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With the emphasis on the peacock, I wouldn't be shocked if there were other color variants to come, like one for mornings. Seeing more of it, I can't stress enough how much better this whole look and sound is for WMAQ.

There is a red breaking variant, but it's way more subtle than the old look, so it's fine.

This new look cleans up so many of the bulky elements from the 2016 version, so that makes it an automatic upgrade, for me. Better balance of the blue and white elements, while keeping the bare bones structure. And I LOVE the flashes of the peacock colors in certain animations. Not divert the conversation, but I need to take a personal victory lap, here. During the pandemic, I screwed around with some ideas for a new O&O look, and I love that the NBC designers had some similar ideas to me. I didn't share these with anyone, and I had no prior knowledge to what was going to roll out. I kind of predicted the time/temp realignment (pic #1), though I left in the old, full-width social ticker and only slightly modified the 2016 L3s. I also tried out a look that emphasized the use of the peacock rainbow on a white lower third (#2). Anyway...

ABC 7 had Greg Dutra (in his ABC News jacket, as he just might report on GMA today) on the scene in Woodridge very soon after the storm, as he lives just a few miles away. At WGN, Skilling has been on by phone with Janssen, Tahman, and Jackie. Those 4, plus 7's 4 meteorologists are still on. Brant, Pete, and Christian Farr in the field are holding it down on 5.

I didn't stop to watch, but Kaitlin was on from home, at some point after 11:30. They're currently simulcasting on both 32 and My50.

WLS began going back to normal anchor distance starting last Friday (reopening day), with the 4 weeknight anchors completing the transition this past Monday. Sports is done from a stand-up position, and one meteorologist at a time is in a studio next door (AM meteorologist Tracy Butler is still at home, having had cancer in the last couple years). Even the morning consumer anchor is seated at the desk for her reports.

That's not another possibility. That clearly falls under this...

Because it's an obvious downgrade from the set's original set. This new one worked just fine for pandemic shows, allowing for more standup shots and distance, but if distancing is not needed, then the previous, seated position is superior.

We're all very aware of that.

Certainly a possibility. The logical and optimistic assessment would slot her as a 5th, but in a budget crunch era, someone else exiting and keeping the count at 4 isn't out of the question.

And just like that, Brittany Bell is leaving ABC11 for WABC. Unsure if anyone is leaving the flagship, but they could probably stand to have a 5th meteorologist, with Sam Champion's limited availability. https://www.instagram.com/p/CP8kcUMnKhG/

Q13 meteorologist and Oak Park native Tim Joyce is coming home to round out the weekend morning news team. https://wgntv.com/news/tim-joyce-joins-wgn-news-as-wgn-weekend-morning-news-weather-anchor/

It's all good! Haha

Ahem...

Feder finally talking about what we've known about for almost a month. Sometimes we kinda scoop. https://www.robertfeder.com/2021/06/03/chicagos-goes-digital-wgn-news-now/ And with the digital duo getting an interview on the Midday News, does that effectively make them the midday B-team? https://wgntv.com/midday-news/meet-the-wgn-news-now-team/

No one is forcing anyone to watch any of the clips post in this thread, but everything related to a video posted this afternoon has been hidden. In the future, if anyone is ever questioning whether they should post something with potentially sensitive content, feel free to run it by a moderator.

WLS has only adopted a bumper going to break. Nice and quick, not messing with the flow of the anchor's greeting at the top. An introduction at the top seems like too much. 2021 late hulu outro.mp4

The morning show was my first thought, too, but with 2 separate studio spaces, I couldn't convince myself into that making any sense. I thought maybe it could work as a generic presentation/performance area, available to either occupant, but you're probably right.

The channel 9 anchors had new headshots taken today, with the photographer set up in the remaining empty studio. Last we saw that space, the black curtains still lined what was being used as NewsNation's pre-launch newsroom. In the last few months, they appear to have added a physical set, of some kind. What little of it we can see here doesn't really point to it as an extension of either NN or WGN's current digs, but I do wonder what it's for. From this awkward angle, I'm seeing a corner video wall, not unlike what NBC 5 just installed downtown. That ledge-like feature reminds me a little of NewsNation's catwalk. That said, that good-looking element on the right end almost looks like the beams lining the top of WGN's set.

Just as we predicted. The local Fox forecasters will help prop this up...

Check the brief flash of the logo on the desk. It's a mirrored video.

That certainly explains why they were using the green screen as the backdrop for sports and other standups. This should give them plenty of space to work on introducing AR weather effects. WLS had that cornered in the market (quality notwithstanding), until abandoning it during the pandemic.

Larry was off today, and with threats like these, he might never come back.

Ben Bradley posted to social media that WGN anchors have been given the all-clear, starting with the midday news today. And then there's this way to announce it...

Yes, he's no spring chicken, but Schanowski is easily the best available sports anchor in Chicago, so this is an excellent pickup, even if it's just for a slot here and there.