THANKS TO JOHN SULYK FOR HIS COMMENTARY

KYW-TV Channel 3 (CBS)
KYW Channel 3 CBS KYW’s “Eyewitness News” is the most professional looking news operation in Philadelphia. It’s a shame the ratings are so low that syndicated sitcoms on the UHF stations often get higher ratings than KYW’s 6pm newscast. The set is arguably the best in the Mid-Atlantic region with a nice view of the skyline, cherry wood news desk and trim. The colors and graphics are also great. The new set is a far cry from the old typical chroma-blue Westinghouse set used only about a year ago. One of the problems with KYW’s news may be the fact there is a revolving door at the station which can leave viewers tuning into unfamiliar faces every few months. The station took a bold move in September ’97 by adding a 60 minute 5:00pm newscast, but it has been cut back to 30 minutes. KYW became a CBS O&O in 1995 when Westinghouse and CBS merged.

WPVI-TV Channel 6 (ABC)
“6 ABC” is the most watched station in Philadelphia. It’s “Action News” program has remained virtually unchanged for 30 years has proven itself in the ratings year after year! What is their secret? It is probably due to the ABC O&O philosophy of keeping the look of the news simple, the amazing tenure of the anchors and lead-ins from highly rated syndicated programs such as Oprah. The set is still chromakey, but it got a makeover in Fall ’98. Along with the makeover came graphics similar to WABC and a video wall which replaced the magnetic weatherboard. However, the theme song has remained. Other than news, WPVI’s local productions include talker “Philly After Midnight” and coverage of community events such as the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the “Welcome America” celebration on July 4. One of the things that make WPVI unique is the fact the mediocre “Good Morning America” is the #1 rated news program in the 7-9am time slot. I will admit the anchors are very good, but this station needs a major overhaul. The newness of the October ’98 makeover has worn off. By the way, negative comments about WPVI in this town will always lead to heated debates and arguments. WPVI also maintains satellite studios in Wilmington, Trenton, Atlantic City and Harrisburg.

WCAU-TV Channel 10 (NBC)
NBC gained an owned and operated station in 1995 when CBS sold this station to NBC Stations Management Inc. when CBS and Westinghouse merged. The name was quickly changed to “NBC 10” and the network began to change every facet of the station little by little. One of the most notable changes made was in the news department when a Weekday morning newscast debuted and the set went from boring gray background to the most professional set Philadelphia television viewers have ever seen (the award for best looking set still goes to KYW). What made the set so special was the addition of two video walls often used for tabloid tie-ins. While the look of the news has improved, NBC decided to let go some of the best talent at the station. “NBC 10” took a bold step in ’97 by adding a 4:00pm newscast. Now the station needs to get a midday newscast and get rid of the fake monitors.

WHYY-TV Channel 12 (PBS)
WHYY has improved drastically over the past couple of years! The station now operates 24 hours a day with college telecourse programs overnight. There has been an increase of local production on WHYY including the nightly drawing of the Delaware Lottery and “12 Tonight” which is a news and public affairs program targeting Delaware. WHYY still maintains two studios, the main studio in Philadelphia and a satellite studio in Wilmington.

WPHL-TV Channel 17 (WB)
Tribune’s “WB 17” has been improving as the years go by! The station does a lot of local production considering the station’s size. “WB 17 News at Ten” is only 30 minutes but it is very good. The talent is pretty experienced and the set is very professional and spacious looking. Other local production includes Phillies games, coverage of the “Mummers Parade” on New Years Day and the “Willow Grove Air Show”.

23 WNJS-TV Channel 23 (PBS)
This Camden station is part of “NJN”, a PBS network serving the entire State of New Jersey. Most local productions on NJN are in the interest of New Jersey, including “NJN News” which airs nightly at 6:00pm and is pretty generic looking. WNJS is located in Trenton.

29 WTXF-TV Channel 29 (FOX)
The station is now known as “Fox Philadelphia” instead of “Fox 29”. The name is not the only thing that has changed at WTXF since FOX the bought the station from Paramount in 1995. It’s hour long “Fox 10 O Clock News” was the market’s first primetime newscast when it debuted in 1986. “Good Day Philadelphia” may not be as good as other FOX O/O morning news programs, but it still very young since it debuted in ’96! Still, it is better than “Today” and far better than “Good Morning America”. BUT, Philly remains loyal to WPVI and GMA so Good Day’s ratings will be in the cellar for a long time.

35 WYBE-TV Channel 35 (PBS) WYBE is a low-budget public television station. WYBE is a very good community resource considering most programming is local. Plus, WYBE is pretty big on international programs such as Dutch and Korean news programs.

48 WGTW-TV Channel 48 (IND)
“GTW 48” is a pure independent station airing mostly vintage syndicated programs such as “Happy Days” and “Family Times”. Production quality is also very low. There are some local programs such music videos on Saturday nights, but very few of them are produced by WGTW itself.

57 WPSG-TV Channel 57 (UPN)
“UPN 57” is owned by Paramount Stations, Inc. Local production includes Flyers games, 76ers games and Studio 57, a public affairs program which airs on Friday. “UPN 57” airs a lot of syndicated sitcoms and cartoons to cater to younger demos. However, there is no news, at least yet.

61 WPPX-TV Channel 61 (PAX-TV)
Owned by Paxson Communications Corporation, WPPX was an all infomercial channel. Luckily, that has changed with the arrival of PAX-TV. There is no local production except for locally produced infomercials, but that’s about it! Before joining the Paxson group, 61 was known as WTGI and was a Telemundo affiliate.

65 WHSP-TV Channel 65 (HSN)
Owned by USA Television, this Home Shopping Network affiliate is rumored to become part of yet another start-up network, City Vision.

COMCAST SPORTSNET
Comcast Sportsnet is a local cable sports network much like Baltimore and Washington’s HTS, but better. There is “sports news” programs much like ESPN’s Sportscenter, but better! The set is a very nice for a local cable network. Also on Comcast Sportsnet also airs home games of Philly sports teams.

NEW CASTLE SUBURBAN CABLE CHANNELS 2 & 28
These two channels are public access channels of New Castle Suburban Cable in Delaware. Channel 2 is home to “First State News” which is very, very low-budget news operation covering all of Northern Delaware. The news is beyond bad using consumer grade equipment, a really bad chroma blue set which is a very bad copy of WPVI. They tape one 30 minute newscast at 6:00pm and re-air it at 11:00pm. Plus, they rely too much on newscources and the anchor is often the one also doing the “investigative reporting”. But, the Philadelphia stations often to a better job reporting Delaware stories than First State News. Channel 2 is also home to “Chat 24”, an interactive call-in show. Cable Channel 28 is a full-time public access channel.