24994J

Every illness that wasn't COVID or the flu kicked my ass, this last week, so I'm finally getting around to posting Alan's final 10pm highlights.

No show is getting rebranded.

Honestly, as a straight guy with many female friends, some going back 25 years, the ONLY thing here that really screams more than friendship is multiple butt slaps. And yes, having existing marriages might not make for a good look, but sheesh, this isn't even in the same zip code as a Lauer type situation.

With more and more time on the weekend morning show, it's little surprise that Samantha Chatman has been named weekend morning co-anchor. She'll continue in her I-Team duties, which likely means Liz Nagy will remain as a prominent fill-in anchor on weeknights. https://www.facebook.com/samantha.chatman/posts/pfbid0ii4aR2kKjcAaPxxcFBRba35ETFxSaRFCfgcK8bhNazEhwW5hketnqidHvLiK4Fi7l Now, to just clean things up on the weeknight roster. This week, they've gone with a very familiar Ravi/Rob/Ravi at 5, 6 & 10.

Thanks for the reminder, but that was covered earlier in this thread, 4 weeks ago.

It's being worked on.

I really don't expect anything til the new year, period. Any of the 4 male anchors just might get late news airtime, but more because of the holidays, and less because of auditioning. Cheryl's level of chemistry with Rob, Ravi, and even Mark, is already known, and if it gets to the point of Terrell filling in, she'd probably already be off, herself.

Hell, I had pegged Evrod for the weekday slot. I'm sure J.C. is a swell fella, but screams small market. He came from El Paso, and was only anchoring Sunday mornings. Evrod comes with a solid reputation, with major market anchoring experience. Doesn't quite add up, to me.

Yes.

Like the 9am newscasts that launched in September, there's still no guarantee that the full look will roll out with this launch. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

I wouldn't be surprised if his seat is the normal fill-in arrangement til after the holidays. Between the alleged hiring freeze and an already-thin weekend anchor bench, they can go the platoon route til a normal routine returns. In his nearly 40 years of anchoring, he succeeded Daly at 4, Drury at 5, Kalber at 6, and Magers at 5 & 10, and yet, his shoes might be the hardest, or most unpredictable to fill. Alan is WLS. WLS is Alan.

The trickle continues. WLS now has vans with 3 different brands/logos, though maybe this new look will finally roll out to the whole fleet.

From a month ago, and Smith is in the new role, even before the KCAL expansion debuts. She leaves her post as a sports anchor.

Don't quote me on it, but I believe I saw that Bozo, Gar & Ray is airing on Sunday.

How long has KCBS been (I'd assume) streaming til 8am?

That rule has been relaxed, to where even the downtown/riverfront Aurora and Joliet casinos have inked plans to move near their respective expressways.

Discussion of the new set should stay in the dedicated thread.

Just turned 62. He walked in the door 2 weeks before turning 22.

I just saw this in Villa Park. 10 days.

A few more hires for the new morning show, and a target launch month of December. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckbx0DIS_S6/

A December launch is now the target. Ongoing discussion about the KCAL newscast can go in that station thread, or the broader O&O expansion thread. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckbx0DIS_S6/

Larry feels least likely, to me. Phil or Tracy (62 & 59, respectively, by my count) could certainly be thinking retirement, and you can never be sure if ABC News doesn't want Greg, or even Cheryl, on a more active basis. The former was in for Ginger, with the A-team, on GMA this morning, while Cheryl was on again, over the weekend. Meanwhile, Mark has work outside of TV, and lives in Wisconsin, so he might not be interested in full-time work, as uprooting his whole family just to move a few dozen miles likely isn't worth the hassle. Oh, and by the way, @WeatherandTraffic, you mentioned Monday night's anchor arrangement, with Rob jumping Ravi to do the 10 (with Judy)? Ravi was back at 10, last night, and this time Karen took Cheryl's complete shift, doing the late news instead of Judy. Two nights, two different teams.

The design language matches what we've seen across other CBS News properties. It definitely might not be the final form, but I can guarantee that it's something that was thrown out. While the 2016 package, in its original state, is totally fine, so many stations have tweaked their own looks to the point where there are some major inconsistencies, from market to market. Post-Moonves CBS has created a unifying brand that, at least to me, is meant to keep everyone in-line. And for the record, TT Norms is not, and was never previously the font for the 2016 package. That lack of attention to detail pokes some holes in this opinion. All signs point to KABC having a new look on the horizon (within the year, weeks, or even days), with the current package lasting so long only because the final details of a groupwide look are being ironed out. And your thought about KTLA is shared with me.