8 hours ago, carolinanews4 said:

 

Over 17.1 million Americans watched a national evening newscast last week. In this fragmented media environment, that is a sizeable audience. 

What's your source on this? Have you spoken to his successor? Is he set on selling to Nexstar, or will he entertain offers from other groups??

 

I'll put my sarcasm aside to say, I don't understand this overly dramatic doomsday prediction for WPLG. Dropping a costly network affiliation is a "self-destructive" effort that is a"recipe for disaster" and "the biggest blotch" on Warren Buffett's career (as if he made the decision himself). The people who made this decision at Local 10 have a wealth of data to consider. They know what they are paying to ABC. They are aware of their news production costs, syndication programming costs, and so on. In short, they have made a business decision that leaving a 70-year partnership is the more financially beneficial path. 

 

Now, not all business decisions work out for the best. WPLG may very well come to regret this decision. But it may be a success. Remember, you don't have to be #1 to be a financial success - owning all of their inventory sure makes that revenue column balloon. I'm not trying to force anyone to root for WPLG's success or failure. I just think it is a bit extreme to make such a bold prediction of a catastrophic collapse without knowing the business factors and fiscal numbers that went into this decision. 

My money’s still on FOX snatching up WPLG and makING it an O&O when Fox’s affiliation contract expires with WSVN.

Where were John, Maurice, and Tom?

15 minutes ago, IceManNYR said:

I noticed Sam is on GMA this week and not filling in for anyone. 
Has he still been on the 10am newscast?

It seems he still appears on the 10am but it seems lately the days vary. It used to be Tuesday Wednesday Thursday, but I’ve seen him on Fridays recently too. I have not seen him on the 6am hour of the morning show in quite some time though, and his picture was removed from morning newscast video thumbnails. 

5 hours ago, nathannah said:

I do wonder if they would do a test week with This Week; the thing I like is that the set does have adaptability with the screens, which are much better and clearer (we have yet to see the D&S nightmare palate though that goes with that segment). And it also has 'election night HQ' all over it; just a much more open space overall.

 

And it looks like DeMarco and Eva are gone from GMA3. Bummer on that one. Expected it, but still wanted a few more weeks with them.

If true, bummer on Eva, really liked her. Demarco never really grew on me though. He’s also bounced around a lot over his career.

6 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Just saw the first promo with his image and name included alongside Shirleen, Brittany, Sam and Heather’s for 4:30-7am. These same promos did not include him earlier this week. I guess that makes it official.

I don’t exactly remember the Instagram story (it’s since expired), but he had tagged somebody and if l recall correctly there was something about an announcement this weekend??? Perhaps the tagged person is his replacement on weekends?

3 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

I'll put this here as Terry Moran frequently contributed to WNT: https://ew.com/abc-news-terminates-terry-moran-for-calling-donald-trump-world-class-hater-11750339

 

The anchor was suspended then fired after posting the Tweet (not used to saying X) at the end of this post.

 

This is tough because Trump habitually bullies journalists and spreads  disinformation, so it's understandably difficult for journalists to remain objective.  Doing what Moran did however serves no one. Losing your job to rant against Trump on social media isn't worth it, when there are thousands of opinion commentators who can do that for you. I question if this warranted a firing however.

 

It's a shame because Moran was very good. His political analysis always did tow the line of commentary however, so it's not surprising to see him take it a step further on social media. 

 

I assume he was fired not because ABC wanted to fire him, but because they feared repercussions from Trump. 

1 hour ago, SF1964 said:

Where would she sit?  They don't even have a seat for Nydia.

Could do like the morning program and have one person stand off to the side, but in this instance Karen standing would make the most sense. 

1 hour ago, HanSolo said:

Changes coming to the morning newscasts.

 

Tamala Edwards moving to 10 am

 

After 20 years of the dawn patrol, and overnights on ABC before that, sleeping in will probably be a welcome change. 

 

Wonder if Alyana will remain at 10am?

12 hours ago, rear_flank said:

Veteran staffers offered buyout 

https://www.crossingbroad.com/news/trending/eyewitness-news-sends-buyout-offers-to-veteran-staffers/

Not sure if this is in any way related, but Don Bell was in for Ukee at 5, 6, 8, and 11, even though Siafa was available, and even reported from the newsroom at 11

The morning ones were finally edited too to take out Mike, but they also took out Sam. I wonder if this is a sign of him slowly moving back to the network full time. 
 

Another note about Bill’s second send off - he omitted Michelle’s name when listing all the current long tenured anchors. 

Not trying to sound mean, but will we have another announcement in 3 more months that he is leaving Up Close. Not sure why he couldn’t have stepped away from both shows (5/11) at the same time. Also, did he make a Hebrew reference with Sade’s name? I feel like sometimes he forgets he has a very diverse audience. 

On 5/30/2025 at 4:59 PM, NEOMatrix said:

I’ll offer my piece:

 

CBS is probably in even worse shape than even the Tisch years. It seems like whatever plagued Viacom in the 2010s has finally claimed CBS (and to an extent, Showtime). As someone said, other than the NFL and college football and basketball, what sports does CBS have to hang its hat on? The Big Ten deal is a massive downgrade compared to those SEC years. They have golf, but post-Tiger Woods, it’s not really popular. Outside of that, it’s mostly stuff that would’ve been on CBS Sports Network a decade ago. Say what you will about the other networks, but they have a robust slate of sports like NBC with the NFL, the NBA, and likely the MLB. Or ABC with the NHL, NFL, college football, etc, all via ESPN.

 

And then there’s the news division. Dear God, the news division. Between wondering who is anchoring CBS Evening News this week, the scandals with 60 minutes, and the curse of Captain Kangaroo that permeates the 7-9am timeslot, CBS News has been a joke post-Cronkite, but especially since Scott Pelley left Evening News and CBS had to revamp its morning show for the 5000th time.

 

Oh, and primetime! Jumping Jesus, primetime! What is primetime on CBS like in 2025? Ten different versions of NCIS, FBI, and Blue Bloods, few if any comedies, and an excuse to give away Chevy Traxs and Hyundai Accents before the 11pm news.

 

Yes, I’ve long accepted that broadcast TV is on life support. However, watching CBS is the equivalent of watching your elderly family member on life support and in pain. It’s that unbearable.

Generally agree with most of what you said, except for two things.

I think CBS primetime is probably one of the stronger ones of the traditional broadcast networks.

The second is that Pelley wasn’t that great either.

On 5/6/2025 at 12:30 AM, WABC7NYFan said:

First time I think it's happened, Ike Ejiochi sat in at the anchor desk this past Sunday, filling in for Pedro.

 

https://abc7ny.com/videoClip/16319545/

On 5/10/2025 at 7:33 AM, MorningNews said:

And now Rhiannon Ally filling in for Pedro this Saturday with Michelle.

 

Just realized that they use white chairs at the desk for the AM shows and the dark blue chairs for PM shows.

Stephanie Ramos from ABC News sat in last Saturday. 

I know that the morning news was cut to 2 hours some time ago, and I happen to catch the 11am show today, and both Keith and Erin were anchoring. Are they the regular anchors at that time now, and if so, I wonder if the cut to the morning news was done for that purpose?

47 minutes ago, RealNews18 said:

Mike was out covering the Diddy trial yesterday. Not sure about today but yesterday he did several reports for all evening shows. 

He also reported on the noon yesterday. 

15 hours ago, PlayPal said:

If these new billboards are any indication, it looks like Michelle Fisher is Ellen Leyva's replacement. I haven't seen any official word from ABC 7 though. 

Although by the looks of the order, I’m wondering if Jovanna is moving to 4pm/6pm with David, and Michelle is moving to 5pm/11pm with Marc. 

@24994J Why the name change to the thread? Isn't “60 Minutes” a better catch all for any news related to the program, just like the evening and morning programs having similar threads?

Pedro did the first 15-20 minutes of the 10am from the newsroom (?), mentioning that he would join Shirleen and Brittany downstairs.

At noon, the opening was skipped, there was no music, and newscast began with David teasing the top stories. He clearly was sick (as could be heard via his raspy voice) and was anchoring solo. 
 

Sounds like technical difficulties today and staff shortages. 

Interesting fill-ins this weekend. After anchoring the 11pm Friday night, Mike filled in for Pedro on Saturday morning next to Toni Yates (in for Michelle), with Jeff doing weather for Dani. Jeff also did the weather Saturday night. On Sunday, Pedro was in for himself, next to Toni (in for Michelle), with Brittaney handling weather for Dani. 

2 hours ago, MD TV said:

Update:

 

Leon has announced he's stepping away from the station altogether:

 

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/leon-harris-announcement/3885929/

Wonder if they would consider bringing back Aaron Gilchrist to replace him. 

I’ve always thought it made more sense to have it on at 9am right after the mothership. Most ABC affiliates air Live with Kelly and Mark then, which could easily move to 10am on the east coast. Tamron Hall (on a lot of ABC affiliates on east coast) could slide to 1pm, with GH at 2pm, and local news starting at 3pm. The issue would be the central/mountain/pacific time zones. 

11 hours ago, MorningNews said:

I haven’t watched in a few weeks but I assume Pedro is handling weekday mornings with Shirleen at least unofficially?

1 hour ago, wabceyewitness said:

Yup. Still not official as they haven’t added him to the morning promo shot just yet. 
 

 

He is still featured in the weekend open along with fill-ins saying they are in for him. 

3 hours ago, Horizon said:

According to Deadline, CBS has abandoned the 12:30am slot.

 

The news comes after “After Midnight” host Taylor Tomlinson decided to end her time hosting the program and move on to other comedic projects, resulting in the show's cancellation.

 

That means NBC is the only network with two late-night programs. Not that ABC ever had a second late-night program, but this is notable in terms of the late-night landscape's direction.

 

It's not dying yet, but it is bleeding a bit more.

Technically, ABC does have two late night programs, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE and NIGHTLINE, although one is a talk show and the other is a news program.

8 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 Bingo. Correct. I believe WSVN started their morning news in 1983 as Today in Florida at 6:30 a.m., six years before they would later lose NBC.

10 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

That shouldn't matter. WSVN still uses Today in Florida which (correct me if I'm wrong) was a title it got during its NBC affiliation days. WTVJ calls their AM newscast NBC 6 News Today to differentiate.

It's ironic that WSVN is often called the model Fox affiliate despite distancing itself from the Fox brand.

 

 

It wasn’t a big deal for Fox because they don’t have a national morning show competing against TODAY. ABC does have a national morning show, GMA, who often is neck and neck with the TODAY show in the ratings. That’s the difference here. 

Also, the morning program on 6 used to be referred to as NBC6 News Today in South Florida. 

I also wonder if the ABC sub channel does indeed simulcast the newscasts, is the network gonna be all right with the morning program, Today in Florida, having the TODAY name in it?