NYNewsCoverage

Today he is "in for Lonnie". Also strange, but Jessica and Dick once again made no mention of being in for Kristine. I also noticed Mary joined Cindy on the noon today, but breaking news can't be the excuse there...

Scott Padget debuted today at 5pm. Probably reading too much into it, but when I saw at 5:45 they did not say he was "in for Lonnie". Should be interesting to see if/how this shifts their weather lineup

I definitely think if the intention was to promote someone to the 5pm permanently, it would have been done already, as mentioned, there's no point in delaying that. I think with Paramount trying to cut costs, keeping only 1 permanent anchor on the shows (Kristine) might be a way to save money (?), at the expense of viewers having to see a different anchor next to her at 5pm depending on the day. Kristine seems to be permanent at 6pm/11pm, and it was mentioned they are moving towards solo anchors. Originally she used to, but I don't think Kristine does the 8pm anymore (it seems to be Allen Devlin or Dick Brennan most nights). I think the theory of keeping the seat open for Maurice is interesting and I could see a situation where the Evening News removes 1 of its co-anchors, also to cut costs. On the weather front, Lonnie has now re-added the 6pm to his schedule, so he seems to do everything again weekdays, except for the 8pm; which has been Vanessa or Craig Allen. I do wonder how they will add Scott Padget into the mix.

I wanted to update this, as Kristine welcomed Lonnie back to the 11pm this week, so it appears the change was only to ease him back into work (and I think Vanessa was still doing the 6pm/8pm). So now with Scott added, they have Lonnie, John, Vanessa, Tony, and Scott. And not to mention Craig Allen and Rob Marciano.

Probably very different situation and don't want to assume anything, but reminds me of what happened at GMA (with Rob Marciano/Ginger Zee). I've noticed Mike Masco has been appearing on weekends (particularly weekend mornings). He seems like a solid hire, if he were permanent. For now I could see them shifting Chris Cimino back to mornings and giving Mr. G all the evening slots. Or they could give Stacy Ann the whole morning (Mike Woods does it on FOX5).

I agree on Toni Yates. Maybe WABC wants to utilize her more as reporter, but I think she is perfect next to Michelle (and I think she should have gotten that seat a long time ago).

As of this week, Lonnie is back for the 5pm and Evening news, but it seems Vanessa is covering the 6pm/11pm. It could be to ease back into work, and we'll see if Lonnie returns to the 11pm at any point, but I could see this change being permanent. Craig Allen it seems will fill in Vanessa's weekend slots (also glad he has a somewhat regular television gig now!)

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.