I worked with a news anchor who battled an alcohol addiction. It's not just about someone having too much fun and getting carried away, there sometimes are much deeper issues we don't know about. My co-workers and I tried to build up a strong support network around her, but she still ended up losing her job and eventually her life due to this addiction. When we're talking about on air talent on this website, I don't think it's a lot to ask that you try to have some kind of respect for the person - as we have no idea what they were going through when they made the decisions they did.

Not directed to anyone in particular, but a message for all: enough people are losing their jobs. There is zero need to suggest who should be fired. I doubt we're even halfway through the announcements, so many more dismissals are coming, and we'll find out who in due time.

That open...the best photo of “Acadiana” they could use was a parking garage?!

"Major disappointment" probably describes their choice to work at Scripps. I have yet to see more than a handful of viewer complaints about this package, and viewers love to complain about everything they can. In fact, I used to see more complaints when stations were switching to the (much beloved by TVNT) over-the-top 3D swoosh in-your-face packages than I have seen complaints about the new Scripps gfx and music. Yeah, they're really basic. Yeah, some stations probably hate them because they don't fit the news director/creative services director's "vision" of their station (which is usually some crazy 90's Joel Cheatwood-esque concept of what local news is.) Viewers don't seem to care at all, which is what actually matters.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! [Breathe] HA.

Why on earth would FOX go through all the trouble getting WITI from Nexstar, and sell WJZY to Nexstar, if they only wanted to... swap them again soon. Keep dreaming...

This is getting remarkably overblown. People don't want to watch other people at their homes reading the news. They're doing it now because there's a public health crisis and emergency. People watch other people at home on YouTube, Twitch, etc because they're typically doing something else, like streaming a game, etc. Not to mention horrible lighting, sound, etc. I realize some of that stuff can be fixed if everyone weren't flying by the seat of their pants right now, but it won't be fixed because long-term, it won't matter. News consumers--not just us--like the theater of it. Stations invest heavily in the tech--arguably more than the talent in some instances--and they're sure as Hell gonna use it when we're on the other side of this. And station employees want to work together. There needs to be close coordination in breaking news situations. Could you imagine having to coordinate and cover a major news event with everyone working from home?

Holy God some of you have become WAY too emotionally invested in this. I've said that before. If Scripps doesn't like how something looks, they can update it later. It's happened before and it will happen again. Am I the biggest fan of it? No. Do I think it's serviceable? Yes. A couple tweaks here and there and it honestly would be fine. My biggest beef above all is the weight of the font. Very very light for lower thirds as big as they are. Make it bold and it'll fill things out much more nicely. As @Weeterssaid, the average viewer really doesn't care. They're too concerned thinking they're being lied too anyway.

For anybody who grew up watching Baltimore television news in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, you'll know the one name familiar to Baltimore and WJZ is Al Sanders. Hard to believe, it is now been 25 years ago today that the city of Baltimore and WJZ would never be the same of that emotional and difficult day. Al Sanders was diagnosed with lung cancer in March of '95, but after just six or seven weeks of chemotherapy and intensive care, he lost the battle at the age 54. Al worked at WJZ 13 from 1972 as a weekend anchor/weekday reporter before joining up with his friend, the late great Jerry Turner in 1977. From 1977 to '87, Jerry and Al became on the most successful anchor teams in Baltimore TV history. Turner and Sanders were Baltimore's top news team until 1987, when Turner succumbed to esophageal cancer on New Year's Eve (12/31/87). Longtime WJZ anchor/reporter and Al's colleague, Denise Koch joined Sanders on the anchor desk as a fill-in, gaining the role permanently in early 1988. Sanders won Emmy Awards in 1993 and 1994 for his regularly featured specialty report, "Picture This." For anybody who watches Al Sanders, he was the real reason why we as local news fans and viewers turn to get the facts and get it right. Al was a tough reporter, but incredibility sensitive. Tradition minded, but he loved the free expression of Jazz music. Al Sanders did not have the kind of ego that most people associated with anchorman, he worked hard. If that meant covering a big story on his day off, that was fine with him. And above all, he wanted to report things that matted to people. Today, we local news fans honored and remembered and pay tribute to Al Sanders on this day, the man who put WJZ on the map in his 23 years at the station, the man who maintained his calm, and led the newsroom and the WJZ Eyewitness News team when the worst breaking news is happening. He taught us to focus on what need to be done to make sure you got the news coverage you can count on and deserve. RIP Al Sanders... And Godspeed.

They require less render time and fewer design staff. Let's be clear.

It's another hit, but the $48 million is less than the $60 million cash it coughed up to Nexstar. They probably have some bigger issues down the road with their finances, but will it put them back in the M&A game again to scale up to Nexstar? The icing on the cake? Pai isn't going to revoke the licenses because.... ..."On the other hand, I disagree with those who, for transparently political reasons, demand that we revoke Sinclair’s licenses. While they don’t like what they perceive to be the broadcaster’s viewpoints, the First Amendment still applies around here.” How politics have ruined everything. THEY. BROKE. THE. LAW. AND. SHOULD. BE. PUNISHED. Even the RKO General stuff seems tame compared to how Sinclair conducted themselves in the Tribune deal.

Is it just me, or has WTHR executed the graphics a lot better than the original TEGNA stations? I can't point my finger on what looks/feels different about WTHR's L3's, etc. but I like it.

I guess if my quarantine hair can look like something out of 1979, WTSP can use a 1979-inspired logo on its website

I know it’s a competitive industry but in a city with about 6-7 news options, being a solid and steady #2 isn’t reason to change. The industry is so obsessed with who is first but in saturated markets, #2 is not a bad place to be at all.

You are in for a special treat, because YouTube user 'VPR2B' has uploaded the KTXL NewsPlus music package from 1981.

What this part says is that Sinclair cannot apply for "assignment or transfer of control" (broad enough to include any purchase or divestiture of a station) without the applications being approved by Sinclair's legal team, and that any such application must also be accompanied by a certification from the designated Compliance Officer enforcing compliance of this order, stating that the application is accurate and that it's following all applicable laws. They must also submit an explanation as to why it was certified accurate and lawful. So, in other words, for the next few years, any time they buy or sell a station, they will need to certify that they are following the rules and not trying to pull a fast one on the FCC. The text applicable to the retransmission agreements is:

This is a bunch of nothing, really. The two largest parts of the Consent Decree deals with sponsorship identification and retransmission negotiations. Basically: Sinclair must have their lawyers review all applications to the FCC, and said lawyers must certify them to be compliant with all communication laws. Sinclair must set up policies to ensure sponsored content is properly labeled as sponsored (they are not the first broadcaster to end up with an FCC Consent Decree with this included) Sinclair is not allowed to see, or be involved with, retransmission negotiations for stations they do not outright own (i.e. they are not allowed to see or know about the agreements negotiated by Deerfield Media stations)

Gonna give them credit, it's unique.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I give you the BEST of South Florida television history. The premiere of WSVN Newsplex, debut on April 27, 1994.

The set is live. Standard issue Hearst set.

News Music Now has the package for your delectation. Odd that they're getting Stephen's latest stuff but they still don't have Guardian, which was made 5 years ago.

Just a reminder that we're in the midst of a pandemic and every work stream possible has been upended. Launching a new gfx package would be an unneeded distraction, especially for the small market stations.

The grouch over at ftvlive.com has it on his site. Thoughts? NBC News stills seems strong. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/5/4/breaking-andy-lack-to-step-down-at-nbc-news I hardly think Phil Griffith is liberal, they just found their niche after years of coming up with different ideas that didn't stick. They're ratings have been solid beating CNN. With Conrona CNN has picked up some steam. If MSNBC is too liberal then are you upset with FOX NEWS being too conservative? Both networks cater to their audience right?

CBSN Sacramento will happen, eventually. They've apparently been "close" to launch since February. I'm sure we all can figure out what might be holding them up.

ATTENTION to notable TVNTers near Chicagoland! Ladies and gents, the classy WGN Nightbeat theme has FINALLY been identified. From CPM library, track entitled "gadabout" (CPM-004A-41) Major credit: Museum of Classic Chicago Television

No. The set itself was what needed to change not the graphics. In fact I like their current package it's not that bad, it's actually pretty good

Here's the full consent decree posted yesterday (5/22). The decree also includes that its has to abide by a four-year compliance plan. If this was any other broadcaster, that $48M would've been just. But with Sinclair?! Even if the fine would've been $100M (which should've been the preferred fine), that still would've been a slap on the wrist. FCC should've at least put the matter to a hearing anyway. Without the hearing, this shows that they can just buy their way out of trouble. And once four years elapses, how do we know they won't re-offend again? Remember Glencairn? Anywho, the FCC did approve their long-awaited transaction of KOMO-FM from South Sound Broadcasting. The deal was first made in June of 2017.

I think what we're seeing is how Scripps is running their stations as a whole bleed over to this new set of graphics. It all goes back to when they thought syndicated programming was "too expensive". Many lower-ranked stations were more than willing to take Wheel and Jeopardy! off their hands for Scripps to replace them with such great shows as The List and Let's Ask America. "Veteran, experienced on-air talent? Nah, let's just replace them with younger, cheaper talent." Little investment, smaller rewards, and Scripps seems to be okay with that. Sure, it's the way many companies have gone, but Scripps has it down to a science by now. And many of their longtime stations have suffered because of it. Yes, the old package was getting old and probably needed a change, but the way Scripps has grown over the past few years seems to take that small amount of resources and spread it thinner and dumb it down so it's more scale-able. And for the stations they've picked up, it's just another clone-corporate TV station in a market that may have previously had an edge by having an owner do their own thing (or do it better as another owner). That's my two cents.

Tegna CEO Dave Lougee released a 21 minute video to employees discussing the status of their COVID operations and answer employee questions. Personnel will be allowed back in building on a market-by-market basis, and even then only for select people. He doesn't foresee any future furloughs or change to employee benefits. He also hinted that some people may be allowed to work from home permanently, but that wouldn't be decided until a much later undetermined date. Give Tegna slack for what you want, but they have done an excellent job being transparent with their employees about what the company's philosophy and approach to this crisis is. That's certainly a lot more than some other companies have done or would ever do.

As a Gen Z’er, here’s my take. I think the graphics are fine. Yeah they’re basic and bland, but when I watch the news, I don’t want the graphics to distract from the content. Having a fast paced 3D design is good for sports to hype up the viewers, so why do we need that for news? I don’t want to be amped up when I watch stuff about the latest robbery/murder/bakery that sells cupcakes for dogs. Plus, young people are obsessed with aesthetic. Just look at Instagram. A flashy 3D graphics package doesn’t fit with that. So, if you want to appeal to millennials, a flat package won’t guarantee it, but it’s less likely to turn them off. Sure the package isn’t perfect. I would want to bold some of the text to make it stand out, and some of the animations could be smoother, but again, it’s fine.

The new "10" logo went live on the noon show. Vid courtesy of "dma37dude" from YT.

It seemed, from our control room, to happen pretty quick. I always watch for the countdown on CBS Net as we roll copyright, but they were still in black. About 5 seconds to network, they started the promo loop. We received the "technical difficulties" wire from CBS around 5:32 central time, so I'm assuming they were caught off guard by the situation. In their defense, you can have 100 backup plans, but if you don't have the time to institute them, then you (and your entire network) are SOL. The only saving grace was CBSN, but the fact that it wasn't live becomes a separate issue.

Eh, might as well have the affiliates take over the weeknight show, too. No one would notice, right?

h/t @news89

I'm going to guess it's a contingency open to run Philly and Pittsburgh if KDKA has to shut down due to the virus now that Pittsburgh is slowly getting out of lockdown. Have to believe a similar open exists at KDKA in case of vice-versa.

Scripps seems to be run competently and have a vision beyond "don't get bought out," so... (The fact that the Scripps family owns the voting stock helps!)

KVUE chief meteorologist Albert Ramon announced on social media that he will be leaving the station next week after 10 years there. His message said that the new opportunity was too good to pass up and he would still be covering Texas weather “extensively,” but coanchor Terri Gruca mentioned that he was headed to Chicago. The combination of those two pieces of information makes me suspect that he may be headed to News Nation.

Do you consider NJTV News, still in operation, not to be a local newscast?

The hell are you talking about?

I have to say, I was surprised to see WTTV hosting today. Indianapolis never struck me as a station that CBS would want (or was capable) of hosting. Good on them!

Has anyone actually see a current WTSP open with the new logo? You'd think they would have changed it over by now.

No, but we're doing exactly that right now, and it's going better than anyone could have ever guessed. I don't think people on here get that this isn't just a fun little project the industry decided to embark upon or that we're doing this just to make a point on air. We are in a pandemic, and the guidance from local, national, and global health experts is that we are all generally safer if we can avoid public gatherings. I am glad my employer acted quickly and decisively through a number of measures to ensure our health and safety by getting as many people out of the building as possible and compensating those who still need to work in the building or in the field. Many of my contacts at other broadcasters who have not acted as nimbly are generally frustrated at their managers for not taking it as seriously. We're getting the work done, and ratings are sky high, so viewers don't seem to really care that much that our newscasts don't look or sound as great as they normally would. I don't think this will be the new normal, but this entire thing forced broadcasting to come into the 21st century by figuring out ways to have people work from home effectively. Plenty of other industries have had more flexible remote work abilities for years. It turns out that a lot of news production can be done from home, and in the future, if people are given the option, I'm sure some will choose to stay home for a number of reasons. The writers and web staff are able to do their jobs pretty well remotely. Video editors and the assignment desk, not so much. With that said, I do think we will someday go back to having much (maybe not all) of the newsroom filled in again and anchors back in shiny studios. But in the near term, when people start to gradually come back into the building when SIP is lifted, it will be in order of who is having the hardest time working from home. Not to spoil it for you, but anchors will probably be among the last to come back into the building.

Back in the 90s WFSB, WAGA & WITI whomever was the designer had the same idea/concept. The anchor desk and some of the paneling backdrop.

General Tire paid a ton of bribes to foreign officials, and RKO General committed all kinds of fraud...so yeah, General Tire was shady as fuck. So is Sinclair, but from what we know, they can't really hide it as well (of course, it helped General Tire that this all happened before the Web became commonplace)...

Can sports shows be included here? If so, then I'd like to add CBS Sports' Studio 43 design that started in 1981 and ran to 1990 (IIRC); a couple of examples of the same being The Prudential College Football Report w/Jim Nantz from 1986, and The NFL Today from 1988 (this Studio 43 was also used on the CBS Morning News w/Bill Kurtis and Diane Sawyer for a time).

This won't happen. I think FOX likes WRAZ and its relationship with WRAL and considering both are very strong affiliates to their respective networks, you can dash those dreams goodbye. I think FOX is jealous of WRAL's strength and dominance in its ratings but also happy to have such a relationship with a legendary "big three" station that WRAL is. I'm sorry to say this but I think WLFL will remain The CW and WRDC will remain as MNT for decades to come.

Last thing Fox wants to do is downgrade from a station that's been challenging WWL for its market dominance to a station that they would essentially have to build from scratch. They learned from Charlotte which is why they didn't try to do the same thing in Seattle.

WLWT "Eyewitness News 5 at Noon" open from 2001 (surprised to hear Bill Ratner's voice instead of Scott Chapin):

KFMB 1977 Explaining San Diego's Big switch (KGTV to ABC and KCST, now KNSD to NBC)