NYNewsCoverage

Craig Allen mentioned something in a facebook post about how WCBS has been #1 lately at 11pm! Not sure if/how we can see proof of that, but that is surprising they are beating WABC?

It seems the opening is for a weekday meteorologist, so the hypothetical new meteorologist will be for the 6pm-11pm weekday slot. And I agree it is sad about John Elliott, but I think Elise (may she RIP) and now Tony are on weekday mornings for diversity purposes which I do understand; although I would argue both personalities were (are) better suited for evenings. They also do have Craig Allen as freelance, and from time to time, Rob Marciano seems to fill in; although I haven't seen either in recent weeks.

The new weather schedule for now seems to be: Lonnie- weekdays at 5pm Tony Sadiku- weekday mornings and noon Monday-Wednesday; weeknights 6pm,8pm, 11pm Thursday-Friday John Elliott- weekday mornings and noon Thursday-Friday; weekend mornings Vanessa Murdock-weeknights 6pm, 8pm, 11pm Monday- Wednesday ; weekend evenings

As of tonight, it appears WPIX is now using a ticker on all of its newscasts including the nights, the first time since (i think) 2016. Edit: the ticker doesn't appear on air, but only on streaming.

Breaking up Mary and Chris in the mornings definitely wouldn't be the worst thing, Cindy fits pretty seamlessly into that role (plus she was originally supposed to do the 9am). Chris could do the noon and 5pm as he did the last 2 days. I think his past work with Kristine from 2007-2010 makes him a good candidate for the 5pm. I think if WCBS favorited Dick Brennan, he wouldn't have been bumped from the anchor desk (twice). Unfortunately current management sees him as a fill in anchor only, until further evidence.

Today neither Dick or Jessica did the 5pm, it was...Chris Wragge! Cindy handled the morning, and Chris also did the noon. So maybe he is in the running after all? Also, as noted it seems Vanessa and John are brought in just to do the weather at 6pm (tonight was Vanessa) with Lonnie doing 5/11pm.

So the truth with Oji has finally come out. A real shame because I agree she added a lot to the mornings (for example she'd be great as the now vacant position for NY living co-host) and certainly deserved better and fair treatment. PIX/Nexstar seems to be no stranger to not taking its employees seriously, as was documented with Narmeen Choudhury a few years ago. And then there's the case with many being pushed out (Betty Nugyen, Alex Lee, etc).

It seemed from her Instagram post that the change will be take place immediately. Personally, I'd like to see Kala Rama back as anchor in a permanent capacity. Vanessa is very good but Kala was always great in the early mornings with Craig. The only likely other option internally would be Katie Corrado or Grace Gomez.

Yeah it seems to be a split between Dick and Jessica. Although I was initially in favor of Dick, an all-women Jessica/Kristine pairing at 5pm would be interesting. Both have been exclusively filling in on the 5pm, and Kristine has consistently done the 6pm and 11pm solo (it seems this will be for the foreseeable future). It seems Lonnie has been retaining his normal schedule so far.

It was great that they had a formal goodbye and tribute package for Maurice and I thought that was well done. I am a bit surprised by WCBS leaving viewers in the dark about a replacement, but perhaps they are waiting a few weeks out of respect for Maurice? On a separate note, I don't recall seeing Alice and Kristine anchor together all that often (like the rare combo of Dana and Kristine), so that is another interesting test pairing.

We are just days before the transition of Maurice from WCBS to CBS Evening News, and primarily Dick Brennan has been anchoring with Kristine (today was Jessica Moore). I'd say it is unlikely Allen Devlin will be the new anchor given how little exposure he has had to viewers with Kristine, but we shall see.

Due to disputes between Optimum and Nexstar, WPIX is no longer available for Optimum subscribers. It seems the basic reason was that Optimum did not want to have to carry NewsNation anymore. https://deadline.com/2025/01/nexstar-optimum-carriage-dispute-tv-stations-wpix-newsnation-1236254076/

Following up on this, today Chris Wragge joined Cindy due to the Trump sentencing. I suppose I understand why WCBS is doing this, but I totally agree it seems bizarre to do this during 'bigger stories' (and not necessarily during wall to wall breaking news where 2 anchors helps).

Craig Allen was back filling in for Lonnie tonight. I also thought it was interesting that there is a job opening for "weekday meteorologist". This makes me think that someone may be leaving? Lonnie may also be reducing his schedule with the added Evening News duties. CBS New York is seeking a dynamic, passionate, and experienced meteorologist to join our First Alert Weather team. This high-profile role requires a skilled storyteller who presents an authoritative, engaging forecast that is clear and relatable. This role demands a meteorologist who thrives on severe weather coverage, both in studio and reporting live in extreme conditions. In addition to forecasting for CBS New York on weekdays, this meteorologist will occasionally be called upon to provide weather coverage for CBS network programs, including the CBS Evening News.

If we believe a recent Newsday article (paywalled, https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/maurice-dubois-wcbs-evening-news-ddsu762j) this is what was written: So he will likely remain a "contributor" at channel 2 but not an anchor anymore. If the rumor about moving towards solo anchors is true, there will be no need for a replacement at 11pm (and possibly 6pm).