Tag Results for WBZ

We've all done it.

I'm talking about receiving that gift we didn't need and then giving it (repackaged, of course) to someone else who might actually find it useful. The fact that we saved a little cash? So much the better.

Well, increasingly it seems that local radio is becoming a home for re-gifted television news. On "Beat the Press" Friday, one of Emily's items during the panel peeves fourth segment was actually an attaboy to WBZ Radio, which has started carrying the first 10 minutes of the CBS "Evening News" as part of its evening programming.

Last Thursday, the Boston Herald's terrific Jessica Heslam reported on her Messenger Blog that Worcester's WCAP (980 AM) will today become the first radio station in the country to carry the audio portion of ABC's "World News Tonight" with Diane Sawyer from 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Both Emily and Heslam had a glass-half-full reaction to the news. Heslam called it "great news for commuters who aren’t home in time to catch the evening news." Emily loved it as well, although she wasn't happy with how WBZ clumsily handled the transition out of Couric's show back into their one Traffic on the Threes, saying the CBS broadcast seemed to fall off the cliff.

For journalists who for years have resented the steady loss of news programming on radio, it's an understandable first instinct to praise any re-introduction of high-quality news programming to the audio airways. Radio stations, meanwhile, get to save money by not having to produce the news themselves.

But the question remains: Does re-purposed television audio make good radio? "60 Minutes" has broadcast its audio feed for years, but "60 Minutes" is ... well, "60 Minutes." The show's  stories are generally compelling enough to overcome the fact that, sometimes, it's hard to make sense of what's going on without seeing the pictures.

It's an issue for anyone who re-purposes their television audio for radio, including those of us here at WGBH with "Greater Boston: Radio Edition," our new Saturday broadcast of the audio portion of our "Beat the Press" show and a selection of the week's highlights from "Greater Boston" that airs at 2 p.m.

What do you think? When radio stations repackage television news audio is the broadcast half empty or half full?

If you want Gospel with your Sunday brunch, you can always go to the House of Blues. If gossip is more your style, you might want to try Channel 38.

A new show starring the Boston Herald's Inside Track columnists, Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, debuts on WSBK this weekend, Raposa said a few minutes ago."TrackGals" will air at noon Sundays on 38, and also on sister station WBZ/Channel 4 at 12:30 a.m.

Raposa describes the show as a hybrid, but also unique.

"It's a little bit Inside Track, a little bit Saturday Night Live, a little bit Access Hollywood," she said. "But it's local, and there really isn't anything out there like it on the air."

Today's Herald and the Inside Track Facebook page have the lowdown on the first couple of shows, including the second which is - predictably - a Tom Brady special, which follows Raposa and Fee as they try to Track down the star Patriots quarterback. Raposa says the show will include "a lot of us out on the town, doing our jobs."

The Herald reports that the show is being produced by music video veteran Ian Barrett with crew support from Media Boss in Natick and will be sponsored by Foxwoods, the MGM Grand, Subaru of New England.

The show will soon have its own web page, which will be part of bostonherald.com, Raposa said.

A few weeks ago, "Beat the Press" discussed a news sharing arrangement at television stations in Chicago. Now, some Boston TV stations will begin sharing resources - including a helicopter.