They just showed a new 7 HealthCast bump at the end of the 4:30p newscast and after it something new called “The Rundown is Ready” showing what’s coming up on the 5pm newscast. It had an interesting sounding theme to it and for a moment I thought they were getting the new look out
I could be wrong, but tomorrow which is the first day of February sweeps, may finally be the day of the long awaited new 7News gfx.
They kept the new graphics away ’till 5pm. The music is the same, the open is a rather minor refresh of what was used previously.
The lower thirds are quite colorful, to say the least - aqua blue and orange! Actually those could be the Miami Dolphins colors, I am not sure. Quite the change from the previous blacks and dark reds.
The anchor desk has also been changed to completely new look that’s more modern but to me looks very odd close up. The rest of the layout is the same as before.
Me: The old look was great, although there are parts of the new graphics that are nice but the loud colors are a bit much
Video:
CBS4.com - 5pm report
Screens:
Updated set, new graphics, new anchor line up starts as of this coming Monday (Jan 28). Elliot Rodriguez and Maggie Rodriguez will anchor the 5pm and 11pm newscasts. The 5pm and 5:30pm newscast blocks have been merged into an hour long broadcast
Rob Hanrahan has been moved from main anchor to the Noon and 6pm newscasts with Joy Purdy.
And this might just be the begining, I guess Tom Doerr hasn’t wasted any time 
Miami Herald - Broadcast News (bottom of page)
It was only a matter of time but Mark Schumacher is leaving WPLG and the TV news biz for a job as director of the Chris Evert Children’s Hospital Foundation at Broward General Medical Center.
Schumacher was the anchor of the morning news on Channel 10 for 12 years and also part of the Problem Solvers team, but after WPLG hired a new guy Schumacher got moved to weekend mornings and part-time reporting during the week.
Miami Herald
Quitting The Biz
LATV is dubbed a Latin pop culture channel’ and WPLG is making space for it on their digital signal. The channel which targets 12-34 year olds will have a mix of English and Spanish language programing.
WPLG hopes they’ll be able to produce content for LATV when their new studios on Pembroke Park are done sometime in 2008 or 2009 but for now Channel 10 will only sell local ads and help market LATV.
Miami Herald
WPLG-TV to air ‘ Latin pop culture’ channel
WSVN’s sister station in Boston, WHDH, just pumped out the long awaited graphics package. It has lots of 3D elements and I noticed the part in the open when the logo appears that it looks so close to a part of one of the current WSVN promos.
I suspect WSVN’s graphics will be the same or similar
Update 1/18: here’s some video from WHDH’s web site
His name is Donovan Campbell and he’s coming to WSVN from KDAF-CW33 in Dallas, TX. He’s the replacement for the recently departed to WHDH Larry Ridley. Campbell is a South Florida native
Thanks Michael
Kelly Craig is joining Bob Mayer and Trina Robinson as co-host of “South Florida Today”.
Please join me in congratulating Kelly Craig! Kelly will co-anchor our wildly successful and truly popular, “South Florida Today” show at ten o’clock. Kelly’s unique style, distinctive wit and classic charm will be a welcome addition to our 10am show - joining our current standouts, Bob Mayer and Trina Robinson.
Yes, we all love waking up to Kelly on the weekend morning anchor desk but now you will be able to find her on-air and on-line five days a week. As we transition, we will use a variety of people on the weekend morning news desk.
We are also searching for a weekend morning meteorologist, Trina will help us cover weekend weather until a permanent person is named.
Yvette
Cool
Not sure if this is permanent or not but they have 2 channels on the site right now streaming live coverage of breaking news events.
I guess with two breaking newses they couldn’t bump Oprah so they went online :D.
I kid. Good idea nonetheless, should be applied to the newscasts too. And CBS should make that player Firefox compatible, if they know how
Tipster says WFOR management told Rob Hanrahan on Wednesday he’s is being switched with Elliot Rodriguez.
And more changes may be in store to save the station’s ratings
WFUN-TV 48 to be known as Buenavision will hit the South Florida airwaves April 1st according to the Miami Herald. The station will be the 7th Spanish-language TV station and will feature Carribean oriented programing including a newscast for the Haitian audience.
In the last year South Florida has seen the addition of two other TV stations geared to Hispanic audiences - WSBS Ch 22 and WGEN Ch 8.
Miami Herald
Hispanic station to debut
BROADCASTING
Hispanic station to debut
Buenavisión, a new Hispanic network, is set to launch in South Florida this spring, bringing the region’s total to seven Spanish-language TV stations.
BY CHRISTINA HOAG
choag@MiamiHerald.com
South Florida is set to get its seventh Spanish-language TV station — WFUN-TV 48, which will launch a Caribbean-oriented network called Buenavisión about April 1.
”We’re going to show the television people want to see,” said Carlos Barba, the former Univisión and Telemundo executive who is chief executive of Buenavisión. “We’re going to have local flavor with network efficiency.”
The venture’s corporate parent is Caribevisión Holdings, a partnership between Barba and Mexico’s Grupo Pegaso, whose principal is Alejandro Burillo Azcárraga.
Burillo, the cousin of Grupo Televisa Chairman and Chief Executive Emilio Azcárraga Jean, worked at Televisa until selling his stake in the media company in 1999. He has since formed his own conglomerate of various businesses.
STEADY ACQUISITIONS
Caribevisión has been quietly acquiring television properties in recent months to form a network that will offer a selection of programming, ranging from telenovelas to interactive video games to reality shows.
The network will also have a smattering of leased-time programming and a newscast for the Haitian audience.
Miami’s low-power WFUN, which Caribevisión bought for $3 million from LocalOne, will be the flagship station. The network, which will air a high-definition signal, will launch in mid-May in the New York market via another low-power station, WPXO-TV 34 in East Orange, N.J., bought from Paxson Communications for $10 million.
The company also has four full-power stations in Puerto Rico and bought the Haitian Television Network, which is carried on Comcast cable. Buenavisión will use HTN’s spot for cable distribution, Barba said, adding that he plans to expand the network soon.
”We’re looking at other properties in Denver, Washington, California and Texas,” he said.
WFUN joins an increasingly crowded slate of small stations aiming at niche markets of the Hispanic audience, which is dominated by Univisión and Telemundo. Just in the past year, WSBS-TV 22 and WGEN-TV 8 have launched in South Florida.
NEW YORK ADVANTAGE
While a crowded field will be a challenge for Buenavisión in South Florida, the network will face less competition in New York and Puerto Rico, said Hispanic media consultant Julio Rumbaut.
Across the board, though, finding quality programming will be Buenavisión’s challenge, he noted. ”They are up against majors [Univisión, Telemundo and Azteca América] in that arena,” he said. “Buenavisión has backers with deep pockets who were key figures in the Mexico television industry for years and who know the industry well.”
I could be late but it’s the first I seen of him at the top of the 4pm newscast today.
His name’s Don Guevara, previously worked at Central Florida News 13 in Orlando - came off bit aggressive in the live shot but nothing over the top. And easy on the eyes too 
Internal memo sez:
As you all know, the Geraldo show was canceled last week. Therefore, we will begin broadcasting 7 News at 4:30pm on Monday Jan 29. The newscast will be anchored by Lynn and Tom and produced by Jen Kloete.
The 4pm will not be a one hour newscast. Instead, the 4:30pm will have a separate open and a fresh lead story. To help with this new show, Andrew Shah will be moving off weekends to become the Executive Producer of the 4pm and 4:30pm newscasts.
While many stations across the country are cutting back, and having layoffs, 7News continues to expand and lead the nation in news coverage. Just another reason why we really are….The News Station
Alice
They shoulda done it that way from day one. Anyway, now if we can just get the newscast/s/ video podcasted and RSS-ed…
Boca Raton’s former police chief Andrew Scott has finally admitted what was already obvious - he used his power to help WPLG reporter Julie Summers get an interview from a contractor who was avoiding her … about a faulty sidewalk at a Boca Raton community! Very important indeed.
The story goes something like this: Chief Scott ordered a deputy to help Julie Summers get her interview. The deputy complied and on August 30 2006 he followed the contractor with a WPLG crew tagging along in an unmarked vehicle. When the contractor passed a stop sign the deputy pulled him over to write him a warning ticket and that’s when Julie Summers and crew made their move.
She got her interview but not before the contractor realized something wasn’t right and filing a report
The police chief resigned in September over this and other allegations of misconduct.
Julie Summers still plays reporter on Local 10
Palm Beach Post
Former Boca police chief admits he misused power
I’ve been slow to post this, but thanks to everyone who wrote in I was just a bit busy
As mentioned earlier on this blog, Lonnie Quinn is leaving NBC6. He’s moving somewhere in the Northeast to be closer to his family.
Ryan Phillips is taking over the morning meteorologist job
Quinn’s last day at WTVJ is Thursday January 11th.
They posted the memo sent by 6’s ND, link below
NBC6.net
Lonnie Quinn Leaving NBC 6
More Bandwith on the HD Channels
I don’t know if it’s a Comcast thing or a fluke but WSVN-DT’s bandwith has been increased from 14Mbps to 17Mbps which has greatly reduced the blurring and blocking artifacts on 7’s fast zooming graphics
WFOR-DT also has been bumped from 19Mbps to 38.8Mbps I can’t tell if there’s any difference but I know they badly need more resolution because it is making the anchors look like they are cartoons when they’re shown from a distance