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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 am extremely excited to announce that "Hello News" and "Hello Quad Cities" has officially made its return to KWQC-TV6, and will soon return to all shows and newscasts permanently effective Tuesday at noon when we kick-off our 75th Anniversary Celebration. This has been in the works for sometime, and wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for my station manager giving me free reign. The amount of calls, emails and messages since last night has overwhelmed all of us, but what is most notable is the huge morale boost in the building from all of the employees. There is not a person in the building who hasn't been caught humming the chorus. Here's a clip of the open and close from last nights special, and also a sneak peak at the new open that begins on Tuesday. My favorite part is the image campaign that I have been working on for months now...but that will have to wait until Tuesday.

Can we maybe start an "Anything and Everything Wrong with KTRK" thread, move the relevant posts there, and keep this thread just about the changing graphics at ALL the ABC O&O stations, not just KTRK? When kept on topic, I've found the posts and discussions about what we've seen overall at WLS and in weather on some of the others very interesting.

Thread cleaned up and unlocked. The user that initiated the disruption has been banned. In the future, I humbly ask members to use the "report post" function and the block tools built into the forum over "backseat modding" users disrupting a thread. -Weeters

I think we've gone over the weather graphics debate enough. People love to claim on here that viewers will switch away from Channel X in droves because they adopted the Tegna music, or because the weather graphics aren't "weathery" enough, and are almost always proven wrong. It's not even worth my time to rebut the absurd claims being made.

Please don't encourage people to call newsrooms, even if you're not serious. Frankly, I suggest you lose that number, as well. Nobody should be calling a newsroom line (what was posted above was a public NEWS tipline), whether publicly-advertised or not, for any trivial shit, like weather graphics. If you don't like it. Don't watch. It's that simple. Frankly, I'm getting tired of this discussion, no matter someone's opinion on this matter. That means that no response to this post is necessary. Failure to restrain from reiterating the same tired points could result in...well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Had a blast putting this together. There’s a hidden message or two in here…

Same energy:

KWQC finally made the switch to GrayONE, and it's probably the best implementation of the package thus far.

Oh, this again. Fun fact: It's been longer since WPVI tried changing music (27 years) than it was from when they started using MCTYW to when they tried changing it (24 years.) Only on TVNT will a graphics package or set that's older than 5 years be declared "ancient", but a music package used for 50+ years is something that shouldn't be touched. A lot has changed in the last 27 years (namely declining viewership!) and I suspect that a subtle modernization of the music (the 1996 version was anything but subtle, it was a drastic change that tried to make MCTYW into a serious, The Mission-style orchestral news package, which it is definitely not) wouldn't result in the "riots in the street" people around here like to imagine happening. We know they have selection of 615-made cuts they've been using for a few years now, I would imagine most viewers are now used to hearing "the music" that's not specifically the 1972 version.

I designed this open. We needed something fresh pretty badly so I whipped this up using some aesthetics from GrayOne. Without giving away the details, I can tell you a 3 phase relaunch is in motion. Phase I begins October 31st as we begin our 75th year, Phase II will begin in early January with some more really big changes. Then phase III happens middle of next year. And yes, part of this rebrand is launching GrayONE. So, stay tuned for some really exciting changes!

New WRC/T44 newsroom looks nice.

I'm working on tossing old CDs and DVDs I've had laying around and I came across these work sample images taken from Giant Octopus' website in 2003. Probably the peak of their design trendyness. It's amazing how much things have changed in 20 years!

Times Square - New Years 1964 Circle 7 billboard Happy New Year!

If ABC was truly that concerned about St. Louis, then the affiliation would have been taken elsewhere a long time ago. ABC could have even bought a station and started their own news operation if they were that concerned. But, I think they know St. Louis is news saturated and doesn't need another newsroom. They don't have to be "happy" about it, but they also know there's a slim chance that the affiliation would end up on any of the existing news-producing stations, and it's not worth building a new one.

My exact thought was “oh sh*t they actually wanna do News?” If he can lead CNN in the direction of the BBC in terms of straight forward, hard hitting reporting, no opinion, unmatched global resources and stories viewers won’t find elsewhere, CNN will survive and thrive. I hope it ends up being the best decision they’ve ever made.

Here’s WPSG’s new logo.

Talk about throwing your career away….

Congratulations to Donald Trump, who has been indicted under all four different CNN graphics variations since the spring. (Yes, I know this is beyond nerdy.)

It's a base graphics package that both stations' meteorologists have customized for their needs. If you don't like the way it looks on KTRK, well, that's the way their meteorologists have decided to use it. It's essentially a LEGO set. They were sent a box of parts, and this is how they've assembled them. There's nothing more that can be said about this.

Can we get back to talking about the current ABC logo and the new O&O graphics package please? I swear we get carried away by the smallest things in these threads. All I can say about the new O&O package now that we've seen the full package on WLS is... I don't really like the look of the graphics. It's too cluttered for a (somewhat) simple package. Very few packages have successfully shown the 3D look with simple gradients (both the current CBS O&O look and NBC O&O look). The only thing I can give the look credit for is the time, temperature, and current weather conditions ticker in the opens.

I really appreciate the way CBS 2 handled a horrible situation today. They mentioned Elise briefly at the top of basically every newscast, but then got to the rest of the news, before going in depth and tossing to a longer tribute package. Cindy, in for Chris, was with Mary this morning. You can tell that Cindy and Elise were close. (Cindy is close with everyone.) John did a great job mixing in memories and positive thoughts with the weather. They played Elise's favorite songs as rejoins throughout the morning. At 5, they tossed to an updated version of the tribute. Then Tony Aiello had a nice package about Elise growing up in Mount Vernon and coming back home. That was followed by Dick (in for Maurice), Kristine and Lonnie sharing heartfelt memories and words at the desk together. At 6, Dana had her own tribute package, and then she, Dick and Lonnie reminisced about Elise again. A very emotional day but I think CBS 2 did Elise proud.

The only thing I dislike is still how the top stories are all "breaking news." A fad ABC started that I won't forgive. If everything is breaking news, nothing is.

Meet the Press will NEVER be what it was when Tim Russert moderated the show

Perhaps things seem fishy to you because you do not have the facts, or care to understand them? Lori did not mysteriously leave with a taped goodbye. They blew out the the last 6 minutes of their newscast for a highlight reel and she said goodbye to viewers live on the air. They also posted her final sign off from EWN on social media. All of that for a person who decided to leave for a gig on a competing morning show. And there is no consensus that Shirleen is not well liked, or that she is well liked for that matter. There are a small number of posts by anonymous people claiming they know what type of person she is in real life based on how she appears on television, or claiming to know her from 20 years ago to now. Perhaps there is truth to it or perhaps it’s all made up. There’s nothing verifiable and no data to make any of it a fact let alone a consensus.

The problem with Scripps stations like Fox 4 Ft Myers removing all talent (minus weather) from newscasts its that they're axing some of tv's last stand--personality. In the era of information overload where you can get news from anywhere, WHO is giving you the news definitely draws an audience. I used to tease my mom for always turning in to a specific channel to see a specific weather man when all stations give the same forecast. But that's what gives tv stations and talent power---the ability to command an audience.

Absolutely no sane person, no person with a shred of mental competence, would willingly allow themselves to be made a target like David Smith has. This is worse than your typical delusions of grandeur that the likes of Elon Musk have. This has a good chance of not just killing the Sun outright, but coupled with the $500M in legal fees from Diamond's bankruptcy case, could damn well be the death penalty for hundreds of television newsrooms across the country, if not a financial death penalty for David Smith and Sinclair as a whole. I'm going to say it. Something is very, very wrong with David Smith and his mental state.

I heard this from a colleague who works at an NBC Gray affiliate. It's not an NBC thing. It's a "Gray" thing. Eventually all stations will be removing their affliliation from their logos. The reasoning is to distance the stations from the affiliates and to separate itself from the fake news movement that the national media gets. Basically it's so people trust the LOCAL news and to take on their own branding and identity.

I can think of at least half a dozen friends from my 15 years in news who have jumped to school district communications jobs. Holidays off, stable hours outside of the occasional evening school board meeting, an employer who won't be going anywhere any time soon, government benefits, and storytelling about the good things schools are doing rather than covering the crime of the day. And the school district gets a trusted person in the community to serve as the face and voice of the district in their internal communication channels and external earned media opportunities. No job outside of news is perfect, but this is a regular escape route for people who get out.

Okay, relax. Did it create bias in their presentation of the weather? I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.

Let's clarify something up... its no longer used on O&Os but is STILL used by affiliates. KWTX Waco and the Griffin duo of KWTV OKC and KOTV Tulsa are such examples.

Thank you Captain Obvious

Seems unfair to turn this ugly incident into a referendum on the woman being slurred here. I think we can do better.

Allen Media has a long way to go to decent respectability. Owning the Weather Channel is a good start, but the bottom line is Allen Media (and Entertainment Studios) are the slumlords of daytime TV with all of their cheap "court" shows.

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.

Please keep the wishcasting for a sale to Hearst in the Speculation board, please. Most of the groups seem to have reported less-than-impressive recent business results. This isn't a Scripps problem. Returning newscasts to "traditional" shows vs. Scrippscast isn't going to drastically change how people consume media, nor will it change the political landscape to drive up political advertising.

By mayoral proclamation, today is Tom Skilling Day in Chicago, in honor of his 72nd birthday & next week's retirement.

Never in a million years could I see them doing that. What’s likely going to happen is the full theme with the typical scenes of people in the city and the “Action News, Delaware Valley’s leading news program, with…”. The only thing that will change will be the graphic at the end, which will be the new intro that all the stations are adopting.

I just ran across this (which I wrote 21 years ago...). Good for a quick laugh, if you can catch your breath (and try to say it all in one breath!)... Live, Local and Latebreaking, First on NewsChannel 37 Eyewitness News from the NewsCenter, being clear, accurate and to the point with all the news you need from your hometown newsleader, in touch, in-depth and up to the minute, together we're making a difference on your 24-hour Action NewsSource, covering the (Region/City) where the news comes first on your local News Station with your choice for news and coverage you can count on, your number 1 News Leader with today's news tonight. Now with breaking news, live from the NewsPlex X with News, Y with Weather, and Z on Sports, on FirstNews Non-stop 11 at 11. Happy New Year!

Not all situations are comparable. Chris Cuomo crossed a huge ethical line. That doesn’t mean every other person related to a public figure in hot water is going to cross a line. Keep her off covering that story, fine. If there is evidence she crosses a line, do what needs to be done. Don’t assume a problem where one is not indicated and stymie her career for something she did not do.

Not to solution it here - but they could have leaned into the “3 as a B” thing and done something like this…

With all due respect, you sure use a ton of words to say the same damn things, over and over.

https://6abc.com/6abc-hall-of-fame-lisa-thomas-laury-dave-roberts-walter-liss/13559168/ WPVI now has its own Hall of Fame at the station.

He is their media reporter writing for their media newsletter. He thought he was being clever tying the bolder font with a bolder direction. Perhaps you disagree. It's not just "some Trump tape from 2021." It is audio of the former president of the United States, currently under federal indictment, admitting that a document he was so cavalierly showing off to a writer was classified and that he could no longer declassify it. It completely blows up each of his public defenses since last August. Yes, it is news, and MSNBC led with it last night at 9. And don't worry, CNN devoted much coverage to Russia as well. The fact that it's from 2021 does not make it any less newsworthy. Hearing the former president say this stuff, instead of just reading transcripts, is rather incredible, and gives new insight into his tone and the tone of those around him. Any news organization wishes they had obtained this.

Looks like KOVR just switched.....

The idea that Shirleen pushed and shoved her way up I-95 to dethrone Lori is laughable. Clearly WABC management had some kind of long-term plan to groom a new morning anchor, and if it wasn't Shirleen, it would've been someone else. She's not some homewrecker, and honestly, using the Rosato incident as an excuse to air Allicot grievances just comes across as defending Ken's word(s), even if not the intention.

This thread is about Tucker's dismissal, any pending litigation, his next career move, the network's plan for the time slot, and other related matters. If it further devolves into largely unrelated political matters, we'll shut this down. There's literally anywhere else on the rest of the internet to discuss and/or rant about such matters.