Mannym13

I've always thought that a separate news reader was pointless. Matt and Savannah can do that themselves, although now I wonder what they're going to do when they're standing out on the plaza. In the end, I'm glad they're getting rid of the position, but hate to see that such a nice person like Natalie gets the butt end of it.

So what will they do with the livestream when the show is on tomorrow morning? A simulcast?

WGN has replaced the W in the bug at the bottom right with a Cubs W flag. That's pretty cool and clever.

I expected new graphics yesterday, but they instead debuted today. They're just an update of the 2013 look, and I love it.

I feel like we will also see some new graphics whenever the new set debuts, and I'm curious as to what they may do on that end as well.

There it is.

I don't know about that. I still see the circular outline of it in the top picture.

They started randomly using the windows from the start of the show sometime in March or April. Eventually, they used the windows more and more frequently, and now they use the windows exclusively. It never dawned on me until this very moment where I'm typing this, but I think it's a seasonal choice. Nobody wants to see out the windows in the winter when it's still dark outside at 7am, and the spring and summer months are perfect for using the windows from the get-go. I'd also like to say that the couches on the set as a backdrop never felt right, and maybe just because it was different from what's been done for decades.

At first I thought it was one of the morning show's jabs or pranks, but then I realized they're serious about it. It's totally a shot, and I like it. Take that, Sky 5.

I'd expand on that and offer up "NBC NEWS NOW." It may look like a lot in print, but takes just as long to say as msnbc. It can be called "NEWS NOW" for short. The more and more I think about it, though, the more my idea for a name change becomes cliché. Another downside is that the channel won't be news all day, as there will be editorial programs in the evening. I did, for fun on a Saturday morning, come up with some awfully edited logos, but I don't know how to upload photos on here.

Because this year, for the first time ever, they're on ABC and not on the mothership.

Where's the space for local time and temp?

It looks like people certainly do read these forums, as today I noticed that for the Sox game WGN had the pitch count moved all the way to the right of the of its box, basically opening up the whole space and letting it breathe just a bit. It doesn't look cluttered anymore.

Is taking multiple viewer calls regarding any breaking news event just a Chicago thing?

They are now showing it via a split screen. Tom and crew with audio on the left with a fully produced Cubs game on the right relegated to only the video feed. This is kinda cool, as I've never seen this before.

Our biggest fear happened today: a White Sux game on WGN went into extras. It's so cluttered up in that box it's unreal. I don't understand why they can't move the pitch count over to the right a bit; there's actually quite a bit of room to do that. It looks like it says ^10TH6 PITCHES.

The morning crew did their own spoof of the TODAY commercial where all the anchors walk through the city. It was to celebrate Illinois' new happy hour rules; it was fairly funny and pretty spot on at some points.

ABC7 went 22 minutes again tonight.

Only 12 minutes tonight until the first break. I expected 18-20 again, but I guess not.

I think that if you took out the background of 30 Rock and used the camera shots they used before, it would look much better and less tabloid-like to many of you. I think it looks great now, but maybe even better with that change (and the addition of NBC NEWS under the peacock).

I just noticed that they brought Al and Natalie in for the open today, something they've stopped doing recently. The inconsistency gets on my nerves, to be honest.

I love that open. It's so perfect, aside from my little gripe about how it doesn't say NBC NEWS underneath the peacock.

Looks nice and very well done. I was kinda expecting ESPN to help out with graphics and instead of an ESPN logo and ABC7 logo would be slapped on, but I'm glad that's not the case.

I agree 100% with this statement. I don't see it any other way unless they bring back Dick Johnson.

In a throwback to late 2012, TODAY started off with just Matt and Savannah at the desk, but there were mugs place where Natalie and Al would be. I thought it was interesting because the desk is so big and is made for multiple people, so just two looked weird. Natalie and Carson later joined at 7:16.