Thursday, July 24, 2014

NightBeat or 'Nightmare'? Early Spin Grim on KPIX 10 PM CW Newscast

Meet-Veronica_nightbeat-web
*It's only been three days, but "seems like a year."


*KPIX staffer: "We have a lot of work to do."


*"Too many gimmicks", laments another.


*Nightbeat is too early to write off and PIX, good or bad, will eventually tweak it.


And it does need tweaking by God.


Enough, for instance, of two-minute slicks--stick to basics and don't be so cute. And please, mucho softo on the social media minutia --KISS: Keep it short and simple.


Veronica: Less urgency, more relaxed, just an opinion ...


*Developing...


*Follow me on Twitter


*Tips/E-Mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com


Note: Rich Lieberman and 415 Media are not responsible for opinions or comments made by others on this website.

25 comments:

  1. With all the delays you'd think they'd come up with something better than this. I've seen more professional presentations on public access. Of course it's early in the running and no way that KPIX will admit defeat this soon but if this broadcast and it's new theme were the reason for hiring DeLaCruz then somebody goofed - big time. She's not really needed for any other broadcast and when this experiment fails she'll be a pariah in the newsroom as there's no room at the inn. It's musical chairs and there are only enough seats - the other female anchors will get the claws out to claim their turf.
    Also, if this is a social media/web centric venture then why did they bother launching with a half assed website where even the ads look like postings from Backpage.com? I don't see a happy ending here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So 7:13: How do you REALLY feel?

      Delete
  2. Day 1 got hashtags on the ratings A25-54. Day 2 got hashtags on the ratings A25-54. Day 3 got a .05 in A25-54 and .09 in M25-49. Interesting that it's getting on the radar and starting to pick up momentum, perhaps as the social media aspect kicks in. I'm in a younger demo and I actually like it - it has a reality show feel to it and I can't wait to see what happens the next day. They rotate talent which is engaging in that I anticipate who's next or I find myself trying to guess... and that weather guy... he is a good-looking man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "I can't wait to see what happens the next day." Can't wait, huh? Wow. You don't get out much, do ya? Or are you a really a cat obsessed with a piece of twine? Or maybe the 10PM producer who has access to the overnights?

      Delete
    2. Rotate talent? HUH?? Only Veronica, Paul and Vern.

      Delete
  3. In the "demo" - nobody cares. They aren't watching 38 anyway. Never have, never will. VDLC will be bought out of this deal and head back to NYC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If they were smart they'd dump news monkey Liz even if it makes daddy mad.

      Delete
  4. I'd rather watch QVC.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I had been watching KPIX's 10 pm news since moving here 7 years ago. Well, until Nightbeat showed up; I can't stand the new format.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Its Thursday so its almost Friday and that means time for Cocktails" -- enough of the hipster stuff. If the young demo wants to know what is trending... they'll just go onto twitter not turn this crap on. This mess needs a complete overhaul.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm in the target age demographic for this show, and I kind of like it. By 10pm, i already know the news of the day. I saw it on my phone, my laptop, aol's front page, I don't need Ken Bastida or Frank Sommervile telling me what happened. Kudos to PIX for trying something different. The old 1960's model of news does not work in the internet age.

    Although I like it, the show needs to work out a few kinks. The extreme close-up shots are annoying, but the content is good. I'll watch it again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, 10:38, you're the one person watching "NightBeat", huh?

      Delete
    2. @7:53 Yes AOL, Huffington Post, Yahoo, they all have news on the front page. Is this surprising to you?

      Delete
    3. Yes, I am surprised someone on the target demographic would use aol.

      Delete
  8. Watched it Thursday night. Tries too hard to be hip and groovy, and felt like it was geared towards those with ADHD.

    I get WPIX from New York as part of my satellite package, and they tried something like this. It lasted about a year and a half before they went back to the more standard news format.

    I nominate "hashtag" as the most overused word of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Replies
    1. That appears to be trending in the Nielsen ratings someone posted.

      Delete
  10. I commend KPIX for trying something different. If it results in a demographic that watches televised news that wouldn't otherwise---good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This isn't something "different." Way back in the early 80s, with disco already dead, a lame third-place (out of three) station in Philadelphia, KYW then-channel 3, tried something similar and called it something like Nightbeat, with a colored (gelled) lights and a disco-ish theme. (Trying in vain to find a clip on YouTube. Too bad no one has put one up there. It's world-class bad. I can still hear the insipid theme music in my head.) The local paper referred to it constantly as the "Disco News." Lasted less than a year, if I recall, which is how this show will fare.

      Delete
  11. I'm in the desired demo for this broadcast and I can tell you one thing...I'm not watching TV at 10PM!! As a matter of fact the only person I know who MIGHT watch this is unemployed, he's not buying anything except for his "medication". You'd have a better chance of getting his attention by running Ren and Stimpy.
    The people who KPIX wants do not watch news at night they are out MAKING news and LIVING. KPIX should refocus this broadcast, I think Veronica can get the 12-21 males with some wardrobe malfunctions or the 5-14 females with some breaking Hello Kitty news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bravo you won the internet today

      Delete
  12. I watched last night for the first time. Seemed very ADHD. I kept waiting for the "tease" to be more fully explained. That being said, after the "2-minute blitz," I felt like I knew the "headlines" and I moved onto another channel.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am in the targeted demo and I will most certainly be watching. I don't have the patience to sit and yawn through a boring hour long news broadcast. Night beat is fast-paced, entertaining and 30 minutes short. # me like

    ReplyDelete
  14. They even get the pop culture stuff they're supposed to understand wrong. They did a quick thirty-second bit one night about "retirement" in the videogame "The Sims." I'm not their demo and I'm generally not a videogame player or computer nut, but I did once enjoy the Sims as some harmless fun and I was curious what they were talking about. From the story I could discern nothing. I had to go online and google it. Then I saw their writers had gotten it pretty wrong, or at least made it so confusing that no one could make sense of it, not even a Sim player like myself. Pathetic.

    ReplyDelete