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Lester has the flu. http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/just-back-from-pyeongchang-lester-holt-is-sick-with-the-flu/357797

Yeah, I saw something before the Olympics that listed every place he's anchored from over the last month. Maybe the dude just needs a day off.

Whoops... [MEDIA=instagram]BfatQRrnP_j[/MEDIA]

I'll answer over here... https://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index.php?threads/the-definitive-abc-7-thread.12805/page-119#post-203014

I thought I'd put this here from the Classic Video thread... Call me crazy, but I liked this set more than anything they'd have for the rest of the century. Ratings had been declining for a few years, and with Frink and Coleman already gone (and Terry Murphy and John Drury also on to other jobs), there were targets on Flynn and Daly's backs. Prior to this era, they experimented with breaking up the two men, each getting a different co-anchor at 4:30 (expanded from 5), and 6. They then rejoined at 4:30 (and the 10 they never left) with new co-anchors at 6. That lasted little more than a year, before rising star Mary Ann Childers was shifted to weeknights with newcomer Paul Udell for the infamous '4:30' newsmagazine in 1981. The timing is a little murky, as I don't think Udell ever fronted the 10, and he lasted less than a year at the station. By 1982, it was Childers and a reassigned Tim Weigel at 4:30 and 10, with Joel and Fahey on the hour-long 6pm newscast (I'm unsure how long it had been 60 minutes, but would be cut down to 30 when Wheel of Fortune and Floyd Kalber came along for his solo run). Even worse were the replacements on weather and sports. Steve Deshler had left for the network job at CBS, and all bridges had been burned with John Coleman, so they installed (foot) Dr. Dave Eiser, kind of a folksy goofball that couldn't compete with Coleman and later Jerry Taft's delivery. Al Lerner was promoted to lead sportscaster, but wasn't the right fit, though he had a long run in sports radio in Chicago. Fahey spent much of 1983 on medical leave, eventually dying that August. With the original anchor team fractured, and falls to last place on the other newscasts, things were dismantled late that year and rebuilt throughout 1984, with the additions of Drury, Kalber, Yu, Deshler, Taft... , the installations of a new set, graphics, the theme signature that still exists today, and reassignments for Daly and Weigel. Dennis Swanson is largely responsible for the rebuild, though it was Joe Ahern's run in the 1990's that made their run at #1 legendary. They were #1 again by '86, and haven't let go.

Welp, he wasn't kidding. If you're in the Naples, Florida area, who knows who your Uber driver might be... [MEDIA=twitter]965767069584318464[/MEDIA]

Why in God's name are you watching, then? Like really, some of you all love complaining about GMA, and yet still consciously press the buttons on your remote to tune it in. It's hard to take seriously the guy who has such a wretched program's logo as his avatar.

Morning sports anchors are fine, though unnecessary for anything under 4 hours. That said...c'mon, weeknights should come first.

If he wasn't living so far away and occasionally filling a similar role at WTMJ, I'd say it's a possibility. The job listing on their website is asking for minimum 5 years experience, versus the usual 3-5, and they're looking for large market experience, so they seemingly want more of a veteran.

In today's edition of Unnecessary Newscast Expansions That Nobody Will Watch, CBS2 has seemingly added a Saturday 6pm newscast, in addition to the news at 5. In the past, if the 5 was bumped for sports, nothing would air til late, but I first caught the 6 a few weeks back. The 5 and 6 tandom is also on the DVR guide for next Saturday, too.

To serve as some kind of reference and comparison (ratings shares are fairly similar between the markets), Chicago's ABC and CBS stations are pulling in roughly normal numbers on their late newscasts, while the NBC station is bringing in 1.5 to 2 times their normal late audience. So, there's a good chance WABC may not be winning the evening ratings, but numbers may not be down.

I had the 6 o'clock news on mute while making dinner, but couldn't turn up the volume fast enough when I saw a talent rejoin start to run. Nothing new, just a misfire of the old one with Jerry.

Confirmed. [MEDIA=instagram]BfJK-LwgYcE[/MEDIA]

If that mistake was to be made, 6am on a weekend is the way to do it. I'd like to think they've since renamed all relevant photo files.

I'm inclined to agree about Ben, too, but I still think it's silly that he and Lourdes only carry an hour when everyone else at the station anchors for at least 2 hours, or the evening team that's on for 3 and a half.

Also, Joe and Mark graduated from Marquette one year apart. I wonder if that means anything.

Color me shocked. The first thing I do when new folks are hired in this town is Google them, and check out a few videos. I can establish that WGN is getting a very solid, seasoned pro with a good sense of humor and personality. What's coming as a surprise, though, is just how seasoned he is. Through a little browsing on LinkedIn, Tom Negovan is about 50, and Ben is in his early 40s. Joe Donlon is (~)55, pretty much the same age as the guy he's replacing. I'm not going to judge the hire on age, if the individual is right for the role, but with age comes an elevated salary, something I was not expecting in this move.

Every TV personality needs a bitter enemy.

I believe the Friday night show has been 30 minutes since the Bears show restarted for this season. That's about the time Rafer and Sylvia became Friday night anchors, and Corey and Dawn took Sundays. With that show over, they either reinstated a 2nd half hour of news, or figure out another option. Now we know that they chose the latter.

Turns out Mark's "Alternate Olympics" is turning into a real odeal. He wants viewers (and ESPN 1000 listeners) to submit pictures and/or video of their own winter Olympic-style events on Twitter and Facebook. The wackiest, goofiest, and most outrageous will make the 10 o'clock sportscast. He's still figuring out rewards for the top 3.

I checked earlier in this thread, and we discussed it then, but it doesn't appear that they did it.

The ABC O&O's got away with the late update in 2012 because Nightline was ending at 12/11, at that point. Now that Kimmel is in the post-news slot, they won't do it anymore. They didn't do it in '14 or '16, either...though I still have "ABC 7 News at 11pm" set to record on my DVR.

It's between the 3 anchors and the producers, primarily Giangreco's longtime right hand man, Mike Johnson.

Windy City Live is actually live today. They only have half an audience, with the right side of seats filled with cardboard cutouts of Mariah Carey, Jesse Jackson Jr., Roe Conn, Peter Jennings, and Barack Obama. It's quickly evolved into a 6-minute newscast, though, with Larry and Cheryl tag-teaming an update within the show, with a live report in the field from Stacey Baca.

Been there, done that, literally only 7 & 8 posts ago.