TMJ4 Going HD... like in hours?

[ArgMeMatey]

Unfortunately we have to take a good look at ourselves before we judge the stations for what they cover. The reasons they go with these stories is because it's what people, maybe not you, but it's what others want to see now.

Sadly this is now what we call "the news".

I'll chime in here with a few points:

1.  Local TV has to study whether they will be able to charge a premium for attracting more eyeballs to an HD newscast.  So, they have to re-do everything on hope and a prayer and whatever they can scratch together from capital.  Sure would be nice if Journal Comm would put that money into improving the newspaper and wrote off the news.   Am I concealing my cynicism about local news well enough?  

2.  Location shots after the fact, as I learned from someone I don't recall, are simply a way to justify the location equipment budget.  They add nothing.

In fact if you think about it, TV in general often does not add a lot to any information.  Watch a historical documentary and see how much of it is made up of stills on screen with a bit of panning and zooming.  If I could capture those stills and put the closed captions under them in a book, I might be able to absorb that 45-minute documentary in 20 minutes.  

3.  The big advantage the 10 PM local news has is that they are there at 10 PM.  The newspaper won't put up the next day's headlines for another couple of hours on the website and no one is listening to the radio.  Now along comes this internet thing ...

TV rarely invests time in serious investigative journalism; I am guessing because the 10 PM news is mostly ambulance-chasing for the rest of us.  In other words, their audience seeks them out for the bleeding and is strung along for weather and sports when those are in question.

[LoadStar]

What I really, really like to see are the reporters and weather prophets "on location" for photo ops.  Such as: standing outside a hospital for whatever, standing in an inch of slush. standing outside a factory gate, etc.  Those scenes sure add a lot to the information content of the stories.

So, a lady has triplets, and we're treated to a wall shot of St. Joes and Sylvia Acevito.  Adds to the drama of a non-story.

Stan

What I always love is when they have a reporter doing what is ostensibly an "on location" shot - which ends up being the outside of the station.

WITI and WISN are frequent culprits of this. WISN just stands outside the front door of the station; WITI is usually the parking lot or the larger grassy area just beyond it (the former home of the MDA telethon festival). If you expand this to the station grounds or just beyond, WITI does it as much as everyone else put together (they'll often do "location shots" that are the Pick 'n Save or Kohl's that are are across the street from the station.

And never do they say "live from just outside our front door." With WISN it is "Live from 19th and Wells," and WITI either leaves off the location altogether, or they'll say "live from Brown Deer" or something like that.

[LoadStar]

TV rarely invests time in serious investigative journalism; I am guessing because the 10 PM news is mostly ambulance-chasing for the rest of us.  In other words, their audience seeks them out for the bleeding and is strung along for weather and sports when those are in question.

I give WISN some credit for doing serious journalistic pieces that aren't particularly flashy, but overall fairly informative. Unfortunately, because that's not "in vogue" right now, they don't get as much credit as they deserve (the Emmys and stuff keep going to WITI for their flashier, more tabloid-y stories).

I suppose that explains why the Edward R. Murrow awards for journalistic excellence go to WISN... and the Emmys (generally an entertainment award) go to WITI.

[WITI6fan]

What I always love is when they have a reporter doing what is ostensibly an "on location" shot - which ends up being the outside of the station.

WITI and WISN are frequent culprits of this. WISN just stands outside the front door of the station; WITI is usually the parking lot or the larger grassy area just beyond it (the former home of the MDA telethon festival). If you expand this to the station grounds or just beyond, WITI does it as much as everyone else put together (they'll often do "location shots" that are the Pick 'n Save or Kohl's that are are across the street from the station.

And never do they say "live from just outside our front door." With WISN it is "Live from 19th and Wells," and WITI either leaves off the location altogether, or they'll say "live from Brown Deer" or something like that.

The worst part: WITI needs to set up a truck in order to broadcast from outside. At least that's what they do for the Gus' Garden segments.

:eek:

[hoophead]

What I always love is when they have a reporter doing what is ostensibly an "on location" shot - which ends up being the outside of the station.

WITI and WISN are frequent culprits of this. WISN just stands outside the front door of the station; WITI is usually the parking lot or the larger grassy area just beyond it (the former home of the MDA telethon festival). If you expand this to the station grounds or just beyond, WITI does it as much as everyone else put together (they'll often do "location shots" that are the Pick 'n Save or Kohl's that are are across the street from the station.

And never do they say "live from just outside our front door." With WISN it is "Live from 19th and Wells," and WITI either leaves off the location altogether, or they'll say "live from Brown Deer" or something like that.

Reminds me of our local newspaper here in Watertown...I swear every building on its block has had its picture taken in reference to some subject :rolleyes:

[BK7725]

With Wednesday's snowstorm, TMJ4 and other stations have to decide whether to air closings and delays, or election results. We all know what the answer will be... CLOSINGS!!! But with TMJ4, debuting an HD ticker recently, could we see the first closings list in HD?

[techguy1975]

With Wednesday's snowstorm, TMJ4 and other stations have to decide whether to air closings and delays, or election results. We all know what the answer will be... CLOSINGS!!! But with TMJ4, debuting an HD ticker recently, could we see the first closings list in HD?

In this case, the closings would be the wiser choice.  I don't believe there is any important races going on in this election, I didn't even know there was a election tomorrow..  So, really...WHO CARES!!

[jrh1985]

In this case, the closings would be the wiser choice.  I don't believe there is any important races going on in this election, I didn't even know there was a election tomorrow..  So, really...WHO CARES!!

The only Election I know of is for School Distrct of Elmbrook

[ddeerrff]

Statewide, we have a primary for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

[WITI6fan]

Watch, they'll air both. :p

[khafferkamp]

i was watching tmj4 and i saw something right before nightly news came on i saw what is in the pic attached its not good quality ic but it a hidef widescreen image and dit looks great on my tv....

and i know its like backwards my macbook takes pics like that but i think it is a look at what is to come

[LoadStar]

i was watching tmj4 and i saw something right before nightly news came on i saw what is in the pic attached its not good quality ic but it a hidef widescreen image and dit looks great on my tv....

and i know its like backwards my macbook takes pics like that but i think it is a look at what is to come

I noticed Monday night during Chuck, they had a fancy new chyron for the digital transition as well. No, I don't have a capture of it, sorry.

[WITI6fan]

New cameras in the studio!

February 6th:


Tonight's newscast close:


Looks like they even have new robopeds as well.

[WITI6fan]

Sweeps starts Thursday, and Sweeps would be a great time to premiere HD newscasts.

We shall see...

[WITI6fan]

The bug is opaque again, more like it was before.

I wonder if this means they just fixed the bug or they went BACK to their old character generator. :rolleyes: