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Weeters

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Everything posted by Weeters

  1. They are running promos that state "CBS 11 is now CBS Texas" while animated stick figures lower in the "channel number box" to sit next to the new CBS Texas logo. Seems to be another sign that the "logo box" is, as theorized, a temporary and transitional thing. .
  2. KCAL might honestly be the only one where the "transitional" branding can function long-term. I do think it's just a matter of time until the "CBS News" portion gets put back into the OTA broadcasts. The rest of them, though? There's no way something like the WCBS and WJZ lockups, with the current logo in the box next to "CBS News New York/Baltimore," are viable long-term. The "channel number logo" gets shoved into a small box in the corner, dominated by "CBS News (location)". Two distinct logos advertising the same product. Same goes for the call signs. They accomplish very little, simply existing to reinforce the fact that this is the local news and not the visually identical network news. They're not even following the way the stations currently use their call signs, if the KDKA image is any indication... They want you to "Expect More from KDKA-TV News" for a reason. KDKA will keep that call sign box until the day someone on KDKA radio decides to say something controversial again. Some of these call signs aren't viable long-term because CBS management made a huge mistake not requiring call sign changes on the majority of the former radio cluster. As for stations buying stuff with the logo, KPIX is still using mic flags with the CBS 5/CBSN Bay Area branding on them. Just think of how good that square "KPIX" box would look on a mic flag... But maybe there's a reason they haven't bothered to order new ones yet? Waiting until they can get away with simply putting "CBS News Bay Area" on them? Perhaps. Why do I think the "call sign box" is a transitional brand? It looks and plays the part. It's one size fits most, grafted onto a different logo in an uninspired manner. It's also not universal, and only seems to be rolling out at stations that have some kind of long-term branding history using their call sign. @ChesapeakeTVrecently shared a news article in the Discord that had some interesting numbers in it. CBS knows that people by and large (over half of all people, at this point!) are moving away from over-the-air television being how they primarily consume local news. This is why Detroit was launched as a "streaming first" operation. If this company truly felt that call signs and channel numbers were still relevant to today's consumers, we'd be seeing them on WWJ CBS 62 News Detroit. Those boxes are transitional. This is a fact. The question is, how long will this transition last? At this rate, what relevance will channel numbers or call signs have in three years? Five years? Ten? The digital renascence is here, folks.
  3. Once and for all: Rey Rodriguez of Linear Drift is the Art Director for Nexstar. In fact, his LinkedIn shows his "employment" at Linear Drift ending in 2015 when he started at Nexstar. Technically speaking, none of the Nexstar packs are "Linear Drift" graphics.
  4. That desk is 8 years old, recycled from the 2015 temporary set.
  5. The general consensus seems to be that box is a transitional element, so I'd not expect them to brand as what is essentially "CBS 4 WBZ CBS NEWS BOSTON" forever.
  6. It has been longer since WPVI tried changing the music (1996-2023= 27 years) than it was between MCTYW debuting on the station and the attempt to change (1972-1996= 24 years). This is a fun piece of news lore, but it's also ancient history, and things are a LOT different today than they were in 1996. They have been sneaking in new cuts of music for a while now. I can almost guarantee "modernizing" MCTYW would not get the same response as it did nearly 30 years ago. It would probably take days for anyone but the oldest, rustiest dial viewers to notice.
  7. Thread closed. Literally a list thread as defined in the guidelines:
  8. Firstly, CBS owns the trademark to "Eyewitness News". Secondly, no. Both "Action" (which is owned by Cox!) and "Eyewitness" are cliché and ancient brands that do not need to be picked up by anyone not already using them.
  9. The studio pipe grid is noted in the plans as having a height of 13' 2" (The portion of the building the studio is in is physically incapable of having a grid height higher than this), and remained in place during the demolition and rebuild. That seems about right for pictures from the early 2000's set. The last set did seem a little shorter, so perhaps the lighting was brought lower by way of stirrups, but it's hard to tell. The scale on the plans also show the studio pre-renovation as having dimensions roughly 65' by 46', which would be roughly 80' by 49' after the remodel, with the removal of the technical and mechanical rooms. There was also what appears to be a noise trap along an exterior wall (The same wall that features windows in the newsroom) that was removed. The early 2000's set had a "soft news" morning show portion not visible in the above screenshot, but if you look closely, it appears you can see part of the floor pattern for this area under the center and right camera. The camera taking that spy cam shot was probably mounted near the top of the set wall, either on the set itself or from the grid. I wouldn't be surprised if the news desk platform slid backwards to give the cameras more space to move when shooting the opposite direction. The set being "large" was 100% an optical illusion, like most news sets. The second floor newsroom wasn't touched much through it's life. After they moved news into the studio, the former studio portion of the newsroom was tiled over until the iPad Graphics debut. The real mystery is what they originally planned to do with the space once the 10th floor Newsroom opened a few years ago. It's possible the general concept of renovating the space was a long time in the making, and started under Tribune.
  10. Yeah, both the pre-renovation and post-renovation floor plans are in this thread. The studio is actually slightly larger than before, thanks to the deletion of a mechanical room and tech room along the eastern wall. The new NewsNation studio sits in the footprint of the old WPIX newsroom, and also includes the space previously occupied by a control room.
  11. I think it's necessary to reference @Myron Falwell's post from the KCAL thread as it's extremely relevant to the ongoing channel number discussion. Long story short, look at Birmingham's WBMA, which brands as "ABC 33/40". It has not transmitted on the Channel 33 satellite since 2014, and is now regulated to the .2 on 40. WBMA's own low-power signal was on 58, which is also what their Virtual Channel is, but they didn't brand with any mention of 58 at all. What they do have is this mess, none of which have anything to do with the 33 in their brand, and And yet everyone still figures out where to watch James Spann when there's a tornado. In the words of one of our favorite media bloggers: JUST SAYING...
  12. The discussion about channel numbers is missing the entire premise of CBS News Detroit. Somebody please show me how to tune my phone or web browser to Channel 62... This is an operation built on a "streaming first" mentality. The fact that it airs OTA is just a bonus. CBS appears to be, by and large, moving towards "streaming first". This is exactly how I've publicly predicted TV will move over the coming years. Channel numbers are an outdated concept in a world where more and more people are watching OTT where those precious numbers mean nothing. Traditional TV viewers are not bumbling morons and will figure out where to watch. Millions of senior citizens have figured out where to watch Fox News without it branding with channel numbers.
  13. Are we sure this isn't a rejected proposal from 2012? These look so incredibly dated it's not even funny.
  14. I'm sure that the transition to "KCAL News", even if temporary, was thoroughly researched and discussed by people with a lot more information regarding the possible outcomes than we do. Things in this industry generally don't just happen without some kind of research or thought being put into it. We knew when the "white box" logos started showing up on the websites, that they were likely there to help transition stations who are well known by their callsigns to the new branding. I don't know why it's surprising that KCBS/KCAL chose to transition using the brand that's better liked/known instead of just ripping off the band-aid on "CBS News Los Angeles". (Also, WITI used the transitional "FOX is SIX/SIX is NEWS" branding for less than 6 months)
  15. Most viewers probably don't care, they're turning on one channel or the other and see the same faces they usually do. Folks were complaining about "CBS News (city)" not being "unique" enough and whatever, and then when given "KCAL News" are upset about that. It's a good brand. It translates well cross-platform, and there's no other "KCAL News" out there. KCAL was seen as the stronger brand and there's nothing wrong with that.
  16. Couple folks in this thread acting like they are personally affected by a TV station changing the name of its newscasts. Chill.
  17. There's a lot of people at a TV station who don't work in the "newsroom". Engineering, Production, Marketing, Sales and all sorts of other positions that aren't considered "Newsroom" jobs. Anyone who still thinks this transaction would be a "good" thing for misguided reasons like "mAyBe tHeY'Ll rEpLaCe c-cLaRiTy" should realize that Standard's targets for cuts will ensure that these stations have zero "local flavor" ever again.
  18. Missing the point. "Action News" and "Eyewitness News" are extremely dated brands, and are more or less cliché at this point. It's nearly 2023, it's time to find new ways of branding local news outside of two 60's era news formats. The formats themselves are barely even used anymore. I sure don't notice any difference between an "Action" or "Eyewitness" newscast and... every other newscast out there.
  19. This is what a forward-looking news organization looks, sounds, and feels like. I'm sure there will be people upset that the "Westinghouse channel numbers" and "iconic" other cruft disappears, but these stations existed before that stuff came around, and will exist after. Most of these stations never had a firm "logo" for their first 20 years of existence and they did just fine, without "confusing" anyone. Most of these logos have outlived several generations of logos at major brands. I'm still not sure why it's seen as important for a local television station in Baltimore or Pittsburgh or wherever to keep the same logo forever, while major companies like United Airlines or Hyatt Hotels get to update theirs just about every decade. TV has this bad history of treating viewers like they are absolute idiots. "Oh, we can't change anything because someone out there might get 'confused'." If someone told me RJ Fletcher's speech in UHF about the "pea-brained yokels" watching TV in his market was based on real worlds said by a real TV station GM, I would not be that surprised. There's nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, but it can't get in the way of progress. When a station branded as "TV 7" in 1954, that's because that's where it was. On TV. On Channel 7. That was it. The first signs this branding didn't work in the modern era came in the late 90's when every "ABC 7" and "NBC 4" was fighting for a relevant web domains. Then came Social Media. If I go on Twitter right now and search for "ABC 7" this is what comes up: Talk about "Confusing viewers" when the first one offers no way of identifying which station it is, and looks identical to the rest of the ABC7s there. No, most viewers do not know offhand how to differentiate between the different Circle 7s out there. There is no confusing where these CBS stations are located. I don't buy into these stations "losing" any "local flavor" with this branding, because locality is baked into the heart of it. You can be any one of a bunch of "CBS 2s" out there, but there's "only one" CBS News Chicago.
  20. My understanding is the consolidation to Techwood is benefitting from the new age of Work from Home being normalized. A lot of those jobs don't necessarily need to be done from in the office. I would imagine a lot of the move to Techwood is going to involve reclaiming existing space that's been emptied by people in that campus going fully remote, vs. the expansion they originally talked about.
  21. CNN is leaving CNN Center in the next 3 years from what I understand. Yes, the Atlanta operations (what's left) are moving back to Techwood. I don't suspect they'll have anything quite as grand as the set they have at CNN Center. It would surprise me if they build out a full studio once they're fully back at Techwood. Speaking of moving, a user on the Eyes of a Generation Facebook page is reporting that CNN is moving their LA bureau from its longtime Sunset Ave home to the old KNBC facility on the old NBC lot, that's now owned by WBD.
  22. A recent statement, made on YouTube by Studio31 Media Archive, misrepresents a situation that developed on Sunday November 20th due to a breakdown in communication from myself to the TVNewsTalk staff. During the evening of Thursday November 17th, I was informed by several concerned community members that the operator of the Studio31 Media Archive account, TVNewsTalk user "sanewsguy", had posted (or "doxxed") the professional LinkedIn of another member of The News Center Discord. This took place on a third-party Discord server, unaffiliated with this site or The News Center. At that time, I brought it to the attention of both TVNewsTalk staff and the staff of The News Center. Given that this had taken place outside of either platform, no action was taken and the staff of both platforms elected to continue to monitor the situation. Three days later, on Sunday November 20th, discussion of this matter was renewed by members of our Forum Staff, without my presence. One member of Staff elected to issue a ban to sanewsguy's TVNewsTalk account for Privacy Violations. This was done without my authorization, as I had failed to explicitly communicate that I did not wish for him to be banned. My reasoning to not issue a ban was to monitor the situation and see if additional people were "doxxed". None were. It was later communicated to me that sanewsguy had apologized for posting the link, however the link was not deleted until after the ban was issued. Upon the issuing of the ban on the Forum, our integration plugin kicked sanewsguy's Discord account from The News Center. This function of the plugin was set up by design, to make sure anyone causing trouble on the forums was also removed from Discord. This is not made clear on the UI used by Forum Staff. The News Center Discord admin, @ChesapeakeTV, had also elected not to ban sanewsguy at that time, and rightfully objected to the integration kicking him. When I became aware of this, I immediately reversed the ban and attempted to reach out to sanewsguy over Discord to apologize and to inform him that the falsely-issued ban was removed. My message was responded to by "Clyde", Discord's system message bot, informing me that I was not able to message that Discord account. I had another user in the third-party Discord server relay the message on my behalf. I also sent it as a Direct Message on TVNewsTalk. The claims made in Studio31 Media Archives' YouTube statement, namely that he was "not given an opportunity to say goodbye", are completely and utterly false. There are currently no restrictions to his TVNewsTalk account, nor to his Discord account on The News Center. These claims are misleading to the community, and mischaracterize his own decision not to return to TVNewsTalk/The News Center into one where he was not given a choice, which is thoroughly incorrect. I accept 100% of the blame for the fact the ban was issued. I had failed to explicitly communicate my intentions not to ban him to our Staff. I cannot, however, stand idly by as my reputation, the reputation of this site, and the reputation of other community leaders gets dragged through the mud, by a manufactured narrative that attempts to further drive a wedge into our community, and conveniently omits the reprehensible action that led to this situation. -Weeters
  23. A short FAQ to clarify the new policy: What about content posted publicly to sites like Vimeo? It's been well documented that some stations use Vimeo to distribute materials for internal and external review. Discretion should be taken in sharing content from these sources, especially if the video has a name that is clearly not intended to be public ("WXXX_10PM_OPEN-DRAFT" would indicate that it may not have been intentionally made public, while "WXXX 2022 Graphics Reel" would.) If the video is public, it is fair game, though discouraged. Ultimately, if the original video is removed, unlisted, or made private, then it should no longer be shared on TVNT in any form. Please know that posting something that is later removed from the public eye would NOT result in a warning being issued to your account. What about content posted to sites like FTVLive or NewscastStudio? FTVLive and NewscastStudio are generally reputable industry news sources that are read by industry members. FTVLive frequently reports on "insider" information, however it is often information that deserves scrutiny, and provides an important view of the current state of the industry. NewscastStudio has contacts within networks and creative companies, therefore it would be highly unlikely for them to traffic in ill-gotten "leaks". These are both considered a "verifiable source". What about things like the NBC Studio 3B remodel, or WPIX/NewsNation studios? Aren't those "leaks"? These are publicly-available documents that were obtained through the New York City Department of Buildings. NBC and WPIX are in buildings with a Historic designation, thus any renovations that take place must pass a Historic Review process to make sure that they are not drastically altering the building's historical features. As the City puts it: "[Historical designation] means your building has special historical, cultural, or aesthetic value to the City of New York, state or nation, is an important part of the City's heritage and that [the Landmark Preservation Committee] must approve in advance any alteration, reconstruction, demolition, or new construction affecting the designated building." Both NBC and Nexstar are aware that their facilities have Historical designation, and that any plans they submit to the City will be made available for public review (this is explicitly specified on the FAQ for the process) as it is in the public's best interest to see how their cultural assets are being modified. In some cases, municipalities may release plan sets for new construction for public review as well. These would also be allowed as they are publicly available documents. What about content posted by the creator (Graphic design studios/composers/etc) themselves? This kind of material would be OK, though it falls along the same lines as the first question about sites like Vimeo. Is it OK to share information like networks giving stations a "stand by" for a Special Report? Or contingency plans for live coverage? Given the way this information is disseminated, I don't consider it "insider" information. It is sent out to every station, and in the case of Special Reports, often blasted out of a "Squawk Box" in the newsroom, something that could be heard by anyone, not just station employees, passing through. It is not OK to link to the sources of this information if it is on an "internal" website, regardless of how secure it is. Please feel free to leave any more questions below.
  24. Hello everyone, I am currently drafting up a statement regarding several ongoing issues involving our community. I am hoping to have this out early this coming week. There are several topics I wish to address, and I want to make sure I give myself the time to address them completely and fully. While I was working on that document, some new problems presented themselves. These issues require more immediate action, and that is what I am doing here. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, YOU MAY NOT SHARE CONTENT ON TVNEWSTALK.NET THAT HAS NOT BEEN POSTED IN A PUBLIC, OPEN MANNER. This includes but is not limited to materials with sources like “I got it from a friend” or “It was on a Vimeo account that took it down” or “it’s actually on a public unlocked hidden page on Company X’s network.” I don’t care where it came from, if you can’t link to it directly, from a verifiable source, it is not allowed. This includes YouTube re-uploads of this same content by third parties. This is a direct response to the situation revolving around the new CBS O&O Graphics package. It has come to my attention that some of these "leaks" may have been illegally obtained, and are being distributed by people who are desperately seeking attention from this community. I will not let TVNewsTalk play a part in their destructive behavior. The "leak culture" that has developed in our community is extremely toxic, and I cannot let it continue any further. There is nothing to be gained from leaking "insider" information, and violating the intellectual property rights of major corporations for a shot at "fame" in the TV News fan community is not worth the possible legal ramifications. We already have rules against "unverifiable content", and that is what I am directing our Moderators to enforce this policy under. As stated in the Guidelines, first offenses for violating these policies will result in a warning with no action taken against your account. Continued violations of these rules will result in further penalties as appropriate. In the coming weeks, I will be revising and reformatting our Site Guidelines to incorporate this and other policy changes. -Weeters
  25. I say "new" because apparently this thing has been in use for a few months (seems to have launched in June or July), but the differences between the main set in Studio A and this new set in Studio B are so minor that, if you're casually viewing, you have to look closely to notice. I can't find any good photos (nor much mention of when it debut) so I've had to scour social media for some good ones. Primary set in Studio A has a L-shaped desk in front of a curved video wall. https://www.instagram.com/p/CdI-gVVuDYW/ "New" WakeUp set in Studio B has a semi-circle desk in front of... a curved video wall (it's the same exact model wall)... https://www.instagram.com/p/ChH4P0BO2v5/ But unlike Studio A, there's some set pieces above the wall. This wall is where it becomes hard to notice what set they are using. Unless you can see the desk, the background is basically identical, because they use the same style imagery in the LED walls for both sets. Primary set in Studio A has a 3x3 monitor array with color-changing panels behind it. "New" WakeUp set in Studio B has a 3x3 monitor array with color changing panels behind it The set kept most of the same general layout as the former set, with the 3x3 wall replacing the chroma key wall and FOX O&O set 3 stacked monitors "triptych"-like standup area (the previous WakeUp set dated to the final years of their last go-around as an O&O, and was designed by the company that did the 2000's-era FOX O&O sets). Everything else seems to be in much the same place. Even the blue paneling along the upper edge of parts of the set is a design taken from the previous one. The new set definitely feels like a modern uplift of the previous set, even though the design of the previous set still felt modern at the end of its life. Speaking of, I wonder what happened to the old set's partial sister at the AARP...
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