Mrknowitall526

The new weather graphics have a "retro" yet fresh look to them. I don't think "retro" is the best word, but at first I thought they were a step backwards, especially the italic caps on the yellow background with the plain-ish font, but I like what they are doing with the 2nd line of the title in radar loops, etc. The new 7-day forecast looks really clean. I like that they highlight the weekends in the same yellow color, and they also appear to be highlighting "big events" in red, with Friday & Saturday having a red highlight. I would be pleased if new L3's mimicked the weather ... "upper thirds" ... if that's a phrase?

Close to 5 years

A refresh of the L3s is badly needed ... Everything else IMO still looks nice

Wow, that is so random. I really hope they don't create a Delaware newscast. I'd like to see them cover the LV proper more in depth rather than go down to DE.

Nice that her first story got to be from Philly ... I wonder if she is still living in the area? I never realized until this report what a good reporter she is. She wasn't my favorite as an anchor, but this report was really well done. Glad ABC snatched her up!

I agree, they are a great team together, and I wish she would fill in it 5 pm! But Sarah is an excellent reporter, too, so maybe they'd rather have her put to use there.

Just saw Dan Skeldon do the weather on the 10pm show. A quick Google and it looks like he was on NBC40 in Atlantic City before it shut down last year. He was really good! Wonder who he is replacing??

I find her presence on the news laughable - my family and I often say that we don't understand why she is allowed to still be on the newscast, aside from the fact that she's been with the station since its inception (and before then, in its radio days!). The things she says, and her choice of outfits, are just beyond words. I suppose these issues you brought up (many of which were dead-on IMO) are because of a lack of competition - there are literally no other option for super-local LV news aside from the cable news channels (Service Electric and RCN - I'm not even sure if either of them still have a news product? Blue Ridge TV 13 does - and it's actually really good in terms of being hyper-local - but it is mostly in the Poconos and reaches only the northern fringes of Berks/Lehigh/Northampton counties at best).

Wow, that was unexpected!?

No, it's not "Philadelphia worthy" but they also don't use Philadelphia as their main focus. Many people up here in the LV do not watch the Philly news simply because it is one murder, rape, scandal, etc. After another. We don't have as much crime up here, so they don't need to report on that. I'm fine with Wendy & Rob, I think they're a great team. The problem I see more often is blatant technology problems. Also last night during the 6 pm show, they cut abruptly back to Wendy and then Rob during at least two reports, mid-sentence. It was quick enough for them to say, "Sorry about that, we're having some technical problems" then went back to the story right where it left off. Things like this happen several times a week. Another one comes to mind. WFMZ seemed to be one of the first to arrive on scene (from what I saw, anyway) at the runaway blimp's landing site near Williamsport last week. In the middle of a live shot of Hilary Lane interviewing a witness, the feed was lost and they cut back to the studio and did the weather. Now, I realize that is quite a distance from the station, and someone said once that they use a lot of those portable back packs that use cell coverage to send video, but they need to be reliable! They really try hard during the 6 pm news, during the first 10-12 minutes. There are often reports by at least 3 or 4 different people. What bothers me is the History's Headlines at 6 pm nearly everyday, and then replayed again at 10 pm! They try really hard and have 9+ hours of news everyday, but IMO not enough happens in the Lehigh Valley proper to warrant such extensive coverage. But people will keep tuning in because the only other choice for "local" news we have are the Morning Call and the Express-Times newspapers. Even the radio stations get copy from WFMZ to read during morning news segments.

Anyone notice how Lauren Kusik has been on before 6 am, and then Matt B comes in? Seems interesting

I thought that the color of the text on the ticker was too dark with the blue color of the ticker - very hard to read. Also, it was going way too fast.

If i remember I think this current set debuted sometime around ... 2006? ... perhaps? Or maybe not. But I think it's been about that long since it started. Their previous set was absolutely horrible, it was tiny and looked like they were in a garage. The weather center literally had one 13" TV and black-painted trellis type stuff (that plastic you put for vines to grow up on) on the walls. They've come a long way. IMO the professionalism really stepped up when they a.) went HD (which was in 2010 or 11) and b.) when they got the current graphics package (the WLEX ones). I honestly started watching a lot more since they upgraded the graphics. Before, they were just so cheesy looking all the time. They cover Berks county extremely well. I am actually somewhat disappointed lately in the coverage of Lehigh County, but there really isn't a whole lot of "newsworthy" stuff that happens. Although I suppose if they really tried hard they could have stuff to report on every day. Jamie Stover seems to have taken over for Meghan Packer in terms of being really busy on the evening newscasts. I really miss Meghan, but Jamie, Hilary Lane and Keleigh Gibbs have really gotten good lately IMO.

Yes, I do remember seeing a commercial about that. I definitely miss Meghan Packer, but so far I'm impressed with Amanda Van Allan.

I agree with the "where is Rick" stuff -- just give it a rest people! They said he is no longer with the station, move on already! I actually am liking Steve better, and his traffic reports are more detailed and hyper-local than Rick ever did. I have seen him zoom in on Route 309 & 873 in Schnecksville. An important artery in the area, but nowhere near a 22 or 78. Nice to see small areas get some love on the air! Matt still must be a bit under the weather since he has not been back in the morning show yet. I really like Lauren Kusik, so it is nice to have gotten to see so much of her lately.

Maybe she's working on something big? I kind of thought we'd see her with Caitlyn Jenner, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

On a weekend, no less! Brian & Sharrie could just have easily have anchored it from their vantage at the WMOF stage, but I guess the background ambient noise would have been distracting.

Wow! I'm upset - she is one of the best reporters on 69. Obviously a bigger station feels the same way! I really will miss her. About the PPL Center, they put special beams in the ground to prevent any more sink holes from happening. As I said before, they probably are not using the studio currently (although Monday night is an exception to this) because they are do some work on the concrete floors inside the building. They were put in in a hurry and during the cold winter of 2013-14 and did not cure properly. They are probably working during the day time (I'd assume).

I think it's done because it usually accompanies a video of the scene, so he's narrating the scene and using "that" and "those" etc.

Ah, see what you mean. I actually like that, I think it keeps the newscast flowing. Maybe I'm just kind of used to it, being near Philly and watching Action News. They kind of do that sometimes too ... "Action News on Ben Franklin Parkway tonight as the stage is assembled for Pope Francis' visit" etc.

What, for example, is bad about the writing? I don't notice anything outrageous.

The instant index was much different also and much better IMO

I thought he did a pretty good job, actually!

Love the new graphics ... Sorely needed! I like all the "digital" stuff of whatever text scrolls on the right side when the over the shoulder graphics are on. This is a good thing for WNT. Also I couldn't believe the amount of headline bumpers they showed -- way more than usual, right?

I agree. I'm not really that impressed by Sharrie as an anchor, but she is a good reporter. Sarah Bloomquist is good at both but she is a GREAT reporter. While it would be nice to see her anchor more than 12 pm, I'd really miss her reports and I think it would be a loss to the newscasts if she wasn't reporting.