24994J

Stop. Please. There hasn't been a rumor or peep of her exiting the show. Just because she's been on the show for more than a decade doesn't automatically mean that she wants to leave or the bosses want her out.

I'm a little surprised that CBS and NBC (or any other station group, for that matter) don't have exclusive deals with certain automakers for these gimmicks.

I like their odds of survival in the F-250 versus CBS 2's BMW. Should be interesting if the others in town follow suit, though. WGN has enough to tout with Skilling, these storm chasers don't seem to be an ABC thing, and I don't know that Fox has the budget.

Based on their sister stations and a competitive landscape at home, I guess this was inevitable... [MEDIA=vimeo]155008358[/MEDIA]

In two parts, here's a complete WGN Chicago late night newscast from 1965. Anchor Len Johnson fills in for Carl Greyson on this night. From the video's description...

Damn. Could we stop losing Holts to New York? That'd be great. My money's on newbie reporter and frequent fill-in Alex Maragos to replace him. That said, this does nothing to help that 4:30pm vacancy.

If by "sad" you mean "a little disappointing", and by "breaking news" you mean "happened a week ago", then yes, that's some "Sad Breaking News".

I'm guessing they want to promote the A-team whenever possible, even if their weekend duo is better. As for the open, I still don't like that blue-backed open, but I love that cut.

I guess the countdown has started to see if Shiba's Chicago interview leads to anything.

With a school-issued subscription to the Chicago newspapers' online archives and some free time, I've been going through 23 years of Robert Feder columns, covering most of his three decades at the Sun-Times. It's not as obsessive and time-consuming as it sounds, but it's been really informative to see how Chicago television evolved from 1986 to 2009. I'm currently in 1994 and just stumbled on this ironic note from WGN. A new news program was being marketed as an alternative to the freewheeling, irreverent antics of Bob Sirott's 'Fox Thing in the Morning'. It's amazing how things change, and who came out on top. From July 5th... "With a Sept. 6 start date, WGN-Channel 9's new morning newscast is shaping up as a straightforward hard-news product. "It won't be a goofy, gooey kind of show," said Channel 9 news director Jennifer Schulze. "In the WGN tradition, it will be very local, very solid and it will give Chicagoans information to get their day going." At the outset, the weekday newscast will air from 7 to 8 a.m. Within six months, Schulze said, it may expand to two hours. Eventually, a third hour also may be added. The new newscast replaces "The Bozo Show," which shifts to Sunday mornings this fall. Channel 9 noon news anchor Dave Eckert, a recent hire from KMBC-TV in Kansas City, will double as morning news anchor alongside a female partner to be named by the end of July. Also hired for the new newscast was meteorologist Paul Huttner from WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. He previously worked for the north suburban-based weather forecasting firm of Murray & Trettel Inc. Joining Channel 9 as morning news executive producer is Ken Ericson, a Chicago native now working at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Larry Potash, a weekend news anchor and reporter at KOTV-TV in Tulsa, Okla., has been hired as a general assignment reporter."

As much as I love this concept, let's see what Weeters has to say. From the WLS set thread... That said, someone else's leaked concept tells me they've entertained offers. I'm excited to see what's in-store come March, May, September, November, or anywhere in-between.

It doesn't look bad, but the f*ck is the with the music? Ewww.

That's...unexpected. Does it look like an in-house job?

I sense a bit of sarcasm there, but I could totally live in a world where Krashesky (a must-retain), Elgas, Jordan, Hsu, and Baca are the team of the future. Remember back in 1984, Joel Daly was given a lot of perks, including the opportunity to get his law degree in exchange for missing out on the 10, so perhaps similar tactics could be on the table for the current roster, if push comes to shove. Also, whether or not you were serious, I've thought about the idea of calling on Chiaverini over Miller, but he's stated many times that he doesn't miss the travelling involved with the sports beat.

Unfortunately, I just don't see 8 weeknight anchors happening, even if two of them are being eased into feature reporting/retirement (that being the 7pm crew). That has only happened once in the station's history, and even then, back in the hey-day of their dominance, it was an arrangement that lasted for only a few months. (Two points if you can give me the year.) I have a feeling they're not going to be that creative with the afternoon shows, merely replacing Ron at 5 with either Rob or Ravi, elevating that gentleman to primary back-up at 10, unless Krashesky gets passed over. The real fun could really be in the weather department. Yes, Jerry's expected to hand over the 10 sometime this year, though the rumor going around is that he might still retain two newscasts, trading the 10 for either the 4 or 5. If that's the case, I think Phil, Tracy, or even Troy (in that order), are shoe-ins to join the weeknight team...whenever Jerry permanently leaves.

Today was National Weatherperson's Day, and certified demigod Tom Skilling made his first-ever appearance on WGN Morning News. It was everything I could ever hope for. "The EXCLUSIVE WGN Morning News interview with Tom Skilling" "Dirty weather words used in a sentence by Skilling and WGN weather guys" "'I Want Your Text’ segment featuring Tom FREAKIN' Skilling"

My initial reaction was just in the moment, but thinking about it, who would Shiba be a step backward from? Like the poster above said, she's not a bad anchor. Maybe she's a little too bland, but most of her bad image comes from being the homewrecker that dumped Sue Simmons. No matter who followed Sue, that anchor would've become the scapegoat for management's poorly-executed plan.

Yeah, outside of those who are still pissed over George's Clinton Foundation contributions/political history, I've not once heard anyone say George is the one dragging the show down. If anything, he keeps the insanity in-check.

That's hilarious.

Nothing's set in stone, but I'm a little surprised that the station wouldn't push for him to stick around until after the Olympics, since that will be ABC 7's toughest fight (biggest loss) to NBC 5 in years. As for successors, one would think the 10 would have to go to Alan. If they learned anything from the Caplan/Scott transition, anyone else would kill them. That said, while Baichwal would be my pick, Elgas seems like a lock for the 5. He's about the only co-anchor that has any noticeable chemistry with Cheryl Burton. Now, I have two crazy theories that could come into play. Here me out. Burton moves up to co-anchor at 10, and Elgas becomes contributing anchor. Look at KTRK's team at 10. Its just crazy enough to happen here. I think there's a very outside chance that a midday newscast returns in the fall. Newly acquired 'Right This Minute' is currently a 30 minute show, and many believe it will be paired with 'Millionaire', but I havent heard a peep about the game show moving to WLS. Would they go with a double run, or maybe take the opportunity to bring back news? I don't know. Notice, I'm not even going to give a time of day for that. Anyway, great for Ron to be leaving while at the top, on his own terms, and while he's in good health. Between him and Jerry leaving the 10, so breaks up the longest-running weekday 10pm news team in Chicago history. Look it up, I'll wait.

It's been for a week or two, and yes, Super Bowl.

I have a feeling corporate is pushing the Facebook live streams, as I've noticed various personalities at WABC and WLS doing this over the last few weeks.

Spoiler alert: it stunk. Strehl's good, but Mendez is hopeless. I like that they're taking a page from WBBM by making the weatherman the co-host. They're definitely making it an extension of the weekday show, with McPherrin, Smith, Roeper and Chavarria doing prerecorded segments and interviews. Canellis also did a commentary recap of the Blackhawks' season, but I'd imagine there'll be normal highlights when any teams are active (neither Bulls or Hawks played last night). They did a trending story about random people in New York writing their life regrets on a chalkboard in aa park. What did the lower third say? "WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST REGET?" Reget. Ironic. Metaphor.

I DVR'd it, but I just woke up. I'll get to it a little later. Did you?

Apparently this is becoming a regular thing. WLS earlier this month... [MEDIA=twitter]684536125109727232[/MEDIA]