Former R News Meteorologist Back on Rochester TV

[The Voice of Reason]

Meteorologist Amanda McDonald, who once worked at R-News, is back in the Rochester market working at Channel 10.

I thought McDonald left Rochester a few years ago for a larger market.

So what happened?

It can't be that she missed Rochester so much that she wanted to return....or can it?

 

[SirRoxalot]

One might like to think that Channel 10 is a considerable step up from R-News. I don't get to see R-News, but if the T-W News Channel in Buffalo is any indication, it's like a 3rd world newscast.

 

[Sxottlan]

One might like to think that Channel 10 is a considerable step up from R-News.

No, it isn't.

 

[therealjm12]

I believe all of R-News and all the Time Warner news channels weather segments come out of a central hub in Albany. All the local weather people were forced to move there or lose their jobs. She probably is a Rochester girl and took her first opportunity to return to her home town.

 

[Mark Giardina]

It was my understanding that McDonald was one of the more popular on-air personalities at R-News when she was there.

Why she left I do not know. Perhaps she was offered a job in a larger market and decided to accept that job.

Why she is back in Rochester, again I have no idea.

But that's one thing that makes the Rochester market different from others. People can work at one station and move to another; unlike many cities where that scenario is impossible.

 

[BobRoss]

I believe all of R-News and all the Time Warner news channels weather segments come out of a central hub in Albany.

Not quite... weather for Syracuse, Rochester and Albany is done in Syracuse. All the news anchoring for Albany and Syracuse is done in Albany.

Who does the wx for Buffalo? Is it also fed in from Syracuse or did TWC actually spring for their own dedicated wx staff? I'd hope so, considering Buffalo's the biggest market of the bunch... but heck, even NY1 never seems to have real meteorologists on whenever I watch it on digital cable. I might be watching at the wrong times, but it's always the anchors reading full-screen boards with that godawful music bed that repeats itself every 3 seconds.

The other big question is: how long will TWC keep dedicated anchor staffs in both Rochester and Buffalo? They're even closer than Syracuse and Albany. They even used to share the same area code. Long-term, I can see one station taking over anchoring duties for both... within 5 years. Before that happens, I predict we'll see both taking on the same graphics package so they look pretty similar. Then it's only a few more years before "Your News Now Buffalo" either becomes "Your News Now WNY" or drops the location reference completely, and it replaces R-News.

Maybe not necessarily a true 24/7 simulcast -- you'd still want each city to have its own wx and traffic, and some of the news would be specific to just one market. But so many stories would have interest in both markets (ie. anything involving Buffalo Bills, border crossing stuff, major regional economic stuff), you could get away with one set of anchors taping the intro for both markets. Same goes for all the filler crap, like the cooking segment, the tech guy, the business reports, and so forth. Since these channels are rarely "live" to begin with, it doesn't have to be a simulcast to work... some stories would only be dumped into one market's on-air automation server, and some stories would be sent to both servers. As opposed to the Albany/Syracuse arrangement, where the anchors are dealing with two separate brands. (Though I wouldn't doubt if certain elements are already kept generic enough so they can be used for both markets in one shot.)

 

[Mark Giardina]

The other big question is: how long will TWC keep dedicated anchor staffs in both Rochester and Buffalo? They're even closer than Syracuse and Albany. They even used to share the same area code. Long-term, I can see one station taking over anchoring duties for both... within 5 years. Before that happens, I predict we'll see both taking on the same graphics package so they look pretty similar. Then it's only a few more years before "Your News Now Buffalo" either becomes "Your News Now WNY" or drops the location reference completely, and it replaces R-News.

Maybe not necessarily a true 24/7 simulcast -- you'd still want each city to have its own wx and traffic, and some of the news would be specific to just one market. But so many stories would have interest in both markets (ie. anything involving Buffalo Bills, border crossing stuff, major regional economic stuff), you could get away with one set of anchors taping the intro for both markets. Same goes for all the filler crap, like the cooking segment, the tech guy, the business reports, and so forth. Since these channels are rarely "live" to begin with, it doesn't have to be a simulcast to work... some stories would only be dumped into one market's on-air automation server, and some stories would be sent to both servers. As opposed to the Albany/Syracuse arrangement, where the anchors are dealing with two separate brands. (Though I wouldn't doubt if certain elements are already kept generic enough so they can be used for both markets in one shot.)

It would not surprise me if R-News and the TW operation in Buffalo merge into one giant entity. Of course that would mean the elimination of a number of on-air reporting and anchoring positions.

 

[newscool]

Meteorologist Amanda McDonald, who once worked at R-News, is back in the Rochester market working at Channel 10.

I thought McDonald left Rochester a few years ago for a larger market.

So what happened?

It can't be that she missed Rochester so much that she wanted to return....or can it?

I thought that was her. It's been a while, so I wasn't exactly sure if she was the one from R-News. She looks so young. Channel 10 should keep her around as a fill-in. No offense to Kevin Williams, but I would think he need a vacation here and now. Josh Nichols usually fills in for him seems like on Fridays, and Josh seems to need a break himself.