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9 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:


Yes, it was quietly announced last spring at the same time the station announced Diana Williams would retire in September.  Jim left in June and preferred to call it “moving on”, not a retirement.  His next chapter is opening a craft beer and community entertainment venue in his hometown of Lititz, PA.

Wonder if that's the same place he and his ex Mika bought a few years back? Out of curiosity I looked at Lititz PA on Comcast, looks like they carry both the Harrisburg, PA channels (in HD) and appear to carry the Philadelphia ones in SD.

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55 minutes ago, iron_lion said:

WABC is solid! The only thing I wish they'd work on is thieir studio and graphics. To have quality plus presentation would be the icing on the cake, IMO.

 

Studio just got upgrades to hold them til the network relocates, and new graphics might be coming.

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On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 12:21 PM, Roadgeek Adam said:

Shirleen returned today as expected. 

 

David presented her with flowers and a coffee card. 

 

Which means Rob & Michelle may be back this coming weekend or next. They ran promos for Shirleen's return. 

Unrelated: Did anyone get a peek at the November book for any of the stations?

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Jesus, the kvetching about that graphic package doesn't stop. I get it. It's not the best graphic package, but the old ones were going for multiple years at this point and it was time for change. Yes, it will get changed eventually. It's the not worst thing I've seen. It's readable. 

 

It's light years better than KABC's. 

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I think aesthetically WABC is a victim of their own success - we're in a very static news market, and WABC's dominance has been imprinted upon nearly two generations at this point. The comically large text, stodgy format, primary colors and dated music are certainly iconic. Even though I find the entire product fundamentally incompatible with my tastes, I absolutely understand the rationale for keeping WABC in the 90s - it's working. 

Edited by DMA
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Something interesting tonight.. Liz Cho is off (not sure who filled in at 4) but Lauren Glassberg is on with Bill at 6.. from what I remember if Bill or Liz were off the other would anchor solo. I even remember them both being off the fill in person would be solo.. 

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On 12/5/2019 at 2:18 PM, Roadgeek Adam said:

Jesus, the kvetching about that graphic package doesn't stop. I get it. It's not the best graphic package, but the old ones were going for multiple years at this point and it was time for change. Yes, it will get changed eventually. It's the not worst thing I've seen. It's readable. 

 

It's light years better than KABC's. 

 

Honestly it is just this particular package that we keep griping about haha because it is a downgrade in my opinion from what they've previously used. The Giant Octopus package from late Summer 2011 to Spring 2016 was arguably their best they've ever had:

 

 

 

 

In my opinion those graphics above were their best on air look.

 

Honestly I prefer the KABC graphics over the WABC. Much cleaner and more effective in my opinion.

 

Their previous package looks similar to WLS's current package. I wonder if GO did the same thing.

 

 

Maybe when they move to their new location we'll see an overhaul in their on-air look and branding.

 

 

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21 hours ago, Vlad said:

Maybe when they move to their new location we'll see an overhaul in their on-air look and branding.

 


I never understand reasoning like this. Graphics packages in the 21st century involve little more than new software and perhaps swapping out a server and a keyboard (plus training and replacing the library of stock elements). It’s not like you need a whole floor of printing presses and diesel generators. If WABC or anybody else wanted to make radical graphic changes at any point, they could and would.
 

The thing to remember is, when you make a colossal overhaul of your graphic look, it affects more than lower thirds. If your whole look changes radically overnight, suddenly your whole libraries of full screens, banners, over the shoulders and franchise opens are dead. Add in promotion graphics and the rest of the station on air look (because it’s always tied to News), and you are literally reinventing the wheel. That means rebuilding everything before launch, or on the fly. Graphic looks are not like re-painting the living room. It’s building a whole new house.

 

But a subtle change might give your lower thirds and banners a refreshed look, while preserving the possibly thousands of images in your library. Graphics created with the updated look will still blend in. And over time, everything will change. Until the next time.

 

You might not like graphic updates that are only subtle changes. But from a practical point of view, they are the only kind that work and preserve sanity. 

Edited by MetroCity
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There's no reason to keep the same graphics. WABC used it for years until 2016. I'm not suggesting we should keep the same package going for 20 years, but a refresh is always good. Just for perspective: 

 

1968-1975

1975-1978

1979-1983

1983-1986

1987-1994

1995-1998 [in my opinion, the worst]

1999-2003

2004-2008

2009-2015

2016-present

 

These are the ages of the graphic packages. Right now we're probably on pace to replace them in 2020-2021, but I'd not expect much until the move I'm guessing. 

 

The problem is the minimalist nature of the KABC graphics also lead to limitations like this. 

 

WABC's is 2 lines and while it may be bulkier, it guarantees lines like this fit.  

Edited by Roadgeek Adam
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1 hour ago, Roadgeek Adam said:

The problem is the minimalist nature of the KABC graphics also lead to limitations like this. 

 

WABC's is 2 lines and while it may be bulkier, it guarantees lines like this fit.  

 

The KABC package also has a 2-line lower third option.

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On 12/13/2019 at 8:38 AM, Vlad said:

Their previous package looks similar to WLS's current package. I wonder if GO did the same thing.

 

Close, but not quite. These packages are the result of the two founders of GO breaking off to do their own thing. Ruth Dial (Who freelanced during the time, but is now back at GO) did the WLS package, and Rey Rodriguez (now "Linear Drift") did most of the current WABC package until he (allegedly) decided to prioritize work on the current-gen CBS O&O graphics, and dumped the remaining WABC work onto Ruth. Ever notice how the WABC lower third looks a lot like the CBS O&O lower third?

 

The previous WABC package referenced was their combined work under GO. 

 

The rumor around the industry has been that WABC wasn't happy with the current package since day one, and who can fault them for that, since day one included running opens with "NEWS YORK'S #1 NEWS" plastered all over them.

 

There is a very good chance they will get new graphics before they move.

 

Speaking of the move: The first renderings of the new building were released a few weeks ago. Current plans call for the ground floor to be all retail, so don't expect another streetside studio. In fact, The View and Live! studios will apparently be below-grade. Maybe the long standing rumors of the SUPERSET(!!!) will finally come to fruition. 😂

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3 hours ago, Roadgeek Adam said:

There's no reason to keep the same graphics. WABC used it for years until 2016. I'm not suggesting we should keep the same package going for 20 years, but a refresh is always good. Just for perspective: 

 

1968-1975

1975-1978

1979-1983

1983-1986

1987-1994

1995-1998 [in my opinion, the worst]

1999-2003

2004-2008

2009-2015

2016-present

 

These are the ages of the graphic packages. Right now we're probably on pace to replace them in 2020-2021, but I'd not expect much until the move I'm guessing. 

 

The problem is the minimalist nature of the KABC graphics also lead to limitations like this. 

 

WABC's is 2 lines and while it may be bulkier, it guarantees lines like this fit.  

That KABC lower third doesn’t need the arrest and victims condition to both be on it. That’s a station issue not really a graphic issue. Somebody doesn’t know how to work within space limitations.

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4 hours ago, ns8401 said:

That KABC lower third doesn’t need the arrest and victims condition to both be on it. That’s a station issue not really a graphic issue. Somebody doesn’t know how to work within space limitations.

Pretty much. KABC's lower third can line wrap accordingly, so human error was most likely the culprit. 

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the everlasting battle between graphics and the newsroom...

 

most lower thirds have a character limit... most producers hate the character limit... because they can't figure out how to keep anything short...

 

if it were up to some producers, lower thirds would be fancy closed captioning...

 

the real story there was the arrest... 

Edited by Webovision
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