It's Not Really Katie's Fault; Put The Evening News Out of its Misery

[fred flintstone]

Actually, CBS stations were getting better numbers in the mornings when they were doing mostly local morning shows (with network cut-aways for national stories or interviews).

This is actually something Fox should consider doing; break into its affiliates' morning shows. It helps spread the brand. That way we're not quite so reminded every morning that Fox is far newer than the rest of the Big 4.

Well, I think it's a good idea...

I think so, too. Done right, it gives the morning shows on Fox stations more presence on national stories. It could also promote audience flow to the new network morning show.

 

[RALfan]

IMO, the real reason why less people are watching the network newscasts is simple: the public doesn't trust them as much anymore. What they should do is just give us the news straight - unglamorized, unbiased, and completely factual. So what if it turns out to be boring to the fickle members of the television audience? At least this way news outlets like CBS can slowly rebuild their credibility by giving the people what they want - the truth.
I also think that the local stations (particularly the O&Os) should leave the national and international coverage to the networks and stick mostly to covering their local area (unless a domestic story has a connection to that area).
I'm just one of those people that are beginning to realize that if we don't buckle down and start finding ways to make the news business behave, then Paddy Chayefsky's vision in his brilliant screenplay of "Network" might be realized - network television will be completely packaged as entertainment.

 

[nuzguy]

There are those who maintain that's the case, already.

 

[fred flintstone]

I watched your 6 o'clock news today; it's straight tabloid. You had a minute and a half of that lady riding a bike naked in Central Park; on the other hand, you had less than a minute of hard national and international news. It was all sex, scandal, brutal crime, sports, children with incurable diseases, and lost puppies. So, I don't think I'll listen to any protestations of high standards of journalism when you're right down on the streets soliciting audiences like the rest of us. Look, all I'm saying is if you're going to hustle, at least do it right.

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

I would kill to see a LIVE national/world news broadcast at 7pm Mountain Standard Time. I hate watching East Coast reruns.

Only problem with that is that it would have to be for West Coast stations only because 7:00 PM Mountain is when the primetime lineups start here in Denver.

I dunno 'bout Dawn and the rest of the folks here in Denver, but we can live with an hour old evening network newscast and even a two hour old network morning show because all the local stations (Except KTVD 20, KPXC 59, the PBS & 24/7 religious outlets) are all on the air with their own newscasts and make up for a LIVE network newscast quite nicely. Therefore if something were to break (Such as 9/11, which broke around 6:45 AM or the Amish school shooting), the local anchors would have it covered.

And now that Gannett owns KTVD 20, which BTW will soon start a 7:00 AM newscast to compete with KWGN 2 and KDVR 31 (The latter till FOX News debuts its morning news program), Gannett can have KTVD 20 either simulcast KUSA or pick up one of the NBC feeds in the event of a 9/11-sized event should ever occur. When 9/11 happened, some folks might recall that KTVD 20 simply simulcast FOX News Channel while KWGN 2 picked up CNN and KDVR was airing additional coverage from the big FOX Network.

But anyhow, we in the Greater Mountain time zone can suffice and make do with old newscasts because the local newscasts are right on top of it should something break. And let's not forget that on ABC & CBS, the morning news shows there end for East Coast viewers AT THE SAME TIME the local news on KCNC 4 & KMGH 7 does. This isn't always advantageous in getting breaking news, but usually the networks will interrupt that portion of the program to present more updated information and then resume the program once the new information has been reported. That said, they don't always do this.

Just my $.02 worth

Cheers

 

[fred flintstone]

Easy solution:
Twice a year we adjust our clocks one hour (spring forward, fall back).
One time, Eastern Time Zone moves back 90 minutes; Central back 30 minutes. Pacific Time moves ahead 90 minutes; Mountain 30 minutes. Then set it and forget it. No more time changes. Everybody sees everything at the same time. If anybody wants more sunshine in the summer, set your alarm earlier.

Let news divisions strip program 8 pm to 9 pm five nights a week. Merge the evening news and the magazine shows. Do breaking stories and magazine pieces in the same show. Save money with an ensemble cast instead of over-priced readers like Katie.

If this works, expand to 90 minutes by taking back the 7:30-8:00 time period for network time (prime time access rule exempts news programs).


Canada is a whole different case. No first amendment. The government censors news media (but they always have a good reason), controls broadcasting and operates the CBC. The whole purpose of broadcasting - especially the CBC - is to promote the illusion of nationhood (or national identity). Canadians get an hour of Peter Mansbridge whether anybody wants it or not.

 

[bhayes1016]

Canada is a whole different case. No first amendment. The government censors news media (but they always have a good reason), controls broadcasting and operates the CBC..

Something that those who sing the praises of Canada seem to forget.

Only on Radio-Info will you find people who would change the work, social and sleeping habits of Americans just to have a live, nationwide evening news show. ;D

 

[formeraa]

Only problem with that is that it would have to be for West Coast stations only because 7:00 PM Mountain is when the primetime lineups start here in Denver.


And now that Gannett owns KTVD 20, which BTW will soon start a 7:00 AM newscast to compete with KWGN 2 and KDVR 31 (The latter till FOX News debuts its morning news program), Gannett can have KTVD 20 either simulcast KUSA or pick up one of the NBC feeds in the event of a 9/11-sized event should ever occur. When 9/11 happened, some folks might recall that KTVD 20 simply simulcast FOX News Channel while KWGN 2 picked up CNN and KDVR was airing additional coverage from the big FOX Network.

I wasn't necessarily referring to broadcast networks. Run a live Nightly News on CNBC or MSNBC or wherever at 10pm Eastern. Of course, Phoenix is unique in that we essentially spend half the year in the Pacific Time Zone and half in Mountain. In the summer, we get the updated West Coast feeds. In the winter, we get the strange Today Show cut-ins -- 5 minutes on a school shooting and then back to our beauty makeover.

 

[fred flintstone]

I wasn't necessarily referring to broadcast networks. Run a live Nightly News on CNBC or MSNBC or wherever at 10pm Eastern. Of course, Phoenix is unique in that we essentially spend half the year in the Pacific Time Zone and half in Mountain. In the summer, we get the updated West Coast feeds. In the winter, we get the strange Today Show cut-ins -- 5 minutes on a school shooting and then back to our beauty makeover.

Arizona choses NOT to observe daylight savings time.
Your state legislature opted out.
Don't complain to us if it screws up the TV schedules.

Stations in Denver record the East Coast network feeds and re-feed them to the rest of the Mountain Time Zone. The networks consider the Mountain Time population too small to go to the trouble and expense of updated feeds.

 

[Frederick of Bedrock]

Right .......you got it now!

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I wasn't necessarily referring to broadcast networks. Run a live Nightly News on CNBC or MSNBC or wherever at 10pm Eastern. Of course, Phoenix is unique in that we essentially spend half the year in the Pacific Time Zone and half in Mountain. In the summer, we get the updated West Coast feeds. In the winter, we get the strange Today Show cut-ins -- 5 minutes on a school shooting and then back to our beauty makeover.

Did CNBC not have such a broadcast with The News with Brian Williams? Then again, I'm not sure if CNBC even has separate ET/PT feeds...

 

[fred flintstone]

Did CNBC not have such a broadcast with The News with Brian Williams? Then again, I'm not sure if CNBC even has separate ET/PT feeds...

The Brian Williams newscast ran on both MSNBC and CNBC, while Williams was being groomed to take over for Brokaw. CNN used to have a prime-time 60-minute flagship newscast, as well. And headline news ran their news cycles around the clock, including prime-time. Now, all are gone.

Which raises the question: Is there really an audience demand for/interest in national news in prime-time?

 

[Morgan Wick]

In Seattle until recently, the network news programs were all at 6. Now only KING (NBC) does that; first KIRO (CBS) and then KOMO (ABC) moved their news to 5:30 so they could have hour-long 6pm local newscasts.

The question, then: Do these stations get the updated feed, or do they get the same East Coast version that mountain stations get not that much earlier?

If the latter, networks should realize that a no-mountain feed policy affects not just the tiny Mountain Time Zone...

(Why do networks give the MTZ, effectively, a special little feed to show their programs at 7 MT, which corresponds with no other time zone? Why not give them the West Coast Feed at 9 MT? Yes, that moves local news on Big 3 networks to midnight, but so what?)

 

[fred flintstone]

In Seattle until recently, the network news programs were all at 6. Now only KING (NBC) does that; first KIRO (CBS) and then KOMO (ABC) moved their news to 5:30 so they could have hour-long 6pm local newscasts.

The question, then: Do these stations get the updated feed, or do they get the same East Coast version that mountain stations get not that much earlier?

If the latter, networks should realize that a no-mountain feed policy affects not just the tiny Mountain Time Zone...

(Why do networks give the MTZ, effectively, a special little feed to show their programs at 7 MT, which corresponds with no other time zone? Why not give them the West Coast Feed at 9 MT? Yes, that moves local news on Big 3 networks to midnight, but so what?)

The answer to that question and 98 per cent of the questions asked on this site is MONEY.
Local news is THE biggest source of station revenue. The late (post prime-time) news is the biggest money-maker in local news. Besides, more people want to watch the local news than want to watch the network news (which is why it should be killed off and replaced with additional half-hour of local news: Few people watch, it is expensive to produce, and local news makes more money).

There is no Mountain Time feed. It's the East Coast feed (5pm Mountain Time) recorded. Stations could run it live but local news AFTER network news gets a smaller audience and makes less money.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Canada is a whole different case. No first amendment. The government censors news media (but they always have a good reason), controls broadcasting and operates the CBC..

Something that those who sing the praises of Canada seem to forget.

Only on Radio-Info will you find people who would change the work, social and sleeping habits of Americans just to have a live, nationwide evening news show. ;D

Let's not be so quick to slam our neighbors in the Great White North or their base of operations overseas. I have watched Canadian and British network news before, and I can say that in their newscasts, they broadcast REAL world news. It's not 20 minutes of domestic stories, five minutes of what's happening in Iraq, and then another five minutes for commercial avails, but you get a real feel for what's happening in every corner of the world. The world doesn't end at the Canadian borders, and they don't treat it as such. Canada's audio news network, BN (Broadcast News) is the radio version. Nicely done on both counts.

 

[fred flintstone]

Let's not be so quick to slam our neighbors in the Great White North or their base of operations overseas. I have watched Canadian and British network news before, and I can say that in their newscasts, they broadcast REAL world news. It's not 20 minutes of domestic stories, five minutes of what's happening in Iraq, and then another five minutes for commercial avails, but you get a real feel for what's happening in every corner of the world. The world doesn't end at the Canadian borders, and they don't treat it as such. Canada's audio news network, BN (Broadcast News) is the radio version. Nicely done on both counts.

Part of the difference is Canadian networks don't treat news as a profit center, therefore they can broadcast the news they think people should be interested in, not necessarily what they are interested in.

Canada really doesn't have any national news, except for government news from Ottawa. Mostly Canadian newscasts are filled with other people's local news.

Ever notice the weather maps on US TV? The US has color, state boundaries and other details. Canada and Mexico are just gray with no details at all. It does look like the world ends at the US border. When newscasters refer to Canadian cities they say Medicine Hat, Canada. Which is like saying Topeka, US. No provincial reference. And whenever cold weather is expected, the weather bimbos with their mail order meteorology certificates always talk about "cold Canadian air," like the climate suddenly changes as you cross a line on a map. In LA you can ski and drive to the beach for a swim. But when you drive from Detroit to Windsor, the weather is the same at both ends of the tunnel.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Part of the difference is Canadian networks don't treat news as a profit center, therefore they can broadcast the news they think people should be interested in, not necessarily what they are interested in. Canada really doesn't have any national news, except for government news from Ottawa. Mostly Canadian newscasts are filled with other people's local news.

Ever notice the weather maps on US TV? The US has color, state boundaries and other details. Canada and Mexico are just gray with no details at all. It does look like the world ends at the US border. When newscasters refer to Canadian cities they say Medicine Hat, Canada. Which is like saying Topeka, US. No provincial reference. And whenever cold weather is expected, the weather bimbos with their mail order meteorology certificates always talk about "cold Canadian air," like the climate suddenly changes as you cross a line on a map. In LA you can ski and drive to the beach for a swim. But when you drive from Detroit to Windsor, the weather is the same at both ends of the tunnel.

Proof positive that the CBC doesn't treat news as its profit center...did you ever notice that the sets are very simple, basically done in a newsroom environment, and the anchors wear very little to no make-up? Little attention is paid to hairstyles or wardrobe. They treat it as "it's about the news, not about the anchor". David Kyle, the 10pm CBC anchor does a great job with delivery, but sports a very European haircut and wears the same sweaters that Dan Rather threw out of his closets in the late 80's. Put him on CBS, and the top execs there would cringe. Go figure.

"Cold Canadian Air". That's rich. I've heard cold Arctic air, but not Canadian air. You're right about the ambient air temperature being the same at both ends of the tunnel. Anytime I was in Windsor, it was never 10 degrees colder due to "Detroit River effect snow"!

 

[fred flintstone]

Proof positive that the CBC doesn't treat news as its profit center...did you ever notice that the sets are very simple, basically done in a newsroom environment, and the anchors wear very little to no make-up? Little attention is paid to hairstyles or wardrobe. They treat it as "it's about the news, not about the anchor". David Kyle, the 10pm CBC anchor does a great job with delivery, but sports a very European haircut and wears the same sweaters that Dan Rather threw out of his closets in the late 80's. Put him on CBS, and the top execs there would cringe. Go figure.

"Cold Canadian Air". That's rich. I've heard cold Arctic air, but not Canadian air. You're right about the ambient air temperature being the same at both ends of the tunnel. Anytime I was in Windsor, it was never 10 degrees colder due to "Detroit River effect snow"!

When news started making money, they started to dumb it down. Or was it the other way around?

I can't get The National since Al Gore took it away so he could run slacker news. Is Peter Mansbridge off the show? I'm not familiar with David Kyle.

 

[mjlarochelle]

With regards to Canada, CBC TV sticks to real news, and their newscasts are about journalism. Because they set the standard high, competitors tend to have a lot of hard news in order to get the potential CBC viewers, as well as keeping some fluff to get the other viewers. CTV tends to lean more towards the hard news side, while Global tends to lean more towards the fluff side. CHUM has stayed away from national news for the most part until recently.

Now, at the local level, the networks operate own and operate most of their stations, and in most cases, Canadian stations have far less local news than their American counterparts, particularly on mornings and weekends. CBC does not have the same journalistic standards at all their local TV stations as they do nationally; local news is a half hour per day during the week only, and on some stations, many of the stories are fluff. CBAT throughout New Brunswick lacks hard news and tries to look like a rural lifestyles magazine at least some of the time; in larger markets the half hour is simply not long enough to fit enough in-depth hard news to make it worth watching, and many viewers turn to the local CTV or Global stations.

Also, big, flashy studios found on a lot of American stations are the exception in Canada. Although plasma screens are now commonplace, most stations still operate local news from very small studios (notwithstanding CHUM). In Ottawa, for example, CBOT has one anchor either behind a desk or standing next to a plasma screen delivering news, all in a small, plain studio; CJOH has its anchors behind a plain desk with the CTV logo on the front, with the Ottawa skyline in the background, and some maple leaf motifs to the sides. Stations in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal tend to broadcast from larger, open concept studios with more screens and views of newsrooms, but are generally far more subdued than American stations. The focus is on the news, not the set (again, not withstanding CHUM). CHUM has tried a more American-style presentation in various markets across Canada, and have failed miserably in almost every case.

I'll put it another way. WDIV's "The Power of 4" would never work anywhere in Canada.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Katie Couric is a featherweight in journalism compared to someone like Christiane Amanpour.

The public DOES NOT want fluff...they want the real beef. WHy is NBC and ABC still doing relatively well with their newscasts?