24994J

Alan succeeds Ron. Rafer succeeds Mark. Period. Those are about the only things close to guarantees, though I do like the odds of Karen following Kathy, but that seems to me to be several years off. As for weather, I don't have a clue. Unfortunately, I don't think that will end well. As for who gets shoved out, I really don't see it happening to any of the three elders in question. Jerry just got slapped with the "chief meteorologist" tag after 20 years in the role. He's the face of the operation, and I think he'll cut back before he gives it up cold turkey...but I have noticed he seems to be increasingly bored. Linda's bounced back nicely since the injury, and has seemingly returned to performing at the top of her game, so I don't think health is much of an issue. As for Ron, he's in a similar position as Jerry. I just saw a promo last week where Ron, one of the least tech-prominent personalities promotes the stations apps. That's the first time in a long time that the lead anchor has promoted the station solo, showing to me that the station must have enough confidence in his presence. I have noticed, like Jerry, that his delivery has started to slow a bit, but unlike Jerry, it's totally obvious that he still loves every aspect of his job.

A very nice write-up by Rob Feder, but the most amusing part of the article is that Joel Daly is on Facebook. http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/04/02/still-a-wonderful-time-for-linda-yu/

Yup. Marissa Bailey anchors 3 days in addition to her weekend shift and Roseanne handles the other 2.

They duke it out for 1st with WGN in total viewers, but are frequently in 3rd behind WMAQ in the demo. They did rebound some in February, but it's far and away the weak spot of the news division. Whether or not it's the fault of the anchors (it only kind of is), it's the television business, and I'm not entirely surprised. The whole show just seems tired, and the generational divide is clear when compared to WGN or NBC5. However, ABC7 is in absolutely NO DANGER of dropping to 4th, CBS2 has a choke-hold on that spot.

According to Rob Feder and popular opinion, Brown will be joining Tanja Babich on the morning show soon, though both current anchors are still in place. I, on the other hand, am not yet convinced of this. There are several variables in play that could determine where the two newbies line up. The obvious choice would be for both to join the morning news. I disagree. Tanja filled in for Karen Jordan the other weekend, and showed off her decent chemistry with Ravi Baichwal. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they became the new weekend team, or slid into the morning slot. If they were to be on weekends, I could see Karen being promoted to the AM news, possibly with Brown, maybe not. Karen could also find her way onto the weekday evenings, as it seems like Cheryl Burton's fill-in and 10pm contributing duties have been diminished, perhaps she's on the way out. Linda Yu's going to retire eventually. Someone could be getting in that line, though I feel that would still be a few more years off. As for Brown, I think putting him on the morning show is less likely than Babich. I sooner see him going to weekend mornings/nights, with Ravi and/or Ben Bradley moving up one step each. As for my opinion on the Brown hire, I like it. I've seen him on CBS, and he actually reminds me of a younger Hosea Sanders. It does seem, though, that whatever happens, Sandersa and Hsu are on their way out of the AM grind. I will miss them, but I'm not against a revamp of the early shift. Yes, stability is good, but something isn't working. I still think the format is a greater problem than the personnel, but that could come after a new team is installed. And, I know some people will see this as another reckless decision by the flying Disney elephant in-charge, but I look at it this way...sending the morning duo to NYC for a GMA bit and making new promos sounds to me like they're trying to make it work. Trying to push off a final decision as long as possible, giving them a fair chance. If this was a reckless move, they'd have been gone a long time ago.

That's a whole boatload of winning.

Yes, the new backdrop is animated. I can't quite tell if it goes the full length, but I'd guess that it only fills the duratran area. Keep in mind, the ACTION NEWS scroll on the display is indeed moving.

I don't remember what he said it was, but I thought Josh said he was sick. I've seen Ryan Smith fill in a few times, and I've actually been pleasantly surprised by him. Personally, he'd be my first choice from the male stable.

No matter what happens, they're not going to touch the 5. Period.

Let's face it, would they really want such a female-heavy broadcast? George would get lost in the sea of estrogen. Don't tell me that many people (namely women) don't like tuning in to watch Josh, a young, handsome, single man give them the news. And another thing, not to sound insensitive (my apologies either way), but would Amy be the most sound option right now?

Huh, I guess you're right. I coulda sworn I had mentioned it, but yeah, Tanja and Ravi did the morning show while Hosea and Judy went to NYC to do something on the GMA set.

I was only referring to when they did the morning show together a week or two ago. It's on here in a earlier post.

Like I said, she and Ravi are good together, so it went well. A thirty minute show doesn't necessarily lend itself to a ton of banter or interaction, but she was okay.

Well, I think solo anchors on weekend evenings might be a thing of the past. Last Sunday, Ben filled in for Ravi, and Tanja is filling in for Karen tonight.

I wonder if they're considering letterboxing the SD feed, maybe even updating the on-air package.

Mike's dad died. That was enough to occupy his time. Phil was on vacation, and Jerry was using some saved days off. Tracy actually addressed the issue on social media last night, and it kinda sounds like she stepped up to the challenge, and volunteered to take this shift. As for Troy, he was apparently at the station, but it sounds like he would've taken over coverage in the early afternoon if necessary. Why they didn't just give him the morning show on Thursday and/or Friday, I don't know.

Yeah, I just watched some of the 6 o'clock news, and that tight 2-anchor shot is not doin' it for me. Quick question, though; when Diana fills in on other newscasts, does she usually sit on the right or left? I've seen her sit in with Bill, and she sits on the right (naturally), but with Rob, she's still in her regular seat. Just wondering...

Well, Tracy's back for a second night, as teased ahead of the 4 o'clock show. Phil tweeted earlier that he was on a beach all week, and just got back this afternoon. This all still seems to be kinda odd to me.

Oh. Yeah, there's that.

First off, Tracy was on this morning, but it sounds like Troy was on, as well. I wasn't up early enough to see, but she makes reference to him on the forecast video online, and he was active on Facebook this morning. As for chemistry...this is going to be kind of hard to describe. I've never really seen a bad anchor team on ABC7. Never. Some are weaker than others, and those are mostly due to lack of any regularity, but then you see an odd pairing that works. I have an example of each of these. Last fall, all the evening women were off, and Stacey Baca filled in. She and Ron together were a revelation. She also melded really well with Mark and Jerry, though she had sat with them before. A few weeks ago, the morning crew went to NY to film something with the GMA team, and we got our first chance to see Tanja Babich anchor, alongside fellow Canadian Ravi. They were very good together, and it's clear, on and off the air (social media, etc.) that they've bonded over their similarities (she is in his old office). She's only been at the station for two months, but you couldn't tell. On the flip side, Stacey and Cheryl did the 5 together once, and it was awkward. I can't put my finger on it, but it just didn't quite work well. Now, it was mentioned that Alan and Kathy can be awkward. To be polite, I could not disagree more. I think that sometimes when two people have worked together for so long, a lot of the visible chemistry is lost, but it's there. You have to keep in mind that they've sat beside each other on a broadcast for around 20 of the last 24 years. Not to "go there", but most marriages don't last that long. You also have to consider that fact that Jerry has been on their team the whole time, and JR has done sports for the 6pm show for umpteen years. The foursome have done the same broadcast with each other every weeknight for SIXTEEN YEARS. That's unheard of nowadays, and needs to be taken into account. :rant:

Lest we forget this gem... [yt]tNpOm02ot_I[/yt] To be frank, any awkwardness is probably on Cheryl. I do like her, but she cannot banter to save her life. As for Kathy, she has somehow (I don't really see it) developed this reputation over the years of coming across as a little...what's the word I'm looking for...bitchy? I dunno...

She did the WHOLE DAY. As for why, it wasn't addressed. It is odd, though, seeing as both Jerry and Mike were on yesterday and today is her birthday. I would guess that what led to this was last-minute. I do know that Mike's dad passed away last week, leading to Phil filling in, while Jerry was planned to be off. I appreciate that they didn't make a big deal about Tracy being on, and I kinda hope they go to her once in awhile on a weeknight. What's interesting is the fantastic chemistry between Kathy and Tracy. We never really get to see any interaction between Kathy and another female outside of Cheryl (we know how that comes across sometimes), and it was refreshing to have less testosterone at the desk. I'm curious as to how the dynamic would be with a more regular line-up, as Alan, Cheryl and Mark were also off. Oh, and now that I think about it. She did tag-team with Mike earlier in the year on the 4 and 5 shows after doing the morning, but this is unprecedented. I would guess the last time she did a full weeknight was back in 1994 when she did weekends and Mike was in the morning.

1. Meredith's not going to do it. The last thing they want to do is remind viewers of supposed "happier" times. And Katie? Really? 2. We (myself included) went through this two years ago when Robin Roberts was going to be off that long period of time, and we were wrong. NBC's not going to get overly creative with this, no dream teams or blasts from the past. They're going to keep it simple. Plain and simple, Natalie and Tamron will take the big chair in Savannah's absence. The other will read the news. Willie or Carson might fill in for Natalie a couple times, and maybe the show will do a 2-man anchor team with Matt once or twice for fun, but I even doubt that.

To be honest, that theme always reminded me of the . Don't know why, it just did.

Well, things are back to normal in the ratings, in fact, GMA's numbers are higher than ever... http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/morning-show-ratings-week-of-march-3_b217097