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Honestly, that involves rolling out of bed before 6:10. Things have been kinda wacky around my house for a few weeks, and as it's settling down, I should get it up soon. Meanwhile, the 5 o'clock will be up in like 10 minutes, if it airs. It looked like crap, so I'll try again tomorrow.

The funny thing is that her shot in the 4 looks far more cohesive than all four talents in the 7 open. Those have out-of-whack lighting and the framing differs greatly than all the shots on the mothership. Terrell's shot in the morning wasn't botched like the WCIU ones, either.

Damn, they got the new talent opens with Cheryl done pretty quick. [yt]qAa5uQ6zhlY[/yt]

Even if men's fashion is their forte, where's SuitSnob when you need'em?

Same ND for over a decade.

I'll be honest, I kind of always thought Emily Barr was the kind of boss that played things very conservative. Remember all the discussions we had when they overhauled the graphics, theme, and general presentation, and how many of us agreed that Ms. Barr was really hanging onto the past for the sake of familiarity? I think part of that "safe" mentality also carried over to the female anchors' fashion. Now, I'm not saying Idler and company are a bunch of pigs that want the ladies looking like sluts, but that they have a little more freedom in what they wear on-air. They've been given longer leashes and are free to wear what they want. Many might equate that to whoring themselves out for ratings, but I would disagree. I'll use a few examples... Kathy Brock: she used to be nothing but jackets and suits, it seemed. Now, you see more dresses, and when I was down there last, even skinny jeans. Nothing has come across to me as inappropriate, but perhaps a little fresher. Cheryl Scott: much of her attire and style crossed stations with her, but even though they lean towards tight, her dresses seem a little less "showy" than when she was on NBC. Granted, it is winter, when skin and such tends to be covered up. Dare I say, she's also 29 and can pull it off. Karen Jordan: while many of her colleagues have spruced up their wardrobes, Karen has maintained her rather modest presentation, and she too, pulls it off well, without coming across as stuffy. A lot of this also relates to current trends. Those tight dresses your mom speaks of are in-style. And that's as far as I'd go, because, outside of WGN, the ABC7 anchors still seem to me to be less daring than the 3 other stations in town.

BAM! Called it! It's Janssen, by the way. My mistake.

Mike Jansen (sp) maybe? Deep voice, dark hair? I haven't watched yet, so I'm only guessing, because I'm pretty sure you'd know Hamernik and McGill.

I'll try and get up their exchange with Ryan, it was pretty amusing.

And then Tracy's doing weather tonight, too. Combined with last night's anchor schedule and the upheaval on Thursday, this have been a weird few days.

So, Dionne's sick this weekend, and Mark and JR are out of town, so Ryan Chiaverini's going to be anchoring sports this weekend.

I still maintain that with having to follow Ginger Zee, there is a pressure on her to find similar success. Eventually, if you hear something enough times, you start to believe it, though I do think she is exceptionally smart enough to realize it.

To be fair, we don't know that WLS people haven't been approached for bigger things. Perhaps those that have fielded offers feel satisfied being at the #1 station in the 3rd largest market. Plus, more than WMAQ (to my knowledge), ABC 7 seems to have several Chicago natives, making leaving their hometown an unattractive proposition. What's happened at NBC 5 over the last few years is the same thing that happened at CBS 2 twenty years ago. They had Elizabeth Vargas, Jim Avila, Larry Mendte and Rob Stafford, all of whom went national. Long story short, a lot of this stuff is cyclical, and I doubt there's any major correlations between big market interest and talent, just good agents.

People aren't satisfied unless there's a controversy. It's only been like 5 months, neither have completely settled into their roles, yet. Could this be an issue down the road? Sure, but there needs to be time for any such frustration to build. Besides, that article was written when the announcement was made. I'm sure all parties had reservations, but things can change. Right now, people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill (good Lord, I sound like my father).

They'll keep the page. Just because he was the social media maven of the group doesn't give him any intellectual rights to the page. Besides, he isn't the only member of the team posting on it.

Who had Hosea and Stacey? Anybody? Anybody?

Just now..."We have 55 shows a day now! What is this, CNN?" Waddle: "Are you ready for the 7?" Mark: "I'M NOT READY FOR 6!"

I was thinking, at one point last fall, when the hiring of Scott was first rumored, many speculated that the ABC 7 job is not much more than a resume booster, something to keep her busy until either coast comes calling. If that is the case at some point, could this whole ordeal ultimately work in Tracy and/or Phil's favor? Wrap your head around that one.

I have to admit that I agree. There are still several nuances in her presentation that I don't like, but she seems to have upped her game in her first month on the air. Maybe she's fully realizing the stakes of this opportunity and is trying to live up to expectations. After everything that's happened in the last 19 hours, I still wish her the best in this endeavor. Oh, and Judy's in for Linda, so we'll see who's on at 7 tonight.

Pretty much any theme that was used by ABC 7, combined with some rejected themes, alternative cuts, promo cues, and stuff used by the other O&Os. If something couldn't be cut down into the 15-18 second cut for an open, I wouldn't include it, but I made a few exceptions.

I completely agree with that plan, actually, but I also agree that Judy will likely get the 4, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Phil somehow moves to weekdays. As for the sports anchor role, Mark seemed a little annoyed on the radio last week about doing 25 sportscasts plus other segments this week, so I'd imagine that 4 o'clock sports would get dumped at some point. At this point, though, even if people aren't thrilled with Cheryl as heir apparent, at least she'll be surrounded by a solid team. On the other side of the desk, I think the next big challenge is sports, because while Rafer was clearly being groomed to succeed Giangreco, I just cannot see Dionne taking on the sports director role in the future as capably as Weigel would have...and it has nothing to do with gender. I'm just glad that the 10pm show seems to be solid for now, because I (for some silly reason) put together a 26 minute resync of themes to that talent open. I also have a hodgepodge of opens to post, but I'll hold off on that until things settle down. SEE Y'ALL IN 2018!!!

CONFIRMED: Cheryl will succeed Mike at 4. She will also assume the 5 o'clock duties, leaving Jerry with the 6 and 10 shows (and the chief meteorologist moniker), a move that I can't imagine he would really object to at this point in his career. http://www.robertfeder.com/2015/01/23/cheryl-scott-takes-over-afternoon-weather-on-abc-7/

I do agree that many of those rosters are bloated, however, most of the 6 stations that were listed there are very talent-centric, with most anchors having been around for decades. From my experience, people seem to watch ABC 7 out of habit, and because of the personalities. Look at social media, the comment sections, etc, and it's noticeable that, when compared to WMAQ and especially WBBM, viewers feel a greater connection to the WLS people, likely due to longer tenures and familiarity. Chopping that down to fit a silly quota set forth by some guys on the internet is irresponsible, and could lead to a legitimate loss of viewers. Let's say WLS dumped Taft, Rose, Burton and Sanders today. That would leave 6 anchors, 2 meteorologists, and a sports guy. Perfect! They're running a tighter ship, and everybody's happy! Wrong. Aren't the viewers going to feel a little betrayed, and what about morale in the newsroom? We all know what happened at WCBS in '96, and many say they still haven't recovered. The point is that many of the large ABC stations are in transition, especially WLS and likely WPVI (at some point), and having and 'out with the old' mentality rarely works, so instead of filling the airwaves with untested talent, the bosses are creating a mix of old and new that keeps a station's heritage intact, while preparing for the future. And, in the case of WLS, keep in mind that just 15 years ago, WLS was operating with 22 full-time news, weather, traffic and sports anchors across weekdays and weekends. Twelve of those remain at the desk, plus 1 shifting to reporting, and another being let go just yesterday, totaling a current full-time roster of 20. That equates to a net loss of two anchors, and a restructured weather schedule. No matter how you slice it, they're one of the few stations to have cut back since the turn of the century when compared to its sisters and closest competitors, despite expanding their schedule over time. Do they still have some trimming to do? Probably, but it has to happen over time. This roster will look a lot more different within 3 years, guaranteed.

I'm not sure how much of the Feder article you all can see, but be prepared to hold onto your hula hoops... "Jennifer Graves, vice president and news director of ABC 7, is expected to announce new assignments Friday for the weather staff that includes Scott, chief meteorologist Jerry Taft, Tracy Butler and Phil Schwarz. Taft recently extended his contract through July 2016."

Is Demetrius willing to wait, though? Frankly, I know it could be career suicide for the bosses, but I can't help but feel like something personnel-wise is going to go down soon on WGN Morning News, but that's for another thread.