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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

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Carry on...

I miss Charlie and Diane. A lot.

Some dunkoff on their website had this to say... ...to which I responded... I didn't realize that CTM's is even closer than I originally thought.

No hard feelings? Right. It is ACTUALLY possible that this was in the works before the Orange Room debuted. These things don't just go from idea to launch in a few weeks, or even a couple of months. Besides, you're acting like NBC never copied a competitor and/or lied about it before.

Never mind.

So many goodies...late-90s WLS is always great, some Jim Rosenfield is a bonus. Great to see Ron Magers, it's rare to see his later work at NBC5 (he hasn't missed a best since). I always forget that Maurice DuBois was at WFLD, especially with the mustache.

So far, they've made only one reference (verbal with non-offensive segment graphic) during the newscast plus the updated tab on the Upper 3rd on the maps...but the main segment hasn't aired yet. Nothing mentioned in the opens, either, and the meteorologists' titles are no different. This COULD work, but we'll just have to see, and whatever promotion they do will never be as prominent as it is right now. EDIT: The only verbal reference made during the main segment was of the "First Alert 7-Day Forecast". I'm not losing any sleep over this one. ...And sports is still just "Sports".

It does seem like an odd choice, not because of the name, but the fact that the AccuWeather branding holds some weight as it is. It is gimmicky, for sure, but I like this 7-day graphic better than the old...as frivolous as that might be. The fact that it exists in other markets doesn't bother me, either. I will say, it does unify the brand better than 'ABC 7 Weather', which I felt was always a little generic. Personally, I would've liked it if they went with 'Eyewitness Weather' or whatever, but I guess this will have to do. I wonder if they made this move as a way to prevent NBC5 from picking up the branding, ala WNBC and WCAU. It's still better than 'MetroVision7'. Barely.

So, this is new...today... With a new 7-day graphic...

I don't think any fleet would be complete without a NEWS TANK. I'm talking to you, Central Europe and Middle East. #notkidding

ABC 7 is hosting a debate with the Republican candidates for governor on Thursday night. Moderated by lead anchor Ron Magers, it's going to be aired live on 7.2, in late night on Univision's WGBO, and on Friday night at 7 on the mothership. But none of that matters, for the most important part is the THE OLD ELECTION MUSIC IS BEING USED!!! Pardon me for a moment... F*ck. Yeah.

Jimmy Kimmel did 11 o'clock sports on KABC Monday night, because it was apparently 'National Rob Fukuzaki Day'... [yt]MUr4Skq0w_A[/yt]

Meanwhile, at NBC...

I vaguely remember the Fox partnership, but I couldn't vouch for the CBS union.

The paper's partnership with NBC 5 is ending, and ABC 7 is partnering with The Chicago Sun-Times for weather coverage. http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/02/10/suntimes-com-adds-abc-7-weather-updates/

It's a day ending in 'Y', there's a good chance Diane is off. At least it seems that way. However, as someone who thoroughly enjoys David and George, her absence is rarely a bad thing to me.

The 'Start Here' era promo graphics are FINALLY gone... [yt]Iqs5SkG3jHw[/yt]

A midnight update seems highly unlikely. Remember, in 2012, they still had Nightline in the post-news spot. Now that it's Kimmel, they're not going to break his show in two.

Going back to the issue of who will replace Diane, it seems like Mr. Stephanopoulos is a draw when on 'World News'. Perhaps it's a fluke, but there is now evidence (that could come into play at negotiation time) that the flagship program CAN and HAS seen a ratings increase with George at the desk, albeit for a single night. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/george-stephanopoulos-wins-on-three-different-shows-in-the-same-week_b212656

Ryan Chiaverini will also have an interview with GMA's Ginger Zee from New York.

Here's a good one, a rare find on YouTube; the headline cue and open to 'World News Tonight' from late 2005 (August 17th, in this video). This was when the program was without a permanent anchor, after Peter Jennings' death and before the doomed Vargas/Woodruff pairing. Damn, even without Peter, I miss this era of 'World News Tonight' so much... [yt]RuBOFLnGQNc[/yt]

What about an hour of Millionaire at 3 (double showings are fairly common in many markets), and expand the noon news to an hour?

I'm just talking about what I've noticed for WLS. It's been done before where weekday afternoon meteorologist Mike Caplan has come in on a weekend afternoon to provide back-up for Phil Schwarz, and the only recent time I recall Phil taking a backseat was when he had been on all day and chief Jerry Taft came in to relieve him. As for the Sunday night anchor scenario, they did have the weekday team do the 10pm show when the NATO summit came to town in 2012, but that's not surprising since the weekend anchors had been on for most of the afternoon. And in regards to special Sunday events, WLS seems to have enough confidence in the weekend anchors that they always do the late show after the Oscars and such. In Chicago, the weekday-crew-on-a-weekend trend is something only the CBS, NBC and Fox stations stick to. I can't remember the last time WLS did that on a big primetime event night.