Pardon me for not knowing but is this graphic up because the same material has already begun streaming and this is a linear lag catch-up? Worse, when the anchor came back they show pages from the Fox 13 website. So, let me see, a live desk showing station website pages to catch up on stories???
Now, at one point, the show switches to recorded Studio 13 Live. Then a recorded weather and then an interview recorded from last night done by Hana Kim. Jumbled. Disjointed. Not Live. Not clean execution at all
Poor Matthew Smith looks very uncomfortable, confused, uncertain, very!
Trying to be conversational, but it's not in his wheelhouse to handle what appears to be minimal scripting. Smile once, brother. Welcome folks in. This is new.
Again, too much too soon.
One hour a day...grow it. Get Matt strong coaching.
My two cents.
Why don't they just put an image of Max Headroom while they're at it?!
ReplyDeleteI've seen graphics like this on TV station newscast live streaming webpages during commercial breaks and non-newscast times back in the early days of TV stations live streaming their newscasts online (before there was much money to be made by selling digital ads), but I haven't seen a graphic like this on linear television before. Its almost as if they didn't have any commercials to air on the linear broadcast, which seems highly unlikely.
ReplyDeleteAs for Matthew Smith, I do feel sorry for him. It sounds like he is struggling with this new format. I always liked his reports on science and environmental topics that Fox 13 was having him do before he became a full time anchor. Also, at least before Elon Musk acquired Twitter, Smith would often tweet about such topics, even if he wasn't directly covering them. So he does seem to have a passion for those topics, and we have no shortage of those topics to cover. Perhaps Fox 13 should build a science and environment reporting franchise with Smith at the helm. It would give Seattle News Tonight a much needed point of difference.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I don't see a Fox O&O doing science and environment as a franchise under the current administation stances on those items. He just needs som time and help to sharpen his command.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point.
DeleteThe problem with Matt Smith is that he comes off as rather stiff and uncomfortable in his delivery, and this is for a guy who is pretty much the #2 evening anchor next to main guy David Rose. He may seem like a nice guy when the red light is off, but something just tells me he doesn't have the chops for anchoring -- let alone in a primetime setting. He can be Albert Brooks' character Aaron Altman in "Broadcast News", but he has no command of the desk. I don't know if FOX 13 was in a hurry to find Matt Lorch's replacement after he left TV news, but Smith requires some good coaching on delivering and also breathing. An anchor once told me that teleprompters never make anyone a better reader, then again, folks who just read what's in front of them (like one such former President or two), become monotonic and robotic. Could they have promoted Bill Wixey to evenings rather and put Smith on mornings instead? I know Wixey has been at 13 longer and unless he stated he likes to stay put in mornings, Wixey can be a better partner to Hana Kim rather than Erin Mayovsky, but that is for another day.
DeleteCall me biased, but if you wanted a good environmental reporter, there was no one better in town for that beat than KING5's Gary Chittim. While his successors Allison Morrow and Erica Zucco did a respectable job, Gary was the tops all the way.
ReplyDeleteGary owned the environment beat in this market for years. It was a big loss for KING when he left, though I agree that Allison and Erica also did solid work on this beat. Since KING no longer seems to have a dedicated environment reporter, this could be a niche for Fox 13 to fill. Matthew Smith might not be the strongest talent in town, but from what I saw of his reporting on the environment early in his tenure at Fox 13, he could at least rise to the level of Erica and Allison.
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