Geoffrey

I believe it's more dependent on when the station group provides the finished graphics. There is some implementation on the station level, but the graphics hubs have to finish putting with all of the localization.

Here's the schedule of what aired today from what I saw: 8am: CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield 10am: CNN Newsroom with Rahel Solomon 11am: State of the Race with Kasie Hunt (CNN International) Noon: One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga (CNN International) 1pm: Amanpour (CNN International) 2pm: Newsroom with Jim Sciutto 3pm: Quest Means Business (CNN International) And then at 4pm, it became a simulcast of CNN/U.S. with The Lead, The Situation Room, etc. (all of which also airs on CNN International). So, not a ton of original content, but nice for American viewers to see more CNN International. I guess I'm curious what the logic is for a few hours of CNN Max-exclusive newscasts and not just putting the entire U.S. or International feed on there. Or maybe the simulcasts are a placeholder until they launch more original shows. They are calling it a beta product for now. As for the "no commercials" promise mentioned yesterday, the Max-exclusive shows took a few short promo breaks. I'm just realizing that the background behind Fredricka is CNN's D.C. studio used for Inside Politics, The Lead, etc, just with an Atlanta skyline. Rahel had the same backdrop but with NY in there. Jim Sciutto was in front of an actual window overlooking the Capitol. (I thought it was the usual flashcam-monitor setup but it's not. Just now remembering that they used to have a small set featuring part of that window there. Now it looks like just a window.)

CNN Max has launched. "CNN Newsroom" is currently on, using the CNN International look. Nice seeing Fredricka Whitfield, who very rarely shows up on CNN outside of weekends.

Jim Sciutto signed off from CNN News Central today. Tomorrow comes the beta launch of CNN Max, which will be part of Max (formerly HBO Max). They said on TV that CNN Max won't have commercial breaks, so I'm curious how they're going to incorporate the shows that already exist. (Will they air live but have slideshow-like content covering up the ads? Will they air later with the breaks cut out and be shorter?) Also curious how similar or different it will be from CNN+, which had shows that lasted maybe 20-40 minutes and then replayed to fill out the hour until the next show began. I had a feeling Chris Licht's three-anchor broadcasts might not be long for TV. CNN This Morning is of course down to two, and it sounds like the afternoon DC edition of News Central may be joining that. Haven't heard of any changes coming to the morning NY edition yet (but could easily have missed something). In other post-Chris Licht news, I've noticed that the "BREAKING NEWS" tab is again being used rather liberally. Below is one example from today. This was a very good interview and I recommend everyone watch it, but book interviews generally aren't breaking. (Also, did the font on the ticker become less bold or is it just me?)

I don't think it's necessary for MSNBC's anchors and reporters to mention the fact that one of their colleagues is related to a figure in the news for corruption. But I think it would be necessary for her to mention that at the top of her show as a reason why she is not covering one of the week's big stories. I think it's unfair to punish or sideline Alicia for her father's troubles, but perhaps it would be good to have her skip this weekend.

Another News 12 Long Island veteran has left the station. Virginia Huie was there for 17 years. https://www.facebook.com/huie12/posts/pfbid028d65nJxCn12uWns2ETrUx5o1jjZzc4mfaRVD11597Zz1adXZ3Hqnss2jNcWv5E8Hl?__cft__[0]=AZXdj605ou5nJYxGcrw_FNL5TbVTQsIV4JD-h1lxcfUbyqh78A_0o2lz9I8CQ_ek-elSWxc9lRjPjD0Gc20_hgpw3EL4y_0as4Ph34VPdkTkWzRNQYWftvrVB2qeIGhPJ4YYzoltRaNAzYHAgTWVyIP-aavWV0xe6d9EC1WMBvdYh8NC_UhPN7PhQ5jEUB_k_Hs&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

This is the first time I've noticed family/personal photos being used for a newscast's talent open. (Not trying to turn this thread into a list...)

I agree with your overall point, but just wanted to clarify that an hour of television is not just one hour of work for producers, writers and anyone else involved in it.

CNN This Morning moved back into the old New Day studio this morning (the one with the brick loft look), with an updated background skyline montage that still incorporates America coast to coast but is bluer and brighter. When the show launched in November, they were said to be in a temporary studio (originally for CNN+) and that a brand new studio was in the works. Guess not? Yesterday Today Looks like the family photos didn't make the move with the show.

CBS 2 updated their 9/11 ceremony graphics this year to match their new look. (Once again, they are VERY large.) Interestingly, they used the CBS 2 black square logo and not the CBS News New York one.

Strange but WNBC briefly cut away from the National Anthem at Ground Zero to take NBC's special report about the ceremonies this morning. Lasted probably about 30-45 seconds. Wonder if it was automated (didn't seem so as the beginning of the open was cut off) or if a master control operator saw a special report coming down and instinctively pushed the button.

Looks better today with the ticker included (even if it looks off by about a pixel).

I think the only time you see a curve on the bug (top left) is when it sits alone -- no lower-third, no live.

First look at CNN's new severe weather bar. I'm guessing the same shape will be used for election results but it seems incredibly large for the little bit of information it's being used for right now. I'm also not a fan of the way things don't line up nicely in all situations.

The ticker, sans time and temperature, popped up just in time for sports on the 6:00. (Just realized that it only showed scores and was only used for sports. It returned to the regular static look right after Otis wrapped.)

I agree with you that it seems silly to make changes and then nearly revert all the way back after a short time. The main reason for this is that there has been a change in leadership again. The new guy wanted to make his mark on everything and had ideas for improvements. He was let go after just over a year and new new management, which was there under the original management, felt like fixing some things in their eyes, including the graphics and schedule again. I think most viewers won't notice this week's graphics adjustments... Many actually probably didn't even notice the big June 1st change since it was overall pretty similar.

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.)

As for when the new primetime starts... Wolf Blitzer just congratulated Laura Coates on getting the 11:00 slot. He asked her when it starts and she said, "As soon as I can go live!" A few seconds later, after Wolf said that he loves her (it wasn't creepy at all the way he said it, despite how it may come across in my typing!), Laura said, "Wolf loves me! Let's start tonight!" And then Gloria Borger chimed in, "You might!" It seems that CNN is intending for the new primetime to start tonight (the promo made it seem like the new lineup is effective now) but they're also waiting for news on the former president's likely fourth criminal indictment so perhaps CNN's schedule is in flux tonight. However, Pamela Brown's 3:00 show did not begin today.

Another update to the graphics again as of 9 a.m. Keeping the overall Licht graphics but everything is back to the Zucker placements: Show title, time, and Live. The lower third no longer has the red transitions, and reporters' names animate in again instead of seeming to appear on "another slide." The CNN logo is back in reporters' titles (instead of just text). Oh, and the ticker is back. Regarding the lineup changes: Interesting that Laura Coates finally gets her evening show after it being announced and then taken away. And the return of "NewsNight"! Surprised that Alisyn seems to be lost in the shuffle. Also interesting that women lead four of the five hours from 7 to midnight.

CBS 2 CBS News New York has added the ticker/flipper, but only on the online stream so far. The TV broadcast continues to show the tickerless ticker. I don't understand why it took them so many months to edit the one that they used with the previous look, because it's largely the same, just designed to align with the new bug. And I still think it's pretty useless. I wish they'd focus on making the ticker local. Also, tighten up the animations so there aren't so many times where nothing is displayed. The hyper local 7-day forecasts for various towns across the region lack details. I'd rather something more like now/tonight/tomorrow (or now/today/tonight, depending on the time of day) so that they could fit some text descriptions and not ignore low temperatures. Sports scores should be limited to local teams so that viewers don't have to watch every game's score slowly flash by. Lottery results are also weird to me, and take up too much time. But it seems the tickers are pretty automatic. Just pulling data from feeds and headlines off the website (headlines that are sometimes extremely vague).

WLNY actually appears to be running the same NCIS that's airing on WCBS/CBS Primetime. Do we think this was planned or a last-second scramble to fill airtime?

Good question. I've been wondering about that, too. Seems like a strange concept that was probably a pet project of Licht's. But contracts have been signed so maybe CNN has to at least give it a try. Did they ever say which hour it would take over on Wednesdays? 9? 10?

They seem to change their graphics very often. I guess they're really going all-in on the end-to-end lower-thirds.

I have definitely been enjoying the team of Poppy and Phil. Phil is smart and energetic and works well with Poppy. Sometimes he gets a little too silly or off-topic when making a point, but I think that could be an easy fix. I wonder if we'll ever see the studio that was being built for CNN This Morning, and if it'll be saved for the relaunch of the show (or whatever replaces it).