NY1 is taking the bandages off its face-lift Monday.
The local news channel, which sports a devoted following, will unveil a new look starting at 5 a.m. featuring new graphics, new music, a new logo and other changes.
“What viewers will see when they turn us on will be the same NY1 with a new look,” said the news channel’s boss, Steve Paulus.
“When we come out of a commercial, you’ll see the phrase ‘Time Warner Cable News NY1,’ and it will resolve down to the company logo of the eye and the ear with a NY1 next to it.” Paulus said. “And then the time and temperature will be right there.”
He noted that NY1 has not had a sorely needed makeover in more than a decade.
“Nobody can accuse us of overchanging our formats like other broadcasters do,” he said.
The fresh look comes at a cost — or at least a mouthful of a new name.
The name change, which adds “Time Warner Cable News,” was cooked up by top brass at the cable company, sources said, because they believe viewers considering a switch to a rival like Verizon FiOS need to know that if they ditch Time Warner, they lose NY1.
Fans and channel staff have been grumbling about the change for months.
“It’s the cable company, so of course they have to mess around with something that works fine,” a newsroom source said.
Anchor Pat Kiernan will be on the air when the wraps come off the new look.
“Nothing is changing with the reporter pieces and the video they shoot,” Paulus said.
“But when you see a little animation that introduces (the segments) ‘In the Papers’ or the ‘NY1 Minute,’ the graphic will be different.”
