Jase

Nicole Wallace is cool. I am happy for her. Stephanie Ruhle, she is cool, like her show, passionate and can host her own business show on MSNBC.

 

Am I the only who thinks that Hallie Jackson is a little overrated? I like Hallie but at the same time I think her fast rise is getting inside her head.

 

She has been given a big push but I was listening to her the other day and she has a motor mouth.She works so much, she must be on speed. She talked way to fast and her story was all over the place. I don't think she is ready for primetime. Needs to go back to being a White House Correspondent before getting a show.

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 swear to god, how that gross POS thing still exists? Oh yeah, douchebaggery rules. Newsflash: IT'S. NOT. FUNNY. EVER. I just feel like reporters have to prepare to counterattack perps who do this. Like throw a dart at them or shoot them bullets. Stations gotta gather for plans to stop this nonsense. Youtube clips of these 'incidents' encourage more of this douchebaggery.

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.

Apparently Jeff Blanzy has officially been hired at NBC5. No formal role is listed, outside of being a part of the sports team, and I don't know if he or Berman is the official weekend anchor.

 

http://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/about-us/Jeff-Blanzy-422149243.html

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.

Any idea what the arrangement would be if Byron departs? I doubt they'd hire another meteorologist. I'd say either Kalee would take the 11 AM, and Alicia would go back to doing all weekend newscasts, or vice versa. Given Alicia's seniority, I'd actually expect Alicia to be offered the 11 AM while Kalee gets assigned full weekend duties

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.

I guess the weather set/desk is in the very back of the studio. (According to Jenny's Facebook Live video this morning.)

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.

No, I just like not seeing the chairs and legs at the ends... it looks crammed in there and uncomfortable...

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).

It's alright. Lots and lots of screens. I see those tacky ass lights above the stand up area are still there. Did anyone see a weather center this morning? Also, any interview areas or are they going to still use that windowed room?

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.

No "Weather Center" - I wonder if the weather office is staying in the newsroom closet.

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.

I think the old desk would look better than that. They have to sit on stools bc if you put a regular chair there, Lou and bill would half to hang off the platform just to fit. I doubt they keep that desk very long. We'll see though.

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).

My what a small... um... desk....

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've got caps in a bit, but WOW. Possibly the best in the market.

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!!!

Oh dear, just what we need, taking a page from FNC I see? Reporters giving their personal opinion on serious ongoing events? Even if it's exclusive to Facebook Live, I could still see this causing a few issues despite the rise in clicks and views it generates. It sucks for Padilla, because she probably has no say in whether she does or doesn't do these, she's just trying to keep her job, and this could fall on her if something goes awry with it.

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.

She looks like she is doing some sort of non-meditative yoga or something....

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...

She's not that bad... still better than Cheryl Scott... this one at least can speak a sentence without mangling it with halting delivery and incorrectly chosen words. The hand gestures and hesitation is an easy fix.

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.

Yeah, that lines up with what I was picturing, based on stereotypical Fox practices.

 

Not quite sure what to make of this, though...

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.

Rick's freelancing until June while the search for a new meteorologist plays out.

 

http://www.robertfeder.com/2017/04/03/robservations-tribune-unveils-new-platform-comments/#more-13834

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.

When did Evan leave?

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.

Just a couple of notes....

Rick Dimaio (former WFLD Chief Meteorologist) is filling in tonight. Unsure if they plan to bring him back into the fold as weekend meteorologist (Tammie's replacement). Strangely enough, he filled in for a few days/weeks when they fired Amy Freeze (his successor) a few years back.

Evan Fitzgerald has joined FOX 35 WOFL/Orlando as a sports anchor/reporter. He spent about 2-3 yrs. at WFLD.

And just when news is not enough, Channel 32 is adding a (Ugh!) 4am, beginning April 10th. What a waste.

I'll take an additional 30 minutes of news over a 4th airing (within a 24 hr. period) of TMZ any day.

Regardless of unions or whatever other obstacle; that shouldn't stop WGN (or WBBM for that matter) from attempting to make, at the very least, modifications to their set. Heck, at one point, it seemed like MAQ' was rolling out a new set/update every 12-15 months.

I would imagine we're getting close to the debut of the new set (unless there running behind, which wouldn't surprise me for 'FLD).

My guess would be sometime this week. I believe they started dismantling the set right after Good Day ended Feb. 8th. Since we're talking about a complete gut job, it's possible more time is needed to get everything in place. We shall see...

So when does WLS start going into panic mode?

I think this is just an anomaly and there really isn't a reason for WLS to panic. I would wait at least a year to see where things are. I believe overall viewership for everyone is either flat or down which could be why WGN was able to get a win. And as 24994J suggested, who knows what may happen once the replacements are selected.

Okay, I just saw a video of it. I was watching their 10PM news and it came from the control room backdrop which confused me.

WMAQ's control room is small and 'off the beaten path' if you will and can't serve as a backdrop like the network control room can.

Does WMAQ have a separate newsroom shot or is it a shared with the one the network uses?

The network offices/control room is separate from that of WMAQ. WMAQ shares their newsroom with Telemundo Chicago. I believe the network is upstairs (it's been awhile since I've been there so...) where Steve Harvey/ Judge Mathis is taped.