carolinanews4
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Posts posted by carolinanews4
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17 hours ago, SnellKrell said:
I refuse to accept the bar continually being lowered - especially when it comes to news.
Why should we accept standards/quality on the descent?
I truly appreciate that you care about visual presentation standards. But I don't see the lack of a high camera or the shift to chromakey as the lowering of the bar for local news.
Endless "local" newscasts filled with national stories from network news services, repurposed packages from ownership sister stations, and copious time spent on television talking about "what people are talking about online". Local newscasts with a shrinking amount of actual community news. That's lowering the bar for news. Not a few tweaks to how a newscast is shot.
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For the CBS owned stations, I think comes down to a lack of budget and the resulting lack of identity. CBS O&Os historically have spent less than their ABC and NBC counterparts leaving them with fewer resources. To play catchup stations like WCBS and WBBM have gone through numerous rebrandings.
From a corporate standpoint, CBS has undervalued the "presentation" portion of TV news which has been reflected in the way they fund their local stations. They live in the Walter Cronkite era of storytelling. Admirable? Sure. But television is a visual medium and newscasts are built on a relationship with the viewer. I don't feel like CBS has ever truly embraced either of those things. The lack of investment was easier to hide in the 70s and 80s because everyone's presentation was crude. But as technology has evolved, CBS always seems to be playing catch-up.
When Jeff Zucker cut NBC budgets in the early 2000s, WNBC went into their "WCBS era" where they lacked identity and money. The NBC O&O group launched Daily Connection which was a "newscast" that featured repurposed content from across NBCU properties. The pieces of the show were assembled in NYC and then fed to stations to be produced with local talent. (Sound similar to the equally generic CBS News Now broadcast from Texas?) Cost efficient? You bet. Compelling tv? Not at all.
WNBC eliminated Live at Five in favor of News4You and Extra. When that didn't work, WNBC played musical chairs with timeslots, anchors, and formats for years. WNBC their newsroom into a "Content Center" which was nothing more than a gimmick, like the gimmick WCBS tried in launching the short-lived CBS 2 Information Network. It was during this time when WCBS was able to move up to #2, not because Channel 2 was doing anything particularly compelling but because they offered stability where WNBC didn't.
Valari Staab, formerly with the ABC O&O group, has spent over a decade rebuilding the newsgathering resources of the NBC group. New radar technology, studios, increased digital resources, heck even new buildings have been added. CBS meanwhile appears to continue the "more with less" mantra that has been in place for over 40 years. While NBC was rebuilding, the ABC stations, with their well-defined local identities, have steamrolled everyone with a consistent and well-funded product. Meanwhile the FOX O&O group, with seemingly endless hours of local news, generates strong local revenue.
What has CBS done? Slapped the last-place 'CBS News' brand onto their local stations. Most of the CBS stations lack the type of true community investment it takes to be a strong player. With audiences for linear TV newscasts continuing to shrink, one could argue it Is way too late for them to catch up.
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7 hours ago, TSSZNews said:
"... one of them is for viewers to identify with the group's product throughout the country."
If this is a benefit of a group product, and that is a big IF, then it is an inadvertent benefit. To say a New Yorker who goes to LA will be drawn to KABC because they share a lower third with WABC is probably overstating the impact of graphics. The real driver for a group package is cost savings. Plain and simple. In ABC's case, it is one package for eight stations. Fox and NBC have been doing it for years. Not only do you save on development but there are downstream savings because topical graphics can be shared. KABC, KGO, and KFSN are probably all sharing flooding graphics for intros, display monitors, etc.
1 hour ago, nycnewsjunkie said:To be fair though, the CBS O&Os were in a different situation than the ABC O&Os.
Exactly! The network news division (save Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes) is in last place. Many of their local stations (save KDKA and WCCO) were laggards in their markets. So why not reimagine the branding to try to help both? But again, this is an excellent cost savings for the CBS group. And as NYCNewsJunkie rightfully points out, it gave them a comprehensive streaming approach for the first time.
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On 12/1/2023 at 1:39 AM, mre29 said:
Lifestyle shows? Home renovation shows? Travel shows? I'm sure NBCU has some of those available in its back catalog.
Even if NBCU has such shows in its back catalog (which is highly doubtful), why would the network and its affiliates want to air years, or perhaps decades, old lifestyles, home, or travel shows? Those types of shows can become dated quickly as trends change. But the real issue is that day and date shows are seen as better performers for broadcast. That's why you see news and sports popping up so much. Scripted shows are moving to streaming because they can get real viewership data and people can watch them whenever they want.
There's a reason why stations like KTLA and WBTV stay as local as possible. Viewership...and thus ad dollars...are better. Which reminds me of something. Does anyone remember when the late Jim Rogers wanted to take his Intermountain West station KSNV all local outside of NBC network hours? It was 2013 and Rodgers started dumping his syndicated product (Jeopard, Wheel, Judge Judy, Inside Edition, Dr. Phil, and Rachel Ray) in favor of local news.
Here is an interesting article from January 2013. It has some very intriguing insights. Jim was about a decade ahead of his time.
In regards to adding so many hours of local programming, Jim said, "I want something I can be proud of and, if it’s got to cost me some money,” that’s OK." Unfortunately, he died about 18 months later. The station would ultimately be sold to Sinclair and they immediately started undoing Jim's plan because, as we all know, they are not OK if it's got to come some money.
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The debut of CNN's once-a-week show, King Charles, garnered slightly over half a million viewers: 501,000 total viewers. Not exactly seller numbers out of the gate but it is a tiny improvement over CNN NewsNight's November average of 474,000 viewers. The Daily Beast, citing Nielsen data, said it was, "the lowest-rated primetime weeknight series debut for the network in at least a decade."
If you are wondering about the timeslot competition: MSNBC had 1.621 total viewers and FNC had 1.973 total viewers. In my opinion, the strategy of making it a "limited series" could mean 501,000 is their high watermark in terms of ratings. There is no vested interest for viewers to get to know the show because it is going away and producers don't have a lot of time to find the show's rhythm.
The whole thing seems unfortunate for everyone involved because there was a lot of effort put into launching and promoting this show when the network already has multiple new shows they need to nurture. I never understood how this show fit into Chris Licht's ultimate vision for CNN...the problem was it didn't seem like Chris knew either. Hopefully, it becomes a hit quickly or reaches the limit part of its limited run quickly.
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28 minutes ago, DENDude said:
So has Tegna & DirecTV reached a deal? or have they extended the current agreement, because as of 6:42PM MST KUSA & KTVD are still available. Anyone know??
It appears as though they went dark: https://deadline.com/2023/11/directv-tegna-stations-dispute-cbs-nbc-nfl-college-football-1235646338/
The deadline was 5 p.m. PST and no deal was reached.
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10 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:
It’s part of MyNetTV’s network primetime lineup. The NBC O&Os have it as part of their daytime syndication package.
Actually, in this case, it isn't. KNBC did not pick up Dateline. The station is clearing the live East Coast feed of NBC Nightly News at 3:30. They added a 3 p.m. newscast leading into Lester. Thus, no room to clear Dateline. KTTV is airing it at 11:30 p.m. This is unrelated to the MyNet feed.
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They showed a bit more of the studio during NY Live. Everything you see that is a gray/white peacock appears to be LED. I say that because during the 11A news, they were filled with a blueish peacock motif. The floor has thin gold bars around the parameter which is reminiscent of the floors on the main level of 30 Rock. That is a nice touch but it is a bit too subtle for most viewers. Unless you worked in the building, you probably wouldn't even notice it.
The main news desk (which you can see part of in the lower right of the bump shot) is more substantial than the previous desk. The lighting appears to be much improved in 3B. For me, it is a clean but uninspired design. I was hoping for something with a bit more of a local feel. Something akin to WRC's studio. That space, while also modest in size, incorporated some local touches like the stone and the map. WNBC's studio feels like the WBTS studio which is ascetically clean but lacking in local personality.
Having said all of that, the space seems nicer than 3K. I always felt like that space was underutilized.
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19 hours ago, NowBergen said:
That I get. Especially with another new studio launched yesterday in 6A for Kelly Clarkson.
6A actually launched earlier than Monday. Yes, it hit the air Monday but it was a live studio prior to that as Kelly tapes about a week in advance. The season premiere that aired on Monday was taped on October 10.
But the launch of 6A has very little connection to 3B. If you were looking for a studio launch that could impact WNBC, look to the other half of the studio. With WNBC and WNJU sharing 3B, you are bringing two spaces online at the same time. Not to mention the logistical hurdles associated with moving WNJU into 30 Rock.
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2 hours ago, IceManNYR said:
Yes the plan is to split the old nightly news studio 3B into two studios for WNBC and WNJU.
Thanks @IceManNYR, I'm aware of the plan to split Studio 3B. I was inquiring about the set, not the studio. Nynewsguy made it sound like the new set is a rehash of the current set. So I was trying to figure out if I read his post correctly.
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On 9/22/2023 at 8:32 AM, nynewsguy said:
Don’t expect anything earth shattering.
it’s smaller than 3K that they are in now. Essentially, think of 3B but with curved walls.
Same style lucite desk. Same blue Peacocks all over.
if I didn’t know it was a different studio; I wouldn’t have guessed.Hey @nynewsguy, are you saying they are replicating their current set in the new studio? If so, that is a huge disappointment. Not to mention it is extremely odd to recreate a look that is 7 years old. I would have guessed a version of WRC's set given WNBC's half of 3A is similar in size and shape to WRC's portion of Nebraska Avenue's Studio A.
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29 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:
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.
If they could simulcast the domestic CNN, I'm sure they would. It would be the easiest and most cost-effective route. But putting the entire U.S. feed on Max would undoubtedly run afoul of their cable contracts. There's probably a percentage of their schedule they can simulcast that keeps them within the bounds of their contracts. Similar to how MSNBC's "Morning Joe" is available live on Peacock, but the rest of the MSNBC schedule isn't live DTC.
As to why they don't simply simulcast the International feed, my guess is because of a concern that a full day of international news wouldn't attract a large number of American viewers. I'm not saying there isn't an audience for international news, so don't come at me thinking I hate international headlines. I'm just saying that a domestic audience is more likely to want more American headlines than international ones.
CNN Max is going to have a huge uphill battle. Fox Nation has figured out its streaming business model. NBC has NBC News Now and an MSNBC hub on Peacock. So CNN's main cable rivals have already figured out the economics of this and are positioned to scale up DTC as the cable bundle continues to implode. Now CNN has to play catchup, which seems like a theme for them as of late.
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@Nelson R. Thank you both. I find that history interesting.
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1 hour ago, tyrannical bastard said:
At least back in 1984, CBS affiliates had that time slot to themselves. So many crap shows are on the air simply because the networks won't return time to their affiliates.
Am I missing something? This isn't a long-term problem. CBS has a plan for the 12:30A slot, but those plans are temporarily on hold due to strikes. So I do not understand why returning time to the affiliates is even being mentioned. As for a comparison to 1984, that isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. There were three commercial networks and PBS. So to compare almost 40-year-old programming choices doesn't seem relevant. But that's just my thinking.
1 hour ago, Nelson R. said:CBS also programmed 10-11am ET, but the programming was better.
Technically, CBS still does. Let's Make a Deal runs at 10A Eastern. However, some affiliates have chosen to air it later in the day
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Bloomberg reports that Neeraj Khemlani is stepping down as president and will take on a new role within the company. Interestingly part of his new " position with the company to develop books for Simon & Schuster." That part of CBS reportedly has been sold to KKR.
Update: Deadline has a lot more detail including two memos https://deadline.com/2023/08/cbs-news-neeraj-khemlani-steps-down-1235495240/
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3 hours ago, nickp said:
please give Robin Meade her job back! Robin Meade is amazing!
The "folksy" tone of the show was a double-edged sword. It was that warm approach that made it a "success" on HLN but it is also why it was never considered a fit for the mothership. I put success in quotes because its ratings were good...for HLN...but the expectations for that channel were always lower than main CNN. The tenor of Morning Xpress was always lighter than the more serious tone CNN wanted through numerous iterations of New Day. Now, you could make the case constant anchor changes, set changes, etc. never really moved the needle against Fox & Friends and Morning Joe so why not try something different. But sadly, I don't see it happening.
1 hour ago, jrogo said:Im also wondering if MSNBC is smart enough to take advantage of CNN’s down position and make any changes to primetime or weekends ahead of the election year, seems like a great time for MSNBC to tidy up the network while CNN is a mess.
I don't see MSNBC making any adjustments because of CNN. They have been giving Fox a run for its money since Tucker's departure. (Obviously that has more to do with FNC's stumble but hey an opportunity is an opportunity) So, I don't see them adjusting anything because of a distant third-place CNN. If anything, they should focus on what (if anything) they can do to break FNC's long run atop the weekly ratings.
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After reading that article, the biggest red flag for me is that I don't understand Licht's vision for CNN.
What is the mission and purpose of the news organization? A clear mission statement is often a rallying point for culture change. After spending time with that lengthy profile, you don't walk away with a crystal-clear picture of where he wants to take the channel. I understand what he's against, like boxes...he hates boxes to the point that the control room can say it in unison. He seemingly spends a lot of time trashing anything that was built in Zucker's vision. Fine. You don't like how he managed the channel. But what is your vision? Staff and ultimately viewers need more than a generic "under new management" type message.
Here's the unfortunate reality for CNN; the competition has defined identities, and they don't. MSNBC captured the liberal lane. FOX, from its inception, laid claim to the conservative lane. So that leaves CNN to claim the middle. While the center of the ideological spectrum is a huge potential audience, it isn't exactly an audience that shows up night after night for cable news. The other two channels have built in audiences looking to see what mud their favorite host is going sling in the opposite direction. To me, the middle isn't a long-term solution. You are just Fox lite to one group and you are MSNBC lite to the other. Stand for something different!
In my opinion, CNN should transform its primetime into storytelling and original reporting. Two of the most watched shows on television (broadcast or cable) are 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. Each do in-depth original reporting and that old-school style reporting gets people talking. And given CNN doesn't have the same time constraints as 60 minutes, you could air the report and then bring the reporter (and other appropriate guests) in for a debrief. Plus, it gets you out of covering politics every night. This is a huge country, there are plenty of stories to tell beyond the political ones.
That is just one of a dozen different directions CNN could go. It is a costly and time-intensive idea, so it might not feasible. But at least it is a clear vision, something in 15,000 words I didn't get from the head of CNN.
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Definitely better than what they had before. I do appreciate when bits of local flavor are added to a set. And by that, I mean something local you recognize at quick glance. Not the "we put stone on this wall because our community has stones." To me, these local touches give a hint of personality that help prevent a set from being so sterile. In WCIV's case, I appreciate the Cooper River Bridge and Rainbow Row being included in the Low Country Live area. I wish they had done something similar on the duratrans behind the desk. But this is certainly a nice upgrade for the ABC4 team.
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Broadcasting & Cable has more on the changes at KYW. Their new branding is "Finding Heart in Every Beat" which is certainly unique.
https://www.nexttv.com/news/kyw-philadelphia-scraps-eyewitness-news-for-new-branding
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20 hours ago, Breaking News said:
With WXIA ownership imperil it caused their stations to somewhat flat line.
With respect, according to these numbers WXIA has held fairly consistent. They went from 9% share of news viewers in the demo to 8%. Since WSB states the figures are rounded, that could mean WXIA had an 8.6% share in June 2022 and an 8.4% share in February 2023. A decrease to be sure, but hardly a huge stumbling.
As for the supposed gains for WANF, they aren't reflected in these numbers. WANF's performance held steady with WGCL's share. Very slight increase for WPCH. While I like WANF's new approach, it hasn't moved the needle...yet.
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Very interesting. They took Studio A, which was an enormous studio, and divided it up into three smaller studios. WRC is in one. WZDC (Telemundo) is in another. And the use for the third studio, which looks like it might be smaller than the other two, has yet to be announced. Jummy Olabanji called it a "secret studio that we can't show you yet."
WRC now has a rare luxury of space. In addition to the large column-free space that used to be the network newsroom, there's the studio WRC just vacated and there is the old MSNBC studio upstairs. I don't know that I would count the old Telemundo 44 studio as extra space because that was shoehorned into the building.
At first look, I was a bit underwhelmed. But I realized there's a lot of grayish white "blocks" that make up the walls. Obviously, this is a nod to classic DC architecture. Once I realized that detail, I kind of liked it. Even though the effect does leave it looking a bit cold and sparce. There's a really cool DC map but its location in a corner by the door makes it seem like it might not make it on camera all that much. They are still in construction mode - they haven't fully loaded in the weather center yet. So, it will be another couple of weeks before the space is fully utilized.
I do wonder if this is a preview of how WNBC will utilize the split Studio 3B. WRC's layout really does a great job of maximizing space and that will be essential in 3B.
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After seven months of construction, KXAN has unveiled their new studio.
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6 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:
Because they want stability, and an 80-yr old isn’t gonna provide that. And a matter of correction, she works 4 days a week, as she has Mondays off.
I stand corrected. Thanks @TVNewsLover, I was unaware of her schedule. I totally agree with you that age of the host is a consideration when analyzing the long-term viability of a program. But that was not what the person who first mentioned age appeared to be saying. That person's post was, I believe, intended to shut down what they called "uncited rumors" and in that course mentioned someone was 80. The age thing just seemed out of place in that context.
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18 hours ago, 24994J said:
There are many directions the network could go with the GMA3 slot, with merely an official host change naturally being the most likely. Let's keep the speculation to a minimum. An uncited rumor about an 80-year-old comedian moving to that hour is not necessary to post. Legitimate publications only, please.
I don't understand why someone's age was part of this comment. Let's see you (or any of us for that matter) do live television five days a week at 80 years old. The way the original post was written seemed a bit snarky to me. I hope that wasn't the intention.
By the way, this story about Joy Behar was first published by Radar Online https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ambitious-joy-behar-eyeing-amy-robach-s-gma-job-as-abc-scrambles-to-find-replacement-after-t-j-holmes-affair-scandal/ar-AA16Xbwo An ABC rep has denied the story. I agree that there are many directions ABC News could go with this show. But I would be surprised if they went opinion heavy. ABC News already has that...it is called The View.
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CBS News Streaming
in Network News
Posted · Edited by carolinanews4
typo on dates
This is part of why I believe CBS News lags behind its competitors. First, it is yet another rebrand in a seemingly endless string of rebrandings. Just this property alone has had three names in its short life. It launched in Nov. 2014 as "CBSN" before announcing in Sept. 2021 that the streamer would become simply "CBS News". Then in 2022, the Hollywood Reporter reported that "CBS News is rebooting its streaming service, overhauling its entire programming slate." Now, in 2024, comes another new name.
CBS News, sans 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning which are frozen in time, appears to take a flavor-of-the-month approach to everything else. It lacks consistency and a true ethos of what its products are supposed to be. Even the programming on "CBS News 24/7" seems to lack full commitment. The channel's newscast of record, "The Daily Report with John Dickerson" may be expanding to 90 minutes but is still only airing Monday through Thursday. I recognize Fridays are slow news days and viewership is light, but I believe you demonstrate commitment to the product by showing up five days a week.
CBS launched nearly five years before NBC's streaming product. Today, NBC News Now streams original day-and-date programming M-F from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Its signature newscast, Top Story with Tom Llamas, airs M-F. ABC's ABC News Live also streams its signature program, ABCNL Prime with Linsey Davis, five nights a week. This past September, ABC announced an expansion of live programming on the channel that also launched in 2018. Live programming only gets added so long as there is revenue to support the expansion. You'd think with such a huge headstart that CBS would be the leader in live programming. But it is not. I believe it is because CBS is constantly toiling with reboots and rebranding.