mountainave

Not sure what to make of your unnecessary hyperbole, nor did anyone suggest a "grand conspiracy." I simply pointed out that while Disney PR told People Magazine that this was intentional, I suspected it wasn't. You essentially just restated what I already said -- there was likely a delay necessitating it. That's all.

Well sure, but you showcase the brand new studios you just built. Not a random office building atrium.

Call me a skeptic, but unless Bob Iger's ego is as fragile as Trump's, I don't buy "we wanted to show off the 10th floor of our new corporate building" that none of their viewers care about. Sounds like a post-hoc justification for unforeseen circumstances.

Sam Champion confirmed the producers want to change up the GMA3 format and try different things. He and Lara are subbing in intentionally.

Never understood how Joy Reid was able to sustain a career in broadcast -- in liberal media, no less -- after posting a series of bigoted and homophobic/transphobic posts on her blog, then denying she wrote them and claiming someone must have hacked her, and after an investigation involving the FBI (yes, the FBI) proved no evidence of that, she still insisted she had no recollection of making those posts. Would have respected her more had she owned her past views, apologized for them, and explained why she was a better person now, rather than inventing stories and wasting the time and resources of the literal FBI to investigate her lies about being hacked. But since she never took responsibility for that, I'm not sorry to see her go.

Gotta love a show called "Live" being taped two weeks in advance.

Interesting concept but a little weird when the majority of the shot highlights empty desks and powered-off monitors.

CNN's new lineup premieres today.

Just announced: Gayle King is going to space on a Bezos Blue Origin flight with Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry, and others.

Kristin Thorne left WABC earlier this year to be an investigative reporter and host with Law & Crime, focusing on true crime.

Will be an opportunity (or unexpected obligation) for the network to reconsider both talent succession planning and show format. Will be interesting to see if the show maintains a three-anchor format by just replacing Strahan and moving on, or if we see a return to either a two-anchor format a la Charlie-Diane/Diane-Robin, or to more of the ensemble format (Robin, George, Josh, Sam, Lara) that jettisoned GMA to #1.

The new studio will not be street-side in the way it currently is. As wabceyewitness said, the move is planned for this month. Not sure what the latest plan is, but in the absence of unforeseen problems, I would expect the new studio to debut beginning with the weekend broadcasts.

It's a conscious effort to air mostly features at the expense of the day's headlines. The strategy is seemingly multifactorial: 1. Try to tap into the same audience attracted to the style of 60M and Sunday Morning 2. Cut costs. Flying correspondents and their production crews all over the country every day on a whim to cover breaking stories is expensive. As to the question about whether the show will be anchored tonight from the site of the plane crash, the reporting on CBS's strategy suggests they'll opt for correspondent-led field coverage over anchoring the show remotely, again, because the latter is expensive. I could alternatively see them sending one anchor to lead coverage from the field while the other anchor stays in studio to anchor the rest of the show, which wouldn't be as costly, but otherwise predictions are that the anchors will remain at the desk. We'll find out tonight.

You’re right - I forgot!

Maurice and John were indeed at the desk together; they're not alternating anchor duties. Margaret Brennan led with the first story, providing a mix of reporting and analysis. With two male anchors, which networks and cable have avoided for several decades at this point, it's not a surprise that they would feature her in a prominent role. Good balance. The first block featured two packages: one on Deep Seek and one on an espionage story. They're essentially doing the opposite of what WNT and NN have done. Instead of shortening packages and squeezing in as many stories as they can, they're covering fewer stories, their packages are much longer, and most are followed by extended talk-backs between both anchors and the correspondent. The first two packages were followed by a fast-paced "Round Up" reading of the day's headlines, and then the first commercial break. During the first commercial break, they displayed headlines and kept a dynamic live shot of the anchors during the commercial break. The latter, in particular, was a pretty cool concept. Was able to grab a quick pic (attached). This didn't continue in the subsequent commercial breaks, though. And there's probably a better use for the lower left corner than showing temperatures around the world. Maybe sports scores, stock market closing numbers, sunsets from U.S. cities, or an image corresponding to the headline to the right. The show ended with both anchors giving a commentary on the bravery of firefighters across the country. This show isn't going to beat ABC or NBC, but maybe it'll beat previously iterations of CBSEN. It seems like a solid product and, with fewer stories and correspondents, it's probably cheaper to produce.

A few brief thoughts: Not sure Wolf has ever co-anchored a broadcast (other than virtually for special broadcasts). He's been flying solo in studio for decades. Will be interesting to see. Hopefully Pamela learns from his direct interview style. Tapper is a strong anchor and has been Wolf's heir apparent, so not surprised he'll take the 5-7 slot, though I'm disappointed it'll be as part of The Lead. I would rather see him become host of Situation Room 5p-7p than move The Lead into that slot. I never loved the format, pace, organization, graphics, music, etc of The Lead. I think it lacks the same gravitas that gives Situation Room a commanding presence. Somewhat surprised Alex Marquardt doesn't fit in to the succession plan given he's been a primary fill-in on Sit Room and done a strong job. However, he was a central figure in CNN's recent defamation suit which probably didn't help him.

CNN is expected to announce significant layoffs tomorrow as part of an effort to reposition for strength in digital.

Recall that Ken Rosato and Lori Stokes anchored the 4:30 am, 5:00 am, 6:00am, mid-morning news updates, and noon broadcasts until Lisa Colagrossi died from a brain aneurysm that her family attributed to her grueling hours, and Ken and Lori in turn demanded (appropriately) a reduction in work.

She also anchored a great version of CNN Tonight 10p-12a in a round-table format similar to the current CNN NewsNight. Her husband died in July, and she has children to care for in addition to grieving herself. She also wrote a memoir, Combat Love, which is being adapted for screen.

A good agent, strict contract, and seniority.

Comcast is spinning off its cable networks into a new and separate company. Interestingly, Comcast will retain NBC and NBC News but intends to spin off MSNBC as part of the new and separate entity. It is unclear what implications this will have for MSNBC but may included loss of shared newsgathering and talent with NBC as well as a rebrand.

I understand the questions raised regarding Marza. I think there is a youthfulness in his voice which is a contrast to the deeper tone (and impression of gravitas) that Ritter and Torres have. Marza is certainly qualified, though, and if station leadership felt it was a problem they could've either recruited someone else or had him work with a voice coach, but they obviously don't see an issue. Regarding Michelle -- though the assumption has been that she doesn't want the job, she said publicly during a live stream on her Facebook after Lori's departure that she did want the job.

Surprised CBS picked up Rob Marciano after the widely-reported personnel issue at ABC.