The only station or stations that I know does very well in the stand up format is CITY-TV in Canada. All of the citytv stations, CITY, CKVU, CKEM, CHMI, CKAL have anchors that stand up only.
I hardly count any of the stations other than the Toronto one as doing news these days. That said, CITY started it in 1987 and they had it nailed very early on. A couple other stations in Ontario also do it, and they do it well.
The standup format is really mainly associated with the CHUM group of stations, which of course included CITY as well as the
NewNet A-Channel /A\ stations. The major exception is CIVI Victoria, which despite going on air with the stand-up format in 2001, abandoned it and installed a desk in 2004 with the arrival of Hudson Mack as anchor/ND from competing CHEK-TV. CTV Atlantic (owned by CHUM until 1997) also has its anchors standing up for "Live at 5", although that's really more a magazine program than a newscast anyway.
Baton/CTV-owned CIVT in Vancouver also had its anchors standing up from its launch in 1997 until 1999. Supposedly the people at CHUM weren't too happy when they found out Baton/CTV was ripping off of the CityPulse format (especially considering CHUM lost the CIVT license to Baton).
These days Citytv Toronto doesn't really use too many different camera angles on its newscasts. They might as well have Gord Martineau and Mark Dailey sit down. I don't watch their late news that much, but seems like Mark Dailey's sitting at the assignment desk/whatever that area is half the time anyway.
I haven't seen too many U.S. stations where newscasts are done entirely standing up. All the Detroit stations have some standing components to their newscasts, but WDIV and WXYZ stick mainly to the desk. Don't know about WJBK since I rarely watch them.
True. At most stations, the main purpose of having segments done standing up is just to spice up the production. Although, Seattle's KOMO currently has a solo anchor standing up for the entirety of their 4pm newscast, anchored out of their newsroom. So far seems to have worked out better than KIRO's out-of-the-box experiment.
True, KOMO Seattle's 4pm newscast is all standup, but it is really a half newscast/half entertainment hour. Lots of weather quizes, health reports, etc. But, their 5pm serious cast continues with standups in front of the monitors. They always return to the desk, though, so this element must still be important. Seems the popular format today is a combination of desk/standup...yes, with the anchor holding a rolled up script! Theater, or a necessity?
