The funniest thing I have seen this holiday weekend was on TV Thursday night. While visiting family a local TV station "newscast" came on the channel they had been watching. This particular station bills itself as "Newschannel 5". What a joke.
The local talking head came on and did a story, no scratch that. The talking head came on and did a two minute infomercial about the importance of "Black Friday" to local retailers. And he ended his pitch by urging the viewers to get started earlier. The producer of this comedy then put up a graphic with the names of stores that would open very early. This list included retailers who advertise on the local channel. The list did not contain the names of hundreds of other stores that were also opening early the next morning who did not advertise on this Gannett owned TV station.
The station then ran the obligatory Thanksgiving Day cliche about local food shelters feeding the needy. It could have been handled in a 15 second reader, but instead this joke of a station spent more than two minutes showing video of people serving food and a bunch of bums eating dinner. They even interviewed a how should I put it...a colorful character. He uttered some non comprehensible response to "what do you think about this nice dinner" type of question.
And then the funniest segment of the evening was watching some family's football game from earlier in the day. I have no idea who these wannabes were but the station spent time and money to send a photographer to this backyard pickup game and then inflicted it on their audience.
If you missed it don't worry. This kind of crap runs nightly on KSDK TV only in St. Louis and you will be subjected to it repeatedly if you waste your time watching the "local news". Yep, it is the funniest thing I've seen all weekend.
Showing posts with label KSDK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KSDK. Show all posts
November 28, 2009
September 07, 2009
Cardinals Deserve Better
The St. Louis Cardinals deserve better TV announcers than what they have. Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky are the club's broadcast crew when games are on Fox Sports Midwest. Jay Randolph and Ricky Horton do the games when the teams games are shown on KSDK.
McLaughlin talks too much about everything but baseball. If he would tone it down and talk about the game or MLB in general he would be better than what he is. It also seems as if McLaughlin and Hrabosky apparently don't like each other and it sometimes comes across that way. Hrabosky has been doing the job as "analyst" for about five years and he doesn't seem to be getting any better at it. Maybe, Fox Sports Midwest will come up with some new talent next year.
On KSDK, Horton is adequate and is upbeat which helps to make him interesting. But, the play by play performed by Jay Randolph leaves a lot to be desired. Fact errors and omissions continue to plague him. I have tried several times to watch him call a game this summer and have had to turn it off and turn on the radio.
Speaking of the radio, John Rooney is one of the best sports play-by-play guys in the business and is a pleasure to listen to. He can make even the dullest of contests sound interesting and he is virtual fountain of information. He also does a great job of playing set up man to the comedy of Mike Shannon. Shannon will never be confused for a good color analyst, but he is humorous and after 30+ years the listener knows what he is getting.
McLaughlin talks too much about everything but baseball. If he would tone it down and talk about the game or MLB in general he would be better than what he is. It also seems as if McLaughlin and Hrabosky apparently don't like each other and it sometimes comes across that way. Hrabosky has been doing the job as "analyst" for about five years and he doesn't seem to be getting any better at it. Maybe, Fox Sports Midwest will come up with some new talent next year.
On KSDK, Horton is adequate and is upbeat which helps to make him interesting. But, the play by play performed by Jay Randolph leaves a lot to be desired. Fact errors and omissions continue to plague him. I have tried several times to watch him call a game this summer and have had to turn it off and turn on the radio.
Speaking of the radio, John Rooney is one of the best sports play-by-play guys in the business and is a pleasure to listen to. He can make even the dullest of contests sound interesting and he is virtual fountain of information. He also does a great job of playing set up man to the comedy of Mike Shannon. Shannon will never be confused for a good color analyst, but he is humorous and after 30+ years the listener knows what he is getting.
July 12, 2009
Awful Television
So, I'm trying to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs about an hour ago at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, it's on KSDK which has one of the lamest baseball production teams you have ever seen. And the play by play guy, Jay Randolph, should have been put out to pasture years ago. Anyway, I'm enduring his lack of knowledge and fact errors when a few dark clouds roll over. Next thing you know, Bozo the weather boy, takes it as his cue to break into the game. Now, Bozo thinks he is being clever keeping the video on in the background. Unfortunately for myself and numerous other Cardinal fans the graphics that Bozo and his buddies in the weather department are running are just about obliterating the batters box. Not Good KSDK.
But, then I thought wait...I don't have to watch these amateurs. I have options on the satellite dish. So, I flip over to WGN in Chicago and all is well again. Not only can I see the game and have some fairly insightful analysis, I also get a different perspective on the Cardinals. Life is good again. Now if the FCC would just give KSDK's license to a qualified applicant...
But, then I thought wait...I don't have to watch these amateurs. I have options on the satellite dish. So, I flip over to WGN in Chicago and all is well again. Not only can I see the game and have some fairly insightful analysis, I also get a different perspective on the Cardinals. Life is good again. Now if the FCC would just give KSDK's license to a qualified applicant...
June 14, 2009
Analog TV Still Alive in St. Louis
According to federal regulation, analog broadcasting was supposed to have come to a screeching halt at 12:01 Friday morning. But, Gannett Corporation is continuing to broadcast the same crap it has for the past six months about the digital TV conversion. And not only as it did previously, but now in Spanish as well.
I have no idea what Gannett, which held the analog channel five in the TV broadcast spectrum, is thinking. The message is not subtle. Gannett continues to display it's sleazy logo on the analog band promoting itself as a "news channel".
Maybe the clowns at Gannett know they won't be earning as much money in the future as they had with their television stations. If you missed it earlier today, NPR ran a great story on over the air television as a temporary technology. You can hear it by clicking it here.
I have no idea what Gannett, which held the analog channel five in the TV broadcast spectrum, is thinking. The message is not subtle. Gannett continues to display it's sleazy logo on the analog band promoting itself as a "news channel".
Maybe the clowns at Gannett know they won't be earning as much money in the future as they had with their television stations. If you missed it earlier today, NPR ran a great story on over the air television as a temporary technology. You can hear it by clicking it here.
June 06, 2009
Random Thoughts on TV "News"
Now, two local TV stations have gone to embedding their logos in local "newscasts". Both KSDK and KMOV have their garbage on the screen non-stop except for when they are running commercials. I have stopped watching these moronic presentations because they are annoying and pretty much unwatchable. Add to this the crawls across the bottom of the screen warning of the impending change to digital and it's even worse. Thank God for Satellite TV. If you haven't seen this practice yet or it does not take place in your market consider yourself fortunate.
About 20 years ago I had a former journalism professor tell me to get out of broadcast and into print. As he put it then..."radio news is a dinosaur and TV news is a 'Gong Show". Man, did he have that right.
About 20 years ago I had a former journalism professor tell me to get out of broadcast and into print. As he put it then..."radio news is a dinosaur and TV news is a 'Gong Show". Man, did he have that right.
January 27, 2009
The Great Winter Storm of '09???
Much of St. Louis has slowed down today because of a piddling three inch snowfall. That's how it is currently, at least where I live. Most schools are closed and many people stayed home from work, because of the fear of a much greater snowfall amount. The hysteria was triggered by over zealous radio and TV weather forecasters.
It made for humorous television watching last night. At the first hint of a snow flake several of the stations started running crawls of cancelled events; such as the "St. Charles Old Ladies Sewing Circle" and the like. Some of these groups probably don't have more than five people who attend them, but yep, we got to see them all night long on that stupid crawl. Then, while flipping channels I saw where the ABC affiliate was running a crawl of all the schools that were closing for today. The same crawl persisted on KDNL for at least two hours and it did not appear to be updating any of the times I saw it.
Then the NBC affiliate,of which I have written of so "fondly" in the past, has a new trick. It is embedding it's call letters and logo into footage that airs in it's newscast. It is annoying and totally not professional. But, they do it because some idiot consultant has told the station to do so. KSDK's "news" director has blindly followed the order. If seeing an animated logo/call letters in the middle of your screen while your trying to watch the "news" isn't reason to stop watching the station, then I don't know what is. The station is owned by Gannett and it has always had a large amount of cheesy crap it obscures the picture with, while you're trying to watch NBC programs.
It made for humorous television watching last night. At the first hint of a snow flake several of the stations started running crawls of cancelled events; such as the "St. Charles Old Ladies Sewing Circle" and the like. Some of these groups probably don't have more than five people who attend them, but yep, we got to see them all night long on that stupid crawl. Then, while flipping channels I saw where the ABC affiliate was running a crawl of all the schools that were closing for today. The same crawl persisted on KDNL for at least two hours and it did not appear to be updating any of the times I saw it.
Then the NBC affiliate,of which I have written of so "fondly" in the past, has a new trick. It is embedding it's call letters and logo into footage that airs in it's newscast. It is annoying and totally not professional. But, they do it because some idiot consultant has told the station to do so. KSDK's "news" director has blindly followed the order. If seeing an animated logo/call letters in the middle of your screen while your trying to watch the "news" isn't reason to stop watching the station, then I don't know what is. The station is owned by Gannett and it has always had a large amount of cheesy crap it obscures the picture with, while you're trying to watch NBC programs.
July 27, 2008
KSDK Screws Up Again
This past Monday the NBC TV affiliate in St. Louis pulled a bone head stunt that would have resulted in a journalism student failing a class.
The talking heads at the Gannet owned station said the shooter of a firemen (who later died) was the owner of the home from where the shots were fired. What??? The station reported the owner was the shooter. Well, they must have been clairvoyant because there was no way of knowing who the shooter was. The station could have reported the individual as the owner. But, to say the same individual was the shooter without any knowledge or verification at that point was just plain stupid and something a beginning journalism student wouldn't think of trying. The Sleaze Channel Five reporter should be fired for gross incompetence.
But, this is the type of behavior KSDK has engaged in for years. KSDK news would rather tell you it was first with a story than worry about getting it's facts straight.
The talking heads at the Gannet owned station said the shooter of a firemen (who later died) was the owner of the home from where the shots were fired. What??? The station reported the owner was the shooter. Well, they must have been clairvoyant because there was no way of knowing who the shooter was. The station could have reported the individual as the owner. But, to say the same individual was the shooter without any knowledge or verification at that point was just plain stupid and something a beginning journalism student wouldn't think of trying. The Sleaze Channel Five reporter should be fired for gross incompetence.
But, this is the type of behavior KSDK has engaged in for years. KSDK news would rather tell you it was first with a story than worry about getting it's facts straight.
February 09, 2008
Horrible Media Coverage
In general Saint Louis and national media have made asses out of themselves in attempting to cover the Kirkwood murders.
The worst offender is the NBC TV affiliate in St. Louis. It has asked more inane "how does it feel" type of questions than are generally asked by junior high journalism students. Now it's "news" team is pandering to the audience with it's news anchors going "live" to the scene. The idiot management and consultants at KSDK, owned by Gannett, were so arrogant that they wanted to be a part of the Kirkwood vigil held last night for the victims. So what stunt did they pull? The station broadcast it's ten o'clock news live from the vigil; two hours after it was over. Why you might ask? Simply put this is ratings month.
KSDK is not the only medium to behave like idiots. The other three TV stations and at least one radio station ran unverified rumors in an effort to get a jump on the competition. As I have written before this is horribly shoddy journalism. First year students are taught you verify your facts before your publish or broadcast. Whoever is running the newsrooms at these outlets should be fired for gross incompetence.
Finally, the worst offense by the TV reporters has been a total lack of respect for the privacy of the people who have lost their loved ones. This is not acceptable. Being a journalist doesn't give these individuals the right to behave like rude children. Please grow up and show some self restraint.
The worst offender is the NBC TV affiliate in St. Louis. It has asked more inane "how does it feel" type of questions than are generally asked by junior high journalism students. Now it's "news" team is pandering to the audience with it's news anchors going "live" to the scene. The idiot management and consultants at KSDK, owned by Gannett, were so arrogant that they wanted to be a part of the Kirkwood vigil held last night for the victims. So what stunt did they pull? The station broadcast it's ten o'clock news live from the vigil; two hours after it was over. Why you might ask? Simply put this is ratings month.
KSDK is not the only medium to behave like idiots. The other three TV stations and at least one radio station ran unverified rumors in an effort to get a jump on the competition. As I have written before this is horribly shoddy journalism. First year students are taught you verify your facts before your publish or broadcast. Whoever is running the newsrooms at these outlets should be fired for gross incompetence.
Finally, the worst offense by the TV reporters has been a total lack of respect for the privacy of the people who have lost their loved ones. This is not acceptable. Being a journalist doesn't give these individuals the right to behave like rude children. Please grow up and show some self restraint.
February 01, 2008
Idiot TV Talking Heads
St. Louis got about six inches of snow over the past two days. It was your average winter snowstorm. But, to listen to the moron weather types at the local TV stations you would have thought the apocalypse was upon us.
The snow was never heavy all afternoon or last night. The National Weather Service (NWS) cut it's forecast to 3-5 inches of new snowfall last night at eight p.m. As it turned out the forecast was right on the money. But, the idiot "forecasters" at the local CBS and NBC affiliate continued their dire warnings even after the NWS revised it's forecast downward. I tried to watch "CSI" last night and the channel four weather idiot interupted twice for lengthy periods to say "we could have ten inches or more". Pure bull hockey.
So what does this tell you about television news/weather? Well for starters it tells you the newsroom managment doesn't think you're very smart. Apparently they are unaware of a thing called the Internet. Either that or else they are stupid and/or arrogant. Otherwise why would they tell you there's going to be a blizzard when the real forecasters have given you the truth?
Once again the bottom line is money. Ratings month started last night and both KMOV and KSDK urged viewers to watch their late newscast. The more viewers the higher the ratings. The higher ratings the more expensive the commercials. Once again the stations are not broadcasting in the public interest but rather their own financial interests. If you are unhappy with this abuse of the airwaves go to fcc.gov and let the agency know how you feel.
The snow was never heavy all afternoon or last night. The National Weather Service (NWS) cut it's forecast to 3-5 inches of new snowfall last night at eight p.m. As it turned out the forecast was right on the money. But, the idiot "forecasters" at the local CBS and NBC affiliate continued their dire warnings even after the NWS revised it's forecast downward. I tried to watch "CSI" last night and the channel four weather idiot interupted twice for lengthy periods to say "we could have ten inches or more". Pure bull hockey.
So what does this tell you about television news/weather? Well for starters it tells you the newsroom managment doesn't think you're very smart. Apparently they are unaware of a thing called the Internet. Either that or else they are stupid and/or arrogant. Otherwise why would they tell you there's going to be a blizzard when the real forecasters have given you the truth?
Once again the bottom line is money. Ratings month started last night and both KMOV and KSDK urged viewers to watch their late newscast. The more viewers the higher the ratings. The higher ratings the more expensive the commercials. Once again the stations are not broadcasting in the public interest but rather their own financial interests. If you are unhappy with this abuse of the airwaves go to fcc.gov and let the agency know how you feel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)