Best and worst newscasts in your market...

[bmasters1 377]

What is/are the best/worst newscast(s) in your market, in your opinion? I'll start with mine:

 

Best: FOX Carolina, at least in the morning. Why? Because, for some reason (don't know what it is), Dan, Lauren, and Alexandra do a lot more for me in the morning than Geoff, Beth, and Dale. Which leads me to...

 

Worst: WYFF News 4, in all dayparts, but especially in the morning and early evening. The morning has Geoff, Beth, and Dale, and the evening has Michael, Carol, John, and (I think) Mike Giordano. I don't know what it is here, but I have generally found 4 to be too stiff for my taste (and the national NBC News is even worse, in the person of Brian Williams).

[trev57 46]

Uh oh....I sense a.....LIST!!!!

 

But I'll give mine anyways

 

BEST: WISN (in all but the mornings, which I give to WITI)

WORST: WDJT (in...everything)

[Ntropolis 593]

Oh Lawrd, another one of these opinion threads, but I suppose I'll add my two cents.

 

To me, each station here has its high and low points. I don't think there's a definite "best and worst."

 

WTKR is perhaps the most socially-interactive station, which is really important in today's age. They try a bit too hard to drive viewership, by pushing contests, and occasionally knocks on the other stations (through promos) which, personally, turns me off.

 

I like WAVY's edge and style. They have the best storytelling and photojournalism among all the stations. However, in recently it's occured to me they've been pushing the same tired brand for years now. Their newscast is the most sensationalized.

 

WVEC has the cleanest, most "professional" newscast if you want to put it that way. But sometimes I think they're just too dull. Their tornado coverage last month was incredibly boring compared to the others.

 

I really haven't watched as much news as I used to. I guess times are changing...

[TVNewsRI 4]

Best: WJAR or WPRI, depends on the time slot.

 

Worst (by far): WLNE. Pathetic. They average 1000 viewers for the morning newscast and 10000 at 6 PM. Compared to 25000+ and 60000+ on WJAR.

[ColumbusNewsFan 217]

for me in Columbus

BEST: WBNS 10TV: They just out work the other stations in the state. They are still the cream of the crop.

 

WORST: WCMH NBC 4: Now if you as me about a year and a half ago who was the worst ,WSYX/WTTE would be it. But they have been improving to the point that WBNS has done things to copy WSYX. That means you are scaring them really badly.

 

However, thanks to Media General A.K.A The new Sinclair , WCMH has just sunk to new lows. WCMH used to be at Broad and High, No more. As WBNS is controlling the news ticker and marquee at Broad and High. WCMH used to be a quality news cast but since being Brought by MG about ( I want to say) a decade ago. They just got worst and worst. I feel that WCMH is the Red headed stepchild of Media General. While Sinclair has pulled out the pocket book for WSYX to try to get to #2 and make a move in the market. All that MG has done is to get WCMH new graphics and look. You can put make up on a pig, but it is still a pig. There need to be some investment in substance of the product. MG has shown that they aren't willing to do that

 

Sorry for the rant on WCMH.

[Guest]

Uh oh....I sense a.....LIST!!!!

 

But I'll give mine anyways

 

BEST: WISN (in all but the mornings, which I give to WITI)

WORST: WDJT (in...everything)

 

I'll throw my hat in that ring...

 

BEST: WTMJ (despite lots of fluff, they know how to cover the big story. Talent is professional and experienced. Production values are top notch.

WORST: WITI (content does not interest me, talent is professional and experienced but does not appeal to me.)

Worth noting: WDJT lacks decent production value, experienced (or just plain competent) talent, and sometimes poor content, they do cram the most amount of actual news into their 30 minute programs.)

[jerseyfla 196]

This is tough since I live in an incomplete market. Biloxi/Gulfport, so I will also do my other market I live in Mobile/Pensacola.

 

Best: WLOX- The only newscast for our market. They will be producing HD newscasts soon. No specific date when but they have been anchoring from the front of their newsroom set for a month now. The biggest reason why I love this station is because of their perserverence during Hurricane Katrina. I bought their Katrina: South Mississippi's Story DVD off of Amazon and it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen and it even made me shed a tear for the residents who live here before me and who are now stationed here at Keesler AFB with me.

 

Best #2: WEAR- Yes I said it a Sinclair station. This is the only station based out of Pensacola which reflects on its newscasts because their stories are predominantly about Florida my home state. But I mentioned them as the best because they have more newscasts than their Alabama side competitors, they have the most staff, and they cover stories well. Their competitors are running their staff ragged because they are ran on the cheap, especially when the female anchors are on maternity leave like Devon Walsh at Media General owned CBS affiliate WKRG, her co-anchor has to anchor solo for a month and a half.

 

Worst: WALA- This station is tops in ratings and I like their morning newscasts a bit but their evening crew plain out sucks! They have veteran Bob Grip who is good but his co-anchor Lenise Ligon is horrible, she stumbles a lot when reading the prompter, her eyes wander off probably because their newscasts are shot in the newsroom. And their chief meteorologist who replaced the market legend John Edd Thompson is very slow and boring reading the report. Plus their station is obviously ran on the cheap, they haven't changed graphics or music since Emmis owned them and revamped newscasts in 2003! LIN has fed nearly no money into the station except for stealing top programming from the other stations like Wheel, Jeopardy, and HARPO shows except Rachael Ray.

[semistatic 0]

Denver:

 

Best: I tend to watch KMGH ABC 7 or KDVR FOX 31. I like the talent & presentation styles on both, and Mike Nelson (ABC 7) seems to be the most accurate forecaster in town.

Worst: KUSA 9 News - and it's not that they're *bad*, but the presentation (graphics, HD screen is too over-crowded) and a couple of presenters make them my least favorite.

Meh: KCNC CBS 4 - they just don't stick out much.

 

Tucson:

Best: KOLD 13- I think they have the best presentation (graphics, set), talent, storytelling, etc.

Worst: KGUN 9 or KMSB FOX 11 - KGUN finally went HD, but aside from 1 or 2 people, I'm not a big fan of the presenters; some of the sweeps stories they were doing when I was visiting a couple weeks back were also pretty cheesy. FOX 11 is pretty low-budget and it shows. It's good if you want news earlier than 10, but otherwise they can't really compete with the other 3 stations.

Meh: KVOA 4 - First in HD in Tucson, decent presentation & talent, but kinda blah overall

[bmasters1 377]

Those are all great responses. I used to be a CBS person for the longest time, and now, I am very much an ABC person. Unfortunately, the ABC affiliate for this market (13-WLOS) is located in Asheville, NC; I very much wish that this market would get an ABC affiliate of its own instead of defaulting to Asheville.

[Samantha 2878]

Tucson:

Best: KOLD 13- I think they have the best presentation (graphics, set), talent, storytelling, etc.

Worst: KGUN 9 or KMSB FOX 11 - KGUN finally went HD, but aside from 1 or 2 people, I'm not a big fan of the presenters; some of the sweeps stories they were doing when I was visiting a couple weeks back were also pretty cheesy. FOX 11 is pretty low-budget and it shows. It's good if you want news earlier than 10, but otherwise they can't really compete with the other 3 stations.

Meh: KVOA 4 - First in HD in Tucson, decent presentation & talent, but kinda blah overall

 

I have to agree that KOLD is a solid #1. When the Giffords shooting broke, the first thing I looked for was a live stream of their coverage. Notably, they did not cry wolf, either – when seemingly every network trumpeted her death, KOLD said "she's not dead yet". Raycom is an OK owner, but they really put money into KOLD (and their co-located hubbed design facility) despite it not having any geographic advantage in the station group.

 

In Phoenix, there is no answer. Competitors that would be otherwise good have flaws: KSAZ has a very non-Foxy lineup at weeknights and weekends, but it also has a flashy graphics style, KPHO has made big strides on the back of CBS, but it also has a way-in-your-face style branded as "Telling It Like It Is", KNXV is a good newscast, but it feels a little dry, and it's got anchor woes in several departments, including Chief Met. KPNX used to be THE newscast to watch in Arizona (especially in the late 1990s, at their prime with Dana, Cooney, Ford, and others), and it showed in their 50-some consecutive sweeps victories at 10pm dating back to the 1990s. It still has Lin Sue Cooney and former sports anchor Mark Curtis, but the NBC network has fallen apart behind it, and the newscast has gotten worse, too. KTVK, who once had been a leader in news in the early 1990s and late 1980s, frankly has not recovered from their loss of the ABC network.

[ColumbusNewsFan 217]

Also by what I am reading from you all, It seems Sinclair has made an big effort investing in the News operations. They are still Sinclair but there has been effort from them lately and that saying something.

[Tyler 150]

In my opinion, Pittsburgh's best is KDKA. There's so much less fluff than the other two major stations. The worst by far is WTAE. I can't stand Wendy Bell, she's so damn annoying. WPXI is kind of in the middle for me, they have fluff like 'TAE, but I'd much rather watch David Johnson, Peggy Finnegan, and Dareith Chisolm over Wendy Bell any day.

[Guest NewsHound]

In my market, Augusta, GA, while we are a small DMA (#114), at least 2 of the local stations do their best to act like they're big market.

 

BEST: WRDW (CBS) News 12 is the best in the market, they are the only station in High Definition, and they are the only station that pulls off a very strong newscast across the board, from top notch news coverage, the best weather coverage, the only station that provides "Timesaver Traffic", and very decent sports coverage. They are also the most interactive, they have the best graphics, and the best breaking news/severe weather coverage.

 

WRDW wasn't always the best but to know why they are the best now has to do with the history of the station and it's main competitor WJBF NewsChannel 6 (ABC). WRDW was always the runner up to WJBF throughout most of it's history, but the past couple of decades or so brought changes for both stations. WRDW was owned by a company called Television Station Partners, and was acquired by Gray Television in 1995. WJBF was owned by Spartan Communications and was purchased in a group by Media General in 2000.

 

WORST: WJBF (ABC) NewsChannel 6 used to be the leader in the market, but clearly became a typical Media General station (as described with WCMH above). They were once a station with journalistic integrity when it was locally owned and then owned by Spartan, but ultimately became a station that focused heavily on being fast-paced and using standards set for all of Media General's properties, and when it became the first station to go automated with the Grass Valley Ignite system, they eliminated jobs and their production quality became cheap at best. Today, they are still broadcasting in standard definition, and their equipment is finally starting to show it's wear, because their "automated" newscasts are consistently making mistakes. The weather department at WJBF used to be the absolute best in the area, but became a trainwreck when they decided they wanted to be lazy and use the flawed Baron Services VIPIR system to make their weather maps, which has horribly tiny font and looks like very dated technology. Their severe weather coverage has become minimal at best, when they once had the most severe weather coverage in the area. Their ancient severe weather crawl/watch-warning map they use over programming has glitches and degradation. Not only that, but WJBF has trouble with hiring professional news talent, their weekend "weather forecaster" they just hired has about as much on-camera experience as a high school student, and she looks like one. They maintain that they are still the highest-rated in the area, I find that hard to believe.

 

On top of everything, WJBF recently took over WAGT 26 (NBC) through a LMA and have since turned that station upside down. WAGT was showing sign of resurgence, especially after their big rebrand to NBC Augusta in 2008 and the hiring of some former key players from both WRDW and WJBF. Their newscasts were becoming more professional than they ever were in the past, and clearly WAGT was going to overtake WJBF in ratings soon. Unfortunately, they were under very poor management whom ran the station out of money and Schurz (their owner) threatened to shut down the news department, and from what my inside source says, Schurz approached Media General and a deal was made. Immediately, some of the most professional talent that the station ever had left when their jobs were on the line with MG, and the station now has a bare bones staff and the former weekend anchor of WJBF is now the main weeknight anchor. WAGT is not the worst, but they don't place in the ratings anymore because they essentially retell everything WJBF already told.

 

WJBF is unfortunately the market monopoly, because they don't only control WAGT but provide a local newscast for WFXG 54 (FOX). So clearly, WRDW is the prime only other choice.

[bmasters1 377]

Another thing I don't like about 4 is that when Geoff Hart brings up the Bloomberg segment in the morning, he says, "Good morning, Jane." Excuse me?! Jane King's not there in Greenville; she's in New York. He should just say, "Here's Jane King with the Bloomberg business report."

[jerseyfla 196]

Another thing I don't like about 4 is that when Geoff Hart brings up the Bloomberg segment in the morning, he says, "Good morning, Jane." Excuse me?! Jane King's not there in Greenville; she's in New York. He should just say, "Here's Jane King with the Bloomberg business report."

 

WALA does that here too. Do these stations think the average person is that stupid?! Actually they do.

[bmasters1 377]

I can't stand Wendy Bell, she's so damn annoying.

 

Apparently, Wendy Bell is to you what Dale Gilbert is to me-- Dale is so utterly annoying, no wonder I don't like WYFF 4 in the morning; that's why I stick with FOX Carolina. Alexandra Wilson at FOX Carolina is nowhere near as annoying as Dale is at 4; as a matter-of-fact, I don't think I've found anything to get annoyed about with Alexandra.

[johnnya2k6 171]

Well...here in Fairbanks, we have nothing but worsts:

 

KTVF: Back in the day (1980's to early 2000's), they were THE news to watch and they had a very respectable operation for a small market. These days (except for Darrell Clark, Darryl Lewis Sr., and Mike Shultz) it's a joke, and that Billie Sundgren literally bugs the hell out of me! In other words, things have totally dumbed down.

 

KXD: They think they do a finer job than KTVF, but don't be fooled.

 

KATN/KYUR/KJUD: Need I say more; with Trill "Kitty Fox" Gates running the show, their news looks more like they originated from a public access station. It was never, EEEEEEEVVVVERRRR like this 30 or so years ago when they had the top-rated newscasts in Alaska.

 

But of course, there is only one best news in Alaska: KTUU!!

[AdamTheJ 87]

I live in the West Palm Beach DMA:

 

Best Newscast: No doubt about it, WPTV Newschannel 5. The news team is by far the best ever. The same can definetly be said about Storm Team 5, whose Chief Meterologist Steve Weagle Rules!

 

Not the Best: the Competition, WPBF and WPEC.

 

WPBF, ever since they changed their logo in September of 2009, has been trying so hard to become the WSVN of West Palm Beach. Can't stand it.

 

WPEC, I used to watch sometimes, but ever since they replaced Imminence (FirstCom) with Enforcer (Gari), I've become turned off, but do understand that WPEC is owned by Freedom, which has been in a lot of economic turmoil, which explains why they settled for Enforcer.

[Ntropolis 593]

WPEC, I used to watch sometimes, but ever since they replaced Imminence (FirstCom) with Enforcer (Gari), I've become turned off, but do understand that WPEC is owned by Freedom, which has been in a lot of economic turmoil, which explains why they settled for Enforcer.

 

So, they changed the theme music, thus the reason why you don't watch as much anymore?

 

ok.

[jerseyfla 196]

So, they changed the theme music, thus the reason why you don't watch as much anymore?

 

ok.

 

Yeah seriously? I remember when I "moved" my Directv address to WPB DMA and I actually liked WPEC's anchors better than WPTV's. If I was still living there I would be watching WPTV now because WPEC let go of good established talent like Ric Blackwell and Claudia Shea. Plus, because of ownership trouble their news product has gone down the tubes from what I've heard, plus not newscast related but their syndicated programming lineup is subpar. THAT would be why I don't watch, WPEC anymore. Not over news music choice.

[PelicanGuy 117]

New Orleans

 

No 1. (Barely): WWL. Although Bud Brown and Belo are still trying their darndest to turn Channel 4 into KHOU/WFAA East (they flipped sports and weather and everyone is talking much faster during all newscasts except mornings - Karen Swensen sounds awful doing so), they still have their long-time talent and those segments folks love (Naturally N'Awlins, The Fishin' Game). Plus, they still spend more than a 1:30 on a story if needed, even if it means not a lot of stories featured on a particular night. However, some of the reporters they have aren't as sharp as those they had in the past. Channel 4 needs to step their game up and get back to kicking butt like they did up until a while after Katrina...because these guys are hot on their heels:

 

No. 1A: WVUE. Ever since Channel 8 stole John Snell from WWL, their newscasts steadily went up and they are no longer the laughing stock of New Orleans. Dumping Margaret Dubuisson (sp?) for Nancy Parker was an ever better move. Now that they have stolen some more folks from WWL, gotten some local columnists and have gone back to local ownership from cheap-ass Emmis Communications, these folks are really giving WWL a run for its money (kicking butt a 9 and are steadily increasing viewers at all other times. If WWL isn't careful, there will be a new No. 1 in The Crescent City.

 

Worst: WGNO. You know your station sucks when you get rid of your best talent (Liz Reyes, Paul Murphy, Andre Trevigne, Brad Gifford), dump your 6 pm newscast for "News With A Twist", aim your newscasts at the ladies and change graphics a million times. Nothing has gone right for 26 since they started airing newscasts in 1996. Many of their reporters suck and the presentation is just BAD. They are the reigning laughing stock of New Orleans.

[newsy88 0]

Baton Rouge

 

Best WAFB... WVLA is getting better... I'll watch them over WBRZ

Worst In the evening WBRZ is losing there touch... In the morning WVLA needs to update there morning show

[detroiter313 178]

For the Detroit Market:

 

Best Station: WXYZ an WDIV in a tie, both have great news personaliites and news delivery. It's a battle for the #1 spot between the two stations.

 

Somewhat OK Station: WJBK for its highest-rated morning and 10pm news, but unfortanately they are still in 3rd place for the longest time.

 

Worst Station WWJ Although they have a morning show, in which WWJ-AM is now the news partner, they still lack a news department.

[susquvalleywgal 494]

Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York

 

Best Station ... No surprise, WGAL. They made the step to 16x9 and had a refurbished studio and it looks great. Very good all around, imvolved in the community with activities and such. Only gripes I have is WGAL have the alternate look for the new Hearst and meterologist Drew Anderson.

 

Watchable ... WHP amd WPMT FOX43. Fox43 recently made the switch to HD and they look great. Love the new set and the gfx are better when they first came out. Only gripe I have with FOX43 is they have the same v/o guy as Fox News Channel. Now for WHP, they have gotten better but they continually seem to be lacking, ratings wise. Only gripes abput WHP is their large font they have for the news ticker and weekend meterologist, Kirk Clytt ... What an ego.

 

Unwatchable ... WHTM ABC27. I think this will be a surprise to some on this board, but since Chuck left the weather team and Rick left the anchor desk, this station has become such a joke. Rumor is they will go HD news by the fall, and to only get a acceptable grade, they have to basically rebuild the station from the ground up. Everything needs redone. Studio, gfx, logo, everything. If you want to see a laugh of a newscast, watch the 5pm weekday newscast. Unprofessional is the best I can say. I would fire Al Gonza so fast it would make ppl heads spin. This station last year, for a traffic promo used the South Bridge and had the Lock Ness monster come up and eat vehicles from the Susquehanna River. Bonus points if ppl can find that promo on YouTube.

 

That's my two cents.

 

-- Matt

[swillh2k2 203]

In Charlotte, we don't really have any overly terrible newscasts.

 

Best--WBTV/WJZY. They are very focused on issues affecting the community (education, business, etc.); some of the usual crime, etc. but not overly obsessed with it. Set is probably behind WCCB for the best in Charlotte, and their graphics are much, much better than Raycom's standard look.

 

Good--WCNC. Pretty much the same as WBTV with a strong balance between hard news and community based stories. What hurts them us that they don't put the same focus on hard news as other stations, and that's one reason why they're the 3rd ranked station in town. Also, Belo hasn't poured too much cash into the station--they're the only news in town not in HD (16x9) and their graphics and set just look cheap.

 

OK--WCCB. Not great, not terrible. Typical 10pm Fox affiliate newscast catering to the younger crowd. They often run series focusing on the city's strengths and weaknesses, which they do a great job of spotlighting. However, they spend very little time on the big stories, and their reporting staff is thin.

 

Bad--WSOC/WAXN. They're the top ranked station in the market--but way too much focus on crime and sensationalism. The anchors and reporters sound like they're yelling the news rather than reporting (even their morning show, which is supposed to be more relaxed and friendly than the other newscasts). It's a Cox station but other than HD, not a ton of money being spent here (the set is OK but needs a refresh, and the GFX, despite being Giant Octopus, are just barely passable).