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Hello everyone, I'm sure many of you are wondering what's been going on with the site for the last couple weeks. While I don't even have all the answers, I figured it'd be useful to explain a bit about what happened and where we're going from here. First, a little history. I have never been in control of the tvnewstalk.net domain. Many years ago (we're talking like, at least 10 years back,) I ultimately inherited the responsibility of operating the site while a former administrator owned the domain. This, generally, was uneventful, except for a few instances where the domain registration lapsed and I had to poke them to get it renewed. This just kind of became the way things were, ownership of the domain never really came up, and slowly they stopped coming around the community. Fast forward to 2024, when in late February/early March, anyone trying to visit the site via tvnewstalk.net was greeted with a page reading "Account Suspended". As far as I know, this was the "old" server (that was still operational, serving only to redirect visits to tvnewstalk.net to forums.tvnewstalk.net) going unpaid. Since the DNS for the domain still pointed forums.tvnewstalk.net to the server I control, the site stayed online and accessible. This issue had happened before, and to my recollection, resolved itself without me having to alert anybody. I was also getting quite busy with work, so I chose to just let it go. Since everything had forever been at forums.tvnewstalk.net, impacts on traffic from the redirect not working were extremely minor. At the end of March, another problem arose. TVNewsTalk.net dropped off the Domain Name System. My assumption is this is related to the earlier "Account Suspended" issue, I guess the domain was registered through the host, and they removed it from their DNS when the bill (presumably) went unpaid. For most users, access to TVNT was cut off. This, however, happened slowly, as DNS servers took some time to update to process the removal. At least until a few days ago, we were still seeing people using the site via T-Mobile. When the domain dropped off DNS, I reached out to another one of our former administrators, who I had gone through the last time I had to contact the domain owner. They attempted to make contact, and got no response. There was beginning to be a lot of noise in the community wondering what happened to the site, and there was even some sort of unauthorized crowdfunding campaign spun up. It was at this point I decided to take matters into my own hands, registered LocalNewsTalk.net, and began the process of moving the forum over. That's where we're at now. The site has been transferred over. There are still a few loose ends to tie up, but otherwise we're back in action. I do not know what will become of the TVNewsTalk.net domain that we've called home for almost 20 years. Perhaps it will return, some day, but for the foreseeable future, we're going to be here at localnewstalk.net. Things still being worked on: Email (Registration, Password Resets): Email has been changed over to the localnewstalk.net domain and should be working as intended. Check spam folder if you don't see an expected message. Google Login: Changes submitted for review by Google Trust and Safety. Might be working. Facebook Login: In Progress. Need to complete extra steps to re-enable this. Discord Login: Should be working. Forum Theme: There are a small handful of broken things due to an update I ran while the site was unavailable. Please feel free to leave any questions or concerns you may have below. -Weeters

I think the hyper-fixation on brand and music changes being some kind of driver for viewers to "get upset" and stop watching the station is kind of absurd, when you consider all the other things that can change in a TV news broadcast that the station really doesn't have much control over. Talent is a more important draw for viewers than music and brands, and retirements don't often move the ratings needle much. WPVI didn't see a massive ratings drop after Jim Gardner left, despite his status in the market. The same is looking true at WGN after Tom Skilling left, and I can't imagine a music change or branding would actually lead people to change the channel permanently. It's not 1996 anymore. I'd also like to point out that a lot of these old 90's era "people were MAD!!!" claims come from newspaper columnists at the time. We cannot know for certain what they embellished on to make their column more interesting. "People were upset" that a station changed their branding the same way people get upset that Judge Judy was interrupted for severe weather. This doesn't mean the whole market was "rioting in the streets" like people around these parts like to think would happen if WPVI modernized MCTYW. On that subject, the 1996 orchestral MCTYW was arguably just bad and was an abrupt, noticeable change. WPVI has been using new cuts of MCTYW from different composers for years at this point (there have been some new ones since the graphics debut!) and I have a hunch nobody but people involved with this community have noticed, largely because they don't sound as wildly different as the orchestral package did.

General reminder that the "Action News" trademark is owned by Cox (and "Eyewitness News" is owned by CBS!) and stations have to pay to use them. Why should Scripps keep paying for a brand name for a format that hasn't been properly used in decades? I know folks have a weird affinity for these two brands, but come on. This is, by far, a better logo than some of the other Scripps rebrands over the past few years. Why should they pay Cox for this name? Why should they pay Nexstar for The CW? These are all competitors. People love to think talent at these stations treat each other like this is Anchorman, and while that's not true, there's no good reason to give your competition money for a tired old brand or a second-rate network affiliation.

2 Pac After Dark

Thank you for bringing us back! Even though I"m done with TV (for now), this site is still a daily one for me to keep up with what's going on in the crazy world of TV.

Just watched the video- she noted her goodbye at the end was pre-taped which is understandable because she seemed quite emotional and this is clearly not what she wants- but it is the super harsh reality of the business. I do think Channel 2 could have done a better job saluting her and not a rushed piece for 8 minutes at the end of one newscast. She deserves better, but I think the reason she didn't get a longer send off is because she's being forced out and likely made this decision more last minute than expected. It also seems like she is not staying with the station in any capacity (unlike previous reports) which I really respect. She will go out with dignity and on a high note. I'm still in shock about all of this, though (as I'm sure Dana is too); and it is all quite unfortunate. I really wish Dana happiness in whatever she choses to do next.

This was a very nicely done tribute, but I am in shock that this was Dana's last day. We knew Dana (and Dick Brennan) were leaving the 6pm newscast, but she was supposed to remain with the station as a fill-in anchor and contributor. However, per an article in Newsday.com (paywalled), which cited a memo from GM Johnny Green, Dana thought about it and decided that today would be her last day. The Newsday.com article goes on to mention that several in the news industry believe this move is directly related to budget cuts at Paramount Global. Regardless of the reason, this feels like a pretty abrupt ending for someone who devoted nearly 34 years of her life and career to this station. The entire process, starting with a leaked internal memo announcing that Dana and DIck would be "transitioning" off the 6pm newscast, seems like it was completely mishandled.

During the bridge collapse I found myself looking at Hearst's WBAL or turning to DC stations like WRC & WTTG because of the quality issues with the other three stations in Baltimore (CBS O&O, Scripps, Sinclair). It's crazy how much Scripps has fallen in such a short time that we could put them in the same sentence as Sinclair. Again, just looking at WPTV in the last 4-5 years is evidence. Scripps is quickly becoming a cheaper version what CBS O&Os often are --- coorperate and lacking local flavor.

WMAR is already back to their regular schedule and Scrippscast like features on their livestream (including of the Key bridge story...not the time for this at all!) as WBAL and WJZ haven't left the live air since 2am, and WBFF is doing the best it can. This is about as much of an indictment on how bad Scripps has become and their generational neglect of WMAR as a whole.

Even though this was kind of an "emergency" rebranding, that was a purposeful little nod to the site's history. That, and the fact that the media we talk about is growing beyond "TV" in the traditional sense. I think there's something wonky going on with the caching (we're behind Cloudflare now, something else I've wanted to do for a while) that is causing this, I'm going to look into it further.

I didn't get to watch the new broadcast, but I found a screengrab from a website video. I must say that backdrop is beautiful.

There is zero chance Y&R gets cut. Less than zero. If this new show makes it to air, the Talk is toast.

John Sterling is 85 and Bob Uecker is 90. Both are still calling games for the Yankees and Brewers, respectively. Age doesn't matter as long as you're capable of doing the job.

I’ve been trying to figure out the words to describe what I think and how I feel with regards to Dana and WCBS at this moment. The nearest comparison I’ve settled on is that this has been like seeing a friend be grievously and irreparably wronged and there is nothing you can do. Dana was pushed out the door, whether it be because of budget cuts or age or whatever else. I understand why she decided to fully exit the station at this time, but the abruptness of her complete departure was a shock. Reflecting on it, WCBS has rarely ever ‘sent someone off.’ The constant turnover and abrupt dismissals of icons and legends meant that personalities never had an on air goodbye— even if they deserved one. The bare minimum that was done for Dana— a hastily recut video tribute from her NYSBA Hall of Fame induction— is the most I can remember ever seeing on their air. (Although I vaguely remember a few minutes on air acknowledging Stephen Clark’s last day.) Dana was a survivor— somehow making it through the darkest years of WCBS. Think about all of the times that Dana had to put up a strong appearance while the station was in chaos (the massacre, dismissing Stephen, dismissing Jim Rosenfield, dismissing Jim Jensen, tossing Warner aside, the times when Angela, Roz, and Kristine replaced her at 11, and so many more). Dana continued to be the familiar face to us, after all of the ups and many, many downs she went through at WCBS. We all consume local news differently now. Local newscasts are no longer packed with stories impacting the local communities and viewing area, with more and more time being used for filler national stories (or worse, appalling in newscast product ad segments). Many no longer turn on the 5/6 news while making dinner, or the 11 before drifting off. Most people now read a jumble of stories from a variety of sources on our phones throughout the day. What that means, as everyone here knows, is that the local anchor is less important than ever. Those left watching local news (and television as a whole) are an older and older audience— audiences that are comfortable with the faces they recognize. We are witnessing the last generation of legendary news anchors. Losing Dana isn’t going to push most people to change the channel; Maurice and Kristine are also familiar and trusted faces who are good anchors. But Dana was the heart and soul of the WCBS product. She always exuded warmth and the constant through all of the years of change. After the recent passings of Pablo Guzman, Max Gomez, and Frank Field, I didn’t tune in to see what Kristine or Dick or Chris would say— I wanted to hear how Dana would remember them. Because more than any other anchor, honestly in the whole New York market, Dana came across as the one who cared about people. We focus a lot on the on air product, but if were to glance today at the posts of current and former colleagues of Dana online, you would see a lot of gratitude for what she did off camera too. So many credit her with making them better, investing in their success, sending notes of praise or offering a helping hand or open ear. All of it summed up by saying: Dana truly cared. It is understandable why she decided to leave now, after being told there was no longer a regular space for her at a station that produces nine hours of daily news. Throwing up the most recent prepared montage of her— a rushed, re-cut version of her 2022 NYSBA Hall of Fame tribute— didn’t really capture the fact that they were saying goodbye to someone so important to that news organization. What she deserved is similar to what Chuck is receiving now: a celebration leading up to her departure. She deserved to have some of her favorite stories reaired, to have tributes from current and past colleagues (the likes of Jim Rosenfield, Ernie Anastos, Ira Joe Fisher, Warner Wolf, Don Dahler, and Stephen Clark— who she was part of a tribute video for a few years ago when he retired from his station in Detroit), and even tributes from her competitors (who she graciously took time to thank in her final words). We should have seen her sit down with Cindy for an extended conversation at 9am about her career and the stories she has covered. All of that (and more) is what Dana deserved. She deserved better. And we deserved better.

We can revisit this road forever but why the NBC brass broke up an iconic pairing? To this day I still don't know. I dont think it was ratings so it "must be the money" to quote Nelly lol. Its pretty telling that none of his anchor pairings after Sue (as great as Shiba and Sibila were) lasted long. Hopefully Natalie lasts long. As much as I love Chuck's straight non emotional/non editorial news persona, Sue's peronality made the pairing complete and livened him at times. She (and Roz Abrahms & Brenda Blackmon) should still be working today, if at least on the weekends. Back to Chuck, wishing him good health and I hope he takes the job to the end.

Why? Because they are dropping a name that hasn't really meant anything since Bill Bonds got fired 30 years ago? Good lord, this fandom is so unbelievably out of touch with reality.

Thank you for your hard work in getting this site back up and running.. I agree the red is a nice touch

I know you probably don’t mean it this way, but this comes off a bit ageist to me. Chuck is willing to work, NBC is willing to have him work, the viewers love him, and he’s still good at what he does, so I don’t see any reason for him to stop just because he’s old. It’s not as though he’s impeding younger journalists from greater opportunities. Besides, David Ushery and Natalie Pasquarella are the primary anchors there now, and if anything, having someone like Chuck in your newsroom to mentor younger journalists is an asset, not a liability. As far as Dana’s concerned, I’ve never met her, so I can’t speak to what others have said about her. Some people talk about her being supposedly difficult to work with, others have nothing but great things to say about her. That said, she was a good anchor who did her job well for decades, and I think she deserved acknowledgment for that. Ideally, one could argue she should’ve been given a bigger sendoff, but considering the nature of the TV news business, I’m glad she was given any sort of sendoff at all.

None of those places have weekday openings. WABC has not replaced Sandra on weekends, and I’m not convinced they’re going to. I’m probably in the minority here, but what has she done in all those years to move the needle at WCBS? She hasn’t always seemed like the easiest to work with. I’m fairly confident her anchoring days are done. Regardless of my thoughts on her, she’s had a long career with the same employer and many accomplishments, she should enjoy retirement. No matter how great of a career, there’s no need for people to be anchoring into their 80s (I’m looking at you Chuck).

Last night during the 5 pm hour, they showed one of Chuck's long form reports (I miss those, it is what made News4 special in the 80s) where he reported on the B17 bombers, and found a person who flew with his dad, then allowed them to have a reunion. A touching story of the life of WW2 bombers and their post war lives. I assume we will see more of that tonight as well. They also seem to be making a concerted effort of including Sue Simmons, either mentioning her, stories with her and pieces of Chuck's interview with her. No matter how messy her departure was, you can never take away the great Chuck & Sue pairing and was a big part of Chuck's success & longevity.

FCC order is here (it boggles the mind that some websites paywall documents that can be found in two minutes) It feels like the FCC is doing a case of malicious compliance by allowing the sale under these conditions. And I love it.

If stations have these "fans" who are concerned about their branding, music, and graphics, then it stands to reason that the less popular (at least around here) newscast formats we've seen lately also have fans. Somebody's watching Scrippscasts, somebody is watching Tegna stations. Maybe that's because they like what they see. If viewers "cared about tradition" the way some of us like to think, we wouldn't be seeing 45% of the news audience disappearing into thin air.

My lord...Bill Bonds is probably drunk cussing from his grave about this....

I’m loving the red on the website. Please keep it even if you do migrate back to the old domain.

The future is getting clearer, and The Gates will open fully. The Talk will complete its conversation. The chat show will end with its 15th season, and the final episode will air on December. https://deadline.com/2024/04/the-talk-renewed-15th-final-season-ends-december-2024-1235883079/

April Fools Day fun at the CBS Duopoly

♪ Boot salad yummy yummy ♪ At least some of the commenters are calling him out on his BS.

We should probably shift this to the WNBC thread before the moderators step in. I will say that Sue definately wasn't ready to retire. She said at 10:58 that she hoped to be employed elsewhere, even at least once a week.

*separated posts so it's not one massive paragraph* It's not implausible but----Why do we keep forcing idea that CBS is going to launch an afternoon newscast when they've shown no indications of doing so, and their national news product is not strong outside of 60 Mins and Sunday Morning?

No its sexism and in some way racism also keep in mind this happened to Sue over at 4. It sexism cause an older women can’t be on air as long as a man it gives off those mysoynist vibes, and I’m injecting race into it because I haven’t seen this happen to a Caucasian women. All the white females I’ve seen retire have been given fantastic send-offs. You literally mentioned how the took part of the NYSBA video so they didn’t even do an organic goodbye, that shows there in it for money and could care less. I thought it was disingenuous that one of the bosses at WCBS who should remain unnamed was on that NYSBA video saying how great she was and was one of the bosses that probably green lighted her being taken off the desk.

Marcia Kramer, Cindy Hsu, and Jennifer McLogan are the only links remaining from the Jim Jensen era or the 90s itself at WCBS-TV following the departure of Dana Tyler. Kramer joined the station in 1990 and Hsu and McLogan came on board in 1993. If I'm not mistaken, the next longest tenured member of the news department after that is Mary Calvi.

They have two reporters on site, and perhaps they are reporting for other affiliates. Regardless, it is a story with major implications for the economy, and we're not that far away that sending a couple of reporters to provide coverage is an issue. They can take the national stuff, but there's value in having a recognized part of the team there early on.

Love that WNBC is dipping into the archives for Chuck! Take your daughter to work day (Mid 90s) Chuck and Sue dancing (1980s)

Branding is important in every industry, but there is such a thing as overthinking it. Of what viewers we still have, I think all they really care about other than the news content is that the branding isn't distracting. I think all that most viewers care about is that the news content is of quality, that the anchors and reporters look decent, that the lighting in the studio is crisp, and that the newscast isn't riddled with production errors. Viewers no longer care or have any attachment to anachronistic branding devices. I'll never forget a conversation I had with two acquaintances in Los Angeles a few years ago. They were musicians and did not watch television and thought that "KTLA," "Eyewitness News," and "Good Day LA" were all the same station, and they assumed that local TV news was still stuck in those 70s-era trappings.

I'll back this up with a line I heard repeated in research presentations at TV stations across the country under multiple ownership groups in an era when viewership was higher than it currently is: The most reliable viewers in the key demographics stations target watch one or two quarter hours of a newscast a week, across all stations and all dayparts. I am sure that time spent watching has only decreased since I last heard a research presentation just before 2020 turned all 2020.

Thank you Weeters for in a way bringing us back to our roots. (Early 2000s) If we all remember correctly this forum was originally born from an AOL or Yahoo Geocites page haha. if I vaguely remember and it was called Local News Discussion lol. So in away the new name, Local News Talk brings us back to our roots! Glad to be back!

It wouldn't surprise me to see Morgan Murphy move ABC and/or CW to WJMN. It's a far better station to be broadcasting on than both WBKP and WBUP. Also, merging news staffs would be a benefit, since WBKP and WBUP don't have that much to begin with.

https://pagesix.com/2024/03/31/entertainment/judge-judys-return-to-tv-is-bad-news-for-old-bosses-at-cbs/ Buried at the end of the article is that CBS tried to secure “Judy Justice” to replace “The Talk”. I’m thinking “The Talk” is not long for this world.

Captured from the 6pm show tonight

Explain….

I would love to see The Talk go . Let's be cautious about speaking in absolutes when you also absolutely said soaps were done for. You've also questioned wether CBS would actually get rid of The Talk. The fact that they're even entertaining the launch of an hour long soap in 2024 is indication that wildcards are possible at this point.

Setting aside Nexstar/Mission for a moment, technology and generational shifts result in fewer eyes on all kinds of news sources. The pie has been sliced into far smaller portions, and consolidation didn’t cause that.

Don Alhart is retiring on June 6th after 58 years at WHAM: https://13wham.com/news/local/don-alhart-retiring-after-58-years-at-13wham-news#

I hate to say this, but the poster does have a point. Yes, there's alot of ageism goes on in many work industries. Television news is no exception either. Chuck, still might be spry, but Sue Simmons got the boot and he didn't is very telling. Sue a year older than Chuck, and he still get to anchor one newscast where her contract wasn't renewed. Chuck and Sue were an institution together on WNBC and a pillar in NYC area, but he should of been ushered out along with Sue. The question is why? Was it because he was a man? Again, their age only separates them a year apart.

Speaking of Jennifer McLogan, she recently also celebrated 35 years at WCBS, and I'd say they gave her a pretty nice tribute here (alongside her daughter who is also now a reporter there): Also note at the end all of her colleagues and production crew (Dana front and center) came out and clapped at the end. It's possible Dana really didn't want that (Dick mentioned she didn't want a big send off), but it's still surprising (as noted above) more of her longtime colleagues were not involved.

Dana admittedly hasn't been the best solo anchor in recent years, she's better with a partner. As for ratings..eehh. But again, I don't think Dana is CBS 2's problem, their presentation is. Anchoring is not a physically taxing job, it's about personality and commanding an audience. If an octogenarian is mentally alert, looks good on camera, and still draws an audience, there's no reason for them to retire. Veterans often have contacts and resources that the younger talent do not. A problem arises if that veteran anchor has no effect on ratings and if their massive pay is taking up resources (but let's also extend that scrutiny to company executive salaries). There's a common mindset that your career stops at 65. Assuming you live to be 90 and (physically fit)...what will you be doing with yourself for 20+ years? Every old person isn't close with their family, and their friends may not be physically agile. Purpose and activity keeps people going.

With Dana Tyler's time at CBS2 coming to a close. Hopefully this isn't goodbye for Dana, assuming she decides to show up at one of the competing NYC stations (NBC4, FOX5, ABC7, or PIX11) for I believe she's got a few more years left in reporting news. Wishing Dana all the best.

Here it is:

They went the ABC O&O route with their 10-day

It's too bad Sue is not there with him to celebrate, but that is the nature of the business. We'll see if Chuck makes the record for 57 years! Also here is a recent interview with Sue from Newsday: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/sue-simmons-chuck-scarborough-wnbc-ppsgedjt