ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir does an excellent job reporting the news only he like all the other broadcasters follows a pattern reporting the news which I’d like to see revised a little bit.
Instead of starting off fully reporting the top major news story at 6:30 PM EST, all the national television networks prefer kicking off newscasts with highlights of the slew of stories they’ll be reporting in the next 30 minutes. I call these the headline grabbers or teasers to keep viewers staying tuned for all the juicy stuff ahead!
The news summary or preview rundown is like a newspaper’s front page only seeking to hook viewers not just on one story, but on the entire newscast as always there’s at least one or two headlines that’ll perk viewer interest enough to watch the full program along, of course, with the commercials that make it all possible.
So, newscasts must start with a summary, collection of exciting headlines popping with dramatic pictures of storms, fatal accidents, war and peace developments, samples of the most compelling bits and pieces of the upcoming news. It’s presented as a teaser to make viewers want to stay tuned for the full block of stories and stick around through the commercial breaks for news they won’t want to miss.
Having worked at major networks, first ABC, then NBC at 30 Rock in New York City, this has always fascinated me, how there’s so much, selling, teasing, hooking and repetitiveness in broadcast news where the number-one priority is to attract and hold viewer interest for entire newscasts, so there has to be summaries or highlights of upcoming stories, so if you’re not interested in this one, you’ll want to stay tuned for that one.
Sometimes I think this is a bit overdone when you keep hearing the essence of a juicy story repeated several times just to keep you interested and watching.
The other night, for example, ABC news teased several times an upcoming catchy story, first along with the litany of other headlines, this one about a woman who sued a cruise ship line for over serving her drinks causing her to fall and injure herself. Wow, now that’s a headline that did what it was meant to do, hook me.
Deeper in the broadcast, shortly before a commercial break, news anchor David Muir again teased the story upcoming about the California nurse winning a $300,000 lawsuit against a giant cruise line, after claiming the ship’s bar staff served her so much tequila that she fell, severely injuring herself, a verdict the line is appealing.
Then no sooner back from commercials, Muir gives the headline again, only now a fuller version with more details. So bottom line, viewers heard the story not once but three times already as I’m sure it was felt to be potent enough to serve over and over like her tequila.
Still, I love the news and watch it every night on a variety of channels, noting their different slants on the same news while occasionally I’ll sip a cocktail myself but not with tequila, I prefer vodka and dry vermouth and while I might be looking at the ocean from my apartment, I’m not at sea, nor am I driving and safely staying put.
Tom Madden is an author, publicist and owner of a leading PR firm, TransMedia Group, which he runs with his daughter, Adrienne Mazzone, the firm’s president. Before launching the firm, Madden was director of PR planning at ABC until the head of TV programming there, Fred Silverman, accepted the position as CEO of NBC and took Madden along with him as his vice president, assistant to the president.
PS
When is Scripps, the owner of WPTV, and Xfinity (Comcast), my cable TV provider, going to settle their financial differences so I can get NBC News back?
Discover more from Madden Mischief
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.