Nashville television newscasts

[bpatrick]

Not a radio question but I thought this
board was the best place to put this:

I read an article the other day by a
Vanderbilt student which trashed the
newscasts on Channels 2, 4, and 5.
Channel 2, it said, does not put the
resources into its news; Channel 4
is too sensational; Channel 5 does
hours of local news but repeats the
same 10 stories.

I was always under the impression that
all three local newscasts were quite
professional and stacked up against
newscasts in comparable markets.

What is your opinion of local news
in Music City?

 

[jetfli]

> I read an article the other day by a
> Vanderbilt student which trashed the
> newscasts on Channels 2, 4, and 5.
> Channel 2, it said, does not put the
> resources into its news; Channel 4
> is too sensational; Channel 5 does
> hours of local news but repeats the
> same 10 stories.

While our local newscasts have been watered down over the years, they're still so much better than I see in many other places. When will college students ever learn that their opinions aren't the same as reality? (Okay, so I was the same way back in the day...) Especially Vandy students?

But isn't 5 the sensationalist one?

 

[oldvnewschool]

> > I read an article the other day by a
> > Vanderbilt student which trashed the
> > newscasts on Channels 2, 4, and 5.
> > Channel 2, it said, does not put the
> > resources into its news; Channel 4
> > is too sensational; Channel 5 does
> > hours of local news but repeats the
> > same 10 stories.
>
> While our local newscasts have been watered down over the
> years, they're still so much better than I see in many other
> places. When will college students ever learn that their
> opinions aren't the same as reality? (Okay, so I was the
> same way back in the day...) Especially Vandy students?
>
> But isn't 5 the sensationalist one?
>
I like this student's observation and he's right.

News 2 had these ridiculous promos about trust (Yeah and 106.7 is the #1

station in the country)and their stories end so quick it's a big joke.

IT'S NOT A GAME TO SEE IF ANNE HOLT CAN BEAT CHRIS CLARK ON AIR TIME

Channel 4 is all about the sensation, anything they show news wreaks in emotion

Channel 5 while repetitive, knows what they're doing. They're very smart for

so many years. I'm surprised Fox 17 is not in the mix which proves whether you

call what they do at 9pm to 10:30 news at all

 

[yorkie9]

I grew up in Nashville and my family always watched WSMV. I remember Miller & Company and then Jeff McAtee coming in when Miller went to CBS to do Pat Sajak's short lived show. WSMV was great at being sort of "light". There was a strong news team, but they had humor and enough lifestyle features to give it a hometown feel. This is what they did well. WTVF was always more of a pro outfit - it seemed that seeing them crack a smile on the news was sort of a shock. When WTVF started to lighten up just slightly, the tide started to shift. Then WSMV lost Ralph Emery, so there went mornings. They gave up on the Noon Show and WTVF's "Talk of the Town" took off. Worse of all, WSMV next combated by trying to be more like WTVF, but 5 does serious hard hitting news better. 5 can go over board a bit, but 4 goes way over the top (like the embarrassing "live home break-in" during sweeps). I prefer 5 and watch it at 4:30AM and 6PM every week day.

WKRN has long suffered from a poor signal. Even in Gallatin, we never could get a good air signal - even WBKO out of Bowling Green came in better most days. Cable has been around for a long time, but a lot of people are set in habits it seems. Since we barely could pick up 2 when I was growing up, I still don't watch it much now (even though the rabbit ears with the foil balls are long long gone - thank goodness!). There is a lot of talent at WKRN and I'm not sure what it would need to do to really take off with the viewers.

Don't forget Fox 17! I get up fairly early to go to work (4:30) and normally watch the start of the 9 o clock news and go to bed. It is a good product and above par compared to Fox news in other cities I've seen.

I agree with the other post - when I travel, I realize how lucky we are. Newscasts I recently saw in Washington DC and Dallas TX don't seem to come close, but I am biased to the hometown!

Jason




> Not a radio question but I thought this
> board was the best place to put this:
>
> I read an article the other day by a
> Vanderbilt student which trashed the
> newscasts on Channels 2, 4, and 5.
> Channel 2, it said, does not put the
> resources into its news; Channel 4
> is too sensational; Channel 5 does
> hours of local news but repeats the
> same 10 stories.
>
> I was always under the impression that
> all three local newscasts were quite
> professional and stacked up against
> newscasts in comparable markets.
>
> What is your opinion of local news
> in Music City?
>

 

[jwk1979]

> I grew up in Nashville and my family always watched WSMV. I
> remember Miller & Company and then Jeff McAtee coming in
> when Miller went to CBS to do Pat Sajak's short lived show.
> WSMV was great at being sort of "light". >
> Jason
>
There are a few mistakes in your post about WSMV. Jeff McAtee did replace Dan Miller when he left, but Dan Miller did not leave to do Pat Sajak's show on CBS. He left for a news reporting job with a station in LA. He had been gone from Nashville four or five years before the Pat Sajak Show debuted on CBS. When he returned to Nashville in the early ninties, he had been gone for almost six years.

 

[romer979fm]

> There are a few mistakes in your post about WSMV. Jeff
> McAtee did replace Dan Miller when he left, but Dan Miller
> did not leave to do Pat Sajak's show on CBS. He left for a
> news reporting job with a station in LA. He had been gone
> from Nashville four or five years before the Pat Sajak Show
> debuted on CBS. When he returned to Nashville in the early
> ninties, he had been gone for almost six years.
>

While we're being specific, Miller left WSMV to co-anchor the
5pm newscast at CBS2 in LA, a real dog operation. CBS2 has always
lagged WAY behind NBC4, ABC7 and even KTLA. Miller did an excellent
job, but CBS2's perception as a loser in LA is so strong, they
couldn't make a dent with Jesus Christ doing weather.
Miller was Sajak's announcer (the Ed McMahon role)...and did a nice
job with that, too (not counting the time he was dressed in that
giant pink bunny suit).
<P ID="signature">______________
but wait...there's more!</P>

 

[jwk1979]

> > There are a few mistakes in your post about WSMV. Jeff
> > McAtee did replace Dan Miller when he left, but Dan Miller
>
> > did not leave to do Pat Sajak's show on CBS. He left for a
>
> > news reporting job with a station in LA. He had been gone
> > from Nashville four or five years before the Pat Sajak
> Show
> > debuted on CBS. When he returned to Nashville in the early
>
> > ninties, he had been gone for almost six years.
> >
>
> While we're being specific, Miller left WSMV to co-anchor
> the
> 5pm newscast at CBS2 in LA, a real dog operation. CBS2 has
> always
> lagged WAY behind NBC4, ABC7 and even KTLA. Miller did an
> excellent
> job, but CBS2's perception as a loser in LA is so strong,
> they
> couldn't make a dent with Jesus Christ doing weather.
> Miller was Sajak's announcer (the Ed McMahon role)...and
> did a nice
> job with that, too (not counting the time he was dressed
> in that
> giant pink bunny suit).
>
I was thinking that Dan Miller left Nashville to anchor the news for one of the LA stations, but I wasn't sure that was the case.