Jase

The 4/4:30P was to be split between Dick and Lauren, but at some point, they decided to just hand it all over to Dick (unofficially of course..), leaving Lauren to solo anchor weekends (which likely played a part in her deciding to leave WMAQ). When Kim left the weekend morning shift, Susan, Michelle, Lauren P. and Emily were expected to fill in until a replacement was named. Emily went on maternity leave and was never given the chance to fill-in once she came back. In fact, I don't think they gave her the chance to work with Anthony before she even went on maternity leave. I say this to say that their indecisiveness, for whatever reason, does more harm than good oftentimes.

While I get your point, they are not really hurting for money at WMAQ. The amount of net loses (4 anchor/reporters, 1 weather anchor, 2 sports anchors, 1 investigative reporter) in recent years has outweigh the net gains (adding additional reporters mainly). Point is, it shouldn't take months/years to fill spots. Either promote from within (which they have done to a very, very, very small degree) or hire from the outside. I feel for Dick Johnson, who has been in this market for 30+ yrs (11 at WMAQ) and a consummate professional throughout, but they can't seem to be bothered to give him the 4/4:30P job much less a week off since like January. Just make a decision!!

Since the news anchor/reporter position @ WMAQ is no longer listed, does this mean the new guy will take Dick's spot weekend nights (anchoring with Michelle) and Dick is (by default, unofficially) the new 4P weekday anchor? Does this also mean they plan to leave Christian and Susan paired together on the weekend AM shift? I can't for the life of me understand why they have such a tough time making decisions.

Rick was on at Noon on Tuesday, so I don't think his time is up just yet.

I hope not. She seems like a nice person, but her voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

They need a new GM and ND for starters. It's time for some fresh faces behind the scenes to create a new vision for the station.

If I remember correctly, during Byron's 1st stint at WMAQ, both he and Brant shared the 4/4:30, as noted in their bios. This time around, that didn't happen and the bios were never corrected. No I don't believe so.

I don't mind Hallie. I want to know what's so special about Katy Tur? If Craig is off, she subs for him. If Chuck is off, she subs him. She's on more often than everyone else @ MSNBC and is the absolute worst. Is there no one else who can take on more work/responsibility (Ali, Peter, etc..) besides her? She just awful beyond belief.

I would argue that reporters should determine what's the best course of action is. My guess is that these people were acting like fools before Patrick went live, so he probably should have said 'hey guys..hold off coming to me, etc...until I can get to a safer position.' While I'm not excusing the actions of these idiots, this situation, like many others; can go sideways in a heartbeat, so there's no reason to put oneself in harms way when you don't have to. That said, there are times when things are outside your control, so it becomes a process of assessing the odds that something could happen and your surrounding environment.

I think this change coincided with removing Mike Adamle from the 'meet the staff' list and adding Blanzy. Mike Berman and Jeff often share weekend duties, with Jeff, carrying most of the load most of the time. They tend to do thing differently at WMAQ when it comes to sports. I remember during the week when Adamle was off, Eric Collins would fill in most of the time instead of Siafa or Peggy. Why that was the case wasn't really clear/understandable.

Alicia would likely retake the 11AM (the position she had before) with Kalee staying on weekends (AM) and Pete probably handling weekends (PM). It's unclear if they will stick with six meteorologists (seems unnecessary imo) or five. Hopefully Byron changes his mind and stays.

Sad (if true). I too enjoyed his unique weather presentation style.

Yeah..so they (weather and traffic) have a little spot behind the set itself where they work. Not too bad a space given the temporary crappy setup they had to deal with for 3 months.

I get your point. I don't like seeing some people sitting and some standing (I'm talking to you WBBM, WMAQ, WGN). The desk should, in theory, be big enough to fit everyone. In this case, outside of an election night, four people are not likely going to be sitting at the desk for a long period of time (maybe a couple of minutes at the most). There is no weather center. That space got eaten away with the remodel and the green screen they use takes up a ton of space. Caplan posted a BTS video on his Facebook page, so you can see it for yourself. There is a space over there however that they could set up a weather desk, like WLS has, if they wanted to. Again, see the video.

We have to wait until the morning to see if there's a weather center/desk for sure. Plus, we get to see what the interview area looks like as well. My guess is that the stools are easier to get in/out of and can be tucked under the desk out of view (which if you watched the 9, you would have noticed they didn't tuck Bill's stool all the way in/remove it completely).

I would agree that the platform itself could be larger to allow them to spread out more, but what can you do. It's not like the previous desk was the gold standard of anchor desks.

I'm going to go ahead and give it to them (best in the market). I was afraid that that was a two-person anchor desk (I hate those), but glad to know it's not.

They are in the new studio right now @ 5P!!!

I don't think that there's anything wrong in engaging viewers through FB live, etc..., but you can't engage in hearsay, gossip and/or offer your personal opinion ever. My guess is that Anita used poor judgement in this case by being 'the average viewer' instead of playing the role as an objective moderator. You have to remember that the Internet (and social media platforms) haven't been around for decades, so there is still a lot everyone (including journalists) needs to learn when using this stuff. I'm happy with sticking to message/comment boards to be honest and not anything else.

I'm guessing she (and the other Cheryl) were caught off guard as if they were in the middle of adjusting their arms/hands. You would think someone would have said..'let's try that again' or something. They both look awkward.

Huge loss for WMAQ. They really need to get it together over there and start filling in these anchor holes. As far as next moves for Jiggetts, not sure WGN is the best fit, but who knows. I wouldn't rule out WFLD either. They could use a permanent anchor @ Noon.

He was their main GA reporter, so this is a big loss for them. Sad to see him go...

I agree she isn't too bad. And thank goodness she doesn't tilt her body when pointing at the map. I can't stand that. So in addition to working weekend nights, she will likely appear during the week at Noon (which doesn't have a regular/set news anchor or meteorologist) and sub for Mark (and maybe Bill??) when necessary.

They removed the job posting for a meteorologist, so this could turn into a permanent thing for Rick (or they are not in a hurry to start the search & pulled the posting). Starting tonight/today @ Midnight, they will air (an edited down, 30 min.) rebroadcast of the 9P news.

It was only recently that he revealed he was headed to WOFL. He had been off the air for weeks (likely preparing for the move to Orlando). I figured Evan would move on (at some point) when they shifted George to sports.