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Why are local morning news shows so bad?

seatownmedia

seatownmedia

IMO, they are unwatchable. Most markets provide an early morning show, then cut-ins during the network shows. Then there are the Fox affiliates who run non-stop from 7-9 or 10 AM. Beyond that in many bigger markets the CW or other indies provide more non-stop shows.

Here are my complaints:

1. Way too much fluff. Put a reporter in any location where the topic will be benign. Such as craft fairs, museum displays, hot breakfast spots, haunted houses (seasonal), Christmas tree lots (again seasonal), or any other location where they can have fun and be light. What a waste of time.

2. Too much weather. Yes, I understand the repetition as a longtime radio guy I know this is important. But good gawd, most stations spend 30-40% of their time on weather, whether there is any real weather or not. Give us all a break.

3. Speaking of weather, has anyone watched a morning weathercast without hearing the phrase, as you get "out the door". This has become endemic in morning tv but I cringe everytime I hear it, occasionally 2-3 times in one forecast! Please!

4. Hip bumper music. Really? Why?

5. Anchors trying to be funny when they really are not. Enough said. Yes, every newscast needs a light moment or two, but when 90% of the newscast is light, this is a problem IMO. Most of these stations still call them "News" shows.

With all this being said, I understand why it is happening. TV news is pretty cheap to put on, and when local news is expected to fill 4-5 hours every morning, the content suffers, not to mention the repetitive nature of it. Again, I understand the "revolving" audience, but still...

My references for these comments come from my general area. KCPQ Seattle, KPTV Portland, Fox KHQ Spokane, and travels in many other markets watching KTLA Los Angeles, Fox in San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake, and just about every other Fox market.

Why not just "not watch"? Well, I do like to be informed, but 90% of the time that goal is not met with this morning format. Why do the ratings do well in the morning? Beats me.

EDIT: If this is the wrong section for this thread, no worries. I think this is a national issue and couldn't find another section to cover this.
 
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seatownmedia said:
Why do the ratings do well in the morning? Beats me.
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Let me ask you this: Are you watching this as a show, or for short bits getting ready for work or school? Because these shows are designed like radio, to be consumed in 20 minute bites. Why so much weather? Because that's the #1 thing people want to know, for getting dressed, planning the commute, and thinking ahead to their return trip.

If on the other hand, you have a day off and you're watching this for a couple hours, I agree. Probably not the right choice for long term morning entertainment.
 
TheBigA said:
Let me ask you this: Are you watching this as a show, or for short bits getting ready for work or school? Because these shows are designed like radio, to be consumed in 20 minute bites. Why so much weather? Because that's the #1 thing people want to know, for getting dressed, planning the commute, and thinking ahead to their return trip.

If on the other hand, you have a day off and you're watching this for a couple hours, I agree. Probably not the right choice for long term morning entertainment.
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Yes, I tend to watch for 20-30 minutes, so perhaps longer than most. I would watch longer, but it just becomes too repetitive. I will agree that I am not a typical morning show consumer, but I always thought that longer watching (known in old radio terms as AQH), was important. Perhaps not so much today.
 
TheBigA said:
Let me ask you this: Are you watching this as a show, or for short bits getting ready for work or school? Because these shows are designed like radio, to be consumed in 20 minute bites. Why so much weather? Because that's the #1 thing people want to know, for getting dressed, planning the commute, and thinking ahead to their return trip.

If on the other hand, you have a day off and you're watching this for a couple hours, I agree. Probably not the right choice for long term morning entertainment.
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I agree. This is definitely design to be radio in TV form. Not to mention these shows bring local advertising money to the stations where they don't share it with any syndicated show on the same schedule as well. While I agree that I'm personally not a fan of these shows, but when it comes to weather and traffic, they do serve a purpose. Especially if you live in an area like I do, in the southeastern region of the U.S., where if it snows, your day is ruined.
 
Why are local morning news shows so bad? Well for one thing...

Why is a SPOKANE morning show on a Yakima Fox station? It's probably not hard for Monty Webb and Morgan Ashley to continue their KNDO/KNDU "Wake Up Northwest" from 7-9 on Fox 11/41 serving Central Washington, instead of news from 3 hours away. There's a lot of Fox stations that do that, and 23/25 has a news-sharing agreement with 11/41.

I can't stand much of the fluff either. OK, it's interesting to see interviews with people at a Christmas tree farm. But when they start talking Kardashian's and reality TV constantly, I shut it off. If I watch any morning news at all, it's usually CBS This Morning, and never the other two network shows, or the Spokane morning newscast.
 
crainbebo said:
Why are local morning news shows so bad? Well for one thing...

Why is a SPOKANE morning show on a Yakima Fox station? It's probably not hard for Monty Webb and Morgan Ashley to continue their KNDO/KNDU "Wake Up Northwest" from 7-9 on Fox 11/41 serving Central Washington, instead of news from 3 hours away. There's a lot of Fox stations that do that, and 23/25 has a news-sharing agreement with 11/41.

I can't stand much of the fluff either. OK, it's interesting to see interviews with people at a Christmas tree farm. But when they start talking Kardashian's and reality TV constantly, I shut it off. If I watch any morning news at all, it's usually CBS This Morning, and never the other two network shows, or the Spokane morning newscast.
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Yep, Spokane's Fox morning show is running in Yakima/Tri-Cities. But this doesn't surprise me as their Fox 10pm newscast runs in the Tri/Yak market on weekends, and on nights when the local newscast can't staff it, which happens quite often.

I also agree CBS has the most intelligent morning show on a network level. No contest. I can't stand the fluff on Today and Good Morning America.
 
And again tonight on Thanksgiving, the Yakima/Tri-Cities Fox is running the 10pm from Spokane. Apparently the staff is so thin in Tri/Yak that they need to send it off. Oh well.
 
crainbebo said:
Why are local morning news shows so bad? Well for one thing...

Why is a SPOKANE morning show on a Yakima Fox station? It's probably not hard for Monty Webb and Morgan Ashley to continue their KNDO/KNDU "Wake Up Northwest" from 7-9 on Fox 11/41 serving Central Washington, instead of news from 3 hours away. There's a lot of Fox stations that do that, and 23/25 has a news-sharing agreement with 11/41.

I can't stand much of the fluff either. OK, it's interesting to see interviews with people at a Christmas tree farm. But when they start talking Kardashian's and reality TV constantly, I shut it off. If I watch any morning news at all, it's usually CBS This Morning, and never the other two network shows, or the Spokane morning newscast.
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Well I sometimes watch local Newscasts on Newson app from the 11:00pm hours if I can't stand the fluff of Morning shows like Good Day.
 
Anyone who uses a smartphone these days has no need to watch TV for traffic or weather - both of which can be brought to the phone by the punch of a button. I would also include news because if you are headed out the door to commute by car you can get news on a selection of radio stations.

My local Fox station concentrates on local spotlights. New restaurants, local events, local news you won't find elsewhere. They also use their last hour for the more flluffy type of stuff which I don't usually watch but the early stuff is good.
 
RadioPatrol said:
Well I sometimes watch local Newscasts on Newson app from the 11:00pm hours if I can't stand the fluff of Morning shows like Good Day.
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Yes in this case its a TV app. Some newer TV's are connected to the internet and they operate like Ipad on the big screen in this case my tv has a Youtube app, Film on app, and Newson. I use these three apps whenever I want to look for news.
 
seatownmedia said:
With all this being said, I understand why it is happening. TV news is pretty cheap to put on, and when local news is expected to fill 4-5 hours every morning, the content suffers, not to mention the repetitive nature of it. Again, I understand the "revolving" audience, but still...
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Actually its not just in the mornings but even in the evenings where this type of stuff happens. Like many others in here I also have the Newson app on my TV. Just last week WCHS in Charleston, West Virginia for ten minutes during their 5pm newscast showed nothing but a shot of LOS ANGELES traffic. cars/trucks and whatever backed up for miles and miles on their freeways with the anchor back in West Virginia saying "..WOW this sure is pretty !! Very pretty !!". Meanwhile at KRQE channel 13 down in Albuquerque they showed that video during the 5pm newscast of a little boy who broke into a neighbor's garage to give a dog a hug while the anchor kept saying how this video will "..melt my heart". Houston's KPRC did a story about millennials who smoke cigars. Geee..if a were a 25 year old man who smokes big cigars then I would be a big hit in that part of the country. Recently getting my hair cut here in Denver I noticed on their TV that had the news on. I am pretty sure it was KDVR but anyway they did showed that video of a man who had taken his "beloved" dying dog to the beach one last time. I really thought that the young female news anchor back in the Denver was going to break down and cry over this. OK...LA traffic outside of LA, dog stories, 20 somethings who smoke cigars...how or better yet..WHY is any of this stuff well..NEWS ??? Now I understand that it's "fluff" but I am old enough to remember when such stories were usually local such as a church dinner or whatever but there is just something about today's fluff that is different. Very much like with radio. One of my old stations they still have a woman who does the morning show live and local however pretty much most of the stories she talks about are reality TV shows or celebrities. If your last name isn't Kardashian or if your not on Duck Dynasty forget it !! According to staff its a "corporate decision" meaning whatever she talks about say in Martinsburg, West Virginia it must be the same that someone else is talking about in Charleston/Huntington hundreds of miles away. Guess that's life now. Since they are in competition with not only other stations but also social media too.

I think you may have something there. If a station expands their morning or evening newscast for several hours..gotta fill the time with something.
 
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The short answer is probably the closest to the truth: it works. If nearly everyone is doing a very close variation on a theme, and few successfully branch out to do something different, it speaks volumes about what the audience wants and expects.

"I'm old enough to remember" a very different time as well, but that's neither here nor there. Times change, needs and expectations change, lifestyles change. I used to get my morning news from a full-service, MOR radio station with a news staff that rivaled that of the actual all-news station. Now, I pop on a stream from my local station on the tablet while preparing breakfasts and lunches, coffee, cleaning the kitchen, etc. No need, nor particularly time, to scroll through various apps, when I can get what I need in about 20 minutes while multitasking. Then, out the door, and someone else's "20 minutes" is getting started.
 
Well I live in Solano County, CA the commuter county for both Sacramento both San Francisco. I find this interesting because you have two CW affiliates owned by CBS KMAX Sacramento and KBCW San Francisco air a show called "Good Day". It has the fluff that the OP mention and its produced by the KOVR CBS 13 staff. I find the name "Good Day" odd because its usually associated with Fox O&O's and affiliates like KTTV Fox 11 Los Angeles for their morning shows. Two the Good Day Sacramento show borrows some ideas that was originally used from "Evening Magazine" aka "Eye On the Bay" before CBS San Francisco ended that show for ratings reasons in the Bay Area.

Well for non fluff segments I simply go to CBSN and the main CBS O&O's like KPIX and KOVR. Or any Youtube profile like Al-Jazzera English live feed for international news or BBC News on their apps.



Interestingly KTVU the most recent Fox Station that was converted into a Fox O&O for San Francisco is not allowed to use the name Good Day for their morning shows even though Fox Television Stations own the name Good Day for their O&O's. Instead Fox uses "Mornings on 2" and "Mornings on Fox 2" for KTVU's morning show as a carryover when the previous owners ran KTVU.
However KTVU's Mornings on Fox 2 still has one advantage they don't gossip around Kim Kardashian. However, when Gossip is at play in San Francisco its usually about the Warriors and Steph Curry or the 49ers and Kapaernick.

http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/
 
I was watching KIMA's 5PM news yesterday, and they ran into major technical difficulties during the newscast. They were running one of those Sinclair Kristine Frazao reports...without any audio! Just the background audio of an anti-Trump protest used as a package. The anchor was oblivious to the problem, nor did the directors cut it off. She never "apologized" for the technical problems. Was somebody asleep behind the scenes?! Then about 10 minutes of the newscast was Black Friday and different store's deals.
Over at KAPP, I saw a young man doing the news (Galen Ettlin), who sure looked like a 16-year-old when I first saw him. See, it isn't just morning news that is really bad. It's any holiday newscast, or most of the weekend broadcasts as well.

If only I lived in Ellensburg, I'd be watching KOMO or KIRO news more than Yakima. Charter still carries KOMO, KING and KIRO from Seattle on the Ellensburg system.
 
FOX17 has morning news from 5AM to 9AM 7 days a week, Morning Mix at 9AM M-F, FOX17 Midday at 11AM M-F, FOX17 News from 4PM to 7PM 3 hours of news M-F, FOX17 News 10 to 11:30PM 7 days a week unless there is sports from main FOX. I'm sure there is a lot of fluff I only watch it mainly in the background sometimes.

Rest have morning shows form 4:30AM to 7 on WoodTV, WWMT, WZZM.

WoodTV has 8 West at 11AM Weekend 5AM to 8:00AM, WOTV4/WXSP has Maranda Where You Live at 4:30PM which there all Media General soon to be Nexstar stations.

CW7 airs the last hour of NewsChannel 3 at 7AM, Lori Moore Show at 4PM, Newschannel 3 Live at 10PM on CW7.

WZZM has My West Michigan at 9AM, WZZM weekends 6AM to 8AM,

WMMT, weekends 6AM to 8AM Sat, 7AM to 9AM Sun.
 
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Local morning shows are bad because they don't have resources to put together a news-heavy program. Most stations assign one or two field reporters to the morning shift. Because there often isn't a lot going on before 7am, those reporters get stuck on the crime beat. When you're standing up in front of a gas station that was robbed at 2am, what new is there to say on your eighth "live report" at 6:30am?
 
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