Jase

First off..kudos to WFLD for being respectable to Jeff and waiting until after his last day before making this official announcement. Classy move. Secondly, Corey is a great choice given his experience at the station (and the market) plus it's a reunion of sorts given both him and Dawn worked together on GDC several years back. I knew there was a more logical reason Scott unofficially (now officially) moved to GDC weeks ago other than filling in for Corey. I also figured Corey wasn't in the running for the job, but this is a pleasant surprise. After years of mistakes and/or missteps, some pretty solid decisions are being made.

Okay... it will be interesting to see how things will go once Rob is better.

We now have a somewhat clearer picture of how things are going to go when Rob returns Monday... 'Stafford will return to the 10 p.m. news. Dick Johnson and Patrick Fazio will share anchoring duties with Allison Rosati at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. until Stafford is ready to return to those newscasts,' said Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news for NBC Chicago. Sounds as if his condition and treatment was worse than I (and likely others) have thought. I'm surprised he didn't take the rest of the year off to recover. Full story : http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-rob-stafford-nbc-blood-disease-update-met-20170824-story.html

It's possible. Despite Corey being back, Scott remains on GDC (he was on today I believe), so it's unclear if he will stay there or take Jeff's spot. It's a key role that they have to fill for like the 4th time in 10 years, so I can understand them wanting to take some time to find the right person.

Scott did filled in for Corey on GDC and may fill in for Kristen when she goes on leave in October. I want to say he has been reassigned to GDC given that Rafer is taking his spot on weekends, but who knows?? Rafer, Larry and Sylvia could help fill the void @ 5P & 9P until they find Jeff's successor (which could still be either Scott or Rafer). They may want to test things out before making a final decision between the two.

WFLD carried the parade in 1996 (on a Saturday with Bernie Mac and Anne Kavanaugh (sp?) as hosts). WLS took over the following year when the parade moved to Thanksgiving Day and on State Street then WGN became the TV sponsor in 2007. I think I got that right.

Seems like stations are cutting back on things like this unless they are the 'presenting TV sponsor/partner.' WGN didn't air Bud Billiken parade special (WLS did), no Air and Water show specials, etc.. The Auto Show is the only exception I believe.

This had been rumored for awhile. He was going to step down last year I think, but decided to renew only for 1 year. The 5P/9P spot is likely going to be a choice between Scott and Rafer. They don't need to make any more changes (moving Corey) in the morning. Best to leave GDC as is for now to continue to build ratings and such.

Very Interesting...adding more people is always a plus. Corey is back on GDC today w/ Anita in studio anchoring (and doing Facebook Live).

DJ has been at WMAQ for 15 yrs., so sticking around for another 5 or so would be ideal (for them). This would give them some time to shore up/beef up both the anchor and reporter ranks. My guess is that people (Rob, Dick, Allison, Carol, etc...) may be looking to retire at some point in the next 5-7 yrs.

Don't be surprised if they leave the new guy on weekend nights with Michelle. I have a feeling they 'might' do something like this.. Weekdays 4A-7A: Zoraida, Alex, Andy and Kye 11A: Marion, Alex and Alicia | Kalee 4P: Marion, Dick and Brant 5P and 10P: Allison, Rob, Brant and Siafa 6P: Allison, Dick, Brant and Siafa (I'm thinking they may want to lessen Rob's workload initially, but who knows??) Weekends Mornings: Susan, Christian, Kalee and Marley Evenings: Michelle, Patrick, Alicia and Jeff | Mike

He hasn't anchored in years (I'm talking at least 15+), so this was a big surprise. His delivery was unique in large part because it's outside of what he normally does, but he was fine. He didn't do the 10P, so I'm guessing just the 4P, 5P and 6P. I wouldn't be surprised if they get Charlie to sub at some point as well.

It's Marion Brooks and Phil Rogers @ 5P today.

I liked what little bit I saw, but I hate the overly animated/distorted graphics. It's hard to explain, but some of the graphic elements are very distracting because they are constantly moving/flashing. You have to watch to understand what I mean.

I agree with 24994J...what's dangerous about it? Since they don't get (and never really have) large crowds, it not used vey often. [MEDIA=instagram]BNLO7Ngh5-V[/MEDIA] This is the lobby, so..no this wouldn't work. [MEDIA=instagram]BNZWGH5gALR[/MEDIA]

Looks like the 'experimenting' has made its way to the weekend. Emily Flores joined Susan this morning. I haven't seen Emily anchor in years.

Yes

Sally Schulte (sp?) made her debut on the 5P newscast today (at the Live Desk). I'm guessing she's per diem. At least they are adding more bodies over there at WFLD.

No doubt a good chunk of Univision Chicago's viewers speak only Spanish, but it also stands to reason that some of their viewers are bilingual (meaning, they could also be viewers of English-language newscasts too). When you couple that together, Univision could easily come close to or beat WLS (or whomever else) at 10P. At the end of the day, viewers are viewers no matter how you look at it.

I wouldn't say the comparison is unfair. It's more of a reflection of ever-changing viewership trends. Plus, the viewership pie at 10P is small (and tends to get even smaller during the summer.)

He's back at work today.

At least they didn't give it to Steve. I can stomach Ari much more than him.

Lauren got a raw deal from WMAQ. She was seen as one of their 'future stars,' but when it became clear that she wasn't going to get a weekday spot anytime soon (if ever), she moved on. It seems like no one wants to work weekends at WMAQ nor do they want to 'wait their turn.' Patience is not a virtue for them.

Makes sense. Didn't she and Mike Caplan switch roles early on in their careers @ WLS? I could swear that she did weekend nights and Caplan worked weekday AM, but I could be wrong.

Roz is closing in on 30 yrs @ WLS, so it's not surprising they are looking for someone new to take her place. Could Tracy be next??