Jase

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??

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.