kdex86 48 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Recently, the local CBS affiliate in Boston, WBZ, has been sporadically displaying their station ID during CBS network programming. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it either, and it happens during The Big Bang Theory, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and even during NFL games, even ones involving the New England Patriots! Not only that, this station ID is big and obnoxious, as if it's from the 80s or 90s, and will block the score bug if it appears during an NFL game. Which leads me to ask... WHY is WBZ doing this now? And what can be done to stop it from showing up? It is extremely annoying! Examples can be seen below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProButtonPusher 230 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 I’m 99% sure that this happens at the top of the hour, when they’re legally supposed to display their call letters and city of license. This happens in virtually every market, because stations have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie56 3059 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 It's normal; almost every affiliate does this, especially during live sports. It's an FCC guideline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyNewsOpens 83 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 WTTV's station ID is gigantic as well, with the callsigns virtually unreadable, as they look like pixels. I'll see if I can get a screencap sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darius22 120 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Strange mine is different from yours. Mine just says my stations website. "CBSSacramento.com" and on every top of the hour i don't get anything but the stations website or almost at all. the only time i get something like that is during promos for certain CBS Shows. (mainly Daytime.) now i do get it on KCRA and KXTV though like WBZ does it. KTXL has one but its tiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie56 3059 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 WBBM's is so small and illegible, even on high-def screens. It looks like little white dots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTV1983 742 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 WTVF does the exact same thing. They put a huge bug in the lower middle portion of the screen that reads "NewsChannel5" horizontally with the call letters beneath it. WHBQ is the same way, but they use a smaller horizontal bug with large lettering below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1173 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 I’m 99% sure that this happens at the top of the hour, when they’re legally supposed to display their call letters and city of license. This happens in virtually every market, because stations have to. I've always wondered why this is a rule. Do you know why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdex86 48 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Share Posted October 25, 2017 I've been DVRing the Late Show off WBZ frequently since Stephen Colbert took over hosting duties in 2015, and Big Bang longer than that. I've never seen a large obnoxious station ID from this channel, during these recorded programs, until a few months ago. For a network O&O in a top-10 market, this is unacceptable. It's bigger than the CBS network logo! If there is in fact a rule to show a station ID at the top of the hour, it should be simple text that reads "WBZ - Boston" in the bottom left or bottom right corner of the screen. I will be contacing WBZ about this, especially since it blocks the score bug during NFL games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daybreak 269 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 In my area all the stations use a transparent logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qunewsguy 376 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 It's an FCC rule... the legal ID text has to be a certain point size and clearly legible and prominent onscreen. No amount of complaining to your local affiliate is going to change anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1805 Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 I've always wondered why this is a rule. Do you know why? Because it’s been a rule since they started regulating radio back in the day and it followed over into TV when that became a thing. Radio still does it too, and newsradio stations will actually dump out of things like a press conference to quickly interject something like “This is 620 WTMJ Milwaukee” at the top of the hour if they can’t play their normal Top of the Hour sounder. TV has the ability to hide the Legal ID in other graphics if you look closely. Usually promos and even news opens will have the callsign and market of license baked into them. I will be contacing WBZ about this, especially since it blocks the score bug during NFL games. Gonna be honest here: nobody at the station is going to care what you think. It’s up for all of, what, 4 seconds? Deal with it. Anyways, since this thread is dangerously close to “What does your station’s legal ID look like” i’m going to close the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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