alex979

I'm excited that they're adding original programming that's not a newscast. I can't imagine they'll build a new set for a weekly 30-minute show, but I'm not sure where they'll put the live audience. I'm assuming this will be pre-taped during the week? It'll be interesting to see how the ratings compare to the weekday news at 10. Of course the inevitable question is what will the Sinclair bigwigs think of this.

. Also in the sales pitch is a tease of a "local show with national potential, starring morning sports anchor and comedian Pat Tomasulo", that will air this winter. No idea what they have in mind, or if it has any effect on his morning show role.

I've had a hunch that this was coming... it seems like they have been trying to groom Tomasulo for a larger role, especially this year with his primetime comedy special and his new "Voice of Reason" video series. I wonder if they're developing some kind of sports/comedy talk show around him, possibly airing in the evening (or late night?) I would think a debut would probably come after the holidays, but if they're mentioning it in their sales video, hopefully we'll find out more soon.

It was Ivory at 4. I think Demetrius has been handling most of the late post-baseball newscasts this summer. I'm glad WGN moved him up... really enjoy his forecasts.

The search for 4-6am coanchor is over. Another great addition for WGN.

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Sarah Jindra is getting her first shot at anchoring this week, 4-6am.

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I think the only difference from the previous 4-6pm news with Mark and Micah is that the 6pm news now has a quick-hit headlines piece at the start of the newscast where they recap the top 6 stories or whatever. I was watching while working, so I wasn't necessarily fully paying attention.

 

Also of note is that they don't have proper rejoin opens for this newscast, so they're rejoining with the generic "This is Chicago's Very Own WGN News" openers that you'd typically see on a late night newscast after sports coverage. The openers use the 9-10pm music with the nighttime skyline and graphics.

I too have only watched a few minutes, but they do start the 6pm with a talent open announcing the WGN Evening News at 6 that uses the same evening music (although it's a slightly longer cut because there are now 5 people). Also, from the little bit that I've seen of the first hour, the new team seems pretty strong, and I'm sure Skilling doesn't mind that Demetrius has taken over the outdoor weather hit at 4.

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I just checked it out for giggles, and my DVR is listing the new line-up as the 'WGN Early Evening News' at 4, with the 5 to 7 block remaining as the uninterrupted 'WGN Evening News'. Whether or not that branding on the first hour actually makes it to air remains to be seen.

I also noticed that the 4-6am hours are being listed as "WGN Early Morning News" starting next week...

where did you hear this?

FTV Live. You might also want to look at a calendar, if you know what I mean....

This new team should be good; it's interesting how there'll be some symmetry between the morning and evening shows with their A and B teams. I do wish they'd try to make the evening hours a little more distinctive from each other. A team change will definitely help break it up, but it'd be nice if they tried out some different formats, like more of a talk/interview show for an hour.

...And this sets up Ben to succeed Steve when he retires, right? That would be the only logical reason why he's only getting an hour while Suppelsa's still carrying 3.5.

I would think so, but then I don't know what they'd do with Lourdes and Dina. It does seem odd that Mark and Micah are doing 3.5 hours and Ben and Lourdes only do one. Also, I wonder if Negovan will continue to be the backup for Suppelsa, or if that will be Ben now.

Would WGN just put Erin back as anchor from 4-6, and have Konrad do weather from 4-10? (Unless he tells management to 'stick it')

I think they'll promote one of the Mikes, Hamernik or Janssen for weather. But I wouldn't be surprised if they picked up a female meteorologist sometime soon, for early morning or weekend evening. The anchor job is a toss up - could be Erin, Nancy Loo, Tonya Francisco, or Cortney Hall.

Somewhat surprised Demetrius will be shifted to midday and 4pm. I hate to say it, but they needed to start grooming a Skilling successor at some point. Hopefully they won't need that for a long time... but he is 65.

Greta is officially on board. "For the Record" starts Monday at 6.

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/greta-van-susteren-joins-msnbc-will-begin-hosting-6-p-m-show-monday/316204

It's official:

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Hope we get to see him on the anchor desk too.

I don't know how they did it but, against all odds, they managed to make this show even worse. It was just sooooo boring. Siafa and Shinelle were quite dull as hosts, and there was absolutely no chemistry between them, or any of the talent. None of them wanted to be there. The musical offerings were very weak, so bad that they even cut to a pre-taped Blake Shelton concert in LA for a while. I was switching back and forth with ABC7, which was also a train wreck (as usual), but at least they seem to be having fun and actually put together an entertaining show...

Feder has a story about Tahman's promotion now. There's also a bit about BEN Bradley (no relation), who is likely to join WGN for a weekday anchor position in the new year. It'll be interesting to see where he fits in... the heir apparent to Steve Sanders? Or could WGN have some bigger things planned (more news?)

http://www.robertfeder.com/2016/12/17/tahman-bradley-promises-effort-wgn-weekend-anchor/

So Dan and Lourdes are hosting the Thanksgiving Parade this year... interesting choice. I think they'll be better than Mark and Micah, who aren't really cut out for this kind of thing. Still think Robin and Paul were the best parade team.

WGN's coverage before 10 with Larry and Robin was so mich better, and Tomasulo has been their star, as Roan has become so bored on the job and the new lady is so sickeningly sweet that she's unwatchable, too.

I miss Rich King way more than I thought I would. If they're going to try to make a nightly sports talk show a thing (beyond Cubs Nightly), it really should be hosted by Tomasulo, even if that means splitting up the morning A-team. Mix in some of his comedy bits with interviews/game highlights...might be an interesting way to build on the success of the morning show.

I'm still going with Tahman Bradley. If it's not, I'll be surprised.

 

Does anybody think they might stick with Jackie solo until she retires, and then they'd replace her with one or two other anchors? In my opinion, this would be a dangerous move, since they're lacking in ratings already; dropping down to a solo anchor format just seems to me like conceding to smaller viewership numbers and accepting that the operation is getting smaller and that nobody's really watching.

It was actually mentioned in the CRM article about 'FLD that WGN has strong weekend evening numbers.

Here's an idea if they really wanted to shake things up and give the evening products a shot in the arm: Steve Sanders replaces Bob. He could cut back his hours, and maybe do some feature reports during the week. Negovan gets midday, plus Negovan/Bair do 4pm to break up the Mark and Micah monotony. Then they could go back to the newsroom style for the 5pm with Suppelsa/Materre.

I really wonder what they're trying to accomplish with this... It's not like the morning show really needs promotion.

So they're getting rid of the 6am hour?

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MSNBC is reportedly going to give Brian Williams a half-hour show at 11pm through Election Day.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/15/media/brian-williams-msnbc-time-slot/index.html

They seem to be testing the waters by having him host late in the evening, following the primetime lineup. Could this be a precursor to him becoming a daily program? We'll see...

I too would like to see Elwood anchor for WGN. Put him back together with Nancy Loo and you've got an excellent third AM team for the weekend.

First Rich, now Bob... I have to wonder how much longer it'll be before that entire weekend team is turned over. I agree Sean Lewis is probably a frontrunner, but weren't we also told that the weekend morning news was going to be expanded when the station goes indie? There might actually be 2 weekend anchor spots to fill (assuming they'd add an AM anchor). It'll be interesting to see what they do. There's certainly no shortage of good, underutilized anchor talent over there.

LOVE the 6pm open. The skyline shots are really beautiful.

WMAQ has hired a new sports reporter/anchor, Mike Berman, from CBS 4 Indianapolis. Makes you wonder if Adamle is ever coming back...

http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/8329-nbc-5-hires-mike-berman-as-sports-reporter-anchor

Also, reporter Ash-har Quraishi joins NBC 5. He most recently worked for Al Jazeera America.

http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/8330-nbc-5-hires-new-reporter-ash-har-quraishi

Jose Diaz-Balart is the new Saturday Nightly News anchor. Since he anchors Noticiero Telemundo weeknights and Enfoque on Sunday morning, he will be working 7 days a week. He will no longer anchor for MSNBC and Craig Melvin will take his hour.

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/jose-diaz-balart-nbc-nightly-news-saturday-1201813657/#article-comments