And another one last week: KCNC is now CBS News Colorado.
Over on NBC, their Washington DC O&O, WRC, has a new set. The space was formerly used by Meet the Press before they moved to their DC bureau, and might be shared with WZDC (Telemundo):
[Update] And here’s Telemundo DC’s new studio:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cpdphgvh8LU
You can tell the KCNC wasn’t fully ready for the transition. Their opens look like they are half baked/done. Plus the CBS News Colorado isn’t centred vertically in bug which triggers my OCD 
And now it’s WFOR’s turn, now CBS News Miami. On streaming, they used the full score for the rebranded open, according to TVNewsTalk:
Meanwhile, the 5pm newscast has this:
And there’s also this. What’s with the O&Os and their habit of fiddling around with font sizes?
Moving on from CBS, Gray, one of the biggest stations groups in the US, is preparing a new graphics package for its local stations. It’s largely based on the one used in WANF in Atlanta, though it seems like they can be customizable, such as the CBS3 with the dissected eye background.
Here’s a sizzle reel for the graphics, originally posted on Creative Director Matt Quinn’s LinkedIn page, reuploaded by folks over at Pres Cafe:
Some has made it on air, such as the new logo on the KFYR group of stations in North Dakota (and with WBTV in Charlotte expected to follow a similar style), their news streaming service, Local News Live, and a sports promo on WCSC Charleston.
I was comparing the two I think the top one is an overlay for their Online stream of WFOR and what is underneath is what is actually on air as you can see below it covers the Orange variant of the graphics.
After months of preparation since last June, WPIX in New York debuted their new studio tonight at 6, alongside the new open and supers:
The 10PM news looks like this:
And the weather ticker looks incredibly large over the headlines in morning news:
According to morning anchor Hazel Sanchez Rapciewicz, the official launch date is on next Monday, so maybe this is a soft launch?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp5nqG-t3js/
And as discovered by TVNewsTalk, the studio is also going to be NewsNation’s NYC bureau. This is what the latter may look like:
The long-rumoured new open from KDKA/CBS News Pittsburgh debuted during their News at Noon today. Like their previous package, they broke free of the generic blue and used a black/yellow combination:
… or solely the former, in case of the lower thirds, which doesn’t look good to the full-screen graphic, also in black:
The headline super is still white though:
Meanwhile, their morning news is running on a lemony-yellow accent:
[Update: That’s the default supers for the station now.]
Black and yellow being the colours of all of Pittsburgh’s major sports teams (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins)
Well, more generally, the black and gold colours are the official city colours of Pittsburgh, coming from the coat of arms of William Pitt the Elder, the city’s namesake.
It’s a busy week for CBS O&Os, as WCBS/CBS News New York is the next to receive the new graphics package, coincidentally debuted in afternoon news:
The in-between animation seems to be a customized version, as it has the CBS2 symbol, instead of the CBS eye:
The weather uses the old graphics though.
This was on Monday:
Also
Back to CBS, KYW in Philly might be the next in line for the new graphics package, with a gigantic letter 3 twist:
https://vimeo.com/812176322
The 3 looks horrendous IMO - inconsistent with both the main CBS brand and the legacy Westinghouse brand (anklepants). We’ll see how it’ll be seen on screen…
Meanwhile, WBZ Boston is the latest recipient of the new graphics. Or should I say, WBZ NEWS streaming on CBS News Boston?
An update: WCAX in Burlington/Plattsburgh/Montreal adopted the new graphics package, changing their theme tune in the process.
WCSC in Charleston, where rumours of the new graphics first emerged, also got the new look:
Some more station blips are now available on Vimeo, utilizing shades of green from Eagles:
https://vimeo.com/815517360
https://vimeo.com/815505465
[UPDATE] They’ll be relaunching later on Wednesday, according to news anchor Jim Donovan’s Facebook live (2 minutes in).
Moving on to local TV…
WBBH/WZVN (NBC/ABC), Waterman Broadcasting’s Fort Myers station, were sold to Hearst Television:
https://nbc-2.com/news/2023/04/05/waterman-broadcasting-selling-wbbh-tv-nbc2-to-hearst-television/
Meanwhile, WVLA/WGMB, the Baton Rouge NBC/Fox duopoly by Nexstar, debuted a new set yesterday, as Nexstar’s vote of confidence in the region:
and it’s now on the air:
They also debuted a new campaign: They’re “finding heart in every beat”.
NewscastStudio has the story on keeping the 3:
“We also recognized we couldn’t just completely get rid of the three,” said [Kelly] Frank, while noting that channel numbers mean something different in the world of streaming. “We knew that there was recognition and affinity and value in that three… We needed to maintain that tip of the hat, that legacy, that homage to the iconic three. So we kept it and made sure that it was married to the CBS brand.”
And now it’s WCCO/CBS News Minnesota’s turn, taking the WBZ route as WCCO NEWS streaming on CBS News Minnesota.
Their 4pm newscast, The 4, flipped first with standard blue branding:
Then the 5pm news followed with the new brand. Contrary to what we’ve seen in the practice run, no red is used in the new open:
Don’t know where to put this. but Tucker Carlson is making a comback via Twitter
May not have signed yet, but what a potential cash cow for Twitter. Im no Tucker fan but Im aware of his reach and the sponsors that would follow him from Fox. If Elon works it right, it could just turn the whole platform’s fortunes around.
Someone should cuck the Tuck. Humanity doesn’t need him sputing his half-baked views.
Didn’t expect a social platform taking side directly in collaborating with a former politics pundit, but hey, this is post-Musk Twitter - everything can happen for one more penny in the billionaire’s bank account 
Staying with conservative-leaning outlets, Sinclair, the local TV group recently in financial troubles with Bally Sports RSNs, has been chopping local news departments lately. Since mid-March, places like Macon, Columbia, Toledo, Omaha and Gainsville are stopping their own news productions, opting for Sinclair’s The National Desk instead. TVNewscheck has the details:
TVNewsCheck reached out to several employees from each of the stations. Most interview requests went unanswered and two were declined, but three sources from within two of the stations were responsive. They did not wish to reveal their identities out of concerns that Sinclair might take legal action against them or thwart future job opportunities. Collectively, they said 28 people in the two markets lost their jobs.
“I’m still in shock, and just really sad,” said one of the former news team members. “We were all in a room together when a person from Sinclair announced news was not meeting ratings expectations and therefore not appealing to high-dollar sponsorships. Immediately, someone brought up union rules and that they were owed 90 days’ notice. HR replied that they spoke with the union and didn’t say anything else about it.”
“I’m trying to stay positive,” said another source. “It is hard because we, as a smaller newsroom, were very, very close to one another. We considered ourselves a lot more like family than we did coworkers, so it’s been especially hard to see the people I care about hurting as well and knowing there’s nothing I can do to make it feel better.”
“Some of us have seen this coming,” a third person said. “We couldn’t hire anyone, the quality of work was diminishing and some of us, like me, were doing three positions.”
Over in Allentown, Pennsylvania, indie station WFMZ debuted new graphics earlier this week, which holds up well against those big station group ones IMO:
And finally, on your CBS Local Graphics Newswatch™ tonight, WBBM Chicago is the latest to join the queue, and it’s the boring boxed one with their channel number. As of now, only WJZ Baltimore and KOVR Sacramento haven’t made the switch:
NewscastStudio has the story.
The problem with Sinclair is that they kept buying station after station after station. Debt loads came up, along comes COVID, and their goose was cooked.
They’re better off selling a lot of their stations.
It was the bet on regional sports networks in particular that did them in. League contracts costing billions for a very particular slice of the audience watching live on local cable (not out-of-market, streaming or cable) did not match up with potential revenue from ads and retransmission fees.
Sinclair recently reorganized so that it basically saddled its local TV ops with Bally - they have tech stuff that apparently does well and has been separated out into its own division. Clean balance sheet, clear burden.
It sucks.
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