PhillyWatch 238 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Iain Page, coming out of Houston They never should've axed Huddleston. Hell, they never should've axed Dawn Stensland either. About 2 years ago the 10pm was fantastic- in depth stories, in studio interviews and debates, they'd open the show with a fantastic aerial shot of the city and a "rundown" of the night's topics (you might remember the accompanying "rundown" graphic on the side of the screen) and some kind of pop music (Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Notorious B.I.G etc, and they'd use relevant tunes going into breaks as well). The 5 was much lighter but had it's share of interviews and was just as noticeably "different" from 3, 6, or 10. Now its all exposing used mattress salesmen (seriously!) and run-of-the-mill tabloid shock stories (could your shampoo be rotting your brain?! we'll tell you after the break). They went from a broadcast you got nowhere else in the city to a hacky tabloid "local news" embarrassment. If they want to be ridiculous, they should go the route of PIX11 in NYC and at least be fun about it. Or are absurd fear tactics part of an underlying FOX O&O mandate? For now I'll stick to 6 @ 10 on 17 and then streaming the last half hour of PIX11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WXmanTim 88 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 No, it's not part of a mandate. It all depends on the news director's philosophy. We rarely chase blood-n-guts stories here in Houston (at least not to the extent the other stations in town do). Unless it's a big-time crime story, we don't put a reporter on it. Fox26 is more focused on good enterprise stories ("Talker" stories, as they're referred to around the newsroom). Though, in some ways, that tends to lead to an overabundance of fluff at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1110 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 They never should've axed Huddleston. Hell, they never should've axed Dawn Stensland either. This times a billion. Huddles was one of the most underrated anchors this market ever had - shaky at first, but great delivery and a warm presence. That 10pm news lineup was just fantastic - Dawn and Dave anchoring, Rob Guarino on weather, then sports was NEXXXXXT with Don Tollefson. Just a great crew. My reaction to the new hire: THANK YOU GOD. I'm sure that Thomas Drayton is an extremely nice person off camera - his on-camera presence hints at that, at least. But man oh man, I just cannot stand him as the lead anchor. His delivery is way too grating on me, and it always seems like he has this default "nice" tone. Less Thomas Drayton is a very, very good thing. About 2 years ago the 10pm was fantastic- in depth stories, in studio interviews and debates, they'd open the show with a fantastic aerial shot of the city and a "rundown" of the night's topics (you might remember the accompanying "rundown" graphic on the side of the screen) and some kind of pop music (Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Notorious B.I.G etc, and they'd use relevant tunes going into breaks as well). The 5 was much lighter but had it's share of interviews and was just as noticeably "different" from 3, 6, or 10. I'm pretty much the opposite of you on Fox 29's format two years ago. I liked the fact that they went in-depth on a lot of topics that got ignored by the others, and I liked the more relaxed tone, but there were just too many stupid things like ten minute interviews with Cub Scouts on set, editorials from the clearly decrepit Arlen Specter, the graphics that had developed Gannettitis, or the mere presence of Buzz Bissinger. I think part of it is that they didn't have the proper talent to pull it off, and were really shortstaffed at this point to begin with. In either event, that format was so toxic I stopped watching. I had learned that "news" was the last thing to expect from Fox 29, so I stopped watching, and kept ignoring them well through the Schwaid era. Now its all exposing used mattress salesmen (seriously!) and run-of-the-mill tabloid shock stories (could your shampoo be rotting your brain?! we'll tell you after the break). They went from a broadcast you got nowhere else in the city to a hacky tabloid "local news" embarrassment. If they want to be ridiculous, they should go the route of PIX11 in NYC and at least be fun about it. Or are absurd fear tactics part of an underlying FOX O&O mandate? I can sum up that format in two words: Steve. Schwaid. That's Schwaid's style of newscast - tabloid, schlock, absurd. It was an improvement over the Kingsley Smith debacle, but anything would be. At least they were running news. And at the very least he got rid of Bolaris and hired Scott Williams. Schwaid's gone now, and new ND Jim Driscoll seems to be rolling back his style. There's less tackiness, and you see the anchors more. They've reinstated opens and started one of the 10pm newses I saw last week with a nice jib shot of the studio and then the anchors. I'm watching again, and there is improvement. Not necessarily on the nightside broadcasts, but Good Day has suddenly gotten really, really good lately. I'm even tempted to say it's better than it was at its Donya Archer/Mike Jerrick peak. Considering I thought that was one of my favorite anchor duos ever, that's a feat. Jerrick's chemistry with Sheinelle Jones is even better than it was with Donya, and they benefit from a more extensive supporting cast. Serio's as good as ever, Hepp was a great addition to the crew, and you will always have gold with frenemies Steve Keeley and Jennaphr Frederick. Hopefully that carries over to nightside. They'll need it, because 6@4@10@17 is not only a good newscast, but by all accounts it's doing incredibly strong out of the gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.