Jase

Tamron isn't one to hold back her distain for/of someone. When she worked in Chicago (WFLD) with Mike Barz (reportedly, a bit of a misogynist too), the tension between those two was very high. Like I said before, hopefully Billy offers up a sincere/genuine apology tomorrow otherwise, I can't imagine him lastly very long on Today.

I wouldn't call his statement an apology. It was more or less a ' sorry (not sorry)...it was years ago' type of statement (much like Trump's) which isn't going to resolve this matter. He going to have to step it up or risk losing his job. We shall see what happens on Monday.

I would agree. I'm not sure how they/he can get around this. As it stands, they are pretty much pretending Billy wasn't there and not either agreeing or egging Trump on (not that he needs any help) during the whole ordeal. What's going to happen on Monday??? Do they keep pretending or does Billy apologize?

When did 'First Look' become 'Morning Joe First Look'? I was flipping through and noticed both the name change and the expansion from 30 mins. to an hour.

Firing people left and right every other month, constantly changing formats/news presentation and a hosts of other things is what hurt WFLD and not Bob and Walter per se. Bob's first stint at WFLD could be considered somewhat successful, but his ego got the best of him then (and always has). Walter had a pretty decent run too (12-14 yrs.?), but honesty, anchoring was never his strong point. They are in dire need of more experienced people and the hiring of Perez is hopefully just the beginning of building a more solid team of anchors/reporters. And if one day she somehow ends up taking over Dawn's spot, then so be it. I doubt anyone would be up in arms over that scenario.

I wouldn't sound the alarms just yet. There are a few things that have worked in WFLD's favor... 1. Stability. No on-air people have been fired or quit since the new ND started in April. He has simply found ways to better utilize the people he has which seems to be working. 2. Addition of the 5P newscast. I think this has rejuvenated morale and set them up to try harder to improve the product overall (whether it's at 5P, 9P, etc..). 3. Social media. They have really been pushing Facebook (probably harder than WMAQ pushes their app every 10 secs per newscast). Dawn live chats during the 9P, that Jake Hamilton kid is popular and the Fresco News app seems to be catching on. One would imagine trying to produce 11 1\2 hrs of news daily (M-F) that's informative, engaging and original is a taxing endeavor and my guess is that it's starting to catch up to WGN.

They could go the solo anchor route if they wanted to. WMAQ did and WFLD currently does (in the morning and at night). In both cases however it was/is due to budgetary constraints. As far as ratings on the weekends, WGN and WFLD have never really been too far apart from each other. If I'm not mistaken, things have always been very competitive between the two stations (particularly when it was Bob and Jackie on WGN vs. Byron and Nancy on WFLD).

Solid moves. I thought Regina was already full-time.

No need to have humor bits and the like. They should work on chemistry and allow things to come naturally first. Honestly, I would rather they do their own thing and not attempt to copy the weekday show in any way. Their main competition is GDC Weekends, so they really don't have to do much to beat them.

Elgas should have just stayed at WMAQ. If he really wanted to be a network correspondent some day, there was (is) no better place to be. Had he just put out feelers (or whatever) instead of quitting, NBC News, etc.. probably would have plucked him up at some point. Instead, it appears he is in the same boat now that he was at WMAQ. And when NBC News came a calling for a national correspondent, Tammy Leitner got the job. Of course, she could have very well been picked regardless of if Elgas was still at WMAQ, but who knows what might have happened...

Looks like a six-person weather team is not enough for good ole' WMAQ. This was posted yesterday.. https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25354&siteid=5108&jobid=344394 I'm guessing someone is retiring/leaving in the next couple of weeks/months maybe.

Now it's clear why they hired the 'new guy'. I'm sure the daily grind and constant traveling takes a toll after awhile. PK deserves a break and lucky for her, they found a way to keep her on board even though this new position is completely pointless/unnecessary.

They didn't really have a choice. Keep in mind that it has only been a couple of years since Tribune (Media) emerged from bankruptcy, so they don't have a ton of money. Every decision they make has to be about increasing stock value and living within their means. Even though they can now air more sports programming uninterrupted, it's unclear whether they will 'go beyond' their current package(s) once renewal time comes around.

Using the word 'expanding' would suggest they're adding on to and not taking away the 6A hr. I guess we shall see once official word come down. Going head-to-head with Good Day makes sense, but I'm not sure how competitive either newscast will be. Trying to replicate the success of the weekday WGN morning show to the weekends is easier said than done.

Congrats to Bob on his amazing career at WGN. Hard to believe him and Jackie have been paired together for over 20 years. Had Roseanne Tellez stayed on weekends (and at WGN), her and Bob would have been pushing closer to/at 25 years together (if I remember correctly). And had WFLD not pushed Bryon Harlen and Nancy Pender out the door, they would have celebrated 20 yrs. together next year. I can't say who should succeed Bob, but those are some big shoes to fill no doubt. Hopefully they just add a hr. to the weekend morning newscast (5-7A) and leave it at that. No need to go crazy.

Male 'News' Anchors: WMAQ- Rob, Dick and Alex WBBM- Rob, Jim and Lionel WFLD- Jeff, Scott and Corey

We already know Lou is #1, but it's not clear however who is #2. Will George anchor @ Noon & report for 5P & 9P? Will he take over Friday/Saturday anchoring duties from Evan? Does Evan then focus almost exclusively on reporting? It's been quite some time since they have had 3 full-time sportscasters, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It's difficult to understand their mindset when it comes to hiring. They continue to leave the 4/4:30P spot open, but yet hire another meteorologist and a sports anchor/reporter. ??? As it stands, they have 3 male anchors (which is the same amount that both WFLD & WBBM have). To me, that doesn't seem like the best boat to be in when you're trying to be #1.

Good. He wasn't given much to do after 6A aside from reading the headlines at 9A. Hopefully this move works out for him and they don't drop him when his contract is up in 2018. It will be interesting to see how they use him and Evan going forward.

I think it may have been a mutual decision between him and management. At one point, he was the weekend anchor, legal analyst and a investigative reporter (with Dane). That's a lot for one person to do effectively.

I agree. I don't understand why WFLD never fully utilizes the people (anchors in particular) that they have.

Looks like StormChaser 5 is getting a new friend... 'NBC-owned Television Stations is deploying a fleet of three mobile Doppler weather radar trucks for all of its NBC and Telemundo stations.' http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/nbc-owned-stations-unveil-stormranger-mobile-radar-trucks/175419

He was on paternity leave for several weeks and had the beard his first day back. I think most people figured he would get rid out it after awhile (being on TV and such). He looked somewhat disheveled in the WGN interview.

They really need to stop this. There's no logical reason to bring in 2 (or 3) meteorologists pretty much any time it rains. It's bad enough they haul out 'Storm' or (in most cases) 'Sprinkle Chaser 5' every chance they get, but Brant tends to spend too much time talking about their radar being the best there is. Save that crap for the promos please and stay on point.

On second thought.. Maybe you're right (about this video being a little tongue-in-cheek). I think he could have just left out the part about 'being passed over' is all.