For those who miss seeing any graphics at all, WKTV plans to launch a new graphics package on tonight's 11pm news.
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WKTV debuts new GPX
- Thread starter uticatvguy
- Start date
I saw this thread too late last night to see 11pm, and I got home too late to see 5/6pm. But I'm watching some of the video online right now, and I think I have to agree with cnymike. Looks better than the old gfx package, but certainly needs some tweaking.
For example, locator and SOT supers are aligned a little too far left (stepping over the peacock). Anchor stand-up CGs are also left-justified, but more toward the center, which looks odd to begin with -- but even moreso because the top and bottom lines don't match up with each other.
The new "top story" open looks better than the old one (but should be scrapped anyway... I'm not a fan of "top story" opens -- it's the beginning of the newscast, "top story" is redundant).
Also glad to see Steve McMurray finally gave up on the "index line" idea he brought over from WUTR (who orginally brought it over from then-WIXT). Index lines (where the title of the story is always supered over the video) have always looked good on WIXT/WSYR, but they didn't look so good to me on WKTV. Maybe it was the white-on-black color scheme; I'm not quite sure.
Have yet to see any full-screen supers or opens (they cut off the opens when they post video online) but from what I've seen so far, not bad for a small market. Nice to see something more colorful. Hopefully WKTV was smart enough to buy a CG that's HD-capable, or at least 16:9 capable, so it can keep functioning whenever they finally upgrade everything else. Not that I expect them to go HD or even widescreen in the very near future... but CGs can get pretty expensive. Not something you want to be replacing in 5 or 7 years unless you absolutely have to. I'll optimistically hope this is why they took their time getting the old one replaced.
For example, locator and SOT supers are aligned a little too far left (stepping over the peacock). Anchor stand-up CGs are also left-justified, but more toward the center, which looks odd to begin with -- but even moreso because the top and bottom lines don't match up with each other.
The new "top story" open looks better than the old one (but should be scrapped anyway... I'm not a fan of "top story" opens -- it's the beginning of the newscast, "top story" is redundant).
Also glad to see Steve McMurray finally gave up on the "index line" idea he brought over from WUTR (who orginally brought it over from then-WIXT). Index lines (where the title of the story is always supered over the video) have always looked good on WIXT/WSYR, but they didn't look so good to me on WKTV. Maybe it was the white-on-black color scheme; I'm not quite sure.
Have yet to see any full-screen supers or opens (they cut off the opens when they post video online) but from what I've seen so far, not bad for a small market. Nice to see something more colorful. Hopefully WKTV was smart enough to buy a CG that's HD-capable, or at least 16:9 capable, so it can keep functioning whenever they finally upgrade everything else. Not that I expect them to go HD or even widescreen in the very near future... but CGs can get pretty expensive. Not something you want to be replacing in 5 or 7 years unless you absolutely have to. I'll optimistically hope this is why they took their time getting the old one replaced.
Well...sadly there is no new chyron...same ol' system. The upside of that is that this company seems to care more about it's people than the updating of equipment.
Here is a link for the new Daybreak open. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFSQPzG9kQ
BobRoss said:I saw this thread too late last night to see 11pm, and I got home too late to see 5/6pm. But I'm watching some of the video online right now, and I think I have to agree with cnymike. Looks better than the old gfx package, but certainly needs some tweaking.
For example, locator and SOT supers are aligned a little too far left (stepping over the peacock). Anchor stand-up CGs are also left-justified, but more toward the center, which looks odd to begin with -- but even moreso because the top and bottom lines don't match up with each other.
The new "top story" open looks better than the old one (but should be scrapped anyway... I'm not a fan of "top story" opens -- it's the beginning of the newscast, "top story" is redundant).
Also glad to see Steve McMurray finally gave up on the "index line" idea he brought over from WUTR (who orginally brought it over from then-WIXT). Index lines (where the title of the story is always supered over the video) have always looked good on WIXT/WSYR, but they didn't look so good to me on WKTV. Maybe it was the white-on-black color scheme; I'm not quite sure.
Have yet to see any full-screen supers or opens (they cut off the opens when they post video online) but from what I've seen so far, not bad for a small market. Nice to see something more colorful. Hopefully WKTV was smart enough to buy a CG that's HD-capable, or at least 16:9 capable, so it can keep functioning whenever they finally upgrade everything else. Not that I expect them to go HD or even widescreen in the very near future... but CGs can get pretty expensive. Not something you want to be replacing in 5 or 7 years unless you absolutely have to. I'll optimistically hope this is why they took their time getting the old one replaced.
One of the major problems with WKTV is having things blend together when multiple things are showing up. The bug, chyron, and index line all seemed to be going their own places. If they would bring some sort of collaboration between all the elements, the package would end up working a lot better.
Some other things that are bothering me, the bug comes and goes at will. I think they should just transfer the image to master control like the bug had been with no graphics, and just have it on throughout the entire newscast. Also, having a clock never killed anyone either, along with the temp. I don't see where they get the argument that a temp. stamp doesn't represent the viewing area with it on the roof and on top of the hill. Given the hilly nature of the DMA, I think it worked just fine (and was still warmer than this place).
I've sent in my suggestions to McMurray, but it seems scattered who's using them and who's not. The morning show seemed to take my idea on standard capitalization and left justification on slide titles, but others not. They need to have a meeting on just how these need to be produced. Lotto things also seem a bit odd if any of you's have seen them.
uticatvguy said:Here is a link for the new Daybreak open. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFSQPzG9kQ
ROTF, LMFAO... the announcer boldly declaring WKTV is "Central New York's First & Only local TV news" with the words "First & Only" over the anchors.
Two reasons why that perpetuates the stereotype of WKTV'ers being full of themselves:
1) Syracuse is more CNY than Utica is. "The Mohawk Valley's..." would work better.
2) Actually, they're not alone... News 10 Now is also available in the market now.
Even if you want to argue that Utica counts as CNY, and WKTV is the only choice for people in Utica who don't have cable, it's still a pretty cheesy declaration. It sounds like they're trying to impress the viewer, but to me, it just says, "if you want local news, you're stuck with us... there's no other choice."
Despite that one laugher, and the "Now ... at ... 11:00..." sequence moving kind of slowly on the 11pm open, I think this is WKTV's best effort at making in-house opens since they started. They'd still do much better hiring an outside firm like they used to, but they're improving. I was not a fan of the previous opens whatsoever.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
"1) Syracuse is more CNY than Utica is. "The Mohawk Valley's..." would work better."
The Mohawk Valley is how WUTR referred to their coverage and I think we all know how that ended up. WKTV has referred to covering Central New York since at least 1994. Besides...no one in Syracuse watches WKTV and no one in Utica watches the Syracuse stations. Who cares if they call their coverage CNY?
2) Actually, they're not alone... News 10 Now is also available in the market now.
No lets be adults about this. No one watches News 10 Now during the traditional news time periods. They may get some viewers who pass through from time to time. They do a nice job. But WKTV has been on the air and doing news for 60 years. They didn't go away when the competition got tough. They didn't come into town 2 or 3 years ago trying to buy their way into the homes of people. They have been earning trust for years. So, with all due respect to News 10 Now, they aren't even a player in the Utica market.
Don't get me wrong, WKTV isn't perfect. Bill Worden brings a lot to the table for them. Without him they don't have much credibility. But they try hard and are learning which is what happens in small markets. Their biggest issue now is a replacement for Bill when the time comes for his final newscast.
"1) Syracuse is more CNY than Utica is. "The Mohawk Valley's..." would work better."
The Mohawk Valley is how WUTR referred to their coverage and I think we all know how that ended up. WKTV has referred to covering Central New York since at least 1994. Besides...no one in Syracuse watches WKTV and no one in Utica watches the Syracuse stations. Who cares if they call their coverage CNY?
2) Actually, they're not alone... News 10 Now is also available in the market now.
No lets be adults about this. No one watches News 10 Now during the traditional news time periods. They may get some viewers who pass through from time to time. They do a nice job. But WKTV has been on the air and doing news for 60 years. They didn't go away when the competition got tough. They didn't come into town 2 or 3 years ago trying to buy their way into the homes of people. They have been earning trust for years. So, with all due respect to News 10 Now, they aren't even a player in the Utica market.
Don't get me wrong, WKTV isn't perfect. Bill Worden brings a lot to the table for them. Without him they don't have much credibility. But they try hard and are learning which is what happens in small markets. Their biggest issue now is a replacement for Bill when the time comes for his final newscast.
WUTR had more problems than that. The 22 year lead by WKTV had a lot of things to do with it, along with the difference in bands.Smith Hill Rocks said:A couple of things to keep in mind:
"1) Syracuse is more CNY than Utica is. "The Mohawk Valley's..." would work better."
The Mohawk Valley is how WUTR referred to their coverage and I think we all know how that ended up. WKTV has referred to covering Central New York since at least 1994. Besides...no one in Syracuse watches WKTV and no one in Utica watches the Syracuse stations. Who cares if they call their coverage CNY?
Also, more and more people it seems are turning the dial over to Syracuse. A couple years back I myself started watching WSYR-TV as my main source instead of WKTV. You also have to keep in mind what we consider Utica/Rome and what Nielsen says is Utica is completely different.
Smith Hill Rocks said:2) Actually, they're not alone... News 10 Now is also available in the market now.
No lets be adults about this. No one watches News 10 Now during the traditional news time periods. They may get some viewers who pass through from time to time. They do a nice job. But WKTV has been on the air and doing news for 60 years. They didn't go away when the competition got tough. They didn't come into town 2 or 3 years ago trying to buy their way into the homes of people. They have been earning trust for years. So, with all due respect to News 10 Now, they aren't even a player in the Utica market.
After a while the age of the station is going to wear off when people realize that they've gotten dirt cheap. It actually makes me laugh when I see some of the cheap attempts WKTV does to make the news fancy without spending a dime.
Once the novelty of graphics wears off and right as the economy picks up wouldn't be a bad time for Nexstar to consider something with their trio. A lot of people are getting tired of WKTV, and the high turnover doesn't have people wanting to watch to see their anchor.
High turnover is unfortunate, but it's a reality of any small market station. It's not just WKTV; when WUTR had news, they had just as much turnover. We could probably have an entirely separate thread, just mentioning obscure, short-time Utica TV personalities who might be remembered only by each poster. WUTR managed to keep a few people longer-than-average during the Ackerley era, but only because Ackerley was a bit generous (maybe too generous, considering WUTR remained a distant #2 throughout) with the money. As much as it would be nice to see Nexstar revive news across the street, even if for no other reason than to give WKTV'ers some competition to keep them on their toes, I highly doubt the turnover rates would be any better than what you see at WKTV.
For as long as I can remember, small market stations like WKTV, or any other station in Watertown or Binghamton, have always been made of a combination of "lifers" who have no intention of leaving, and newbies who want to simply build a resume tape, fulfill their contract, and get out.
In defense of WKTV, they've actually got a decent lineup at the moment... which can be a good thing and a bad thing. While I'd only consider 5 talent to be "lifers" (not counting Vic Vetters, since he's never on-air anymore) almost everyone else has been there at least 2-3 years. That's good because the revolving door hasn't been spinning as much as it could be. But the downside is that sooner or later, one person will land a new big-market job... and then, whether by coincidence or not, others will follow pretty close behind. All the sudden 4-5 people are gone and everyone else is being overworked, and the station is practically forced to hire people who might not quite be as "accomplished" as hoped, simply because they have to get these openings filled ASAP.
Something to keep in mind: as media companies tighten budgets, we're seeing more and more people getting into Syracuse-level markets right out of college. The Utica/Watertown/Bingo "stepping stone" job isn't a hard-set requirement today like it was 10-15 years ago. While the "first job in Syracuse" faction isn't necessarily a majority yet, it's happening more often... and that trend is only going to make it harder for Utica-type markets to bring people in.
For as long as I can remember, small market stations like WKTV, or any other station in Watertown or Binghamton, have always been made of a combination of "lifers" who have no intention of leaving, and newbies who want to simply build a resume tape, fulfill their contract, and get out.
In defense of WKTV, they've actually got a decent lineup at the moment... which can be a good thing and a bad thing. While I'd only consider 5 talent to be "lifers" (not counting Vic Vetters, since he's never on-air anymore) almost everyone else has been there at least 2-3 years. That's good because the revolving door hasn't been spinning as much as it could be. But the downside is that sooner or later, one person will land a new big-market job... and then, whether by coincidence or not, others will follow pretty close behind. All the sudden 4-5 people are gone and everyone else is being overworked, and the station is practically forced to hire people who might not quite be as "accomplished" as hoped, simply because they have to get these openings filled ASAP.
Something to keep in mind: as media companies tighten budgets, we're seeing more and more people getting into Syracuse-level markets right out of college. The Utica/Watertown/Bingo "stepping stone" job isn't a hard-set requirement today like it was 10-15 years ago. While the "first job in Syracuse" faction isn't necessarily a majority yet, it's happening more often... and that trend is only going to make it harder for Utica-type markets to bring people in.
I would like to see if the broadcasting market is cyclic. I know in the dot-com boom stations were buying sets and everything, but along with the boom went all that, and operations started shuttering. It seems to not have fully recovered.
Back in the days of competition, WKTV actually had a nice strategy. They know people grow attached to anchors. Dick Lawler was on mornings. In 2006 when he retired and we were left with the lady that couldn't read, 20 would have gotten a boost. Vetters was on noon; and some longer term newbie for 5. As we still know and see, Worden was on at 6&11. They could have the revolving door, but people wouldn't notice it as much.
Now with people starting to retire, they're going to need to find new lifers. Jolene Ferris has been there for 16 years, but I don't see her going to sit behind the anchor desk.
Basically what it comes down to, with Bob's observation of Syracuse becoming the new Utica, and people retiring, is that the only people who will want to work will be locals from Utica or people that have some sort of liking for the city.
Back in the days of competition, WKTV actually had a nice strategy. They know people grow attached to anchors. Dick Lawler was on mornings. In 2006 when he retired and we were left with the lady that couldn't read, 20 would have gotten a boost. Vetters was on noon; and some longer term newbie for 5. As we still know and see, Worden was on at 6&11. They could have the revolving door, but people wouldn't notice it as much.
Now with people starting to retire, they're going to need to find new lifers. Jolene Ferris has been there for 16 years, but I don't see her going to sit behind the anchor desk.
Basically what it comes down to, with Bob's observation of Syracuse becoming the new Utica, and people retiring, is that the only people who will want to work will be locals from Utica or people that have some sort of liking for the city.
cnymike said:They know people grow attached to anchors. Dick Lawler was on mornings. In 2006 when he retired and we were left with the lady that couldn't read, 20 would have gotten a boost. Vetters was on noon; and some longer term newbie for 5. As we still know and see, Worden was on at 6&11. They could have the revolving door, but people wouldn't notice it as much.
Utica's such a small market, people do notice when regular reporters leave -- not just anchors. But, you're still right about people not caring about the reporters as much as the anchors. It will be a big deal when Worden leaves, and you still hear the occasional mention of Lyle Bosley's name ... but how often do you overhear people reminiscing about longtime ex-reporter Karen Huxtable? She was there forever, but she "stepped down" and life goes on.
cnymike said:Now with people starting to retire, they're going to need to find new lifers. Jolene Ferris has been there for 16 years, but I don't see her going to sit behind the anchor desk.
She won't anchor unless they force her to... and they very well may have done that some time ago, if WUTR was still around and posing a threat. But without any competition, they don't need to devote their "star power" to the anchor desk. She can get away with keeping her wishes to stick to reporting while they let the 20-somethings continue to anchor. Probably better that way anyway -- anyone with half a clue can sit there and read a teleprompter, but reporters have to actually create compelling content.
cnymike said:Basically what it comes down to, with Bob's observation of Syracuse becoming the new Utica, and people retiring, is that the only people who will want to work will be locals from Utica or people that have some sort of liking for the city.
Most likely... either that, or smaller markets like Utica will have to start stepping up their salary offers to be more competitive with Syracuse-sized markets. Not that they'll be offering up much -- the medium markets have already lowered their starting salaries enough that it won't take much to compete. Of course, the way the economy's been going, it'll be awhile longer before smaller stations have to worry about that. Right now, layoffs are high, and job openings are slim... newbie broadcasters are in a position where they practically need to take any job they can get, or look outside of the business altogether.
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