Atlanta station promos its ’11 Alive’ morning news team

Atlanta’s WXIA is promoting its morning newscast with a dynamic, talent-driven promo.

The spot features co-anchors Aisha Howard and Cheryl Preheim, forecaster Chesley McNeil and traffic anchor Christopher “Crash” Clark. 

It opens with several nighttime views of Atlanta with long-exposure views of car lights creating the familiar paths of white and red, a common motif in news promos and graphics.

“The city doesn’t stop when you go to sleep,” Howard says as she walks through the newsroom. In the background behind her is what appears to be a rather cluttered empty workspace with blank, darkened monitors. 

It’s not clear if the goal here is to portray a sleepy, nearly-deserted newsroom, which would seemingly fly in the face of the common notion of a team busy gathering overnight news.

After that shot, then view switches and, as Howard exits the frame, Clark appears sitting at another desk, apparently hard at work on his traffic report.

Next McNeil takes over, shown in front of a weather map. Preheim then picks up the ongoing dialogue touting the morning newscasts’ breaking news, weather and traffic content. She’s in front of a faux stacked tone wall with an oversized logo on the wall.  

Advertisement

At this point, a series of control room and imagery from around the city is mixed with additional shots of talent, including a wider view of McNeil in the station’s weather presentation area and another glimpse of Clark in the newsroom.

Howard is then shown stepping up and taking her seat at the anchor desk, where Preheim is already seated. Preheim closes out the string of narration looking right into the camera as Howard can be seen gazing in a different direction, presumably ready to start anchoring.

The final shot showcases all four personalities lined up in front of the anchor desk before an announcer encourages viewers to watch “11 Alive Morning News,” as the station brands its morning news.