They're taken to a nice big farm upstate, where they can run and play with other old graphics packages.

Was working on a twitter thread about this, but it got derailed due to some household drama, so I'll type everything here. Ed Ansin, in my mind, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Al Primo, Roone Arledge, and Ted Turner. His stations were that revolutionary and influential, and a lot of people don't know it. In my opinion, local news has three "mother formats". The first is Primo's Eyewitness News (specifically the version perfected at WABC New York). The second is the WPVI Action News format. The third was Ansin's "News Station" format pioneered in Miami then Boston. EVERY local television station incorporates elements of these three newscast formats. You can probably see parts of WSVN's DNA in the newscast that airs in your market, even the most conservative one. People forget how risky WSVN's format actually was. Sure, it joined Fox, but "joining Fox" meant something a hell of a lot different in 1989 than it did even in 1994 when New World shocked the industry. Fox didn't have the NFL. "The Simpsons" wasn't even a half-hour show yet. Fox was five hours of primetime on weekends, that was it. Even if you were a Fox affiliate at that point, for all intents and purposes you were an independent station. In fact, WSVN didn't mince words - in its promotion and reporting for its post-switch plans, it referred to its new status as becoming an "independent station". And if you were an independent station, you were what I would call a "Great Entertainer". Your programming day would consist of cartoons, sitcom repeats, a movie in primetime, sports if you were lucky to have a contract with a team. Maybe, maybe, maybe you had a half hour or an hour of news at 10pm. Even ideas like a local morning show from 7am-9am were novel: Good Day New York had been on the air for only a few months at the time of WSVN's switch. You did not do seven hours of news each weekday. Even if you were a network affiliate this was madness. Doing it without a net(work) - that was suicide. This idea was ridiculed in the press. Ansin might not have had much of a choice here, admittedly - CBS had announced its plans to move to WCIX at the beginning of August. Four months is not a lot of time to get the inventory you needed to be a conventional independent. WSVN likely became "South Florida's News Station" out of necessity. Still doesn't negate how ballsy the plan was. The tone of the newscasts was also wildly different from anything the market - perhaps the nation - had yet seen. His new news director, Joel Cheatwood, moved the newscasts out of the traditional studio and into the newsroom and control room. The presentation was also something different - bold graphics filled the screen. Discordant music opened the newscast and penetrated the proceedings. Even the station announcer, Scott Chapin, was menacing! It's here that I am going to say it: Ansin's stations were not paragons of journalism. Tabloid TV was the order of the day. "If it bleeds, it leads" was the motto. One WSVN newscast I have footage of proudly beamed about featuring "THREE BLOODY CRIME SCENES" as the top story. This was not Peter Jennings soberly reporting on the latest goings on in the Soviet Union. That wasn't the point. The point wasn't to just inform, but entertain as well - thus the flashy graphics, the catchy headlines. This was, I would argue, the first News Product on a TV station - something not as just public service but calling card. It's not wrong to call WSVN the first true "Fox affiliate". It ran cartoons - Fox Kids was there for a few years - and out of necessity movies were programmed on nights Fox had not yet colonized. You certainly could not mistake it for a Big Three affiliate. But the look and feel was not that of an independent/Fox station up to that point. I don't think anyone saw that station lasting more than maybe two years with the News Station format. Certainly nobody saw the station not only surviving the switch, but thriving - rising to the top spot among English language stations in that market. The competitors noticed. In 1988-89 WTVJ had a handsome art deco look lavished on it by its new owners at NBC. By 1992 that was replaced by cold banks of monitors and theme music straight out of Miami Vice. So did other stations. Scott Chapin started picking up station after station starting in the early 90s. One of my early news memories is of him blaring out "NEIGHBORS FROM HELLLLLLL" in a sweeps promo for WCAU, which he was voicing by the mid-90s. Other tricks took longer to get to my market - 1997 saw the arrival of "Breaking News" stings and Larry Mendte to WCAU. In a market where the leading station used magnet boards for weather and a blue background set, the added flash stood out. Mendte got notice because he would stand up on set for some stories - if you read the local papers you'd think some massive scandal was taking place. In contrast, I'm usually not sure if Jim Gardner wears pants most nights. Even nationally, the idea of a flashier newscast gained traction. Before it embraced its conservative bent, you could well argue that Fox News Channel was the WSVN formula applied to cable news. Even the network newscasts changed. Brokaw started doing more tabloidy feature stories. Jennings' newscast open went from a simple text overlay to a flashy animation. 1993 saw Ansin spread his wings and add WHDH in Boston. By this point his tactics were well-known. Boston didn't quite get the massive tone overhaul that WSVN got, but it did get the flashy graphics, discordant music, and menacing announcer. WHDH might not have exploded like Miami did but what was a perennial doormat became quite competitive. Moreso when WHDH lost CBS to WBZ and gained NBC's stronger programming. Ansin had to have been a pain in the ass to work with on the network side. He pre-empted quite a bit when WSVN was with NBC. The 1989 switch negotiations were so protracted with CBS that instead of that network agreeing to move to WSVN it instead chose to purchase an independent station with substantial signal issues as its new home. And let's not forget the Jay Leno at 10pm debacle of 2009-2010. Ansin made the announcement that he was pre-empting Leno and moving his CW 10pm newscast over to the main station. NBC threatened to revoke his affiliation and he relented - but when that late night arrangement collapsed in flames months later, it was obvious that his concerns were genuinely warranted. Again, I think it says something that NBC chose to build its own station essentially from scratch over continuing to deal with Ansin. The survival of WHDH post-NBC was his last great accomplishment. It was the WSVN playbook all over again - news, news, and more news. It seems to be working, four years into the experiment. Like I said, Ansin was a giant figure in the television business. Few single stations have been as influential as his were. He is as major a figure as Ted Turner and should be honored as such. May he rest in peace.

I keep pushing the new 3 logo in this darn elevator to get WKYC on the screen and nothing happens! Lol!

Made it better. My point: the package is fine. One could argue it's a bit rough around the edges (why the speech bubble?), but otherwise it's fairly inoffensive. If this forum expanded their horizons beyond domestic borders (pop quiz, we don't and here's why), they could've known the core elements of this package are essentially in line with general design trends around the world.

If only this site had some sort of analog back then. "Looks like Westinghouse-itis is rolling out across more stations with their WHYwitness format. 90 minutes? Please. I liked it better when the news was one person sitting at a desk for 15 minutes. We were lucky to have any pictures at all!" "Group W out with another lame logo... So much for individuality! Could they only afford one sheet of Letraset?

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.

Wanted to share this promo which started running last night on air and in digital spaces in the DC market https://www.facebook.com/WUSA9/posts/10159684883884778

Like a major news story, I thought this deserved a SPECIAL GRAPHIC, but in light of recent debuts, this is all we're gonna get...

Here's the song -- "Chicago" by Tary Rebenar -- that inspired Dick Marx's legendary WBBM theme. Note that the nine-note signature is based on the lyrics "This is my city, Chicago's my town," not "I love Chicago, Chicago my home" as often supposed:

We'll keep the concepts to a minimum, but I will say, I'm very impressed by WTHR's upcoming Tegnafication.

Let me keep it real: Some of y'all upset WCBS's newscasts was handled by KCBS/KPIX for three days? "Woe is me I didn't see Maurice for a few days, I can't go face the world if Mary ain't on, why does Lonnie have them fancy graphics behind him?" Give me a break! Be lucky you got several newscasts, you could had none at all for a few days! Moving on, don't forget the entire CBS Broadcast operations in New York was affected meaning DC, Boston, LA & SF was handling everything for a few days including Inside Edition, Last Week Tonight, CBS News and if March Madness was still going on, they would've relocated elsewhere.

Posted without comment....

Simple, Sinclair thought they could get away with it. Just like they thought they could get away with that must-run speech they had their anchors do about "fake news" that turned out to be such a joke it probably jeopardized their acquisition of Tribune because someone complied a video of Sinclair anchors all over the country reading that same script verbatim. Sinclair will never learn. They really are a company run by arrogant people.

Like this post if you're old enough to remember the WITI MyFox site being covered in the "kitebox" logo that was never once used on-air. Is there anything besides the website update that is leading people to believe KCPQ is launching new graphics today?

"...To Another Channel!"

Attorneys at Law!

I'm going to temper my anger here, and simply say I hope Sinclair is dismantled from the ground up and sold to the lowest bidder. Disgusting.

This thread has drifted way off course and is no longer relevant. Locking.

My response on Discord: Here’s the deal with WJBF, they’ve been the long dominant number 1 station in Augusta, GA for as long as records have been kept except for a brief period in the 1980s when they were overtaken by WRDW, but it was brief. Since WRDW/WAGT is such an enormous dumpster fire (right down to having a set from 2004 with duratrans from 3 graphics packages ago, to the constant turnover of news staffers, to the constant technical issues, to the issues with management, to the strive to be everything WJBF isn’t even if what WJBF does wins). WJBF hasn’t had a need to update their look or set for years because they’ve been the strong number 1 with no need to break the formula, all of their talent has longevity and even a few of the reporters have been there longer than two years which is something WRDW/WAGT nor WFXG can say they have. The fact it took them this long to update their look is only because of corporate aesthetics alone, not because someone at the station FINALLY woke up one day and said they need a new look. Nexstar wanted them to finally ditch the MG GO Package they’ve beaten to death for years, and finally WJBF looks the best they’ve looked since the 1990s. Since the set only received a refresh, Nexstar must have realized that the set has strong bones and they don’t need to invest in a flashy new set for a market that size, a simple refresh would suffice. Also, viewers are extremely fickle in that area, so they don’t want to do too many changes at once. Also to the people on TVNT bitching that they need a new logo, slow your roll. WJBF has had maybe 2 different logos in the last 30 years. The previous logo they used in the 1990s was a variation of a logo they had used since the 1960s/1970s. When MG took over and gave them the new logo, it was met with backlash from longtime viewers but they grew to accept it. Now the current logo with the crescent is easily identifiable and they don’t want to mess with it, so they won’t. If it isn’t broken, they aren’t going to fix it. It’s part of their brand even if MG and their logo standardization doesn’t exist anymore. So WJBF isn’t just a 800 pound gorilla, it is THE 800 pound gorilla. It is the LAST of a dying breed of small market TV stations that have figured out a formula and a longtime team that works and stuck with it against consultants wishes. It truly is the last standing 20th century-esque news operation in 2019 and they won’t change for anything. Meanwhile, WFXG will keep expanding and trying to gain traction by copying the WJBF model, and WRDW/WAGT will continue to do the opposite, fall apart, and their news director will continue to slam the door to her office, lock it, cry, scream, and throw things when she loses another book against WJBF. And you don’t want to know what happens when WRDW/WAGT loses in a book, other than what I just told you. I still have nightmares.

I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty annoying that we've gotten to the point where our national anthem has become a hot-button political issue. If you like having it played on TV, you're a fascist, and if you don't, you're a communist. There's no pleasing anyone anymore, is there?

More than that, actually. See, Rupert made his mark in the UK and his native Australia with gloriously sensational tabloids. Even when he took over the New York Post, he put his stamp on that paper in a hurry ("Headless Body in Topless Bar") and was poised to do the same in Chicago and Boston. Which brings us to the Metromedia Five: WNYW, WTTG, KRIV, KTTV and even WFLD. Outside of shared logo stylings and the "network + channel number" brandings, not much had changed at that core group since the sale beyond a stateside import of A Current Affair with WTTG's Maury Povich. (WFLD had no news department until 1987 but at launch was set up very much like the other Metromedia stations had been.) None of them ran news in the early evening hours, and (as mentioned earlier) WNYW launched Good Day NY, which was not dissimilar to WEWS's Morning Exchange and WCVB's Good Day! was in creating GMA... a traditional morning show with news updates, light conversation and fluff. Some glitz crept in but Rupert ran them as traditional as you could get. No one thought of doing a rolling hard news block from 6am-9am. Pure folly. Ed Ansin, Bob Leider and Joel Cheatwood basically took the Rupert model of flash and splash in his UK tabloids and New York Post and transferred it to WSVN. It wasn't just that it was news-intensive, it was outrageous, in-your-face and smacking you upside the head. While WTVJ was emulating the Michael Mann glitz and glamour era of Miami Vice with the John Fox Art Deco-esque set and graphics, WSVN went all in with the Dick Wolf nihilism era of Miami Vice. It not only was unlike anything the industry had ever seen, it was such a massive departure from the staid, conservative image WSVN had prior to the summer of 1988; in many ways, they were still seen up to then as "that Wayne Farris station." Ironically, the success of WSVN precipitated the New World group into going all-in on news. Even Virgil Dominic, who loathed at WJW being called "Fox 8" led an investment into the Newscenter 8 ops and launched an ill-fated local morning show, Good Day Cleveland, that ultimately led to WJW becoming an unstoppable dynamo in mornings. HulkieD is right in classifying WSVN as "the first true Fox affiliate." I'll go one further. WSVN was the station Rupert wanted to run but never did. And probably never will. But that's okay, because Ed pulled it off in a way Rupert never could have dreamed of.

Yep, our first set for Gray TV...just putting the finishing touches on it, truck is rolling tomorrow!

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.

The San Francisco area stations are tag-teaming their choppers to have constant pooled aerials of the Coronavirus cruise ship docked in the harbor. Unfortunately, the CBSN Bay Area TD wasn't paying close attention and this was up for about 15 seconds.

Yep. As long as Scripps doesn't change it to Tomorrow's TMJ4

Do not hold out hope for Move Closer To Your World sticking around. Tegna (then Gannet) shattered my dreams when it ripped the Spirit Of Texas out from under WFAA for no good reason at all. This company’s main goal in life is to take away anything that made a station unique, watchable and likable and replace it with cheaply designed, grossly underpaid, non-focus grouped cow manure. Thus, they will take great pleasure in sending MCTYW down the Lougee Loo and replacing it with their new age scat-snap-and-clap-fest as the viewers of NE PA light their torches and call for some heads—that I can assure you. They will spit in the faces of their valued viewers and laugh as they smash WNEP under their boots. As an aside, can someone please bring back Belo? I will buy you lunch! (For context: I’m not some old fart reminiscing about the good old days. I’m in my early-mid twenties, you know, the demographic Tegna is trying to reach with their crap. Just sayin’.) Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Some of you are getting way too emotionally involved in this.

Not going to lie. I sat here waiting for images to load before I saw your note.

Can we keep the childish bragging about "inside" info to a minimum? No one cares. You should also be careful not to burn your sources by running your mouth about this stuff. They trust you with this info, you should respect that.

This is what I mean when people on here get all excited about new graphics or whatever when a company takes over a TV station. Fixing this is way more important to a company than a graphics package or standardized set.

You're right. History will show WPIX was so much better under Tribune. PIX never looked better than when they were broadcasting their 10PM from this messy corner of the newsroom. That classic late 2010 set and graphics package from when Bill Carey blew up the 10pm news. Who can forget the giant green "iPad graphics", Mr. G's weather closet, and all the great commentary and round table discussions with Lionel and Larry Mendte. Hard-hitting news like this, And of course the seemingly daily "investigation" into the MTA. We're lucky to not have any good videos of the first weeks of this disaster. Even two years later, it was still a giant mess. About the only thing Scripps could possibly do to the station that Tribune didn't already try is to burn the place down for the insurance money, though with all those cheap extension cords in the lighting grid, it sure looks like they might have been trying.

Y'all want to know why the TV industry is in the shape it's in look no further than this. I can't explain how many people are in positions that they shouldn't be in and I've worked in 4 newsrooms in the span of 6 years. Sorry, didn't mean to go off topic here. To contribute: my thoughts on this logo is that it is indeed terrible.

No. Just because you can put someone on TV doesn't mean you always should. If this doctor were in some position of power accountable to the public (a health department director or the head of a notable research institution, for example), a case could be made that her claims would be worth examining and scrutinizing. But she is not. She is a discredited researcher who is being used by right wing factions to instill fear and cast doubt on the best science we have during a pandemic. She is otherwise a relatively unknown whose opinions are already well documented and dismissed. Putting her on a national platform (even if she's somehow fact-checked afterward) is only going to amplify her views and is a puzzling editorial choice. There are so many better people to ask for insight on this issue. If Sinclair is having trouble finding them, then I'd be happy to share my rolodex.

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...

'CMNG P TNGHT T 10'

One coming right up!

If anyone ever thought combining that god-awful C-Clarity with the WNEP National Anthem was possible.... You're welcome. mctyw tegna_mixdown.mp4

WJZ transitioned..... j/k it will be ages before they transition.

Everyone here is complaining about how awful this looks, but I bet if this had debuted in Europe it'd be hailed as revolutionary.

I got some names: 5pm: "Watch Us After Ellen" 7pm: "At Least It's Leas Boring than Wheel of Fortune" 11pm: "At Least Fox 8 Isn't Here...Yet" Weekend Mornings: "Go...Back to Sleep!"

Good Lord, quit while you're ahead. This discussion stops now. If he was dealing with someone who was lying about they're age, then that's for the court system to sort out, but otherwise, just stop. If they look like they could be that young, then you should probably just stay away. Period. Consider this a warning for everyone. We're not going to try and rationalize this.

Just listened to my first WCAU weather report on KYW Newsradio (that felt weird to type)... They apparently have to tag out with "Count on It".... ...I'm completely dead.

Just because Cheatwood left, doesn't mean they're going to throw out these formats. The idea that Tegna is just going to suddenly go back to some boring, dry news format with two stiff anchors at a desk reading news over some grand orchestral news music is ludicrous. The old way of doing things aren't coming back any time soon. Folks need to stop holding their breath.

I really want to know what is wrong with a station trying something different?

You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you actually should.

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