Jase

I believe Alicia was on this morning too, so bringing in Brant to help out I guess makes sense. But Mark @ WFLD is handling everything alone and so is Mary Kay @ WBBM.

The vacancies keep piling up @ WMAQ. Ponce wasn't going to get that weekday morning spot (Alex was the only choice from the start). Plus, while it's a move from weekends to weekdays, what young person really wants to wake up at 3A, work until 12:30/1P and go to bed at 7/8P? Given he has a newborn at home, I figured Ponce would want to keep the schedule he had. Guess not...

It's possible they may start at 4A someday, but GDC is poorly produced. Whatever talents George and Natalie have are not showcased at all really. They would be better off splitting the hours up (i.e. Fox 32 News @ Sunrise from 4A-6A & GDC from 6A-10A) like it was in the past (the Sirott era).

Mon.-Wed., Scott anchors at Noon/reports @ 9P. & Thurs-Fri., Kristen anchors @ Noon/reports @ 9P. It's been that way for at least two weeks. For more than a month, Lisa anchored at Noon (in addition to reporting for GDC every so often), right around the time Corey and Darlene added the 6A hr. to their duties thus relinquishing the Noon newscast. This new arrangement makes more sense and creates some type of structure. Pretty much everyone under the sun anchored at Noon, now that's no longer the case (I believe/hope so). I'm guessing that if they still plan on hiring another meteorologist, that person would work at Noon and fill in for Bill at 5P & 9P.

Scott and Kristen currently split the anchoring duties for the Noon newscast, so it would make sense to continue that arrangement @ 5P.

I like what I see so far. I'm guessing this is a slow role out just to get a general sense of things (could be why there's no new music, etc...). I hope the 'swoosh' sound effect era is over too. That drove me crazy.

There's no harm in trying really, but with little over a week until launch, I haven't seen/heard one promo about this. One would hope they put something together soon to build interest. I guess that's asking too much of them.

I would think it's a safe bet that Byron will pick up the 4 (or at least split the hour with Brant). I think they do something like this (if no one is leaving/retiring)... Weekdays 4-7A: Andy Weekdays 11A & 4P: Byron (Brant too maybe) Weekdays 5P, 6P & 10P: Brant Weekends AM: Kalee Weekends PM: Alicia There will still be enough (with vacations, weather emergencies, etc..) for Pete to fill-in from time to time.

A lot of their primary people are tied up with pre/post game coverage of each Chicago team (ie. , Boden -Blackhawks, Garfein-White Sox, etc..) that adding sports coverage for WMAQ to the mix may be too much to handle given their (CSN) current resources.

I agree. I would have left WCL at 11am and added the newscast at Noon.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 '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

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

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?

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.