will WBBM-Ch. 2's newscasts move upstairs before moving up in the ratings?

 

It's been four months since the CBS-owned outlet completed the move into posh new headquarters across from Daley Plaza, and the station still hasn't quite figured out a truly effective way to make use of its street-level showcase news studio.

 

Rather than a great a view across Dearborn Street of the iconic Picasso statue, City Hall and the Daley Center, the most striking visuals behind the news crew much of the time are passing automobiles and people who either have made a point to pause and peek inside or clearly are in a rush to get somewhere else.

 

Previous WBBM management believed the investment in such valuable real estate would enable Channel 2 to distinguish itself by replicating similar storefront setups at WLS-Ch. 7 and WMAQ-Ch. 5. The hope was the shine and gloss of the new headquarters would translate into better ratings for the station, long stranded in the doldrums.

 

But Channel 2's actual newsroom in the new building, directly above the studio, not only has a better view of the plaza, but has the look of, well, an authentic TV newsroom.

 

So as long as WBBM is recalibrating its newscasts and everything else under new station boss Bruno Cohen and news chief Jeff Kiernan, is it any surprise the station would weigh moving its news up and out of the ground-level studio?

 

"It's one of a number of interesting ideas that we're looking at for developing our newscast and we're going to look at it seriously," Cohen said.

 

Whether a fix—to anything—is as easy as that remains to be seen, and other scenarios are being discussed.

 

What exactly would happen to the space from which Channel 2 now does its news if the broadcasts were moved upstairs is not entirely clear. The station "has responsibilities to the city and our landlord that we're certainly going to honor," Cohen said.

 

Preliminary planning for the new office space and studios date back at least six or seven years, when many media companies were bigger than they are today, and some were even poised for growth.

 

Now WBBM not only has plenty of room for improvement in the ratings, it has plenty of room, period.

I think this is a good idea. I love the newsroom that WBBM has better than the studio. The newsroom is bright and has lots of space. Also the news room has a highter window, so the newscasts has a better view of the plaza.

Thoughts on this posable move?

[Weeters 1811]

They could just turn the desk around at night (the way it used to be, with the video monitor backdrop).

[DMA 135]

What a spectacular waste of money. I mean, a newsroom with a city backdrop would look great and unique, but what would they do with the rest of the set?

[lazynetjunkie 34]

What a spectacular waste of money. I mean, a newsroom with a city backdrop would look great and unique, but what would they do with the rest of the set?

 

The set will go in the garbage dumpster. They'll probably save the anchor desk (and chairs) to lug upstairs but the rest of the set (minus the electronics/TV's) will likely end up in large dumpsters along the road. WBBM did it to the DDG set when Ahern came in, WBBM would do it again. Like I've said in the past, new management (especially at WBBM) almost always never keep anything left behind by previous management.

 

I personally am not a fan of phony monitor wall backdrops and I don't care for people waving their hands behind news anchors' heads. I say just replace the monitor wall with a cool looking skyline backdrop. Or possibly one giant monitor to show some animated graphic or whatever the heck they want to put on it.

 

 

Maybe WBBM could sublease the streetside studio to a restaurant.. Maybe something reasonably priced like Chili's or Applebee's. Maybe even Red Robin..

[DMA 135]

Give the set to WCBS then. KCBS, KYW, and WBBM have gotten brand new sets. WCBS's is 6 years old, albeit slightly refreshed. What a waste.

[Dave Lampstein 6]

Caps/pix of the newsroom, anyone?

[Weeters 1811]

Caps/pix of the newsroom' date=' anyone?[/quote']

 

http://tullman.blogspot.com/2008/07/cbs-chicago-head-joe-ahern-visits.html

 

Also, moving to the newsroom would require a massive renovation, as the whole thing was designed for efficiency. Can you find somewhere in here to put anything else?

 

 

The set will go in the garbage dumpster. They'll probably save the anchor desk (and chairs) to lug upstairs but the rest of the set (minus the electronics/TV's) will likely end up in large dumpsters along the road.

And I'll be there either taking stuff out of them or paying off the truck drivers to drop it off somewhere that's not the dump!

[lazynetjunkie 34]

http://tullman.blogspot.com/2008/07/cbs-chicago-head-joe-ahern-visits.html

 

Also, moving to the newsroom would require a massive renovation, as the whole thing was designed for efficiency. Can you find somewhere in here to put anything else?

 

 

 

And I'll be there either taking stuff out of them or paying off the truck drivers to drop it off somewhere that's not the dump!

 

 

 

There's quite a bit of empty desks/cubicals in there. The place can be condensed more than one can think.

[first on fox 18]

There's quite a bit of empty desks/cubicals in there. The place can be condensed more than one can think.

 

Which part?

[Weeters 1811]

There's quite a bit of empty desks/cubicals in there. The place can be condensed more than one can think.

 

Hopefully it wouldn't effect efficiency! The ratings might get worse!

[Amra 130]

I think the same. WBBM should put a skyline in the background like KYW. The set isn't bad. If they put a nice skyline backdrop or a huge monitor with live feeds from the cameras like KCBS does, it would be a nice improvement. What bothers me is the monitors on the side of the set, they look small. WBBM can really do some good things with the downstairs studios. But I also get the idea from Jeff and Bruno of doing the news in the newsroom like in the 70's and 80's, but sometimes the newsroom can be a little bit noisy, just like what happens to WTVJ in Miami.

[loofa 1]

don't let them fool you. it's not about the view. it's about sub-letting the space to a retailer/business in order to offset some of the costs of renting in that building. this move - is all about the money.

[Weeters 1811]

don't let them fool you. it's not about the view. it's about sub-letting the space to a retailer/business in order to offset some of the costs of renting in that building. this move - is all about the money.

 

You know what they should do. Let people buy ad time on that massive video screen they have (like "McDonalds, one block north!"), or place a smaller board under it and let companies sponsor the screen.

 

That could bring in the $$ during the summer and during festivals in the plaza.

[Jase 818]

I can't see them moving upstairs. The cost of doing so would be great and there is no reason why they should. I'm sadden by the fact that they're even concerned about this and not spending every moment of every hour trying to improve the content of their newscasts.

 

Management is yet again concerned about the wrong thing(s). The more things change, the more they stay the same as the saying goes.

[qunewsguy 376]

I can't see them moving upstairs. The cost of doing so would be great and there is no reason why they should.

 

They could do this on the cheap very easily. They're not reframing the building, knocking down walls, or doing anything a few people who work for the station couldn't do in a week or two. All they need to do it move a few cubicles, hang a lighting grid (if there isn't one in there already), erect a cheap backdrop (if they even use one), and they're good to go. Total cost for this move would easily be less than $10k, which would be recouped quickly, especially when you count in what they could be pulling in a month from renting the ground-level studio space out.

 

In this economy it's all about the money and what makes you the most. So if WBBM can make more being a landlord than being a TV station with a ground-level studio, they'll make it happen.

[Weeters 1811]

Is WBBM using their big studio for anything? They could just move the whole operation in there.

[Jase 818]

They could do this on the cheap very easily. They're not reframing the building, knocking down walls, or doing anything a few people who work for the station couldn't do in a week or two. All they need to do it move a few cubicles, hang a lighting grid (if there isn't one in there already), erect a cheap backdrop (if they even use one), and they're good to go. Total cost for this move would easily be less than $10k, which would be recouped quickly, especially when you count in what they could be pulling in a month from renting the ground-level studio space out.

 

In this economy it's all about the money and what makes you the most. So if WBBM can make more being a landlord than being a TV station with a ground-level studio, they'll make it happen.

 

But it's not that simple. Adding a new lighting grid would mean they have to adjust their current lighting/electrical system to handle said grid. Not to mention adding cameras, plasma tvs and the like. Given that their in HD now, you really couldn't get away with making such a more cheaply as you could in the past. A lot of costly work would have to be done and again for no reason at all.

 

I doubt any business in this economy would pay to remodel the studio space in order to fit their needs on top of paying rent, so WBBM would have to pay for that as well (not to mention office and storage/stock space the business would likely need). Again, I'll be surprise if they do this and I agree that they should take advantage of the bigger studio.

[qunewsguy 376]

But it's not that simple. Adding a new lighting grid would mean they have to adjust their current lighting/electrical system to handle said grid. Not to mention adding cameras, plasma tvs and the like. Given that their in HD now, you really couldn't get away with making such a more cheaply as you could in the past. A lot of costly work would have to be done and again for no reason at all.

 

I doubt any business in this economy would pay to remodel the studio space in order to fit their needs on top of paying rent, so WBBM would have to pay for that as well (not to mention office and storage/stock space the business would likely need). Again, I'll be surprise if they do this and I agree that they should take advantage of the bigger studio.

 

I bet the electrical system in the building could very easily handle the load. You'd be surprised what's being designed into these new TV facilities in terms of looking into the future. Lots of extra space for offices and pulling cables and placing equipment - and hand in hand, extra wattage already calculated for. Plus it's not like they'd be paying for brand new lights again. They could easily move what they've got in a day or two. So they set up on a temp set during the move that might not be lit as well as their permanent one. No biggie there if it's gonna save them money. And the only people who'd complain are the news geeks. As for cameras and plasmas, when they move out of the ground floor, guess where they'd go? Again - no cost there. Not like they can't just move what they've got.

 

Going HD in the newsroom is also not a big issue. It's all in how you print the backgrounds, the materials and textures you choose, and your camera angles. Just because you're making an HD-ready set doesn't mean it's gonna cost you a million dollars.

 

At least the ground floor space, since it's set up as a TV studio, would be fairly wide open so there'd be very little demo for a company moving in to do. Sure there'd be construction cost, but then again, there is for any business moving into any new space. Sure they take a chance on it in trying to raise revenue, but are people really gonna complain (other than us) if the station makes the move upstairs?

[former newsboy 50]

1.) This isn't for sure going to happen.

2.) As Cohen states in the article, Channel 2 "has responsibilities to the city and our landlord that [they're] certainly going to honor." I don't think the station can just go sublet the space to a restaurant or retailer. I could be wrong, but I believe the street-level studio was key to the whole deal with Daley and the developer. If they do end up moving the studio upstairs, I would expect the space would still be used for broadcasting purposes so as to fulfill their obligations. What exactly, I don't know. Perhaps the station is finally going to start developing some programming? Maybe a street-level talk show studio or something? That would be a first.

 

All this time I thought Cohen turning the desk around had to do with his dislike (like so many other's) of the busy video monitor backdrop. But maybe it's more that he just really prefers a window backdrop. If that's the case, they probably will move things upstairs. Personally I think they should just move the desk back and re-work the set which I never thought turned-out the way it should've. Like I've said before, something simple, clean, bright, white and modern. Make it something like an Apple store and I think the city would really take notce. And again, the following depiction of the newsroom which I really like comes to mind... as well as the way the studio looks toward the end of the promo... why couldn't it look at least something along those lines to begin with?! Especially if that's what they were teasing us with! I hope these new guys get it right.

 

 

I'm having trouble posting the video, so here's the link:

[Link 3]

I don't even care about WBBM anymore nor do I even bother to flip over to take a look at their newscasts. Nothing ever changes with them. They are inconsistent and it is no wonder they are at the bottom of the ratings. Maybe their new VHF digital signal on channel 12 will allow more viewers to receive the station.

[Amra 130]

I don't even care about WBBM anymore nor do I even bother to flip over to take a look at their newscasts. Nothing ever changes with them. They are inconsistent and it is no wonder they are at the bottom of the ratings. Maybe their new VHF digital signal on channel 12 will allow more viewers to receive the station.

 

Might want to try them now. Fowler and Ahern are gone. Cohen and Kiernan are in. They were brought in to change the content formula for WBBM.