WRDW new set/building

[MidnightJunkie 52]

After 66 years in their current building and 16+ years on their current set, their new building will be opening up "Later this fall". Was supposed to open up this spring, however, at least it wasn't a construction project from Gray that stalled and then fizzled out.

[ABC 7 Denver 894]

2 hours ago, MidnightJunkie said:

After 66 years in their current building and 16+ years on their current set, their new building will be opening up "Later this fall". Was supposed to open up this spring, however, at least it wasn't a construction project from Gray that stalled and then fizzled out.

 

 

The GM says there's nothing else like it in the country, while they use a third tier set designer. Decent for the market, not exactly unique though.

[MidnightJunkie 52]

13 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 Decent for the market, not exactly unique though.

 

Agreed. The building is unique, however, my reaction at seeing the studio was "meh". It also appears the second studio will be used for cooking segments and miscellaneous productions rather than by WAGT as a news studio; meaning it appears as though the newscasts on both stations will still be simulcast. 

Edited August 29, 2020 by MidnightJunkie

[ABC 7 Denver 894]

2 minutes ago, MidnightJunkie said:

 

Agreed. The building is unique, however, my reaction at seeing the studio was "meh". It also appears the second studio will be using for cooking segments and miscellaneous productions rather than by WAGT as a news studio; meaning it appears as though the newscasts on both stations will still be simulcast. 

 

Yeah. I really appreciate the commitment to health, but the flourish of a putting green makes the GM seem selfish. I would rather see a better studio than for you to have fun at the expense of the company. Ass.

[Kyle R 21]

From that photo, the building gives off similar vibes as Gray's WMTV building.

 

[KentBrockman 761]

I can comment further on this, they broke ground on the facility back in 2017. It was supposed to be ready by March 2018. When the Gray-Raycom merger happened, construction halted. It took them all the way until now to finally finish the building, primarily because Gray had already built the shell but it sat there for years with weeds growing around it, so they had to commit to finishing the facility.

 

The putting green was not a local choice, that came from Hilton Howell, the president and CEO of Gray who primarily wants to use it for a company outings and other purposes. That’s the other reason why they’re getting a helipad, when the station doesn’t even own a helicopter.

 

Gray has put entirely too much work into the building to make it a showpiece, not necessarily for the benefit of the station or for the news department itself. The news department staffs less than 50 people, in fact staffs less than 20 people. However the newsroom reportedly can fit a staff of at least 2-3 TV stations. The building is entirely too large, especially for how small the station staff is. They wanted it to be larger than WJBF only to prove that they have the bigger studio building. This does not mean that they’re ever going to expand the news department or have new newscasts on WAGT, which they pretty much integrated in with WRDW to the fullest extent. In fact, when I was still working there the two stations had separate websites, but now they’ve merged the two with the redesign. They also have put further de-emphasis on WAGT, going the the extent of branding all of the newscasts other than maybe two of them by News 12.

 

The GM is a snake in the grass, and their news director who has been there for quite sometime is a horrible person and rules the newsroom in fear, it’s why the station has such high turnover. You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. And WRDW/WAGT will remain the dog station in the market.

 

Knowing full well the station from my time there, I say maybe less than 20% of the building will be used. The cafeteria, the full size Planet Fitness, the patio and veranda, and the putting green will just collect dust and dirt and leaves.

 

It also doesn’t surprise me that Gray poured so much money and resources into the building and amenities but is cheaping out on equipment and vital things needed for air. That’s the Gray way.

 

When it does debut, I wish them well because the building is sorely needed and the moldy fire-prone shitty ass building they have now needed to go decades ago, but I don’t have high hopes of it changing how awful the entire operation is.

 

It will be amazing to see when WJBF is still going to outperform them with far less.

[CubsFan79 33]

53 minutes ago, KentBrockman said:

I can comment further on this, they broke ground on the facility back in 2017. It was supposed to be ready by March 2018. When the Gray-Raycom merger happened, construction halted. It took them all the way until now to finally finish the building, primarily because Gray had already built the shell but it sat there for years with weeds growing around it, so they had to commit to finishing the facility.

 

The putting green was not a local choice, that came from Hilton Howell, the president and CEO of Gray who primarily wants to use it for a company outings and other purposes. That’s the other reason why they’re getting a helipad, when the station doesn’t even own a helicopter.

 

Gray has put entirely too much work into the building to make it a showpiece, not necessarily for the benefit of the station or for the news department itself. The news department staffs less than 50 people, in fact staffs less than 20 people. However the newsroom reportedly can fit a staff of at least 2-3 TV stations. The building is entirely too large, especially for how small the station staff is. They wanted it to be larger than WJBF only to prove that they have the bigger studio building. This does not mean that they’re ever going to expand the news department or have new newscasts on WAGT, which they pretty much integrated in with WRDW to the fullest extent. In fact, when I was still working there the two stations had separate websites, but now they’ve merged the two with the redesign. They also have put further de-emphasis on WAGT, going the the extent of branding all of the newscasts other than maybe two of them by News 12.

 

The GM is a snake in the grass, and their news director who has been there for quite sometime is a horrible person and rules the newsroom in fear, it’s why the station has such high turnover. You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. And WRDW/WAGT will remain the dog station in the market.

 

Knowing full well the station from my time there, I say maybe less than 20% of the building will be used. The cafeteria, the full size Planet Fitness, the patio and veranda, and the putting green will just collect dust and dirt and leaves.

 

It also doesn’t surprise me that Gray poured so much money and resources into the building and amenities but is cheaping out on equipment and vital things needed for air. That’s the Gray way.

 

When it does debut, I wish them well because the building is sorely needed and the moldy fire-prone shitty ass building they have now needed to go decades ago, but I don’t have high hopes of it changing how awful the entire operation is.

 

It will be amazing to see when WJBF is still going to outperform them with far less.

Its the same way in the SIoux Falls market except the GM is a good guy and the people at KSFY/ KDLT are pretty good. KELO TV is still the elephant in the room  and that Gray TV is trying to catch. On another subject, will see how the Supreme Court rules on media ownership rules. I wish WRDW/WAGT TV the best.

[tyrannical bastard 2,091]

Methinks all of the amenities will be put to use when The Masters is in town,  whenever life returns to normal after the "Covid-ness" we've all been going through.  

Like what @KentBrockman said, it will likely be used for schmoozing for company executives and Gray employees across the country.

 

Has WFXG finally separated themself from WTOC and the other former Raycom stations that helped them with newscasts after their break from WJBF?

 

It is a nice building, although WJBF took a much more cost-effective route a decade ago by purchasing a former Barnes & Noble on the other side of town and making it into Television Park 2.0 for WJBF and WAGT.  

At least they bothered to create a separate product for WAGT, unlike the efforts that WRDW puts forth when they "seized" WAGT from Schurz.

[KentBrockman 761]

On 10/9/2020 at 11:57 AM, tyrannical bastard said:

Methinks all of the amenities will be put to use when The Masters is in town,  whenever life returns to normal after the "Covid-ness" we've all been going through.  

Like what @KentBrockman said, it will likely be used for schmoozing for company executives and Gray employees across the country.

 

Has WFXG finally separated themself from WTOC and the other former Raycom stations that helped them with newscasts after their break from WJBF?

 

It is a nice building, although WJBF took a much more cost-effective route a decade ago by purchasing a former Barnes & Noble on the other side of town and making it into Television Park 2.0 for WJBF and WAGT.  

At least they bothered to create a separate product for WAGT, unlike the efforts that WRDW puts forth when they "seized" WAGT from Schurz.

WFXG has separated themselves. They are owned by Lockwood and operate themselves entirely in-house, they even expanded newscasts recently.

[extvtog 3]

Is there a new update as to when they are moving into and operating out of this facility? They said November and here it is mid February. Just curious.

[KentBrockman 761]

13 hours ago, extvtog said:

Is there a new update as to when they are moving into and operating out of this facility? They said November and here it is mid February. Just curious.

Monday via a post on their FB Page.

 

https://www.facebook.com/wrdwtv/photos/a.376352478445/10158935514588446/?type=3 

Edited February 17 by KentBrockman

[ScottSchell 100]

Here is a sneak peak of the set.

[brb588 45]

Meh.

[TSSZNews 982]

For such a lavish building, the set feels awfully small market.

[JosiahCubed 42]

14 minutes ago, TSSZNews said:

For such a lavish building, the set feels awfully small market.

I agree with you on that, but the thing I'm interested about is that they've got the cameras and teleprompter screens hanging from the ceiling.

[Wildish 7]

That set feels like it is behind in the times. I'm not sure why spend all that money on a new building and roll out this.

[extvtog 3]

Yeah, I'm interested in the cameras hanging from the ceiling.

[caliwxdude 196]

1 hour ago, extvtog said:

Yeah, I'm interested in the cameras hanging from the ceiling.

 

$$$ 

 

Seems like most small market ops find it cheaper (initial cost + maintenance) to have more self-contained cameras in the studio vs. the usual three full robotic peds. You can also occasionally find studios filled with a bunch of stationary tripods and the same PTZ cams mounted on them. Since this was a new build, suspending them from the lighting grid cleans things up and makes it a safer working environment. 

Edited February 19 by caliwxdude

[Hickman360 14]

2 minutes ago, caliwxdude said:

 

$$$ 

 

Seems like most small market ops find it cheaper (initial cost + maintenance) to have more self-contained cameras in the studio vs. the usual three full robotic peds. You can also occasionally find studios filled with a bunch of stationary tripods and the same PTZ cams mounted on them. Since this was a new build, suspending them from the lighting grid cleans things up and makes it a safer working environment. 

And correct me if I’m wrong I believe their fellow Gray sister station WBRC did the same exact thing when they completed their recent renovation

[tyrannical bastard 2,091]

56 minutes ago, Hickman360 said:

And correct me if I’m wrong I believe their fellow Gray sister station WBRC did the same exact thing when they completed their recent renovation

I noticed the same thing with WSAZ as well.

[CircleSeven 1,324]

They're in. As of Saturday night.

 

 

Edited Monday at 06:50 AM by CircleSeven

[who?cares 186]

On 2/19/2021 at 2:39 PM, Hickman360 said:

And correct me if I’m wrong I believe their fellow Gray sister station WBRC did the same exact thing when they completed their recent renovation

WAFF got them too. Unfortunately, no new set.

[LexTVandRadio 317]

11 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

They're in. As of Saturday night.

 

 

Set looks good, but not the biggest fan of the dual logos. 

[extvtog 3]

I agree...logos are not very tastefully done. 

 

[Sendir 101]

What. A. Waste.