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WJZ Drops Eyewitness News, Slowly Rebrands, New Logo Roll Out and New Set


rkolsen

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All I gotta say is, all of this had better been worth the wait. Anything less than perfection at this point and WJZ FAILED. I also expect to hear CBS Enforcer and not some stupid ass production track.

Will the time/temp. bug on the WJZ 13 appear on morning and afternoons except for the 11pm news too, they only do it on am shows?

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Will the time/temp. bug on the WJZ 13 appear on morning and afternoons except for the 11pm news too, they only do it on am shows?

 

Why are you asking me? I dunno.

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All I gotta say is, all of this had better been worth the wait. Anything less than perfection at this point and WJZ FAILED. I also expect to hear CBS Enforcer and not some stupid ass production track.

WJZ has one shot to pull this off. It has to kick ass like KDKA, WBZ, or even WBBM.

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This set can’t be different and any better than the others because it’s the same as the other CBS Enforcer sets.

It’s the same set family as WBBM it looks like. As there is currently two types: KCBS and WBBM and boy am I glad they chose the WBBM route because you can see a little more Baltimore in it.

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This set can’t be different and any better than the others because it’s the same as the other CBS Enforcer sets.

It’s the same set family as WBBM it looks like. As there is currently two types: KCBS and WBBM and boy am I glad they chose the WBBM route because you can see a little more Baltimore in it.

 

From a promo they have the shelves of momentos and a soft area, a green room but I didn’t see a weather center... maybe it’s hidden.

 

What’s the difference between KCBS, WBBM, and WCBS other than scale?

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What’s the difference between KCBS, WBBM, and WCBS other than scale?

KCBS has a different monitor setup and is more glass. Whereas, WBBM has more brick, city inspiration, and different monitor set up. KOVR, for example, is a little more WBBM than it is of KCBS. WFOR’s is KCBS.

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I can't wait to see the meltdown here when everything that debuts in the O&O look is still stretched out (probably.)

They've already messed up the package....

upload_2018-8-1_13-16-47.thumb.png.948e0239ecc3916f0d5c597781c1c9ef.png

 

If the logo is on the left... I'm going to cry a river enough to cure California's drought.

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They've already messed up the package....

[ATTACH=full]6265[/ATTACH]

 

If the logo is on the left... I'm going to cry a river enough to cure California's drought.

That's just for Facebook Live. Although, why is WJZ debuting a package that may be replaced next year? Remember, CBS has debuted a new package every 3 years for its O&Os starting in 2010 and 2019 may be new graphics starting at WCBS.

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That's just for Facebook Live. Although, why is WJZ debuting a package that may be replaced next year? Remember, CBS has debuted a new package every 3 years for its O&Os starting in 2010 and 2019 may be new graphics starting at WCBS.

 

I think we can count on JZ getting at least 10 years out of these graphics easy ;)

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why is WJZ debuting a package that may be replaced next year?

 

Have you seen their current graphics? I don't care if the current O&O look gets replaced in a month, at least that's one less month of the purple and pink nightmare they currently have.

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They've already messed up the package....

[ATTACH=full]6265[/ATTACH]

 

If the logo is on the left... I'm going to cry a river enough to cure California's drought.

 

That's just for Facebook Live. Although, why is WJZ debuting a package that may be replaced next year? Remember, CBS has debuted a new package every 3 years for its O&Os starting in 2010 and 2019 may be new graphics starting at WCBS.

 

For a while when they were airing health reports taped in WCBS’ studio (I think all the O&Os aired them) they were accommodated with a lower third that was flipped. I can’t remember if these spots were sponsored and aired in a pod or if they were placed in the newscast. None the less the bug stayed in its existing spot.

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Have you seen their current graphics? I don't care if the current O&O look gets replaced in a month, at least that's one less month of the purple and pink nightmare they currently have.

And the stretching. Dear God, the stretching!!!!!

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Here's what I am also hoping for... some changes to their weather system, doppler radar, and so on... I overheard (rumors flying however) that they got a new 3 MW doppler radar. They finally tore the First Warning Weather Doppler because apparently it had failed before they moved over to LYNX (which... pretty much sucks as a weather radar). The weather department needs a serious boost with WMAR and WBAL having upgraded their respective doppler radars 2 times already.

 

See once Audra Swain took over as VP for Jay Newman, she said: "We're making some changes and it needs to happen, right MEOW!"

 

Get rid of that stretchy Helvetica font.... pleaseeeeeeeee... Do away with some of the old and welcome some of the new.

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I look forward to the new graphics change. Finally, I can read their weather maps without squinting and tilting my head.

 

Lets hope they do keep them current though -- I'd hate to get to 2038 and other stations are using 8K holographic projections into your living room, and WJZ is updating their new set.

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WJZ aired a promo showing a construction time lapse that wasn’t blurred. The desk has the LED tiles in it and the logos on the left side. There’s a 5x3 videowall behind the desk 3x3 one to the viewer rightof the desk, a large vertical monitor viewer left to the desk.

 

Also they aired a local (sponsored) CBS Health Watch that I imagine is in use else where. It’s styled like the logo box used during CBS This Morning but crystallized.

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Okay. I think WJZ is trolling us. They’re running promos and the one I saw just now stretched text (don’t think it’s helvetica with the text:

 

IT WOULD’VE BEEN

READY SOONER

 

BUT OUR

ENGINEERING DIRECTOR

IS REALLY PARTICULAR

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Here's what I am also hoping for... some changes to their weather system, doppler radar, and so on... I overheard (rumors flying however) that they got a new 3 MW doppler radar. They finally tore the First Warning Weather Doppler because apparently it had failed before they moved over to LYNX (which... pretty much sucks as a weather radar). The weather department needs a serious boost with WMAR and WBAL having upgraded their respective doppler radars 2 times already.

 

See once Audra Swain took over as VP for Jay Newman, she said: "We're making some changes and it needs to happen, right MEOW!"

 

Get rid of that stretchy Helvetica font.... pleaseeeeeeeee... Do away with some of the old and welcome some of the new.

 

The radar shouldn’t have failed as Lynx is a Barron radar product (which their radar is). Their license is still active but they could no longer be using it. Hell they maintained the old radar presentation when they switched to AccuWeathers presentation system for the main forecast when they went HD. Many stations utilized two products WSI for the main show and Barron’s presentation system for the local radar. The fact that they didn’t keep the old presentation system says to me that they don’t plan on using it.

 

WMARs license is still listed as active even when the meteorologist told. When they switched to WSI it was no longer needed as the NWS and TDWR data was superior to their own.

 

I may be wrong though.

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Here's what I am also hoping for... some changes to their weather system, doppler radar, and so on... I overheard (rumors flying however) that they got a new 3 MW doppler radar. They finally tore the First Warning Weather Doppler because apparently it had failed before they moved over to LYNX (which... pretty much sucks as a weather radar). The weather department needs a serious boost with WMAR and WBAL having upgraded their respective doppler radars 2 times already.

 

See once Audra Swain took over as VP for Jay Newman, she said: "We're making some changes and it needs to happen, right MEOW!"

 

Get rid of that stretchy Helvetica font.... pleaseeeeeeeee... Do away with some of the old and welcome some of the new.

 

 

LYNX definitely does not suck as a Weather Display System. It's all a matter of how you utilize it. WBFF also uses LYNX. Their setup is amazing!

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This is honestly one of the best posts ever. I had to skip from page 5 to 35 to reply because I can’t contain myself. I worked in Creative Services from 96-01 and can explain a few things.

 

First and foremost, everything you’ve called out from the traced logo to the awful carnival open with “Baltimore’s Favorite News Team” to the use of Helvetica Extended comes directly from the corner office, directives from the previous GM, he whose name shall not be said. He loved neon so neon logos were made for the newsroom. He liked color so magenta, pink and yellow highlights were added everywhere. He directed, no— imposed— his ideas on every department. From graphics in promos he called branding buttons with the logo covered by type that said “Useful Information” to the camera shots during a newscast or reporter’s scripts. (Which is why they lost Gelfman and Suzanne.)

 

It’s important to note that many things you discussed are also, I’m quite sure, due to budget. They used to brag that JZ was more profitable than WBBM. The directives for austerity came from CBS corporate. When we redid the set in ‘98, it was a major investment that took over a year to get through corporate finance. Using the old chroma cues package this long started as a financial decision (20 years ago when he came and I was still there l) because we had bought out the rights when we had it composed (it was original for JZ) and paid no annual license. Music rights were expensive then and have become even moreso since then. Little JZ could barely send a reporter out of town on a story so there was no way they were paying for music. At the time, we dug up unused cuts from the package to find some way to freshen the sound but here we are today with the same old song, literally.

 

Finally, the issue of the whole corporate package. I’ve been gone for a loooong time, obviously. But when Westinghouse bought CBS, there was a big integration process with a lot of jockeying for control. The Group W sales organization prevailed in their pissing contest and the CBS station group management prevailed in theirs. Group W stations had been going through brand development processes prior to the merger (Done countless times since then, I’m sure!) which later rolled out to the O&O’s. The CBS side pushed the Group W stations to fall in line as traditional O&O’s with prominent CBS branding. Stations nationwide were watching the success of Fox’s “foxification” by calling themselves Fox5, etc., and CBS jumped onboard. Local management, even before he who shall be named was brought in, always insisted that JZ was different and should not have the corporate look stamped onto it. When he who shall be named arrives, he found a compromise by adding the eye all over the place but not renaming the station CBS13. I heard from friends after I left that JZ was never forced to use the CBS graphics package because of its outlier branding. He who shall not be named was an old CBS O&O guy so he had cred to win that kind of fight and, I’m guessing, there was probably an element of “as long as he makes his numbers, well leave him alone.” When you lose a high priced anchor like Sally, you probably go a long way to keeping your profitability up.

 

It’ll be interesting to see what the new set and package look like. I really hope the new GM is able to bring them to the year 2018 without losing all of what makes JZ unique, even though so much of that was lost by cost cutting since ‘98.

 

Oh, one last thing. I don’t know KC but i definitely know what he’s been up against because i was there. Having no money and a dwindling staff is no fun. Give him credit for all he’s done to keep the wheels on while driving the fricking car.

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