Oregon Media Insiders

I think it's great... for 1997.

First, the good:

- The weather center. Money very well spent. Makes the other guys look small-time. Gorgeous big screens.

But why show off your new gigantormous green screen, then shoot Rod Hill so tight he fills up a quarter of the screen? C'mon, the man's tiny to begin with -- let him dance around like a leprechaun in chroma key heaven!

Now the bad:
- The backdrop with the giant 2 logo. Blurry and distracting. It's not identifiably Portland.

- The anchor desk looks TINY! The wood's kind of yellowed, too. And what's up with those glowing white things on the side? Did the Star Trek production designers have a fire sale on warp drives?

- Frosted glass!? Why not toss in some ice block while you're at it?

- You may have installed the largest projector in town, but it's dim (or overlit) and framed with a giant piece of ugly wood that makes it look small. The secondary projector/reporter position is even worse with white plexiglas that looks like an afterthought.

- Blue-to-red gradients all over the place? I'm back running Windows 98!

- Looove the blue faux texturing on the bottom of the set! Not!

- Ugly gray floor! Got paint? I hear lumber liquidators has great deals on laminate, too. If you're going to shoot your floor, you have to treat it like part of your set.

- (Sings) "And she's buying a stairway to... nowhere." WTF? A spiral staircase to crawl up and down during teases? Even ESPN doesn't actually USE their fake staircases.

- The lighting is awful. It looks like Fisher spent so much on the set they forgot to hire a lighting designer.

- It already looks kinda cheap in standard definition. How bad will it be with high def cameras and a year or two of wear & tear?

Lest you 2-fers think this is sour grapes from the competition -- I wish. I really do. I was truly hoping you guys would top 8 & 12's new sets and clean up your graphics. Nothing would be better for KPTV & KGW than some real competition. Portland shouldn't be a 2-station market, but KATU just spent a boatload of money that still makes them look like a 3rd place station. It's a shame.