K77

I'm sure Ed is looking towards winding down and retiring too. The reality is CBS (top level, not local level management) wants old talent out. Many local levels are just keeping them on payroll to avoid age discrimination lawsuits.

Mary Kay is at "work whenever she feels like it" status now. Her filling-in is even becoming much more rare now. She very rarely comes in to the station anymore. She's been doing the weather remotely from her Florida home (or some other location down there) the past few months. You can easily tell by the chroma key and lighting quality during her weather segments in addition to her being absent from the CBS 2 studio itself. I can't believe she's been at the station for 22 years now.. Time flies.. Albert Ramon has to be the most absent "chief meteorologist" I've ever seen at a local station here in Chicago. Did his contract include two-thirds or three-quarters of the year off? He seems to always be off or absent from the newscasts. For most bad weather events we've had this year, he's been absent too. They may as well have given the evening chief position to Ed Curran.. The one who's been getting the most screen time lately is their new meteorologist, David Yeomans who came to the station in March.. I'm just not liking him. He comes across too much like a salesman at a car dealership. There's just no "connection" or "chemistry" between the new talent being hired at WBBM and the station veterans and even the viewer at home.. Their newscasts feel so mis-matched now with no flow between talent. But what do I know.. My local TV station days are long over as it just doesn't pay what it once did.

Are there any actual CBS O&O folks here? Word around is the new image (graphics/music) has been a flop. Negative viewer reaction (especially with the music) in just the few months in use. WBBM's President/GM had been very vocal about her concerns about the whole package prior to rollout which are turning out to be true. WBBM has been continuing to use one music cut from the Enforcer package for the opens of the 5, 6, and 10 PM weekday opens since their changeover. I've noticed they've been phasing in more Enforcer cuts here and there, and again for the 10PM bumps. I have a feeling the graphics may stay but the new music may get dumped in the close future.