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The show led off with 7 at 7, 7 headlines, followed by a weather check. Sure enough, the bug rotates between the 2 logos.

They ran a promo on WCIU around 6:38 for the news, structured much in the style of the 4pm plug that airs through the afternoon.

I'm wondering if (unlike when EWN S1 debuted for mornings) this really is a placeholder move, as Ratner has been off the last week or two, with Rose doing promos and stuff. Now, that might signal to some that they're dropping Ratner, but they wouldn't be using him (and paying him) for the other opens and stuff.

In what just might be a first anywhere, WTTW 11 Chicago (PBS) has sold the naming rights to...their anchorman. Phil Ponce, host of 'Chicago Tonight' will now be known as The Alexandra and John Nichols Chief Correspondent and Host. The Nichols have been longtime trustees of WTTW and parent company Window to the World Communications, Inc. No word, though, on how much this lousy money grab will bring in for the station. (Behind Paywall) http://www.robertfeder.com/2015/01/12/wttw-sells-naming-rights-to-phil-ponces-job/

The new morning talent open debuted with Terrell this morning, and Roger Rose is back as voiceover. He does put a little more power in his narrations than before, but he's still just okay. The big issue I have is that Bill Ratner's still doing the short opens. It would be one thing if Rose did mornings and Ratner did evenings, but in the same broadcast? Ugh.

...And then Tomasulo did sports at 9, and Bob was just as surprised as we were. Pat claims it's the only way he can be on the same broadcast with Jim Ramsey, anymore.

He'll do Hawks coverage like once a year, but the Bulls is a first. Rich King was out last night with Dave Eanet filling in, so I couldn't begin to guess who'll anchor tonight- but wait, where was Pat, at the UC (I think they're at home) or at Bradley Place?

I was mainly referring to current teams, but yes, the 11am duo lasted (most of) that run, but only, haha, included Tracy Butler for 18 years. If you don't include Sylvia Perez, the 4pm crew will hit 10 years in may. The team of Joel Daly, Linda, Jerry, and JR was together from like '85/86 (I think Mike Adamle did sprts for awhile at launch in '84) until 2004, when Mike moved off weekends.

The Krash/Brock/Taft/JR 6pm team has been together since Floyd Kalber retired in '98, unless you count Goudie since he's been in the talent open since 2011. The 5 and 10 teams go back to the spring of '03, and could theoretically pass the morning team depending on when Jerry retires. Either way, none of these teams can hold a candle to WGN's weekend crew, intact for 20 years.

Great send-off for Hosea this morning. In addition to some highlights (old sets, themes, and #HoseaWithHair), they surprised him with his mom, flown in from [southern state]. Also visiting were his two former co-anchors, Leah Hope and Lauren Cohn, who gave him a hammer to smash his alarm, as he gave her 18 years ago.

They have since corrected, then, because it said station before. As for his sub, I don't know. I could easily see Cheryl Burton being Linda's main sub, maybe even Alan's, as she will now be the only anchor (not counting Hosea) without 2 desk shifts (the 10 doesn't count). On the other side, and I said it before, I'm guessing Ravi will shift to being Terrell's back-up, as he will see far less time now that there will be 3 evening guys, and Hosea will probably be the main fill-in at 4 and/or 5...but that only makes too much sense.

Yeah, it's wrong.

Feder's got a write-up this afternoon on Terrell Brown on the eve (of the eve of the eve of the eve) of his debut as Hosea Sanders' morning show successor, at the tender age of 27 (which might still be older than Stefan Holt on NBC5). I knew he was young, but gosh darn, I didn't think THAT young, haha. For some perspective, Hosea was around 37 when he first anchored 'Eyewitness News This Morning', Kathy Brock was barely past 30, and even Alan Krashesky was a ripe old 28 when the program premiered in '89. The article claims that the outgoing, time-shifting Sanders has served as a mentor to the up-and-comer, and Brown even has the copyrighted Ron Magers Seal of Approval...

WGN Morning News is having a field day with this one...

See, I like that one a lot more. It's far better integrated than the previous set-up and WGN's layout.

I think I figured out the problem with WLS' school closing graphic. I took a screengrab of their closure bar and laid it over their old graphics, and I realized that they merely used the pre-Eyewitness News template with updated fonts and colors, as it fits perfectly under the old bug... Oh, and 'busses' is an acceptable spelling, despite how wrong it looked to me. Frankly, I don't know why ABC7 doesn't just shave some blue off the bottom, and shift the whole thing down a few millimeters to fit in the normal gap under the lower thirds. NBC5 uses a similar layout as ABC7, but theirs sits even lower than 7's. As for WLS' web/Facebook/Twitter flipper being blocked, I don't mourn it's disappearance, though a little tech screw-up yesterday and today revealed that the bug is not covered, but in fact cropped and cut just below the circle 7. I took a few caps from today's newscast and fused them together to prove my point. The left-most portion of the ticker ("Cook - Dolton") is where it currently sits, the right portion is where it should be to entirely fall under the L3's. The whole image of the anchors shows the cropped-off bug.

See, I don't like that. It's better than WGN's, but it still just shrinks the video, wasting some space on the sides. I'll address the WLS ticker in their station thread.

Yeah, it looks awful. I don't know why they can't just raise the regular bug and L3 to sit on top of the closings and just adjust the camera framing accordingly. ABC7 and NBC5 know how to display closings, why has 'GN always struggled with the concept?

Video...

Maybe they launched yesterday, but GMA got a new open. It's the same graphics, albeit with updated animations, the theme hasn't changed, and the anchors' names now appear on individual ribbons. "From ABC News, with Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and Lara Spencer, live in Times Square, thia is Good Morning America." So, like 7 months after the promotion, Lara is officially getting verbal co-anchor acknowledgement.

If they were putting out this kind of newscast with Robin and Jeff #1/Bob, I'd watch more often, but I just can't with the current pair. Herndon's pretty good, and I've never had a problem with Dawn, but I'm just no impressed with them as a duo, much less as the lead anchor team. At least he's back in the main chair on the morning show, but I can't help but think that Corey McPherrin should be needs to be on the 9pm team, whether in sports, news, or even both.

Is it wrong that I like how that fixture looks out than when it's on?

4 years last month.

Precisely. It is an odd choice for an image, as there certainly had to be some deep digging done to get that cap of her.

#FunFact But seriously, I smell a sitcom.