NBC News, MSNBC, ABC News and others from across the pond

That is a very clean graphics package from WMAR -Baltimore. Many of the US stations are going full headlong into doing the clean flat graphics without any light flares or extruded flying graphics.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/04182020-cbs-evening-news/

And here is the CBS Weekend News from Atlanta. They had a little mistake during the headlines where the lower third suddenly switches to "Evening News with Norah O'Donnel".

Also calling the station by the callsign and the on-screen name is quite a mouthfull IMHO. Would sound better if they choose one of the two.

From the UK, it seems *so* foreign that a national news bulletin would essentially tour the country and be produced by different affiliates from one week to the next, no matter what the circumstances.

Even if they really can't do anything from their usual premises, I'd have thought just sticking to one affiliate to produce as a back up would be easier, to save all this duplication of work in sending the assets, making them compatible with local set ups? Not to mention the editorial teams who I'm guessing are having to work remotely with new people each week in order to preserve continuity in style etc?

Either way, I'm sure the affiliates (and local anchors) are loving it.

I don't know how overtime works exactly in the US, but presumably the CBS Weekend News is requiring local staff to work extra? Might be why it is moving about between affiliates, to avoid putting too much staffing pressure on any one affiliate?

It is extremely odd to me and others as well. Something has to be going on at the N.Y. HQ to cause their morning show to be remotely produced for weeks, along with WCBS (who apparently has a skeleton staff of two in the gallery to produce their newscast), plus they kicked out their shows who lease space such as Last Week Tonight. I spoke with someone and they think it maybe a union issue raising alarm to finding asbestos in the building (and are using that excuse to keep it closed).




The stations that are producing the newscasts would have their weekend crews in anyway. And who knows how exactly this is working out - are the producers for the national newscast writing the show, building the packages or is all the local stations choice? I imagine it’s produced by the national team and a local station puts it to air. I imagine if extra staff are brought in to produce this newscast that CBS would pick up the tab.


They are asking a. Lot of the local station. They’re requiring them to adapt the graphics to their current system and deal with automation. All of the affiliates so far are heavily automated and don’t have a typical switcher panel. So not only do they have to make sure the graphics are right, but also program their automation to handle the different wipes/multi boxes and whatever else.

Knew I'd seen this somewhere. Until this weekend, the CBS Weekend News has been produced locally. Presumably the weekend teams would need help from weekday staff to produce a national bulletin as well as to maintain existing local weekend content? Hence my staffing 'theory' for moving between affiliates. Though I mentioned overtime, what I was thinking was whether local staff would be willing and able to resource weekend national newscasts every weekend if they always came from the same station? With the way CBS have moved about, every affiliate used has only had one or two weekends of extra work

Being produced from New York from this weekend onwards though
https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/wgcl-anchors-folbaum-gables-helm-cbs-evening-news-april-18-19?fbclid=IwAR3F_SfZmA_k5lIZyd-vs1qgFTZ1ADErkFrqFMxthH5cf8VgmIPLuUZd7QE

It seemed really odd to me that a major UK broadcaster would move a weekday national newscast to Salford, yet here we are, and years later, plenty of presenters do the Euston-to-Manchester Picadilly shuttle.

CBS moving around the country is definitely interesting, and I would guess they don't want to put too much of a burden on any one station. Every station in the country has been turned on its head in terms of workflow.

Not that odd really and if ITV or the BBC found themselves in a similar position the same thing happening here wouldn't surprise me, especially with ITV who over the years have pulled in various regional newsreader to cover the weekend bulletins. In the current situation moving the bulletin probably makes more sense than putting all the pressure on one affiliate to continue to produce it.


I'm guessing now it is an (enforced) choice to keep the CBS News Broadcast Centre closed with it being in New York.

I read on Wikipedia earlier that CBS This Morning was being made at the Ed Sullivan Theatre.

If you click on the link at the bottom you’ll see a new page about KTVT taking over. The show was stacked, written and edited by national producers but was directed an line produced with KTVT producers.

https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/cbs-owned-stations-pitch-in-with-national-newscasts

I think more than anything else it speaks to the capabilities of the stations to produce, without a hitch, a quality National News programme, from what some foreigners view as lower quality irrelevant local news operations. There has been barely any perceptible glitches that are glaring n so far. I say hats off to the CBS News team for getting their broadcast on air all over the country. WGCL - Atlanta thankfully had Rick Folbaum as its lead anchor. Rick was with FoxNews for years and then was with CNN International for a few years. Which is why he is still in Atlanta.
But I think everyone has also missed another viewpoint. This can also be viewed as a marketing ploy by CBS. (Money Money Money) American network newscasts are notorious for periodically doing "roadshows" and taking their programmes across the country. The morning shows do this and certainly the evening news broadcasts as well. This is usually done in a bid to garner a few eyeballs and connect the network newscast to the far flung parts of the country. Of course this situation is slightly different using local talent to present the programmes. But I wouldnt be surprised if this wasnt discussed when they decided to do this.