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Holy shit... http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/7495-rob-elgas-joins-abc-7-as-reporter-anchor Remember the last time someone was hired as a fill-in? I had a sinking feeling this might happen, but was crossing my fingers that it wouldn't. That said, I do like Rob, more than Cheryl Scott. If I were in charge, he'd be being set up to fill the evening void when Magers retires and KRASHESKY GETS PROMOTED. I know, where would that leave Hosea, he's continue in his current role, as I don't think he's a long-term option to maintain the strong evening roster. Ron mentioned several times on the radio that he saw himself going another 2-3 years. This was more than a year ago. Feder's also been very quiet, which intimidates me more.

Of course each station is trying to one up the others. Twenty years ago saw stations entering the morning and midday slots with weekend mornings following soon after. In the last ten years, as the network morning shows became the powerhouse revenue streams, the local stations became more competitive in the dawn hours. Stations that debuted with only 30-60 minutes in the late 80s have expanded backward to 4:30 and even 4am. Big three affiliates (especially on the east coast) are limited by the early morning network newscasts, and if expanding to more than 3 hours, have to start hiring more on-air talent. With weekdays hitting their limit, the attention is now on weekends. I'll just speak for Chicago, where 4 of the 5 affiliates air weekend morning news, with one only on for an hour each day, another for 3, and the other two for 4 or more. The latter three that I mentioned all start at 5am. Sure, they can put on infomercials and stuff, but airing news at that hour might even be cheaper, and more profitable.

Apparently Hosea Sanders is available to fill in in any time slot. Any other time Stacey would just go solo on a Saturday morning, but the former morning anchor is joining her today.

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them together in months. And they never say the other is off. All in all, I wouldn't say it's a big issue, as that newscast is so low-rated and lightweight. It's not really worth having two anchors. One of two competent anchors is better than two incompetent every day.

Considering he'll be fronting 4 newscasts/2.5 (or 3?) hours in the evening, I can't imagine that he would.

Well, I guess moving Ukee to evenings isn't a terrible move. That's about it.

It boggles my mind how bosses think mass firings like this are a good idea. In these large markets, this kind of BS seems to fly only on the ratings-starved CBS-owned stations. This notion that if the personalities go away, the problems will go with them is very one-dimensional, and really only alienates the viewers that are still around. Look at the infamous 1996 WCBS "massacre". More than a half-dozen anchors and reporters were unceremoniously dumped between newscasts, leading to more than a decade of rotating anchor chairs and formats, and general instability that didn't give viewers anything to adjust to. (Terrible grammar, I know. It's late.) Many say that the flagship STILL hasn't recovered. Similar dismantling took place at Chicago sister WBBM in 2008, and like with WCBS before, the already poor ratings only became pathetic. I'm no expert on these sorts of things, and I understand TV is a different kind of animal, but I do think there has to be superior ways of conducting such dismissals. Let them say goodbye on the air, drop an anchor every few months, I don't know, but pulling the rug out only tells me that this station's bosses don't care for their employees, and to a certain extent, their viewers, and is willing to give a big "screw you" to both, just to say they made their mark and that they tried.

Jerry's usually in the weather center by the end of the 5 o'clock show and Cheryl had just wrapped up, so they're both around. It's not like they dragged in either of them at a really off hour. Besides, after everybody in town screwed the pooch this time two weeks ago, nobody's taking any chances, and doing their best to avoid getting caught with their pants down.

Shame on ABC for promoting the English alphabet!

Yeah, WFLD's biggest problem has always been WGN. For over a decade, Fox 32 News Chicago put out a very respectable product. The years when Robin and Walter (and later Mark) anchored were arguably successful. They did well in the demo and beat Steve and Allison on 9 in total viewers on many occasions. It was a lot flashier and more tabloid than their competitor, but it was rarely unpleasant, and fit well with the network's image at that time. I watched often, especially on weekends. At some point, and other Fox O&Os can attest to this, the parent company became more hands-on, the economy began to slide, and changes were made that cheapened and soured the product. Right now, the best we could hope for is stability and quality in their product. Unfortunately, the big bosses are concerned enough to meddle, but not concerned enough to make a quality effort in rebuilding, but instead throw more and more shit at the wall (and the viewer), to see if anything sticks. They won't begin to make any positive changes until viewers come back, but no one will come back until they see change. It's a vicious circle, and no one seems interested in getting off the ride. Why spend money to improve quality without a guarantee of ratings improvement, when it's just easier and cheaper to let them flail helplessly in the dust being kicked up by WGN.

I like the new open and headline tease better. The 8am L3s are better than the old and the new. The new color scheme is better than the old.

Yes. It's on the picture, actually.

Not surprisingly, Windy City Live has been preempted for storm coverage. Hosea and Judy are anchoring from 190 North, with Terrell in the field.

I'm not quite following you. I was referring to the color coordination on the warning ticker, where, at that point, the tornadoes had effectively ended the flooding became the big issue.

Yeah, flooding's always been green, not red. No reason to change it.

I figure I'll just mention it here...WGN and CBS2 ended coverage at 1am, Fox was done WEEEEEELLLLLLL before midnight. Mark Suppelsa reiterated their reasoning for dumping the Cubs once more before they closed. ABC 7 went off at 1:30, followed soon after by NBC5. Both will be back at 4am.

I really hate people. Not like 'shoot everybody' hate, but like 'smack them upside the head' hate.

Everybody in Chicago seems to be doing better during tonight's weather outbreak. Other than a few gargled witness phone calls, there have been no real technical mishaps. The only thing ABC 7 is doing differently is the anchor 2-shot. I know there are more pressing issues with this weather, but I like this camera angle. I know it doesn't line up with the glass logo behind them, but it's still a good look that they should go to more often. It's a little tighter and more intimate for coverage like this.

Four of the 5 stations are in continuing coverage, but frequent commercial breaks tell me that WFLD is screwing the pooch, again. Cheryl Scott on 7 already eluded to this, telling viewers that lives are on the line, and this isn't the time to bitch about a TV show. I'm paraphrasing, of course.

Either segment intros or desk exchanges are frequently prerecorded in order to accommodate the other, to make the aesthetic transitions smooth, since the correspondent at the desk could have a shoulder butting into the anchor shot. It's silly, either way, but it's not new.

I should've figured. Maybe someday.

GDC and the noon news is being done from a temp set in the newsroom. It's not the old setup, but the old newsroom desk in front of the bank of monitors on the back wall. It looks okay enough, but I'm curious if this means bigger change in the main studio.

I'd say it's permanent. To run the full open would only take like 5 more seconds. Maybe they realized that saying/displaying three names was a little clunky... [yt]UPCQiCTOUXw[/yt]

I can only imagine what it's going to look like when a game goes to extras. That thing being too damn small has always been its biggest problem.

Who do they think they are, ABC 7?