Archive for the ‘Local News’ Category

Creator of ‘happy talk,’ ‘Action News’ Frank Magid dead at 78

Frank Magid, a veteran television consultant often dubbed the “news doctor” has died at 78, reports the Washington Post.

Magid, who founded Frank Magid Associates, a top research and consulting firm for a wide variety of industries, is known for creating the “Action News” format to counter the success of the “Eyewitness News” brand. The first station to use the “Action News” format, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, remains a dominant station in the market today.

(more…)

WTLV-TV and WJXX-TV debut new HD studio and graphics

WTLV-TV and WJXX-TV, Jacksonville’s second duopoly, debuted a new HD set and updated Gannett HD graphics package Monday. WAWS-TV and WTEV-TV debuted in HD the previous week.

The set was designed by FX Group and is a “different look from its past work” according to the company. The set features a stand up pod which is used for some of the newscasts along with newsroom backed desk.

Thanks to Metro Jacksonville for the video captures.

Hawaii Fox affiliate to debut new set

KHON-TV, the New Vision-owned Fox affiliate in Honolulu will unveil a new set from FX Group Monday.

The new set, which was purported to cost $250,000, features plenty of local influence, according to the Star-Bulletin newspaper, including photography done by one of the station’s videographers as well as new music and graphics from local companies.

The newspaper also included a small photograph of the new set, shown at right, but it’s hard to tell what the set will actually look like.

Miami station readying for HD, moves to temp set

CBS O&O WFOR-TV in Miami is in the process of installing a new set in preparation for its switch to HD news.

The new look will debut in time for the Super Bowl. The move makes WFOR-TV the last English-language station in the market to switch to HD news.

The station has posted a photo gallery of some of the initial work in the studio.

No word on who’s behind the new set.

WCBS-TV working on updated newsroom

Via @kjohnsonnyc on Twitter, WCBS-TV is working on an updated newsroom. Will this be a content center like WNBC-TV?

Sacramento station gets refreshed look

KXTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Sacramento, Calif., has debuted HD news with a refreshed set from FX Group. See more photos and video clips after the jump.

(more…)

L.A. ‘NewsCentral’ branding gone after less than five months

Well that didn’t take long.

CBS’s duopoly of KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles has stopped using the combined moniker “NewsCentral,” just several months after adopting the name in July.

Word is that incoming GM Steve Mauldin, who comes from the CBS O&O duopoly in Dallas, axed the name.

As you many recall, “NewsCentral” was also the name of Sinclair Broadcasting’s ill-fated attempt to centralize news operations that ended in 2006.

Rhode Island station launches six hyperlocal sites

WLNE-TV, the ABC affiliate serving Providence, R.I., has taken the wraps off six neighborhood Web sites.

The blog-style sites include news updates as well as business directories and local information.

The hyperlocal Web site model has been increasing popular lately. Belo unveiled 43 sites in the Seattle area earlier this year and MSNBC.com purchased neighborhood news site EveryBlock.

Stations eye app revenue

Broadcasting & Cable has an interesting story on the rise of smart phone applications at local TV stations.

“Stations’ forays into the app space seem to resemble their efforts to launch Websites a decade or two ago: build the beachhead, and buy oneself time to figure out the revenue model,” the article reads.

The article mentions that while 2009 was a key year on launching these products, 2010 will be the year for monetizing them. Stations have already begun to experiment with free apps that have built-in advertising and paid apps, such as a hurricane tracking tool in Tampa that sold 3,000 copies at $3.99 a pop.

Market experts say a mid-size station could bring in $25,000 to $50,000 in advertising revenue if the product is promoted well and gains a following.

Meanwhile, Gray television says 50,000 users download apps from its stations in the 30 to 45 days since the group launched them.

Connecticut Fox station moves into space shared with newspaper

WTIC-TV, the Fox affiliate serving Hartford, Conn., has moved into the newsroom of the city’s newspaper, the Hartford Courant.

Both station and newspaper journalists work side by side in the new facility, which has been home to the Courant for years.

More details and a photo gallery link after the jump.

(more…)

Orlando station changes branding

WESH-TV, the NBC affiliate serving Orlando, Fla., has a new slogan.

The station, which is owned by Hearst-Argyle, had been using “Big Coverage of the Big Story,” but as of Dec. 1 at 4 p.m., switched to “Local. Live. Latebreaking.”

The new slogan is based on the “LLL” branding used at many stations in the U.S., including several of WESH-TV’s sister ones. However, WESH-TV has chosen to swap “Live” and “Local” from their more common locations, likely to emphasize the local-ness of the newscasts rather than “live.”

(more…)

Expanding options could rain on TV news forecasts

There could be changes and challenges in the wind for a fixture of TV news — the weather forecast.

We’ve written before about WeatherNation, a company founded by a former Minneapolis forecaster to provide “outsourced” weather forecasts to television stations and now Broadcasting & Cable has featured the company in an article about the changing face of local TV weather.

(more…)