Studio B’s new grafix….
Studio B with Shepard Smith got a major graphics overhaul today. Do not what’s not there….yup, no crawl. YAY!
April 24, 2007
39 Comments »
TrackBack: http://insidecable.blogsome.com/2007/04/24/studio-bs-new-grafix/trackback/
RSS feed for comments on this post.
My eyes! My eyes!
Comment by Mathieu Plante — April 24, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
I like them. BUT they should bring the ticker back and the Put the Fox News Alert sound over the breking news thing. Its very Headline News…
Pitty there is no skinnerville today due to breaking news as it would have been good it hear shep and jane talk about them…
Comment by craig gordon — April 24, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
Shep and Jane talked about the new look on Jane’s show today.
She also has a new set, if I understood them correctly.
But, back to Shep. He is so good at his job that he doesn’t need all these bells and whistles.
Comment by cella — April 24, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
I can’t stand that flashing ALERT, I’m glad it’s gone.
Comment by Richard W. — April 24, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
I don’t dig that spinning B! But, the fonts look cleaner than usual…I’m used to seeing big, wide fonts that barely fit inside the chyron.
Comment by Terance — April 24, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
I missed them talking on janes show? The set looks the same to be fair?
Seriously though the ticker has to come back? Whats with getting rid of it? Is it the was forward for fox news channel? If they moved the graphics up a bit the ticker could come back and the strap where the ticker should be would be in line with the time on the logo.
With these new graphics, my hopes for an Americas Newsroom afternoon with shep and jane have been dashed.
Oh and bring back the fox news alert, or just the sound!
Comment by craig gordon — April 24, 2007 @ 3:44 pm
They better bring back that Fox News Alert gong! I’m sure my detractors here will jump on this, but I’m trained to run to the TV whenever that thing goes off to see what’s going on. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
Comment by Missy — April 24, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
Spud reported a while back that they were doing construction… maybe it’s done? This could be a soft launch to see how people respond to it.
Comment by Nobody — April 24, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
Fox deserves a ton of kudos for getting rid of the crawl. In an age where there seems to be a rush to add more graphics it’s nice to see them dial it back just a little bit. The ticker should be reserved for true breaking news situations where information is coming in faster than it can be put on the air.
Comment by Steve — April 24, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
And let’s start the countdown until CNN does the EXACT SAME THING!…..5…..4…..3
Comment by Mary Snow — April 24, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
I’m glad to see the old “fox news alert” with the sound effects gone if that is indeed the case. I always got a laugh when Greta would start the majority of her shows with that sound effect and animation and say - “This is a fox news alert….the judge in the case for Anna Nicole’s case will hear motions tomorrow for DNA tests to determine who is in fact the father of the late actress’s baby.”
It was always hard to reconcile those “alerts” with real ones.
Comment by FishOil — April 24, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
Crawl is back
Comment by Randy — April 24, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
The Fox News Alert has only gone on Sheps show, Neil (as always) just started his show with one. I think they should get that flashing ALERT back on the scree too. Oh and does anybody else think the “breaking news” thing is sooooooooooo headline news? come on?
The ticker IS a fundamental part of the channel and if it just looks stupid not having it there. There’s a massive gap at the bottom now and it just looks odd.
I do like the graphics though apart from those few things, that i hope they are ironed out.
Comment by craig gordon — April 24, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Looks real crisp… I can’t tell from the screen shots if it’s because it’s bigger… but it looks really easy to read. I’m impressed.
Comment by ImNotBlue — April 24, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Although I watch Fox more than any other channel, the over-use of the News Alert really grates at my nerves. As previously mentioned, Neil and Greta feel that each show needs to open with an alert.
Comment by Objective Analyst — April 24, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
You guys are right in that the “Fox News Alert” certainly was overused. But since they seem to be revamping their graphics, maybe they could also set forth new criteria as to whether or not something actually does warrant “alert” or “breaking news” status.
BTW, H & C are using pictures of the subject matter in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Last night, they had a picture of Alec Baldwin with his mouth open, morphing into another picture of him with steam coming out of his ears, which then morphed into some type of cartoon character. They did something similar last week with Rosie O’Donnell. I think this technique is hilarious (as long as they do it to people I don’t like).
Comment by Missy — April 24, 2007 @ 4:27 pm
Awful. I think they should call the graphics package “Inconsistency.” I think I counted like five different typefaces being used. Is there a theme here?
The “Breaking News Alert” graphic looks like it was lifted from some local affiliate’s package…it doesn’t match anything. And why does this 1 specific hour out of 24 not use the Fox News Alert? It doesn’t make sense.
The whole reason I like Studio B is that it’s sort of the laid-back cousin of The Fox Report. Now these graphics make it seem like they are trying to make it more fast-paced and it’s turning me off.
Comment by SuperNoxic — April 24, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
I saw that mocking, little picture of Baldwin on H & C. I had to look at it for a second and say “Is his mouth moving?”. I know Hannity and Baldwin despise each other, so i’m sure Hannity wants to keep this story going for as long as he can.
Comment by jim — April 24, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
Regarding the crawl, did anyone notice, on MSNBC, when they started using the crawl during commercials, they also completely eliminated it from 8pm (Countdown) to 5am (First Look). On the weekends, it’s there during live news, but gone during their taped programming.
Comment by erljr — April 24, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
Missy, gotta disagree with you about the H&C/Baldwin graphic… I thought it was too goofy for a political debate program. Funny… but not really appropriate.
And speaking of Baldwin… anybody see O’Reilly’s segment on it? He talked about why he wasn’t running the video/audio, and why he wanted no part of the story. It was interesting, especially because O’Reilly’s supposed to be such a big liberal hater… didn’t even take the bait. Where’s the praise?
Comment by ImNotBlue — April 24, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
Didnt you hear though? H&C is no longer a political debate show. It is officially a tabloid show.
Comment by Randy — April 24, 2007 @ 4:44 pm
That graphic would support that. Even as a fan, I was disappointed.
Comment by ImNotBlue — April 24, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
This is like the Boomerang Channel!!! Sorry for FNC fans…
Comment by Rodrigo — April 24, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
I think they look cheap and horrible. In fact, what has happened to Fox’s graphics recently? It’s as if they’re trying to constantly keep viewers’ attention glued to the screen with cartoons and flashing alerts - it’s totally unnecessary.
Comment by Mr A — April 24, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
fnc is missing the boat on one of the major broadcasting rules…consistency. that means consistence in graphics, breaking news sounds–graphics…everything. it does nothing but confuse viewers.
Comment by Me — April 24, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
You know, I does kind of look like it.
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/boomerang/index.html
Although I think it looks more like a college team font… I’m not big into college sports, but it does look familiar.
Comment by ImNotBlue — April 24, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
Guys, I think Spud posted recently that Fox got a new graphics guy, so I guess he’s changing things to justify his existence. I still wish they’d bring the flag back, however. The little portion of the flag that is exposed now just looks ridiculous.
Comment by Missy — April 24, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
Well, I guess I need to get the Tivo to record the program while I’m out, though the graphics look like a mix of good and bad elements. If anything, the consistency thing is something FNC needs to get in the habbit of again, considering many of the last generation graphics were the best, such as Studio B, Fox News Live, and Special Report, not to mention the DaySide graphics were perfected and Fox & Friends with the green+3d was perfect!
Comment by Chris — April 24, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
don’t know much about cable’s tech side. does someone watch the equivalent of the air picture to see what I see? Do they know how often they put crawl’s over what is important in the picture? Thunderbird video, for instance, had the plane flying into the graphics.
Comment by bmike — April 24, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
For a few days last month, Studio B was a completely different show. Did anyone else notice that? There were a lot more “cool” stories and a lot less news. The first five or so minutes were spent on “news” and the rest of the show was all tech and entertainment stories along with a few social issues, such as abortion and the environment, that generally appeal more to younger viewers. Even the guests seemed aimed at a much younger audience. Courtney Friel was on a few times doing her ditzy thing along with a tech expert they have on sometimes who talked about new gadgets. Shepard even made the comment that we’d be seeing a lot more of the tech guy. There was a segment about the new movies coming out that weekend and they’d go to commercial playing Justin Timberlake and Paris Hilton songs and videos…they even used Paris Hilton as a lead in to a story about airport security…this only happened for about three days, but it was like watching Entertainment Tonight, not Fox News. I guess they are really trying to make Studio B appeal to young people. I remember making a joke to a friend about them trying to pick up the TRL audience.
I agree the new graphics look like something from a sports team or a college TV show.
Comment by Gab — April 24, 2007 @ 7:02 pm
I didn’t see them on screen, so I’ll reserve judgment to see them in action… Here’s a couple of thoughts from the pictures.
1. The “Breaking News Alert” title card made me think of CNN. I don’t know why, it could just be the “Breaking News” tab they have on their lower thirds. I don’t see why they couldn’t just revamp the “Fox News Alert”, but as always, I am a big fan of keeping everything looking fresh.
2. The ticker (or lack of)… I think it is a quite a bold move (as has been stated), but you either use a ticker full time, or not at all. I don’t see why a breaking news ticker couldn’t just replace the normal ticker when the situation warranted (like the stock ticker on “Your World”.
3. I don’t think the lower third looks real newsy - But I think that is the point (to some extent). It does look fresh and modern, and I suppose Fox News Channel has never been about the status quo.
Overall, I am always happy to see new presentation designs. Certain cable news networks could take a look at this latest revamp and take the hint to update their own look a little…
Comment by F101 — April 24, 2007 @ 7:48 pm
In all respects, the channel, like others, is always aiming to get the younger audience to watch since that’s what the advertisers want and that’s what brings in the money. If anything, FNC just needs to get back to a more newsy feel, whether you feel they were in the first place or not, and end this migration towards a useless channel of tabloid stories, though some of the elements in the last post might add some nice variety to the channel of old white men (Cavuto, Gibson, O’Reilly, Hume, Colmes, others)
Comment by Chris — April 24, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
When John Gibson’s 5pm hour premiered…I recall him saying something about covering the “big story of the day.” Well, all I see on there is Rosie-Mania and I’d hardly call that major news. Maybe FNC should just change his show to the Rosie-Recap hour.
Comment by Terance — April 24, 2007 @ 8:20 pm
Iep Terance… Cavuto’s show is not about World News by the way… I think this is BIZARRE!
Look at the CNN International indentify…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fHkMdhIGiKE
Sharp… easy to read… Even BBC and Sky News have new look on the screen and are wonderfull! Sky News is my favorite… Watch this on Fox News is disgusting… Looks like the news are not serious and remember me the boomerang channel…
Comment by Rodrigo — April 24, 2007 @ 9:17 pm
Does anyone have any contacts at these orgs…could they please train their camera crews to take into consideration the huge screen hog bugs on the bottom of the screen. Every time they break to a new item with a fire, or chase or drowning horse the item of interest is COVERED UP by their childish graphics since the camera guy is trained to put the items of interest in the FOREGROUND where the label bugs are.
It would be nice if they hired some adults and took away the Macs from the graphics geeks. TV is a visual medium and very little need for the text , at lest text that covers 1/4 of the vertical dimension of the new HD TV’s. All they need is a small line across the bottom with a persons name etc. The rest can be gleaned from watching the show…
This is not a make work project for Mac heads just emerging from their moms basement.
Comment by bill — April 24, 2007 @ 9:20 pm
bill, that’s for sure! I’ve been whining about this forever. They’ll have on a very visual, breaking news type story, which camera people are risking their lives to get for us, yet it’s covered up with all these idiotic graphics so that we can’t see what’s going on.
I hope someone reading this site may be in a position to rectify this situation. And that goes for all three cable channels!
Comment by Missy — April 24, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
Bill.. this was a reason for BBC to make some changes… Huge texts was covering 1/4 of screen… BBC revamped have more space and viewers… more room on screen for the pictures, fewer things getting in the way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58_oqOjBqg
I mean… We arent blind! More screen and less graphics!
Comment by Rodrigo — April 24, 2007 @ 10:16 pm
I like the fact its more modern than the squashed Arial Narrow-like font the usually use but again with FOX it always has to be over the top and taking up 90% of the screen.
Comment by Mike Beckham — April 25, 2007 @ 12:25 am
_itch, _itch, _itch!!! C’mon people…it’s about the content and giving the most they can in the time they have. For most folks, the time they have to give to 24/7 news outlets is but a few short minutes. If you are so “tunnel visioned” that you cannot watch, listen and read simultaneously then switch to AM radio.
Comment by Roger C. — April 25, 2007 @ 10:14 am