Friday, October 30, 2009
Brace
As bad as SuxNews programs have been all week, we may look back on them fondly after the newscasts this evening. If, as has been the case the past two weeks, the embarrassingly under-qualified Nadia Singh is anchoring, we could be in for a real treat.
Even before the big switch, Singh's Friday 'casts were riddled with miscues and dead air. Add all the new "software problems" that have plagued the station this week, and it is not unthinkable that Channel Sux could air entire blocks of totally incoherent fumbling during every scheduled news-hole.
DVR it if you can. You'll be glad you did.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wild
Maltard Maddox's hard-hitting "High School Cribs" segment Thursday morning featured Millard West High School.
Of course, it wasn't cued up at the scheduled time. Maltard assured viewers that they could just watch it on the "web-channel."
The Suxers ended up running the piece several minutes later, and boy are we glad they did. Otherwise, how would we have learned that Millard West has, according to the principal there, "about four" pep rallies per year?
Riveting. Is the inanity of this weekly segment also the result of a software glitch?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Listen
Highlights from Wednesday's 10 p.m. SuxNews televised rehearsal:
• Bad audio was the theme of this broadcast. There was a persistent scratchy sound, particularly when J-Pa Knice-rug and Merlyn Klaus were speaking. And for some reason, when they switched from Klaus's b-roll back to a shot of him standing next to the anchor desk, Klaus's mike dropped out and his voice was reduced to a faint echo.
• When Tracy Madden tried to intro Maltard Maddox's hard-hitting report on coupons, she was cut off mid-sentence.
• J-Pa contributed his trademark blunders. He struggled with the word "Caribbean" ("kuh-RIB-in," he said haltingly). And when Klaus finished his sports segment by noting that the Yankees were losing to the Phillies in the ninth inning, J-Pa responded that "our sources tell us they've now entered the ninth inning."
Perhaps J-Pa's whole career has been the result of software bugs.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Panic
This pitiful apology from SuxNews was brought to our attention by an alert reader.
Who implements a whole new system of any kind without testing it first?
Besides SuxNews, we mean.
Correction
The "Leno effect" may be secondary in the sinking of SuxNews in the ratings.
Monday night's HD debut was a disaster, plagued by even more technical incompetence than usual. As many commenters have pointed out, cameras were off-the-mark and on-the-move at all the wrong times, there was more dead air than could be found in a mausoleum, and Tracy Madden's head appeared to be a giant ball of light.
All this, combined with the usual incompetence of the talent at Sux, resulted in a newscast described by some alert readers as "unwatchable." The effort was every bit as bad as what might have been seen on KPTM for most of the past fifteen years, if not worse.
The sad, but not surprising, thing is that no one seemed to learn from the mistakes: this morning's "Daybreak" offering—a flub-fest, even on its best days—exhibited most of the same difficulties that were so visible last night.
If every employee at WOWT isn't embarrassed beyond belief, they should be.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Drop
Will a weak Jay Leno lead-in be the final straw that causes the collapse of the SuxNews 10 p.m. ratings?
November sweeps should be interesting. Even HD might not save the BigSux this time.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Repel
Breaking news just in to the SuxNews Daybreak newsroom: Nadia Singh's live reports while standing in the rain this morning suggest that blue eye shadow—when applied in heavy doses—is, indeed, waterproof.
Maybe Maltard Maddox can use this info for one of her nasally "consumer" reports.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Upgrade
An alert reader informs us that the work on the SuxNews set is being done in preparation for the station's plan to go HD with local programming in time for the November sweeps.
Seeing some of the SuxNews team do their jobs badly in HD may be more than most viewers can stomach. For instance, will we be able to see the spit fly out of Jimmy Thiedlecki's mouth as he lisps his way through the morning drivel? Or will the glue holding down J-Pa's toupée be visible? And don't even get us started on weatherguesser Seabiscuit Rich.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Fake
Why were the SuxNews anchors delivering their drivel from in front of a green screen on Tuesday?
Is their barely-a-year-old set being revamped already? Or did the bank repo it?
It's bad enough watching their mostly pretend anchors deliver a pretend newscast. Seeing them do it in front of a pretend set is more than we can handle.
Nose
Can someone please explain the surreal five-second promo on Channel 3rd that shows weatherguesser Ryan McPike standing out in a field squinting at the sky and looking as if he's trying to smell a storm?
Really? Is this the way he puts together his forecasts? Does someone think this makes him seem more credible? What the hell?
