bc485

2 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

Today neither Dick or Jessica did the 5pm, it was...Chris Wragge! Cindy handled the morning, and Chris also did the noon. So maybe he is in the running after all?

 

Also, as noted it seems Vanessa and John are brought in just to do the weather at 6pm (tonight was Vanessa) with Lonnie doing 5/11pm.

Chris was great with Kristine at 5 today. It would be fantastic if he could take the slot permanently, with Cindy Hsu replacing him in the morning. 

4 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

On days with more breaking news, WCBS has opted for a 2 anchor format at noon (Jessica Moore anchored with Cindy the day of the CEO murder, and Doug Williams joined her today).

I’ve noticed this, too. How bizarre. Cindy has anchored at WCBS for more than 30 years and can more than hold her own during breaking news.  Either give her a permanent co-anchor or leave her solo at all times, including during breaking news.  I could understand bringing in a co-anchor if coverage is expected go for over an hour, otherwise it feels weird. 

Separately, we are getting closer to Maurice taking over the Evening News and I haven’t seen any announcement regarding his successor at WCBS. I assume Allen Devlin was hired to take this role, but interestingly enough, he has only filled in some of the time, with Dick Brennan still filling in quite often. I would have expected Devlin to be at the desk as often as possible on the lead up to Maurice’s departure from WCBS. 
 

1 hour ago, Geoffrey said:

Did not expect to see "national weather correspondent" Rob Marciano doing the weather this morning. No mention of John or Tony that I noticed (though they often don't acknowledge when half of the weather team is out)).

 

 

I noticed that Rob said he was filling in for John at the start of the 5:30 half hour only. There was no other mention of John or Tony during the 4:30-7am newscast. To be honest, it felt like Rob ad-libbed his “in for John” comment at 5:30, as it was not in the script during any other weather hits. 

CBS News New York has updated the recent morning promos to remove John Elliott. I first noticed this today. Sorry for the poor quality photo, but you can see here that the group shot includes the two reporters, Mary Calvi, Chris Wragge, and Tony Sadiku. Previously, this shot included John as as well. 

This feels deliberate since they must have taped a version of this promo with and without John Elliott. One version of this promo had Chris Wragge saying something along the lines of “I’ve known Mary for 20 years, I’ve known John for 15 years, and now I feel like I’ve known Tony for 10 years.”  This version has been updated to remove the line about John and just mentions Tony. 
 

Now what?  No more “team weather” in the morning, which felt like a gimmick anyway. Is John Elliott out, or back to weekends, or something else?  John was last on air Thursday doing team weather with Tony, and Tony was in Friday and is in again this morning with Craig Allen still on medical leave. 
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAEcN0mJ5e2/?igsh=MWs3dGFpZTM1bDl5cQ==
 

Allen Devlin is joining WCBS as an anchor and reporter. He was most recently an anchor at WANF (Atlanta News First).

It will be interesting to see which newscast(s) he anchors. I speculate that he could take Maurice’s spot at 5:00pm when Maurice moves to The CBS Evening News after the election. 

5 hours ago, Geoffrey said:

Cindy Hsu and John Elliott were given a chance to briefly thank viewers for tuning in at 9 a.m. the last two years. Sounds like the entire show is ending and will not continue on streaming, even though they made it a point to add live news in the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours in the past year.

 

It appears Cindy will be the noon anchor. For the last year or so (probably more), Chris and Mary would alternate anchoring solo, and often anyone filling in in the morning would be given the noon duties that day. It'll be nice having a set anchor there again.

 

Just stinks to lose the 9 a.m. show. It was built around Cindy's personality and being positive and helpful.

 

Now I wonder if the "Start With Kindness" tips will stay. I hope so.

You captured my thoughts perfectly. While it’s nice to see Cindy back at noon permanently (almost 20 years after she was demoted off the anchor desk), I am sad to see the 9:00 a.m. newscast is being cancelled. Cindy really put her heart and soul into it (in fact, it could have been called The Cindy Hsu Show).

Maybe I’m being optimistic, but perhaps Cindy will have a role on the early evening newscasts when Maurice starts anchoring the CBS Evening News.  We still have no idea how the move will impact Maurice’s role at WCBS, although the press release indicated that Maurice (and Lonnie) will both continue to be a presence on WCBS. But, I don’t know how Maurice could do the 5 and 6:00 p.m. newscasts if he is anchoring the Evening News. 

8 minutes ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

So glad to hear Maurice will be a large part of the new CBS Evening news, he deserves it! Kristine I think is also worthy of a national position if they were to offer it to her. 

 

I think now it's more likely that Maurice will at least have a reduced schedule at WCBS in a few months but we'll see. Also Lonnie will now be "chief weathercaster". It is mentioned in the press release that Maurice will still have a "regular presence at WCBS".

https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-news-and-stations/shows/cbs-evening-news-with-norah-odonnell/releases/?view=110106-cbs-news-announces-new-ensemble-team-and-editorial-leadership-for-the-cbs-evening-news 

Great to hear that Maurice got the job!  My guess is he will continue to anchor the 11:00pm newscast, but I cannot see him keeping the 5:00 and 6:00pm newscasts. Hopefully WCBS will announce their plans shortly. 

46 minutes ago, MD TV said:

Here it is:

 

 

This was a very nicely done tribute, but I am in shock that this was Dana's last day.  We knew Dana (and Dick Brennan) were leaving the 6pm newscast, but she was supposed to remain with the station as a fill-in anchor and contributor.  However, per an article in Newsday.com (paywalled), which cited a memo from GM Johnny Green, Dana thought about it and decided that today would be her last day.  The Newsday.com article goes on to mention that several in the news industry believe this move is directly related to budget cuts at Paramount Global.

Regardless of the reason, this feels like a pretty abrupt ending for someone who devoted nearly 34 years of her life and career to this station.  The entire process, starting with a leaked internal memo announcing that Dana and DIck would be "transitioning" off the 6pm newscast, seems  like it was completely mishandled.  

CBS News reporter and streaming anchor Elaine Quijano is anchoring with Doug Williams this Sunday morning. Doug and Craig Allen have been welcoming her all morning, so it appears that she is the new anchor, replacing Andrea Grymes. 

Derick Waller has joined CBS 2 as a reporter. He left WABC a few months ago, citing the difficult morning hours. Since leaving WABC, he freelanced at WTTG in Washington, DC. 
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C386yHVOj1i/?igsh=MTVhcnNlODJlZGI4cA==

1 minute ago, MediaZone4K said:

My thoughts exactly.  Instead of having Mary & Chris who start work pre 4:30am doing the noon, they could have used Cindy Hsu or Dick & Dana, all of whom get only 30 minutes of airtime. 

I was thinking the same. Pair Dana and Cindy at noon!  Cindy anchored the noon newscast for a long time in the late ‘90s-mid ‘00s. Dana anchored at noon in the mid-‘90s. How nice would it be to pair them up?
 

Also, Chris and Mary do not even co-anchor at noon anymore. Instead, they rotate each day. Not having a fixed anchor makes the newscast feel like an afterthought. 
 

Chris and Mary are also co-anchoring the 7am streaming newscast, and Chris anchors a streaming hour at 8am. It feels like a lot. Why not break it up with a few other anchors?

So sorry to hear the news about Dana Tyler and Dick Brennan, especially Dana, given her tenure at the anchor desk. She survived a lot of format and management changes over the years and has been an evening anchor for over 30 years!

Also, how boring to have Maurice and Kristine at 6. It was weird to have Dana and Dick there only for a half hour at 6, but better than the same anchors from 5-6:30. 
 

Bad decision in my opinion. 

33 minutes ago, RealNews18 said:

Today was Andrea Grymes last day anchoring at WCBS. She is unsure if she’ll continue with them reporting during the week, as she was ONLY working weekends. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3xiZ0MuMuh/?igsh=Mm9ya24wbDNvaXZi
 

Andrea Grymes made it very clear at the end of this morning’s newscast that this move is not her choice and that she is disappointed. As RealNews18 notes, and confirmed by this Instagram post, she hasn’t made a decision regarding staying at WCBS as a reporter. 

I was surprised to see Andrea and Doug Williams being so candid on air this was not Andrea’s choice. 
 

Andrea has been on weekend mornings since 2013 or so, with the exception of the COVID years where Cindy Hsu anchored solo from 2020 until Andrea returned in 2022. 

4 hours ago, NowBergen said:

Now will be gone, discontinued.  The question is do they go to a unique show with their own anchors, or resort as they did before now with a repeat (twice) of the 6 pm show?  Time will tell.  I suspect what it starts as will not be what it eventually becomes, including being a live newscast, length, and which hours, if indeed it signals an expansion. 

Before “Now” launched, my recollection is that the 9pm news was anchored by Maurice and Kristine, and aired live at 9 for a half hour, repeated at 9:30. I am not sure I understand the comment about the 9pm being a repeat of the 6pm news. Do you mean the content was a repeat of the 6?  

In any case, it’s good to see that the “Now” experiment is over. The original “News at 9” was a good newscast, but they ruined it when they replaced it with a CBSN New York branded newscast.  Fortunately that went away during COVID, replaced by “CBS 2 News at 9” with Maurice and Kristine, until they ruined that with the “Now” hybrid local/national program. 

10 minutes ago, RealNews18 said:

I guess that means John Elliott is back to mornings? 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvx3ZYQvxne/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

It looks like Craig Allen's role is temporary (at least for now), as he mentions "helping out" the CBS 2 CBS News New York team.  So far, since Elise Finch's passing, John Elliott has appeared every weekday morning and noon, and it looks like this will continue, at least for the time being, with Craig Allen joining to "help out."  

My guess is they will take their time making any permanent decisions, especially given the circumstances.  It will be nice to see Craig Allen back on 2 for the first time since around 2006, when he last served as the station's weekend evening meteorologist.

WCBS will stream Elise Finch’s funeral service on CBS News New York tomorrow morning beginning at 10:30. 
 

9 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

CBS 2 News has John Elliott doing his Saturday morning weather reports from inside Legoland. After at least some of the segments, the commercial break began with a 5-sec spot saying "This portion of CBS 2 News was sponsored by Legoland New York Resort."

 

I know other stations often sell off portions of their "lifestyle" shows but it seems poor for a news broadcast to send its talent to spend a considerable chunk of its airtime promoting whoever pays them.

 

What's an on-location weather report doing inside anyway?

 

You read my mind.  This is a fun segment for a weekend morning, and John Elliott is the perfect person for the assignment.  However, the Legoland sponsorship is concerning to see on a news broadcast.  I guess we can at least be happy that they did not try to hide the fact that Legoland is sponsoring at least a portion of the newscast.

7 hours ago, RaleighTVBOI1 said:

She may have left on her own.

Betty was demoted from the primary 7-11am slot when they hired Hazel Sanchez from WCBS. My recollection is she was moved to the early morning newscast with John Muller, but she only anchored for a few weeks until leaving. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoqbDL4rDf0/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU=
 

Looks like WCBS was testing a revised background on its set earlier this week.  Note the large blue curves on the left and right sides of the background on the TV screen in this video.  Could we be close to a launch at WCBS?

Edit: Took a screenshot from Instagram to zoom in on the background.

5 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

My friend alerted me to this today: Doug Williams, formerly part of SNY's Mets coverage, will be joining CBS 2 as a weekend morning co-anchor and weekday reporter. CBS 2 used to have Cindy Hsu and Andrea Grymes co-anchor on weekend mornings, but switched to Cindy being solo once the pandemic hit. (Andrea joined Cindy on Cindy's last day in August, before Cindy moved to 9 a.m. weekdays and Andrea took over weekends.)

 

Interesting seeing the move from sports to news once again.

 

 

Good news, in my opinion. Weekend mornings on CBS 2 have been boring with a solo anchor, so it’s good to see a coanchor being added. Interesting to note that Doug Williams is the son of Brian, who anchored and reported at WCBS in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s prior to moving to NBC News. 

14 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

 Very interesting! I can't tell if this is permanent or not. You would expect Brennan to say something like "I'm joining the team" or "from now on, I'll be with Dana." It feels like he hopes it's permanent but maybe it's just a trial for the next few weeks through the election.

Great points. You’re right. The whole announcement was sort of vague, and they didn’t make any reference to Dick being in the spot on the newscast tonight. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. 

Per this Instagram post, Dick Brennan is joining Dana Tyler as co-anchor of CBS 2 News at 6, starting today: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj0wcxpDblD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Interesting move. I like the idea of coanchors, but Dana has been solo at 6pm for so many years now (since Chris Wragge moved to mornings after Rob Morrison was let go, which I believe was in 2013).

Fox 5 has gone outside and hired Natasha Verma as its new 5, 6, and 10pm anchor, replacing Lori Stokes. This article indicates

that Verma will anchor with Steve Lacy, so maybe they are dropping the solo-anchored 6pm format. 
 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/natasha-verma-joins-wnyw-new-york-as-evening-anchor/
 

It appears that John Muller is replacing Craig Treadway as weekend morning co-anchor with Kirstin Cole.  I tuned in this morning and Craig Treadway was anchoring the 4am newscast with Vanessa Freeman. 
 

Lots of changes at PIX, and Muller seems to have been demoted several times since he returned to the station as lead anchor. First, he was dropped from the 5 and 10pm newscasts in favor of Kori Chambers.  Then he was dropped at 6pm and moved to the early morning slot, and now weekend mornings. 
 

46 minutes ago, MisterBill said:

Alice Gainer has moved to CBS News, or is in the process of doing so. She posted a video of her doing a CBS News Flash today, and had posted a photo of her with the caption "Last week @cbsnewyork" five days ago. Ironically, she just anchored the Saturday night local newscast last weekend. IMHO, they really did her wrong when they cancelled the separate WLNY News at 9PM and just turned it into an abridged version of the WCBS newscast with the same anchors. Glad to see that she's getting an opportunity with the network.

I think you are speculating here. I saw the Instagram photo, which showed her reporting in front of Radio City, and interpreted it as the photo was being posted a few days after it was taken, as in “last week.”  And she was just tagging @cbsnewyork. 
 

As far as anchoring CBS News overnight, it’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so my guess is many regular staffers are off and CBS News tapped WCBS for a fill in. 
 

I could be wrong, but until and unless we get confirmation from Alice or CBS, I would not assume anything.