NBC 5 Chicago

I noticed in the first hour of weather underground they kept the couch area dark and covered it up but it was in some of the wide shots where Mike tossed to Mark and you could see it covered up. They uncovered it but kept the area darker then the rest of the set for the rest of the show. The couch isn't a bad idea. I just wish they could have made that area more universal where the couch could be removed and other elements added for other day parts so it can be utilized more. I'm not really keen on Storm Center. I guess I had high hopes but I prefer either Weather Underground or Weather Center Live style format. But I also wouldn't mind old school format of the original Weather Center either with your region by region forecasts, travelwise, weekly planner, and Storm Watch/Tropical Update. Weather Underground took awhile for me to like but I think for me its the hosts. I like Mike, Alex and Dr. Knabb. At least with Storm Center this is the first update format wise we've had in awhile.

Also noticed there seems to be a new portion of their set. This includes a seamless monitor where they have a couch in front of. Most of their big monitors in their studio are an array of smaller screens. So I'm not exactly sure where this is located. It doesn't look VR to me but it could be. I know the original set that debuted in 2013 was demolished in favor of the huge green screen that they now use to show VR graphics. Ok found it on Twitter. The new couch section replaces the corner section that the original AMHQ used.

The Weather Channel today is debuting Storm Center at 4pm(E). Their description of the show: Storm Center is a fresh new way to show you everything that’s happening in breaking weather throughout the world. Led by meteorologists Jacqui Jeras, Chris Warren, and Tevin Wooten, Storm Center will immerse you in shocking weather video and take a closer look at the science behind current weather events. They're moving Weather Underground up 4 hours to 12pm-4pm weekdays. It looks like we're losing Weather Center Live. So their new weekday line up is: AMHQ - 6am-12pm Weather Underground - 12pm-4pm Storm Center - 4pm-8pm Programming - 8pm-6am This is the first new show since Weather Underground began. I'm really curious how this new show will be.

I think out implies being fired. She is leaving to spend more time with her family.

I agree. If it was overnight I can understand. I think they need to rethink their 3 weather anchors they have per day part. If they condensed it to 2 they could break it up for each day part and have enough to go live for most of the day until Night Light. Maybe that will be their eventual goal but having them anchor up to 6 hours is a long time and maybe that was just because of the launch. Overall though I'm fairly surprised with their presentation over the past few days. They've stayed with severe weather when warranted. Gives me old school TWC vibes. They've done it right and it doesn't feel small market like Weather Nation does.

They may just only be doing it when they're talking about the Nor'easter. As it is their WeatherAlert. When they're talking about the rest of the country it's normal graphics.

That makes more sense to me. Has anyone been able to view the stream on their website? When I do I cannot get it to play.

WRC is the only one left now.

I too am shocked that she's leaving. I've always loved Zoraida in the morning. However in her absence when Michelle was in Tokyo covering the Olympics I really enjoyed Patrick and Lauren in the mornings. They had good chemistry and brought a little bit more fun in the mornings. I think Michelle does better with more hard news than mornings. I think she should go back to weekends alongside Alex and reporting at night. I think that would solve their morning and weekend anchor issues. It never made sense to me why they brought Michelle into the mornings and moved Alex to weekends and reporting in the evenings.

Zoraida came back today after nearly 4 months away from the anchor desk.

Do you know what day?

CNN Mornings

That's exciting. Jennifer has done great things at WGN and tried with NewsNation. Could we see an upwards climb of CBS 2 under her leadership? Time will tell, but I'm excited to see where it will go. WBBM has been really lagging behind all of the stations in Chicago for so many years.

This from TVNewsCheck. Alicia officially takes over for Andy on Aug 30th. Additionally, they hired Iisha Scott (from WCNC) as weekend AM meteorologist as well as weekday reports on community and weather-related stories. Her first day is also Aug 30th. I'm surprised they filled the position so quickly. This must have all been in the works for a little while.

I never quite understood why they needed two during the morning. Now, it makes a little more sense as to why if Andy had been contemplating retirement over the last year. Letting the viewers get used to seeing her in the mornings then when he does retire its a seamless transition. Or after having her baby she wanted to be more in the mornings then doing her marathon weekends of mornings, 5pm and 10pm. But like @jase said, you never really know with WMAQ. A new hire could shake things up.

I'm not quite sure but it looks like they are redoing the weather center again. This pic I saw on Lauren Petty's Facebook page about a week ago shows the background monitor sitting lower towards the ground and the background is different. Gone are the computers and cabinets. I also haven't seen them use that area on air for while. The morning team is together at the desk now and the weather team is at the green screen. During the height of Covid this area was heavily used in the morning as a anchor desk so they could be socially distant.

The one I was surprised and confused about was WVIT. Perfect opportunity to launch them with the new set. Their Telemundo station has them but not WVIT. There must be a hiccup or something to not switch over yet.

TVNewsCheck is reporting that Tonya Francisco and Amy Rutledge will be the hosts of the new Daytime Chicago show. This means Amy Rutledge comes back to WGN after being co-host of now cancelled "The Jam" on WCIU. It also means that someone will have to take over Tonya's weekend morning position unless they decided to go solo.

I really like this set. They did a behind the scenes tour of it and it's got great functionality and technology. Set is way better than what WVIT did. I feel WTVJ's studio lights are a little too dark or warmer than most sets. It looks a little dull on the anchors.

Per Feder, Derek Dalton is out as President and General Manager at WBBM CBS 2. Also out is Jay Howell the President and General Manager at KCBS in LA in a sweep across the top 3 stations in the group.

I wouldn't count them out. Still have WRC, WVIT, KNSD left to switch as well. WTVJ and WVIT we know will have new sets with the debut.

WBTS uses like 3 different ones. I like this one the best though.

Interesting. So On Balance with Leland Vittert that is debuting today is most likely just keeping the 8pm hour seat warm for Dan. I get with a new network there's going to be a lot of changes but damn it's hard to keep up now with what they're offering.

On Balance with Leland Vittert is debuting at 8pm ET and NewsNation Early Edition is rebranding to NewsNation: Rush Hour beginning July 19th. Here's the article. So now that only leaves one hour of Prime before Banfield.

WNBC's open is awful. I'm surprised they're still sticking with LA Groove. At least use the actual open to match the graphics. The 4 note sting just does not go well at all. Really surprised they did that.