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Hosea and Judy are anchoring at 4, and I'm so confused at what time it is.

The plug it at the end of the 6pm show, with a similar graphic that they use to promote the 10 on the 7 show, and the morning news at 10. Otherwise, the promos for the newscast run several times a day in the rotation with the weather and morning show plugs, but mostly during the early evening news block and especially during Wheel of Fortune at 6:30. WCIU also runs a bunch, and even alerts viewers on some of their sub-channels at the top of the hour. Back to my point before, I'd best compare it to NBC's mentality with Leno in primetime; it will perform best against repeats and weak competition. Besides, I don't know the balance of cost of producing news versus the Tyler Perry syndies in replaced, but the ABC 7 product might be more advertiser-friendly, even if with similar ratings. I'd also be curious to know the kind of numbers KABC pulls at 7pm on LA56. Again, I don't know what people were expecting. Anyone who thought it would unseat one of the 5 networks on a nightly basis would be out of their minds.

Was anyone thinking that this was going to set the world ablaze? I'm a little surprised that it hasn't improved on what it replaced, but it hasn't declined, at least. I'm also interested to see how the broadcast will do in the summer against repeats, subpar summer programming, and baseball (which isn't appointment television like Bulls and Hawks games). I do wonder what the deal is in terms of who gets to pull the plug and when?

There are some unusual reporting assignments this afternoon. Cheryl Burton is on reporter/breaking news duty during the 4 o'clock show, a role that would normally be filled by Chuck Goudie, and not unlike what she does at 10. This week, however, Goudie is in Baltimore awaiting the arrival of Jesse Jackson Jr, who was released from prison in Alabama (with Paul Meincke on that scene) to a halfway house in Maryland. Meanwhile, I-Team producer Ross Weidner is trailing the former congressman's entourage en route to Baltimore, and he made (what I believe to be) his on-air reporting debut today from the station's vehicle. I doubt he's joining the on-air side permanently, and was clearly very nervous when talking with Alan and Judy (who I'm now convinced is Linda's main back-up at 4), but all made for some unusual arrangements, anyway.

WABC and WLS both started doing that recently, as well. It's a feed that's very similar to what's seen on the WatchABC service.

WABC has started showing ads and promos during their breaks over the last week or two. The big thing I'm noticing is that the whole streaming presentation is incredibly similar to the WatchABC stream, with most TV ads replaced with station filler, the sports scores during that segment, and a holding pattern logo filling the remaining void until the show returns (and, in turn, showing the last second of the OTA commercial before the newscast returns).

Here's a doozy. This is a documentary produced by WBKB Chicago in 1967 looking at the corruption and poor conditions within the Cook County Jail. Hosted by a 33 year old Joel Daly, this aired the year before WBKB would become WLS. Some of the content is surprisingly graphic for its time, including violence, drugs, and sex, and it's certainly a sharp departure from the "Happy Talk" Eyewitness News format that the station would help pioneer soon after. [yt]lHTvvzozBnk[/yt]

I said it before, I'll say it again. When David became Diane's primary sub and assumed both weekend shows, it was glaringly obvious that he was being groomed for a bigger role, be it GMA or WNT. To prevent any speculation and avoid having too many top-tier anchors, they went back to 2 weekend anchors, who (especially in Cecilia's case) were merely general assignment correspondents prior to this role. Also because of that, you sure as heck won't see them fill in on the weeknight broadcast on a normal night. Thanksgiving or Independence Day? Maybe. As I see it, I'm guessing Robach, Vargas and maybe Harris will be the main subs for David. Also, whether or not David's available during MAJOR breaking news, keep in mind that George supersedes everybody (though it likely wouldn't be a formal WNT, just the time slot).

How do you know it's not, because it sure looks like it to me. It's plastered all over the website (http://www.discoverphl.com/). If it isn't, there is some major trademark issues.

I don't know. They've run a promo like that for months, but this is the first time that it hasn't ended with the blue frying pan.

Okay, check out this promo... https://vimeo.com/122795588 Am I out of line thinking that there's a logo change on the way for WNT?

So, I was doing some Facebook snooping this afternoon with no particular target or goal, but I stumbled upon a photo album from Art Norman of a whole bunch of old pictures from his years at WMAQ. One caught my eye as it shows the old divider between the set and the newsroom. It's probably been a couple of years, but I remember we were discussing this fixture around the time they dismantled the newsroom-view set. I'd figure this photo to be about 15 years old, or so...

media.nbcchicago.com/images/300*169/SYNERGY_IMAGE_no+shit+sherlock_thumbnail.png

This is pretty funny. This picture is on NBC 5's website promoting the synergy they have with Telemundo, and it was posted after Rob Elgas left the station last week. Why is this funny? Check out the web address... media.nbcchicago.com/images/300*169/SYNERGY_IMAGE_no+Elgas_thumbnail.png

Stefan must be high up with management, because Dick filled in at 4:30 today (as was planned when Elgas jumped ship), but Holt was on at 5 and 6, and probably 10.

I know Allison Rosati was on with Stefan at 10.

Yes they can. It's the media business. Veterans and legends get screwed all the time.

Yeah, that's pretty regular, though I frequently forget about it. WLS and WMAQ only do prerecorded teases.

The 5 o'clock news crashed and burned during the A-block this evening. First, the flipper on the bug started malfunctioning, with nothing but a blank space except during the website cycle. John Garcia's live shot ended badly, with the video cutting to colored bars after they left him on the screen too long. At that point, all on-screen graphics bit the dust, and it remained that way for the remaining 5-7 minutes til the break. Everything went smoothly, though, as even the transition to break included the bumper music, so all was not lost. Coming back from the talent rejoin, everything but the OTS worked, but the operational bug was quickly replaced with the time/temp-less model. As of the C-block, EVERYTHING is back to normal.

Okay, seriously, the bi-weekly Giangreco radio appearance is now the best half-hour of radio since Ron Magers on Roe Conn's show ended. "Ron, Jerry and I are buds. We golf, watch the Super Bowl, go on vacations. Three guys in the hot tub, clogging up the drain. Jerry's like a Border Collie." And then Mark took his shirt off on the radio show...in their street-front studio next to ABC 7. He also talked about the time he needed 500 stitches in his back, having drunk football players on the air, and how Carol Marin used to get really pissed off at him at NBC 5.

It's filmed here and/or takes place here. That likely has something to do with it.

There isn't a sports report in the 4 o'clock half hour, only once around 4:50.

"I'm doing the 6, the 7, and the 10 after already doing the 4, 4:30, and 5. [...] I think we have a 9 o'clock on MeToo, now, too." -Mark Giangreco

Man, I hope you're right. Remember how we all thought there were dead ends for Cheryl Scott, and then seasoned veterans at ABC 7 got superseded and one got the boot.

Even if it is a little odd, I guess it makes some sense. Cheryl already works at 4, 5, and 7, and it only makes sense that the marquee broadcast would use the "next man up" mentality (figure of speech, so sue me), leaving only the 6 o'clock show with a vacancy. If Jerry hadn't handed over the 5, I'd bet Phil would do that, too. More importantly, this shows me that Cheryl might not inherit everything when Taft hangs it up, and even more shuffling might be done when that time comes.