WBZ/Boston (and other CBS O&Os?) to Rebrand Newscasts?

[DirtyHarry 380]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:43 PM, newscopter7 said:

CBS oughta check in with the brain trust at Macy’s about how well standardization works. 

 

Yup. People love having some kind of local connection. Lazarus here used to have 10 or 12 stores in the area. Once they took the Lazarus names off the buildings and put Macy's on them, they've dwindled to three stores, soon to be two.

[atlnewsfan03 45]

On 7/10/2022 at 12:33 PM, GodfreyGR said:

Probably. I wish CCO hadn't ditched the "weather watcher whistle" for the CBS 5-note tone.

 

I still argue the "If it isn't broken..." argument. WCCO desperately needs a graphics refresh like all the CBS O&O's; but they have done a good job going with what they know works in the market- a set that has aged shockingly well for being 10-years old (minor updates, of course), iconic branding, and recognizable air staff. On the other side of town, KARE11 used to be #1 with that same formula, and now they're just happy to be in the Top 5 (as of Nov 2021).

I'm on the fence when it comes to CBS experimenting with that Now newscast concept on its Independent, CW, and My-Network-TV stations.

I came across an interesting video on YouTube of what could be described as a mock CBS O&O intro.

I doubt we'd be seeing this show up on CBS O&O stations.  I'll admit that it looks great and could easily pass for CBS O&O graphics and opening package.  We'll have to wait and see what CBS rolls out to its stations in the Fall.

[phillynewslover 119]

That's an actual package that stations can use. It isn't a mock of anything.

[nycnewsjunkie 267]

3 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

Yup. People love having some kind of local connection. Lazarus here used to have 10 or 12 stores in the area. Once they took the Lazarus names off the buildings and put Macy's on them, they've dwindled to three stores, soon to be two.

I completely agree, and I would certainly hang on to local identities at the top-rated stations if I were running the joint. That said, Wendy McMahon isn’t exactly a stranger to this industry. I imagine that if CBS really is going full-Macy’s, she and the rest of the management team have taken all of this into account.

 

Local stations in Canada used to identify with channel numbers like their American counterparts. However, as the national networks in that country expanded their footprint, the local stations began identifying by their network, rather than “Channel X.” Even though leading stations like CFCF, CHAN, and CFTO dumped their longtime monikers, they still lead their respective markets, and they also contribute to the success of their networks’ national news operations.
 

If I had to guess, CBS concluded that at worst, standardizing their stations’ brands won’t change their current ratings positions. Granted, these moves would not be “innovations” or ratings game-changers by any means. KYW, WFOR, and WBBM aren’t going to shoot to first place because of a brand change, and it’s unlikely that KDKA, WCCO, and WJZ will drop to last. However, standardizing station identities could give a relatively weak national news brand (CBS News) a much-needed boost. And besides, with the growth of streaming, people don’t tune in to “Channel X” anymore. They tune to the network.

 

Will it work? Dumping established identities risks throwing away a station’s legacy, and established local stations usually help boost the national network (see WRAL.) However, if people are tuning into WJZ/KDKA/etc and turning off when the Evening News comes on, that doesn’t really help CBS. I highly doubt it will change anything at all on the local level, but there’s a chance it will improve the reputation and ratings of their national morning and evening news programs. Time will tell.

Edited July 30 by nycnewsjunkie
Incomplete post

[Weeters 1359]

That's not a "mock", it's an actual graphics package offered up by our very own @cxd7346. It is NOT the new O&O graphics.

 

While the package is well done, this thread is not the appropriate place to talk about it.