Sunday, September 30, 2001

"America Fights Back" Coverage

This past week, CBS 2 has had special coverage of "America Fights Back" from 9am-10am, 3pm-4pm, and 7-7:30pm, in addition to the regular CBS 2 newscasts in the morning, at noon, 4-6:30pm, and at 11pm. Yesterday morning at 7:00am, CBS 2 had more coverage for two hours. Michael Pomeranz anchored from the newsroom (Studio 43 was being used for CBS Sports's "College Football Today" program). This morning at 7:00, Lisa Hill and Hazel Sanchez anchored another two hour special.

Michael and David inform me that last night at 11:00, CBS 2 News used their regular open for the first time since the morning of September 11th. This mean that CBS 2's coverage of "America Fights Back" is beginning to slow down as CBS 2 starts to retun to normal. Vince DeMentri anchored with Kirstin Cole. They also played a sadder version of their regular theme when going to commercials.

This week, CBS 2 continues with its special newscasts at 3:00pm and 7:00pm.

Saturday, September 29, 2001

New Morning Newscast Title: "CBS 2 Morning News"?

Brian tells me that this afternoon on CBS 2 he spotted a new promo.
It's for 'The CBS 2 Morning News,' and it shows Lisa and Michael anchoring. The announcer mentions that they have excellent traffic and weather coverage. Then he says 'Watch Lisa Hill, Michael Pomeranz, and Janine D'Adamo on the CBS 2 Morning News,' while the shot of the three anchors from the other network/CBS 2 promo is shown. They also mentioned the extended coverage of "America Fights Back." I'm wondering if it was just a mistake, but I think they said 'CBS 2 Morning News' twice.
CBS 2 News This Morning's format was redone on August 27th, the same day the station moved into Studio 43. The morning newscast has has not used this format for the past two and a half weeks, due to the special coverage of "America Fights Back". Could their name be changing to "CBS 2 Morning News" on Monday, or was it a mistake in the promo? Stay tuned!

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Craig Rivera Joins CBS 2

A new reporter has joined CBS 2. His name is Craig Rivera, and his first report was at around 5:35pm. David and Brian tell me that he is the brother of Geraldo Rivera, the former talk show host. Craig most recently reported for Inside Edition.

Sunday, September 23, 2001

Coverage Of The Terrorist Attacks On The World Trade Center

Tuesday, September 11th started out as a beautiful day throughout much of the northeast. That all changed when a hijacked airplane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:45am. Eighteen minutes later, another plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into the south tower. A half hour later, all air traffic nationwide was halted, the first time in U.S. history that has happened. But that wasn't enough to halt the attacks. At 9:43, another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Just before 10, the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. At 10:10, a fourth hijacked airliner crashed near Pittsburg, missing its probable target: The White House. Less than twenty minutes later, the north tower fell in ruins. Over 6,000 people are reported missing, including hundreds of police officers, firefighters, and other rescue workers.

CBS 2 had continuous coverage of these tragic and horrific events all week long. Dana Tyler, Ernie Anastos, Angela Rae, and Todd McDermott anchored the coverage, called "Attack On America", throughout the afternoon and evening. CBS 2's full team of reporters provided every angle of the story; from the disaster, the local, national, and international reaction, the search, the rescue, the recovery, the investigation, and the healing. Whitney Casey joined CBS 2's reporting team on the day of the attack. CBS News and Dan Rather had special reports for many days as well, but CBS 2 chose to stay local most of the time, providing more local coverage than any other station. At 5:25, Seven World Trade Center collapsed, live on CBS 2.

On Tuesday, CBS 2 announced, "It is with deep regret that WCBS-TV announces that two of our transmission engineers were located on the 110th floor of One World Trade Center when it was attacked. Isaias Rivera, an employee of the station for more than 30 years, and Bob Pattison, who joined CBS 2 in 2000, are both still missing. Channel 2 and all of its employees regard Isaias and Bob as tremendous professionals. We are saddened by these tragic events and offer our prayers to the families of our colleagues." CBS 2 was the only New York station to have a back-up transmitter located on the top of the Empire State Building. All other stations were knocked off-the-air for viewers without cable or satellite.

Saturday morning, September 15th, CBS 2 and CBS News renamed the coverage to "America Rising", focusing on the aftermath of Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack. CBS 2 continued to use their regular weekday anchors. The week after, CBS 2 began to lessen the amount of coverage slightly and resumed some normal network programming. Most local shows during the day (Martha Stewart Living, Crossing Over, Entertainment Tonight, and Hollywood Squares) were preempted for local coverage beginning at 9:00am, 3:00pm, and 7:00pm (the CBS Evening News sometimes went on for one hour until 7:30pm).

On Thursday, "America Rising" became "America Fights Back", changing the focus slightly to the nation's response and military retaliation. The same day, Dr. Mike Rosen joined CBS 2 as medical reporter. Yesterday, CBS 2 started out yesterday morning at 7:00 with a two-hour newscast anchored by Michael Pomeranz and Cindy Hsu. CBS 2 had more hour-long newscasts at 11:00am and 2:00pm. Vince DeMentri and Kirstin Cole (who has probably replaced Amanda Grove as weekend anchor) were on at 7:00pm. Then they were back at 11:00 with more coverage. This morning, "Sunday Edition" with Marcia Kramer was live for one hour starting at 6:30 interviewing the six mayoral candidates running in Tuesday's primary elections (they were originally scheduled to take place September 11th, but were postponed due to the attack). At 7:30, Lisa Hill and Cindy Hsu had more news until 9:00. Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos had coverage of the "A Prayer For America" memorial service at Yankee Stadium from 2:00 to 4:00. More news tonight at 11:00. And this week ahead, CBS 2 will have special coverage at 9-10am, and more coverage beginning at 3:00pm.

Monday, September 10, 2001

CBS 2 Offers Comprehensive Coverage of 2001 Primary Election

A CBS 2 Press Release:
Ernie Anastos and Dana Tyler host CBS 2’s coverage of the 2001 Primary Election on Tuesday, Sept. 11 along with first-rate reporters Marcia Kramer, Pablo Guzman, Michael O’Looney, Vince DeMentri, Lou Young, John Slattery, David Diaz, Kristin Cole and Jennifer McLogan.

CBS 2 will follow the activities at the polls throughout the day and feature special reports on the NEWS AT NOON, FIRST NEWS @ 4, the NEWS AT 5 and the NEWS AT 6. In addition, beginning at 7:00 PM, ET, CBS 2 will provide election result updates at the top of every hour, concluding with extensive coverage on NIGHTCAST (11:00-11:30 PM, ET).

Additionally, CBS 2 reporters Marcella Palmer, Aimee Nuzzo, Hazel Sanchez, Whitney Casey and Rose Walia will contribute reports throughout the day’s coverage. Viewers also will be able to log onto CBS 2’s website, www.cbsnewyork.com, for the most up-to-date results of the Primary Election.

Following are the scheduled assignments for CBS 2’s Primary Election coverage:

  • Kramer, CBS 2’s Chief Political/Investigative reporter, will cover the Mark Green campaign from the Sheraton Hotel and also take an extensive look into voting term limits.
  • O’Looney will report from democratic mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer’s campaign headquarters.
  • DeMentri reports from Alan Hevesi’s headquarters, the Regent Hotel.
  • Guzman and Cole share reporting responsibilities from the Peter Vallone campaign site.
  • Young and Diaz report from Republican candidate’s Michael Bloomberg and Herman Badillo headquarters, respectively.
  • Long Island reporter, McLogan, provides updates on the Nassau County executive race featuring Thomas Suozzi and Thomas DiNapoli.
  • Slattery, a 16-year veteran of WCBS-TV, examines the race for New York City public advocate and comptroller.
  • (Thanks to Brian for sending this press release to me!)

    Saturday, September 8, 2001

    CBS 2's Fall 2001 Promos

    Yesterday, CBS 2 began to use new graphics for their syndicated shows's promos, such as "Crossing Over with John Edward". They were designed to match CBS's new Fall 2001 graphics. After the promo, they show a screen with the shows before and after it (for example, the "Crossing Over" promo shows "As The World Turns" at 2:00 before and "First News at 4:00" after). And today, CBS 2 began to air a new one-minute-long Fall 2001 promo for their newscasts and shows. The promos show the anchors in the new studio, the Information Center, Chopper 2, the reporters, the weather team, and clips from primetime shows. The wording went something like this (but not exactly): "It's the place you go to find out... (Lisa Hill: "Good morning everybody and welcome to CBS 2 News.") and the tri-state wants to know about. It's the people you can count on... C B S 2. It's the Information Network. All our sources work together in the Information Center. It's the place for laughter... every drama sends a shiver down your spine. It's all here, on CBS. It's all here, on CBS 2. News, sports, and weather, and entertainment all together... On CBS 2, New York! It's all here. (Angela Rae and Ernie Anastos: "It's all here!")" This promo appears to be a localized version of the CBS Fall 2001 campaign.

    Friday, September 7, 2001

    CBS 2 Sports This Weekend

    Sunday marks the return of two CBS 2 sports shows. "Jets Tailgate" airs at 11:30am (followed by CBS's "The NFL Today" at Noon). Then after CBS 2 News This Weekend, "Sports Rap" returns at 11:30pm! "Sports Rap Live" was taken off the air in late January, and was anchored by Gary Apple since May 11, 1997. CBS 2's Program Guide is located here.
    (Thanks to "Crocodile82" for letting me know!)

    Monday, September 3, 2001

    CBS 2 News at Noon Today

    There was a CBS 2 News at Noon today, but it opened at 12:21pm because a tennis match went longer than it was expected. It was its regular length, about a half an hour long. At 12:28 during Jennifer McLogan's report, and again at 12:49 at the end, CBS 2 used a "Labor Day" graphic on the top-left of the screen, with the starts circling around it. CBS 2 News at Noon will probably air again Friday during the tennis, but it could be delayed (as it was today). There will not be any newscasts today at 4:00 or at 5:00.

    Sunday, September 2, 2001

    No CBS 2 News at Noon, 4:00, or 5:00 Tomorrow

    Due to CBS Sports's coverage of the U.S. Open's Fourth Round, there will be no CBS 2 News at Noon, CBS 2 First News at 4:00, or CBS 2 News at 5:00. The coverage will be from 11:00am-6:00pm (if the game does not run longer than scheduled). Tomorrow's local newscasts will only be CBS 2 News This Morning (5:00am-7:00am), CBS 2 News at 6:00 (6:00pm - 6:30pm), and Nightcast (11:00pm-11:35pm). The same applies for Friday when CBS Sports's coverage continues with the Men's Doubles Finals and Women's Semi-Finals, 11:00am-6:00pm. And Sunday, September 9th, CBS Sports has the Men's Finals from 4:00pm-7:00pm, meaning no "CBS 2 News This Weekend" at 6:30pm.

    CBS 2 News Sunday Edition

    This morning was the first "Sunday Edition" from Studio 43. The open went like this: "You're watching CBS 2, home of the CBS 2 Information Network. From the CBS 2 Information Center in New York, this is CBS 2 News Sunday Edition with Marcia Kramer." There was no graphic on the bottom of the screen for the second part, as all of the regular newscasts have. Also in the second part, they showed a shot of the interview set, where Marcia Kramer interviewed Alan Hevesi. The same theme they had been using for the past year was still used between commercial breaks and the end. Towards the end of the show, Marcia Kramer was at the plasma screens to tell us what's "On My Mind". Then at the end, they played the theme as she walked behind the desk to the interview set.













    Saturday, September 1, 2001

    CBS 2 News This Weekend/Weekend News

    Today was the weekend newscast's first chance in Studio 43. Vince DeMentri was there along with Kirstin Cole, who was filling in for Amanda Grove. The open went like this: "You're watching CBS 2, home of the CBS 2 Information Network. Live from the CBS 2 Information Center in New York, this is CBS 2 Weekend News." The title the announcer said in the open, "CBS 2 Weekend News", did not correspond to the graphic on the bottom of the screen, which said "CBS 2 NEWS THIS WEEKEND". At 6:26, Gary Apple (who was reporting from the U.S. Tennis Open in Flushing) said, "Now back to you in Studio 43." Then Vince replied, "Studio 43... Feels good!"