Jase

22 hours ago, brb588 said:

I guess, but with ABC, there has been such a lead up to their anchors retiring. I guess I expected the same for Corey. Ah, well.

They ran a special tribute promo 24/7 for at least a week and looked back at Corey's career each night in addition to a 15+ minute tribute tonight (his last newscast). I don't recall WFLD/Fox 32 doing anything close to the send off they gave Corey for anyone else previously. It was quite the emotional and heartfelt tribute.

FYI- Like I correctly guessed, Scott succeeds Corey as lead/primary male anchor.  

1 hour ago, 24994J said:

Scott is shifting to evenings, in addition to succeeding Mike Flannery as political editor, so it's not yet clear what slot(s) Scott takes on.

My guess is that they moved Scott to evenings in anticipation for him to succeed Corey much like they did when he succeeded Corey on GDC. It makes for a more seamless transition. Plus, they didn't announce that Corey was taking over for Jeff until after Jeff's last day. Guess we will find out soon enough. Nevertheless, he is deserving of the promotion imo.

While Scott covers politics, they don't refer to him as political editor (reporter). Taking over for Corey wouldn't preclude him for covering politics per se...

11 hours ago, brb588 said:

Kinda abrupt, isn't it? I wonder what happened?

Broadcasting & Cable [ Next|TV ] ran a piece last month and mentioned he was going to retire. I remember reading this story, but I must have over-looked (forgotten) about the part about Corey retiring.

That said, it isn't a surprise. He has been with WFLD /Fox 32 for nearly 30 yrs and is close to 70 yrs old. Scott filled in for him this past Monday, so I'm guessing he will succeed Corey at 5p & 9p???

https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-chicago-is-the-city-of-big-stories

Also worth noting....the Bears and WFLD/Fox 32 renewed their broadcasting partnership in a multi-year deal last month, but 'Bears Post Game Live' is expected to move to the Marquee Sports Network. 

On 8/12/2023 at 12:15 PM, 24994J said:

Bears bring back their excellent, in-house look, but with more Bear head, after it was elevated to primary status, over the wishbone C.

 

 

Don't like the reduction of the afternoon version of News Central, but at least they didn't cancel it and its morning counterpart. Should have eliminated the ticker all together. There is just too much clutter on the screen imo.

Ciprian-Matthews named president of CBS News

She will have direct oversight of CBS News and report to McMahon.

The Battle for CNN…

‘Over 18 months, a battle of backstabbing has been raging within CNN that involved Jeff Zucker, David Zaslav and Chris Licht.’

A very interesting piece from Variety. 

2 hours ago, 24994J said:

There is an anchor at WXYZ who just announced she is heading to Chicago. Not gonna bore anyone with the details, as there aren't any, but she is someone to keep an eye on, perhaps for that early slot. Mike also mentioned that Scott will have a Sunday morning program in the works, as he eases into the beat. I'd assume it'll air in the Friday and Saturday 9:30pm slots, as well.

Tough to say if their new political show will air just on Sundays. My guess is that they may try that ‘Chicagoland’ show I mentioned previously on Friday and Saturday.

In regards to the WXYZ anchor, she could land anywhere (at least initially). Elizabeth will be going on maternity leave soon. They may move Natalie to a M-F shift (instead of Su-Thur), etc…

Scott Schneider to succeed Mike Flannery covering politics for Fox 32. Guessing Roseanne Tellez heads back to the 4-7A shift temporarily to co-anchor with Anita Padilla.

2 hours ago, Geoffrey said:

Hearing the former president say this stuff, instead of just reading transcripts, is rather incredible, and gives new insight into his tone and the tone of those around him. Any news organization wishes they had obtained this.

This dude has said and done a ton of horrible things and this tape simply doesn't hold any tangible weight. It's just another item to add to the list. It's the unfortunate reality in which we live.

Not saying that CNN shouldn't have aired the tape; I just see it (the tape) as emblematic of them moving away from creating shows like CNN News Central and looking at the majority of things through a political/opinion lens. I could be wrong, but that's how I see it.

1 hour ago, NBC 5 Chicago said:

CNN covered Russia/Putin excessively over the weekend and the first part of the day yesterday. CNN Obtained the Trump tape and broke the news exclusively and ran with it throughout primetime. 

 

If MSNBC  (don't think FNC would) have obtained the tape they too would be running it exclusively. 

The tape is part of evidence collected by the justice department and nothing new is revealed that we didn't already know (or have a general sense of). So the exclusivity of airing the tape is somewhat moot.

Back to the article; it comes across as a really strange (or as other have suggested odd) piece. What is the point of it? I mean once a new leader of CNN is named, he or she will want to put their stamp on things and make changes. I guess they want to celebrate their renewed sense of freedom/purpose while they can because it could all go away at some point. 

2 hours ago, KRAP-TV said:

It’s kind of odd to see CNN reporting on itself like this, but it’s certainly revealing…

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/media/cnn-after-chris-licht-reliable-sources/index.html

Sounds like many were (or are) resistant to (any) change and simply want to go back to the Zucker years.

As I type this, both MSNBC and FNC are discussing Russia/Putin. What's on CNN you ask??? Some Trump tape from 2021. That tells me all I need to know about the post-Licht CNN.

21 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

 

It may not be a big deal, but it is very different from a small logo on one of the weather slides. This sponsorship dictated programming during a news program.

The key here is that this wasn't a news segment. I see it as the equivalent of John doing a feature story on Legoland and interviewing people. Did he say or do something that is questionable/improper?

I don't think this rises to the level where the journalistic integrity of John or CBS 2 is in question [or should be in question].

Yeah.. this isn't a big deal. It's a weather segment presented/sponsored by a well-known, family-friendly company. Not unlike seeing a small logo for a local car dealership during the weather segment for example.

Now if the new set is made out of Lego and they rename the newscast  'Lego presents...the CBS 2 News at...', that would be something to be concerned about.

On 6/19/2023 at 12:33 PM, WeatherandTraffic said:

Mark went back to weekend mornings this past weekend with Karen Jordan anchoring in the evenings. If he doesn't get the weekend evening job, I can see him bolting later this year as when Ravi is off, Mark only does the 5pm and Rob takes the rest of the newscasts.

 

Also, as of this morning, Val is officially the third full time anchor of the 6am hour with Tanja and Terrell. She will likely be the main fill-in for Tanja and Terrell on the other shows as well, which also another reason Mark Rivera might bolt.

On 6/19/2023 at 9:12 PM, cpet228 said:

That would make Channel 7 really thin in male fill-in anchors should Mark Rivera leave at some point.  Not really sure why they are taking so much time to move him to weekend nights.  It just seems like a logical progression.

Mark has been in his position less than 6 years and I doubt he is angling for weekend evenings nor do I think WLS wants to add yet another new person to the weekend morning team after adding both Chatman and Martinez.  It's possible he's happy where he is.

If he gets the evening slot, great... but if not, I seriously doubt he would up and leave his hometown and the top news station in the market.

3 hours ago, 24994J said:

Other than the daily beat, they'll have to replace the 90 minutes (Fri & Sat 9:30pm, Sun 8:30am) of airtime Mike provided with his prerecorded political show. Granted, the show replace live news, but maybe they don't want to reinstate that or have the manpower to do so.

I could see Dane taking up 'the mantle', if you will, covering politics. But Scott has co-moderated the 2019 & 2023 Chicago mayoral debates and appears to have an interest in covering politics. That said, one could argue that there is no longer a need to have someone cover the political beat full-time.

As far as what to air in place of 'Flannery Fired Up!'...they could bring back 'Later with Leon' to air Fri. and Sat. and just expand GDC Sunday to 7-9A. They did air a 30-min feature show back in April called 'Chicagoland' that, if I'm not mistaken, aired in place of 'FFU' all three days, so it's possible they were testing that show out as a replacement.

11 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Blowing the dust off this thread…

 

WFLD/WPWR GM Dennis Welsh is retiring.

Ten years is a good run and he accomplished a lot (most notably the renovation of the station's offices, newsroom, etc..). Hopefully the next GM will continue to strengthen the station. Flannery is leaving at the end of the month too, so I'm curious to see who will cover the political beat going forward. 

WFLD Political Editor Mike Flannery to retire June 30

On 6/5/2023 at 6:01 AM, MorningNews said:

Former WGN anchor Tom Negovan filing reports for WABC this morning. Last I checked he was with NewsNation.

 

Anyone heard an official update on him?

Looks like Tom left (or was released) from NewsNation last May/June based on the dates of the reports/stories listed on the 'latest from Tom Negovan' page on NewsNation. Not sure why they parted ways, but glad he landed somewhere.

2 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

Zaslav was doing the micromanaging, correct?

 

Correct. I would hope that the next head of CNN wouldn't accept the job without some assurances that they will be given the opportunity to do their job effectively without interference. CNN isn't broken (per se); they just need to re-focus on things that matter (news) and less on politics.

2 hours ago, kshow said:

Wonder if the new shows slated in the fall are still happening. (King Charles)?

Somewhat doubtful. Gayle likely only agreed to do the show as a favor to Licht. Now that he's gone; not sure she would want to continue as she doesn't need the money nor the extra workload. Charles signed a huge new deal that WBD will want to get their monies worth some how from him.

A lot will depend on when a new leader is named. My guess is sometime in August or September. Can't see a ton of people jumping at the chance to run CNN and be micro-managed 24/7. 

And with a temporary quadfecta of people currently running things, I would assume no big decisions will be made anytime soon. 

19 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

The question is, will the CW still air golf events?  And will all the things we hate about LIV golf (aside from it's backers) trickle into PGA Tour events?

 

I could care less about golf, but those who watch it may be in for a real surprise if some of the LIV-stuff makes it into mainstream golf.

They have a multi-year agreement so unless there’s a clause that would nullify said agreement; there’s no reason why things wouldn’t continue as is.

I could see LIV becoming some type of junior league were players would have to work their way up to the PGA. Doubt the case can be made that both of these entities are equal in any sense.

Regardless, this merger seems like a good thing for the CW.

I would have eliminated the ticker all together or at the very least use it for breaking news stories only. I don't like the open space above the ticker/time and would rather that everything is connection.  The flashing 'live' is unnecessary. 

They presented the new graphics (or the L3s at least) as something new/unique, but what we got isn't everything special. Overall, the new graphics are okay. I doubt whatever happens (graphics-wise) during breaking news will be revolutionary in any sense whatsoever. 

2 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

Tonight's edition of Banfield is coming from the new NYC set that's used for Elizabeth Vargas Reports. Based on the way Ashleigh introduced tonight's show, calling it their "new set," makes me think that this might be the new permanent home for Banfield.

 

To date, wasn't she doing the show either from home or from a flashcam studio somewhere near her home in CT?

 

As the only show on the network not hosted from one of their three studios in Chicago, NYC, and DC, I have to wonder if this was a network decision to bring their last remaining show in-house.

 

I gotta say, the show looks way better in studio.

I think now that they have a big enough studio that can accommodate more shows, it makes since to make the move. Plus, having guests in-studio rather than via zoom, etc.. likely played a part too. It's the 'personal connection,' if you will, that was missing from her show.    

1 minute ago, Spring Rubber said:

 

Thank you for the heads-up. I knew something was up with why Early Morning was being kept with temporary hosts. This explains why... because they weren't quite ready to roll out the new format show, yet they were desperate to cut Carr from the staff.

 

 

Ouch, that's brutal. I was not surprised when they cut weather out of the evenings, but to cut weather out of the mornings, that comes as a shock to me.

 

 

My best estimation is more hours of content, but with continued significant turnover in personnel and in the schedule.

Wasting little time, Martin's bio has been updated and Gerard's has been removed. Shame they couldn't find a new role (weather/climate correspondent, etc..) for him. Guessing they will turn to local mets to help fill in the gaps in weather coverage.

As i have often stated, 'Morning in America' was in dire need of help. Hopefully, the addition of Martin and other changes will make a difference. I guess they see this as an opportunity to grab viewers from CNN This Morning given their current state atm.

I wonder if they can grab any big names (currently employed and not a has-been that is) in the next year or so as they continue to fill out the schedule.