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I would assume Rob Johnson just went solo for those months, with maybe some time with Stacey or someone lower on the ladder it was Leah Hope serving as interim anchor, 2 years removed from her demotion from the morning show. I'm not entirely sure if it's what you mean, but Karen debuted as weekend anchor. She may have spent a week or 2 behind the scenes after arriving, but there was no other buffer. June 5: "Karen Jordan, a weekend news anchor at WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, has been hired as weekend anchor and reporter at WLS-Channel 7, starting in July. The move confirms a report here last Friday. Jordan, 30, a Chicago native and daughter of WGN-Channel 9 weekend anchor Robert Jordan, succeeds Cheryl Burton, who was promoted to 5 p.m. weekday anchor and 10 p.m. weekday contributing anchor at the ABC-owned station. Karen Jordan, a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Spellman College, joined WPHL in 2000 after working for stations in Dayton, Ohio, and Rockford. The anchor post alongside Rob Johnson has been vacant since February, when Cheryl Burton was promoted to 5 p.m. weekday news anchor and 10 p.m. weekday contributing anchor at the ABC-owned station. Leah Hope, a reporter and former morning news anchor at Channel 7, has been filling in." As a little follow-up, Burton's move gave Rob some aspirations of his own, and he'd sign a new contract later in '03. That contract was for 3 more years, and increased his anchoring opportunities, but getting passed over after Joel's retirement sealed his fate, and that opened him up for leaving for CBS.

I looked up some old Feder archives from 2003, and it looks like we're all kind of right. February 27: "Now that weekend news anchor Cheryl Burton has signed a long-term renewal with WLS-Channel 7, all eyes are on the ABC-owned station's No. 1 news star, Diann Burns. Both Burton and Burns were believed to have topped the "wish list" of Joe Ahern, president and general manager of WBBM-Channel 2. With Burton staying put at Channel 7, Burns could be poised to join Ahern after her current $2 million-a-year contract expires on June 30. Burns, 45, who's been Chicago's top-rated and highest-paid news anchor for years, would be a prize catch for Channel 2, alongside 5 and 10 p.m. anchor Antonio Mora. Coincidentally, Linda MacLennan stepped down Wednesday after 16 years at the CBS-owned station, creating an obvious opening for Burns. Tracy Townsend has the 10 p.m. slot for the time being. Emily Barr, president and general manager of Channel 7, reportedly has been pressing Burns to sign an early renewal with the station. Barr declined to comment Wednesday. The only certainty Wednesday was that Burton, 40, had signed a new five-year deal, negotiated by her agent, Joel Weisman. After more than 10 years as weekend news anchor, Burton is expected to expand her role and raise her visibility considerably under the new contract." February 28: "In a coincidence of cosmic proportions, Linda MacLennan's last night on the air at WBBM-Channel 2 also turned out to be Diann Burns' last night on the air at WLS-Channel 7. The big difference between the two sign-offs Wednesday night was that Burns didn't know at the time that her 18-year career at the ABC- owned station was over. So she never got to say goodbye. Emily Barr, president and general manager of Channel 7, told Burns Thursday that she was being removed as news anchor of the station's 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts, effective immediately, and that she would be paid for the remainder of her contract through June 30. Barr wasted no time Thursday replacing her No. 1 news star. Kathy Brock, a 13-year veteran of the station, succeeds Burns alongside Ron Magers at 10 p.m., while continuing to co-anchor at 6 p.m. with Alan Krashesky. Cheryl Burton, who has been weekend news anchor for more than 10 years, replaces Burns alongside Magers at 5 p.m."

So, I totally fell asleep on this, but here's a quick, irrelevant story. I was at a minor league baseball game the other night, the new Chicago Dogs independent team out in suburban Rosemont. ABC 7 has been a sponsor of theirs all season, with digital billboards facing the expressway on the backside of the scoreboard (as seen below, from the outfield concourse), and they've run ticket commercials, produced by the graphics department. Early in each game, a local celebrity appears on the scoreboard saying how they like their hot dogs (shocker, no one says ketchup ). A lot of athletes have been featured, and even some real celebs, but I nearly spit out my drink when none other but DIANN BURNS shows up on the board. She even referred to herself as being "from ABC 7 News." A guy next to me, complete stranger, said exactly what I was thinking..."Getting fired 15 years ago hardly makes her part of the station," as she said it as if she still worked there now. We all had a good laugh.

The Instagram video was the on-air message, but this'll do... https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10214074615954264

[MEDIA=instagram]BmWOFSigTax[/MEDIA]

Agreed that Good Afternoon America is the superior name. I don't know what the ratings were, but that run in 2012, after OLTL replacement The Revolution was canned after 6 months and before Katie premiered in the fall, was intended as a summer replacement. I don't know that there was immediate need for it to succeed.

It was included in another form on the video I posted in the Classic Video thread, but I went and got another take of it in (slightly) better quality. The clock ticking to 4 o'clock is something I wish could be reincorporated into opens again, someday.

Another video from the day after Peter Jennings' death. This one, however, comes from my personal archives. The tape was a little damaged over the years, but this might be the first in a series of uploads from all my stored tapes.

The news broke late the night before, so full coverage began bright and early on Monday the 8th. I'd assume this was the main open at 7am, but the network had actually been on the air earlier for what would be a scrubbed space shuttle landing. I remember it like it was yesterday. 13 years ago, this morning...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155680293827283

Don Bell did pop up to talk about a single sports story, but it didn't count as a full report.

FYI, in case you see an unfamiliar name in your subscriptions, the increasingly popular "Rick Thomas" YouTube account has rebranded as "Obsolete Video." https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt2UipISexd0yg9VoNrxDhQ/

They did a tease at noon ahead of the first broadcast, and a talent shot showed only the 4 anchors, so I'm guessing they're not testing Kate and Don as official parts of the team, and unless Lauren is leaving weekends, they might opt for a rotation of the weekend people. When the dust settles, I bet we'll end up only seeing Ukee and Jessica for the headline read at the bottom of the hour, the two alternating days.

Here's the debut edition of the 4pm news. It appears that Ukee left the program after the first block, and Jessica only appeared to deliver headlines at the bottom of the hour. Kate Bilo provided a weather hit in that same A-block, while Lauren Casey delivered the 2 full forecasts.

So, Tracy and Phil were in for Mark this weekend, while Larry and Tracy (tonight) were in for Phil. Figure all that out. I swear, they have a crazy weekend like this every August.

Tracy was on yesterday morning, and Larry took Phil's shift last night (alongside Elgas and JR, oddly enough).

What midday newscast anywhere has more than 2 midday anchors at one time? I know some stations have a rotation with weekend anchors, but that doesn't count.

I don't believe they did it on Monday, but GMA resized their lower thirds for 16:9. They're lower on the screen, as well, and they're not as tall as before, either. They don't seem as clunky, as they're better-proportioned and the text isn't so condensed, but they apparently didn't let the stations know about revised ticker placement. With this look going on 3 years old, I thought they might be closer to a new package, but they did heavily modify the 2012 graphics just a few months before the overhaul for the 40th anniversary, so this could just be temporary.

Presented without comment.

Sunday Night Baseball's Jessica Mendoza.

So, a press release is out where WGN is claiming victories and 2nd place finishes in every slot but 10pm, mostly in the demo, but I have one question; like preempted network newscasts, are they omitting baseball-shortened/completely dumped 4pm hours in these numbers? Either way, I can't imagine that their success at 4 isn't due to more baseball lead-ins. Either way, I'm guessing these summer numbers aren't so off of normal performance that we could legitimately say that Chicago's Very Own is also Chicago's #2 News. [MEDIA=twitter]1022948774803587072[/MEDIA]

Sarah's on the morning show. She literally made the announcement there.

By my count Rivera is only 28 (went to school with my best friend's wife, same grad class). He seems to be on a good track. One thing I picked up on in the last few months are his mannerisms. Dead ringer for Krashesky. As for Stacey, I agree that she's a little extreme in her light and serious delivery, but I think she does the former better than Jordan and the latter better than Burton.

Remember, they also tried Dan, Adrienne and Whit Johnson as a 3-person team a few weeks back.

Interesting, the new video display on the ABC News set was only temporary. The smaller, flat video wall that was set closer to the desk was apparently just a placeholder while a new, curved, seamless display was installed behind it, replacing the vertically-mounted monitor wall.