cbs2newengland
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Posts posted by cbs2newengland
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Per DCRTV.com, W*USA has hired away ex-WJLA ND Bill Lord as their news director and station manager.
Probably the smartest thing Gannett has done with W*USA in over 15 years, if that.
What's the diff between a station manager and a general manager? I think WMAQ has someone in that same position
That was beyond their control as several of the NBC O&O's were also late to converting their newscasts to HD and the blame falls squarely on Jeff Zucker/GE.
For what reasons?
(Misremembered story redacted)
The WHD calls lasted until at least the late 2000s on WRC's front sign facing Nebraska Ave NW.
If you aren't familiar of those dark days of 2008/09 - the NBC O&Os were in severe disarray, Look C was pushed at most stations, some implemented for better or for worse; the PR fallout at WNBC with the move to Studio 7E, and cuts across all of their stations which that would make sense that WRC wasn't in HD until 2010. The fault really lied into Zucker's leadership of mismanagement.
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Now? You mean like the last 15-18 years? I can't name any of the major market ABC7s that has blown up the size of the ABC disc since their introductions in the late 90s. Textures, effects, and styles have changed, but the proportions are no different. Hell, these stations pretty much didn't have bugs before the ABC# era.
No. I know what you're talking about, however I thought the ABC logo got smaller for a period of time at some stations then blew up again, or maybe it was really the Circle 7 that shrunk.
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WCBS' roster seems to be small for the largest DMA, is the weekend crew both responsible for doing morning and evening newscasts?
I believe up here WBZ has morning and evening crews for weekends.
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They'll probably have to, to add the ABC logo because ABC is so adamant about their logo being prominent on the affiliates. I don't know why. the circle three looks fine the way it is. The "kiii tv" part could stand to be updated some, but don't mess with the circle 3.
Another logo that I hope stays, KBMT's 12.
I wonder when ABC will start pushing the affiliates to not only use the ABC logo, but the larger than life one. I hate the ABC 7 bugs now because both logos are almost as even.
WFAA's logo is tacky, but I don't fault them, Belo or Gannett. The logo could be better off alternating the 8 and the ABC logo and do like a spin effect.
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Unless a user is posting material that he/she/we should not have access to, you don't have to worry. Discussion is fine, even if it's "inside baseball". You don't think members of the stations are reading this site already? They are. No one is going to lose their job unless they cross the lines of proprietary information and such.
I mentioned the Twitter followers of TVNT earlier. In anyway its just another set of eyes monitoring the news business.
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anything happing in NY that would be special to have the weekday crew?
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KREM made their graphics change today at 5pm. Didn't use the same cut as KING. And their weather graphics seem to still be the old ones.....
wow - that's really a curveball, a launch at five on a weekend?
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I think that aside from cosmetic changes, Gannett should run WFAA like under Belo where it was basically their baby and WFAA got whatever it wanted. I know Gannett holds KUSA in high regard but they shouldn't. Denver is a slow-growth market compared to Dallas and Gannett should treat WFAA as such.
Well if so goes WFAA, what about KHOU? They've owned them for ages and Houston is just as a fast growing market too. I thought they were Belo's second baby, also in terms of favoritism.
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I believe he was referring to the fact that televisions and websites in general can tell who referred them to their website. So if I posted a link to NBC10's website they if they were so so inclined find out who referred someone to NBC10. Most TV stations use real time analytical software to display on a screen in the newsroom what stories are gaining traction and the top 10 websites sending traffic their way.
With all that being said I think that cbs2newengland was coming from by saying we shouldn't advertise to the stations the things that we talk / post here. Because some of the stuff we discuss is a bit inside baseball and we won't want anyone to loose their jobs if an employer found out about this.
That part kinda makes me paranoid. It's with any site. Omnibars kinda suck in one way when you want to call up a vintage video on YouTube to then go on the station's site and who knows if the station can see all my other tabs...
My question I put out was just for general practice, whether or not it's a good idea to hotlink content from a station. I wasn't saying whether or not we should advertise TVNT and the subject matters. IMO, the cat has gone out of its bag starting with other list-serves before TVNT and if anything, the stations should be flattered, since there are more news geeks then before. Never mind they got much more priorities to be concerned especially in the age of declining newsrooms and move to automation *coughs* and other things that impacts a modern newsgathering op.
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Hey all,
I haven't had the chance to visit in the last few days, only had 5 minutes here and there.
Now, Rampage was simply abysmal.
TIH may be generic and a bit hokey, but there is no realistic way you can compare it to the auditory disaster that was Rampage.
It took me years to grow to liking the Rampage theme, I someone here years back compared it to a "broken fax machine." The Rampage theme at the time kinda got rid of the already mentioned legacy brandings of Denver, Portland, Cinci and Atlanta. All (except for Portland - since Good News was already dated) had some really decent themes. If anything Gannett should've worked with Third Street to compose, since they were known well for the KUSA and KARE 11 music. I could go on...
Just keep in mind. Your opinion. Not everyone.
Yes, in these types of discussions, theres no science, its just the ear of the beholder, you know!
It is that same exact cue!
I still felt that the Deathstar could've had Gari do a 'Spirit of Texas' variant for just WFAA & KHOU. They ain't that cheap to do that.
I noticed all the King stations, even KTVB is using that same opening cue. Even though I'm hoping KREM 2 would shock us, I wouldn't hold my breath.
But Damn! What a summer of this G3 rollout Part 2! I don't think we've talked about the Deathstar this much, since the first infamous standardization in 2008.
RIP Spirit Of Texas for good.
To be quite honest, I think The Spirt would sound horrifically with TIH. I can't imagine the The Sprit with such melody of TIH. TIH's cuts are very tight, less than 5 seconds on opens, so they would also have to be really spiffy.
The writing was obviously on the wall after the Belo deal was announced, it was only a matter of time TIH and everything else would get pushed out.
As I said before, may the best local image ID campaign known as The Spirit of Texas rest in peace. For many years I had associated that with WFAA, but now I give KHOU more credit because they had incorporated the Lone Star Flag into their graphics. Seems to be of all TX markets, Houston in the last 2 decades seemed to be more patriotic in the imaging.
I don't know why, but I like that custom cue so much better than the crap KENS uses (the same cut as the NW cluster). I wouldn't say it sounds "Texas-y" per se, but it does sound very authoritative.
As for the London stations, they all use Stephen Arnold themes. I wonder if they used them on a group wide contract basis similar to Nexstar. If they have a heavy Texas accent to them, I'd say it's more Arnold's style and a coincidence. I will miss Third Coast on KIII though. It definitely fits the market in my opinion, (I've been to Corpus countless times over the past fifteen years for a quick getaway. KIII is the station I usually watch because I can't stand the kiddie corps reporters on channel 6). TiH is a very generic theme in my opinion. It's not as bad as cbs2 makes it out to be, but it also isn't a one-size-fits-all theme. That's why I'm not a big fan of standardization, because certain themes fit certain markets like a glove, and then some are out of place. Like TiH would be very out of place on KIII. But unfortunately standardization is inevitable and here to stay.
Also, unlike most people especially those outside the state, I've never really held the Spirit of Texas in high regard. I'm guessing it's because a station here never really used it long-term. KMOL had it in the late 80's but it was gone by 1991 (at the latest, I can't pinpoint an exact date) when they went to their "Straight Talk, Straight Facts, Straight To You" ad campaign.
I'll admit I give TIH a bad name. But you're description of "one-size-fits-all" is the reason why TIH fails for the most part. Read my earlier reply with the need to be spiffy. On Stephen Arnold though, maybe Gannett should go to him for the next gen theme. I wasn't even a fan of his work till a few years ago, now I have a lot of respect of his work.
Didn't KNSD use that "Straight Talk, Straight Facts, Straight to You" campaign too?
In other news, it DOES appear that the new WHAS website has fixed the audio issues that plagued their live streams on the old site...
About time that ISDN-BRI like connection was abandoned, should've been gone years back. So 1995.
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I would question the appropriateness of hotlinking to a station's news content from TVNT. I don't know if there has been legal history with this site, and I know stations follow TVNT on Twitter, but just like RTs, followers - don't = to endorsements.
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Haven't heard it at any other stations, so it may be a custom cut.
I can kind of put "The Spirit of Texas" to that initial signature, though. Gari may have done what it did the the Sinclair signature in Daily News.
even if they add a signature; it still would be classified under my Worst News Themes To Exist. Even with the legacy sound, it would quickly be diluted with the casual, non professional sound that TIH is known for (at least for my ears.)
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What music was used for WCBS' end of year promo for Channel 2 News in 1992? It has a nice melody given that year had deep stories in the news.
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General discussion on the graphics: what is the timeline from when they get a call (or email) from Denver to when the graphics go to air? How much collaboration between the local CS crew and the G3C peeps? I've seen the tweets about webinars for the producers, and stuff. And since they push 16:9 for all, I bet equipment had to be replaced. I read a comment on YT that Gannett was pushing strict deadlines, but I'm betting that was heresy. I'm interested if someone has a general knowledge of these things.
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Now having seen the graphics first hand, I kinda see what everyone is complaining about.
IMO they may as well not even play any music in the open, the bed is so low (aside from the stinger) that's it's almost unnoticeable.
While the banner font is OK, when they add the personal identifier above it, it's too small and hard to read.
I was watching it on my iPhone and thought my phone + A/C (yeah its hawt up here) was the problem. But I think you're right.
One of my major complaints (since the beginning) was the names, I don't like how the headline shrinks to add the name then disappear and expand, it should show the name only then go back to the headline.
I still think the most left story is the current one. I think the story is highlighted, it would be easier to follow, but rundowns is for internal use or if you want to watch a dumbed down ESPN show like SC.
I don't like the idea the headlines crawl one story at a time.
Ever since WFAA launched with the new look and music, I've wondered why the intro has an additional signature. I found a clean portion of it linked below as an example.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pr4clk2wkr1v7qz/gari_thisishome_alt.mp3?dl=0
Was the additional 6 notes before the TIH signature a custom commission primarily meant for former "Spirit" of Texas stations??? I realize it's not the same melody, but you can sing or say "The Spirit of Texas" over it..... or perhaps, just a happy coincidence that's much ado about nothin'....
I'll have to take a moment to listen. I'd be surprised if that is the case.
I know this might be an overblown thought, but I wonder how the long time audio ops or CS team at both stations are handling the Gari music. Belo never used Gari music before. I know these people are pros, but it's worth noting somewhat.
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Today (assuming) at noon, KHOU launched the new graphics. I caught the open, Bill Ratner voiced over the "Standing for Houston". The TIH theme is on the dramatic side. I don't think they did a package on the new graphics on their noon broadcast. I watched a little because i was getting motion sickness with the spinning stingers. Ok, that was dramatic on my part. It was really annoying if that.
I'd be betting that TIH for the tagline will be limited if not used at all. From knowing the station, it seems they put a vested interest in the "Standing for Houston" - they used it for a few years now; and their CSD's YouTube is active with promos with "Standing for" whatever thing is going in their town.
Dare to mention "list" so is KHOU the last original Belo station to get the on air change?
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The Texas Belo years are over...just saw during a commercial break that KHOU will be switching over their graphics on Wednesday. Nothing significant from social media just yet.
Graphics alone, that leaves just KREM (the last of the King Belo cluster) and the London stations.
For me its more of a sad day for that group. Belo from what I know was in big markets, they had some nice assets, but they weren't cheap like a Raycom or a Sinclair, I could be wrong. They had loyalty to their stations. The 2012 graphics and the V 2. of Propulsion had a nice uniqueness to a group level. I'm not that big "all local" kinda guy, but that corporate mandate had sex appeal, substance and quality that for affiliate groups is missing.
Another thing about Gannett mandates is the theme music. Not saying Gari is bad, I like his firm's music, but TIH isn't the strongest, isn't adaptable to the market, and it doesn't shout local like Houston or Dallas or Denver. It's more of a common tagline for the company's goal for their employees being broadcast to their viewers.
Again its worth repeating, but I've always admired The Spirit of Texas - I find that being above " We're 4 New York" campaign (even though I love the NY market mind you.) Seeing that Lone Star flying into the open for KHOU or seeing the words in WFAA's open. To me that was effective branding. Seemed like both stations started to downgrade the tagline a decade ago but kept the signature in their themes. Now KHOU will be the last by noon on Wednesday. You can thank Gannett for that.
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It's becoming obvious that the Gannett budget ax had fallen *hard* at KHOU.
Fewer live shots from reporters, especially in the early afternoon shows. Instead, they doing more in-studio fronts. This is likely to save on photog/live truck operator overtime.
Supers are showing up more often with misspellings. This likely means they cut some writers and associate producers in the newsroom and that line producers are now responsible for not only stacking, but writing, the majority of their own shows (at least that's what it means at KRIV).
The dawn of automation is becoming more obvious too. Lots of technical glitches.
Still no new graphics, though.
Why would they cut KHOU? It's a top 10 market, oh wait they've been cutting at WUSA , another top 10 market.
One newscast I had watched recently made me feel like I was trapped in a time warp where they did kinda the same thing in the 80s, rare live shots and in studio reports.
The cuts and additional responsibility of producers reminds me similar to WNBC. And we know how that worked...
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It's insane how slow it had been to release a new graphics and website design for the last of the Belo stations.
I read a comment on YouTube in the beginning of the year something like there was supposed to be tight deadlines to implementing the new graphics.
Anyways since that station has been brought back to the discussion, its now been 3+ years they have used Propulsion V 2., which sounds lot better than V. 1 and kicks TIH's ass by 10 times, if you asked me. I've put it in the same kick ass class as WCAU's NBC O&O theme which only lasted 2.5 or so years, and that same class that's known to have a short shelf life, at least Propulsion V2/KHOU still is using it. It's just my own opinion.
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Maybe they are going to do it alongside an HD launch a la KTVB. The real question is when is KHOU going to get the new gfx?
I saw one of their newscasts a week or so ago, looks like they are at a snail's pace, if you do not like the graphics - then its still good news if you like the Belo package.
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Also, "new control room smell". Gotta love small market weatherman jokes...
coming from a guy in a small market himself, love that
Same thing could be said if you heard that in a large market.
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How is it unfair? This is television, not preschool. You can't blame WPVI for maintaining viewers. You CAN, however, knock the other stations in town for apparently not doing enough to try to compete over the years.
I have always been a fan of Action News and have been watching them for most of the years I have been living. I have to say though, I have been watching NBC10 the past few months way more than 6ABC. There is just something about it that I like more than 6.
I did a studio tour this past August at NBC10 and all the anchors, behind the scenes people, and meteorologists were much more friendly and hype to talk to their guests. I went to 6ABC in August of 2010 and the people there were friendly but didn't care for you as much. The only people that actually said something were David Murphy (who gave me the tour), Rick Williams, Sarah Bloomquist, and Matt O'Donnell.
The control room people didn't say two words at 6ABC. The lady at NBC10 got right up from her seat and showed me everything they do in the control room).
I know this could start some crap here with people who like WPVI. But for me I I would have found in pretty rude if I am on a tour of your station as a viewer and I was ignored by the talent. To me that is simple laziness, complacency and arrogance. No John Q. Reporter I don't need a heart to heart conversation but just waving or a "Hi How Are you?" unprompted would make me think of you in a more favorable light.
While your interaction with WCAU seemed much more pleasant. If they were willing to talk I would think they are engaged by their job and like it well. Just those behinds the scenes aspects between WPVI and WCAU show the types of people they hire - one that doesn't want to be bothered and another who wants to know their community.
I agree with rkolsen on this one, to me the evidence that there had been some level of complacency to have this apparent perception. Mickey Mouse doesn't care because even if 6 does go down in the ratings, advertisers are buying the brand name of WPVI (much like how CBS' WBZ didn't loose on advertising values when 4 was in the ratings basement a decade ago) and I wouldn't suspect that from happening. I'm trying to stay realistic, but I do think its only a matter of time when 10 will break the long time record for WPVI.
However I think 6 needs to step up their game on their community relations, I can't speak for the control room, but maybe you came in during a live broadcast where they can't really talk (even during commercial breaks) and given Ignite rooms requiring just one or two people now, the problem is that person must be focused at all times during the newscast.
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There were quite a few stations that also used a red/white/blue color scheme to some degree in the '80s. WFLA, owned by Media General, had the color scheme between 1985-1989.
I thought the Gannett look even extended into the Chyron or Vidifont, whatever KHOU was using at that time. Many Gannett stations were using a serif/typewriter like font.
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No station has ever said “Here are our new graphics introduced by mandate because of our [new] owner's corporate standardization policies.” The new graphics story is a must-run? Fine, stick it in C block and hope it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.
I guess ether I am not getting my point across or others aren't getting my point. I find it newsworthy because a) its a new owner, b ) I don't care if its a no story to you, I think it has some news value and c ) the Belo deal happened in 2013, so you could still say "if this reminds you of USA Today, that's because our parent company who publishes them" at least the native stations did that last year. Now that Carl Icahn is getting his way bullying the Gannett BOD, this type of blurb doesn't make much sense, but at least WFAA and KENS could've just slipped a couple extra words from the original 2013 "must report" copy, if that is true.
IMO you can simply the story without getting technical, but the viewers should at least know something than nothing.
WCBS - CBS2 News
in Station Chatter
Posted
I love NYC at night, they don't call it Gotham for nothing!
Maybe WCBS needs to get a PTZ camera like WNBC's (no, not the traditional skycam ones), it works for them (and WMAQ too), and the picture doesn't get too jittery with wind..