Jase

Why not just hire Blanzy on a part-time/per diem basis? There's really no need to have 4 people filling in. Boden worked at WFLD also right before, I believe, he went to CSN. Holmes isn't any good and the same can be said of Boyle.

Does Pete currently work full-time behind the scenes, or is he just part-time or per diem?

He's part-time. I think they still have him visit schools and such during the week too.

whos out the door byron or pete?

Wow...this is totally out of the blue. Both Andy and Pete own their own respective businesses, so either one could be looking to cut back/retire. Byron has only been back at WMAQ for less than 2yrs., so I would rule him out (unless of course he wants to head back to the West Coast).

I guess we will find out soon enough. Hopefully, they say what the deal is soon. If it's Andy, Alicia is likely to move into his spot with Kalee taking over weekend duties.

Damn...

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I guess this makes up for the WGN Morning News ad incident?

Seems a little half-hearted... Why run the ad AFTER he officially retires and on a Saturday (which has the lowest daily circulation)? I guess it's the thought that counts.

7 got crushed in the 25-54...

From CRM...

http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/8199-abc-7-nbc-5-win-may-2016-sweeps-for-evening-newscasts

'The news is even better for WMAQ-TV in the key demographic of Adults 25-54. NBC 5's 10:00pm newscasts won in that demo for the 13th consecutive book. WMAQ-TV pulled in a 3.6 rating, while WLS-TV only pulled in a 2.7 rating for the May sweeps period.

In fact, WMAQ-TV beat WLS-TV in the Adults 25-54 demo in nearly every newscast, including 4:00am, 4:30am, 5:00am, 6:00am, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 10:00pm. (For the 11:00am newscast this past sweeps period, WMAQ-TV wins in the demo of Women 25-54, but narrowly comes in second for Adults 25-54.)' - CRM

you know it's sad for WBBM when WGN beats them at 10pm.

'For the first time since the introduction of Nielsen's LPMs (Local People Meters) in 2004, WBBM-TV's midday newscast is #1 for households in the Chicago market. WBBM-TV's 11:00am newscast pulled in a 2.1 rating/8 share to be the #1 rated midday newscast, narrowly beating WMAQ-TV and WGN-TV, each with a 2.0 rating and 7 share.

For the early morning and evening newscasts, WBBM-TV can applaud its extremely high year-to-year increases found in the May 2016 sweeps period results -- far more than any other Chicago station, especially in Adults 25-54.

For the early morning weekday newscasts (4:30am-7:00am), WBBM-TV has seen a 100% increase percentage for the Adults 25-54 demo. For the 11:00am weekday newscast, the Adults 25-54 demo increase was 20%. For the 5:00pm weekday newscast, the increase was a whopping 67%.

(In stark contrast for the 5:00pm newscasts in this demo, WMAQ-TV only increased by 22%, WGN-TV only increased by 14%, while WLS-TV decreased by 31%.) For WBBM-TV's 6:00pm weekday newscast, ratings in the Adult 25-54 demo are up 33%. With the 10:00pm newscast, ratings increased in this demo by 11%.' -CRM

She just didn't do very well with WNBC and that hurt her. She's not a bad anchor though, this could be a good thing for WFLD because she has experience in a better newsroom than WFLD and maybe can add to the station.

Shiba Russell isn't headed to WFLD/Chicago, but WXIA/Atlanta instead. It's unclear if she was deciding between the two stations and picked WXIA or if WFLD wasn't really in the running. FYI: The weekend anchor job posting has been removed from WFLD's site which either means they won't fill it (any time soon) or they found someone (internally or externally). We shall see...

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/shiba-russell-to-join-wxia-morning-show/170579

Or real-life Ron Magers, in the flesh. That would be a bit of a curveball.

 

I am kidding, though. Not happening.

Never say never....They would jump at the chance to get him back (in any role). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they ask him to be a guest on Election Night. Given that it will be a historic night (regardless of who wins), how could he say no?

Heck, they probably could get Dick Kay to show up too.

Lietner's (former) position has been posted too, so they have 3 on-air spots to fill. No justifiable reason why the anchor positions haven't been filled. I guess they think the next Ron Magers is out there somewhere or something.

Seems to be a bit of an over-reaction here...I highly doubt Roberts (or anyone else) is trying to step on Lester's toes or has some type of agenda. A number of different people have subbed for Lester, so what??? Good grief, NBC News has a pretty solid team, so if Roberts subs (for Lester) more often than Snow, Smith or anyone else, it shouldn't be a big deal. Is he not qualified or something? What am I missing?

Display a bar graph with somebody appearing to stand next to it?

No. The effects/images just need to be displayed vertically is all and reduced in size [5-10%] for a better overall visual. Now, it would be a different story if the background was completely white or something and not within the interview area.

No one needs to stand next to it (the effect). They could do a simple intro, walk out of frame, display the weather graphics/effects, etc... so that that's the focus and not someone waving their hands around, standing still or whatever.

A couple parts of it look cool, namely the cold front with the transparent effect, but the rest of it looks clunky and silly. It looks like Larry is being overtaken by the graphics surrounding him.

They 'may' have something if they were to greatly reduced the size of the graphic/effect and presented it vertically instead of at a weird angle.

Also, if they could be either in the alcove or traffic standup area when using this that may help too. Honestly, they may be better off using this augmented reality thingy for something other than weather.

I think it looks kind of silly though.. I'm not really sure the point...

I agree. The same can be said of Doppler 7 MAX (or whatever it's called). There's really no benefit if the information provided is something viewers can get elsewhere. This is when both presentation and experience can make a difference and set you apart from the pack. In the end, these gimmicks (regardless of the station) are worthless.

The issue is that it was said publicly... It's completely quotable. If he is that worried about it then he should have kept his mouth shut. Otherwise it's fair game for a station that writes its own rules...

Just because they can (legally) do something like this doesn't mean that they should. They're not hurting for viewers/are in need of some attention, so this move seems unnecessary.

Why not simply take the compliment and call it a day? No reason to turn it into an ad.

Damn...

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Double damn...

As much as I think he should retire (he seems sick/unwell more often than not). Hats off to him for setting the record straight.

Ron Magers & Carol Marin together again! We're just minutes away on Chicago Tonight!

Just caught the replay...They haven't missed a beat. There's a genuine trust and respect (chemistry if you will) between these two that remains, in my eyes, unmatched by anyone else in this market. I hope to see (in some compacity) these two together again.

Elgas may not want to wait 15 years to be #1, but why wouldn't he take #2 until something else comes along? Also, not sure he would've succeeded Rob at WMAQ as they seemed very high on Stefan at the time.

 

You could argue Ravi deserves it more, but I think Elgas is the smarter choice looking to the future long term and also a better fit. I guess everyone's ruled out Hosea.

As much as WMAQ may have liked Holt, I guarantee you that he would have (at some point) left for either New York or LA. The opportunity came and he left (without much hesitation it would seem).

WMAQ is a stepping stone type of station really. That may change the day they become #1 outright, but that's how I (and maybe others) see them.

In theory. Personally, Ravi would be my pick, and I'd install Rob on weekends, as I've enjoy him alongside Karen. Ultimately, we have to think about what his motivation was to leave NBC. While he was underutilized there, he was still the #2 male anchor at the #2 station. Is being just a reporter and fill-in anchor at the #1 station enough to balance things out, or was there a promise of a more cemented #2 status at ABC? Frankly, I wasn't a big fan of Rob's at NBC, but his field reporting is pretty good and it seems to have helped his delivery at the desk. I also think Judy will move to the 4 once Linda retires, leaving the seat open for Tanja in the morning. What becomes of Ravi, Karen, and Stacey if these moves are made is anybody's guess.

Elgas wanted to be a network correspondent (I believe), but when that fell through, he signed with WLS. I'm not sure he's willing to wait some 15 years to succeed Alan (I could be wrong). I get the feeling that Alan may want to shoot for 50 years at WLS. Who wouldn't want to reach such a milestone?

Had Elgas stayed at WMAQ, he probably would have succeeded Rob within 6-8 years. Stafford doesn't seem like he wants the job forever. I could be wrong here too.

I forgot that Ravi is like 51 or something, so his window to be #1 somewhere may be closing, but again, he deserves be #2. Nothing against Elgas, but give the job to Ravi WLS.

I think it's Rob's to lose (if not, Ravi), though I am surprised he didn't get the 5, instead. He has pretty solid chemistry with Cheryl, and I think there's a big risk of totally turning over the 4 within like a year (Alan now, Linda later), especially with new competition. Alan would've maintained stability in that slot, but I do understand keeping his daily airtime to only 90 minutes.

I think the 4P has to go to Ravi. He put in his time and deserves the promotion. Once Linda retires, her spot should go to Karen. Like I have mentioned before, at some point, these two have to move up or WLS could lose them both.

Any chance they give the 4 PM to Byron Miranda and have Brant start at 5? Always seemed weird to me that Byron is only on the air for an hour every day except for when Brant is off.

Apparently, someone hasn't been keeping the bios up to date/fully accurate. Byron's bio lists him as the meteorologist for the 11A and 4:30P newscasts. Now before he left in the early '00s, he did appear on two newscasts, but I think the times were different back then (Noon/4:30P). Also, Brant's bio says he is the meteorologist for the 4P, 5P, 6P and 10P newscasts. Nevertheless, it's likely that Byron will in fact pick up the 4P in August.

Legit question to my fellow Chicagoans. Outside of doing every show on a holiday, can anyone ever recall Linda filling in on the 5 o'clock news? If not, today might be a first.

I don't recall, but in all likelihood, she probably has filled in at least once (or more) before given she's been there since the 80s. Even though she plans on cutting back, she may fill in at 5P more often. An extra 30 mins. now and then wouldn't be asking too much.

Piacente is going to have his hands full when he starts next week. I could see him making this new newscast his pet project (which wouldn't be a bad idea). They really are going to have to offer up something drastically different to draw viewers in. Best of luck to them...

I think maybe an emphasis on the P... She's not a seasoned veteran by any means, however, I suppose she's better than the awful Scott Schneider who subbed in the role until her arrival (he's also the 9 pm weekend anchor and a rising choice for Jeff's back-up)

Schneider isn't as bad as when he first started. Given time, he'll hopefully get better. Same can be said of Nicole.

A lot of the CSN hires have been iffy, at best, but the 5 main stations have fared pretty well with female sportscasters...Jill Carlson, Peggy Kusinki, Paula Faris, Megan Mawicke, Dionne Miller, and now Magiera, who seems to be competent in her resume reels.

 

I'm probably missing a few (at least it seems like it), but just as there are more men in the field, I can come up with a longer list of weak/poor/lousy guys than gals.

I think you're only missing one.. Amy Stone (WMAQ).

I haven't seen a female sportscaster I've been really impressed with yet...

Jill Carlson and Kerry Sayers are pretty good imo. I guess it would depend on what you want/look for in a sportscaster. If someone can adequately articulate scores, plays, nuances/history of sports, pronounce names, etc..., then you're all good in my book.

One of Ron Magers' horses might be headed for the Kentucky Derby in May. Also, according to Feder, Krashesky is likely to succeed Ron after May sweeps, but nothing is confirmed.

 

http://www.robertfeder.com/2016/03/28/robservations-chicago-pubcasters-launch-news-partnership/

There's also rumors out there that Ron won't retire (he's in the final year/months of his contract) and is currently in the mist of contract negotiations. That said, we will have a very interesting summer ahead of us it seems.