WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[IceManNYR 240]

 

[wabceyewitness 818]

On 8/2/2020 at 1:52 PM, mountainave said:

 

Great sendoff. Tim really represented the gravitas, authority, and trust of EWN.  He's been one of the reasons WABC remains the number one station in the nation. 

 

 

 

Here’s a nice write up about Tim in Newsday. 
 

https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/tim-fleischer-wabc-eyewitness-news-1.47565098

[wabceyewitness 818]

Stumbled upon this on YouTube.. someone took it upon themselves to create an updated music package for WABC.  
 

https://youtu.be/VnJSEWga2SI

 

It’s not bad! That said, I don’t see them giving up their current package (21 years old at the end of this month) anytime soon. 

[ctmajka 112]

4 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

Stumbled upon this on YouTube.. someone took it upon themselves to create an updated music package for WABC.  
 

https://youtu.be/VnJSEWga2SI

 

It’s not bad! That said, I don’t see them giving up their current package (21 years old at the end of this month) anytime soon. 

Thank you very much! I figured it would be fun to try to create a credible update.

 

WLS got their update after 21 years of 2000 Plus, so it seemed fitting to try my hand at Eyewitness News for once. Lord knows I have too many custom 2000 Plus updates under my belt.

Edited August 10, 2020 by ctmajka

[wabceyewitness 818]

6 hours ago, ctmajka said:

Thank you very much! I figured it would be fun to try to create a credible update.

 

WLS got their update after 21 years of 2000 Plus, so it seemed fitting to try my hand at Eyewitness News for once. Lord knows I have too many custom 2000 Plus updates under my belt.

 

Great job with the WABC update demo! If you have more of what you envision for WABC, post it!

[mountainave 606]

Love the movement of that music package!

[MediaZone4K 2172]

Cool! I wish the Cool Hand Luke theme would return one day.

 

Good luck to Tim ! I had literally met him pre pandemic aboard the final ride of the r42. 

Edited August 11, 2020 by iron_lion

[TSSZNews 1051]

20 hours ago, ctmajka said:

Thank you very much! I figured it would be fun to try to create a credible update.

 

If it's credible you were aiming for, you nailed it. The work really does sound like a old-school Gari update. And I like the little nod you have to the Newschannel sig in some spots.

[IceManNYR 240]

 

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by IceManNYR

[anchorman 94]

4 hours ago, IceManNYR said:

https://twitter.com/dianaroccoabc7/status/1294983003404414976?s=21

Pretty damning (and accurate) indictment from Diana on how NYC is these days. Good on her for speaking out and hoping for all the best in regards to her health. 

[IceManNYR 240]

 

[Roadrunner 216]

Nothing particularly shocking here (and also not detailed or necessarily unbiased either lol), but just a little memento about WABC's noon ratings: 

I also liked Sam's response:

 

[AA55 40]

 

Would give anything to see these ratings! Wish they were made public!

[RGSJenkins 434]

The only other OTA stations which air their news at noon is WCBS & WNYW. Both are for 30 minutes while WABC’s last for a hour. Plus during the height of the pandemic, WCBS didn’t air any news at noon.

[brianpr3 178]

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by brianpr3

[mountainave 606]

I'm surprised they didn't air their security camera footage.

[abc7 Man 47]

Does anyone have the video of the noon newscast? Did the incident happen while they were live in studio or during a break (no pun intended)?

[WheelWarrior 92]

On 8/24/2020 at 7:09 PM, RGSJenkins said:

The only other OTA stations which air their news at noon is WCBS & WNYW. Both are for 30 minutes while WABC’s last for a hour. Plus during the height of the pandemic, WCBS didn’t air any news at noon.

 

Yep, WCBS filled it with Judge Judy reruns on Mondays and repeats of the previous day's Inside Edition from Tuesday-Friday.

 

WABC did only do 30 minutes up until the early 2010's. They used to air the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? at 12:30. It later moved to 2:00 PM before the show was cancelled in 2019.

[Roadrunner 216]

13 hours ago, abc7 Man said:

Does anyone have the video of the noon newscast? Did the incident happen while they were live in studio or during a break (no pun intended)?

Based on the comments from the IG post and tweet below, it seems to have happened live, but we probably wouldn't have been able to tell, since Joe and Shirleen reportedly remained composure, albeit having been initially startled (would appreciate any videos if possible). I've kind of always been a little scared for studios operating streetside because they're so vulnerable.

 

 

===============================

Edited to add:

It seems like that the person who attacked PIX 11's Kirstin Cole might be the same person responsible for this.

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Roadrunner

[mountainave 606]

I know that the WABC street-side studio has multiple layers of thick glass, at least one of which is shatterproof (i.e., bulletproof) as you can see from the photos.  But it does present risks.

 

Certainly could have been a different situation were Sam or Lee out on that sidewalk doing a weather live shot.

 

If I were the technical director I might have thrown to an extended commercial break and relocated the anchors to the upstairs newsroom to continue the broadcast from there.  But I have no doubt WABC has their own contingency plans in place.  The entire ABC building has on-site security, so they could have deployed multiple security officers to stand out on the sidewalk while the broadcast continued from the studio until the police arrived.

[wabceyewitness 818]

4 hours ago, mountainave said:

I know that the WABC street-side studio has multiple layers of thick glass, at least one of which is shatterproof (i.e., bulletproof) as you can see from the photos.  But it does present risks.

 

Certainly could have been a different situation were Sam or Lee out on that sidewalk doing a weather live shot.

 

If I were the technical director I might have thrown to an extended commercial break and relocated the anchors to the upstairs newsroom to continue the broadcast from there.  But I have no doubt WABC has their own contingency plans in place.  The entire ABC building has on-site security, so they could have deployed multiple security officers to stand out on the sidewalk while the broadcast continued from the studio until the police arrived.

 

It’s already standard protocol to deploy security personnel outside when live shots are taking place in front of the building. So, if Sam, Lee or another reporter were  outside when this happened then there would’ve at least been one security guard with them. 

 

I’m sure that with this particular incident, security (and NYPD) responded and likely remained outside for the broadcast and additional broadcasts.
 

[Tellinitlikeitis 2]

Please send Mike Marza packing; he truly is an out-and-out embarrassment. 
 

No one cares that his wife was named for the Stevie Nicks song. He is (granted, inadvertently, because he’s clueless) ageist, pronouncing, “Look how young I am, My wife’s parents liked the song “Rhiannon” so much when they first heard it in 1975 that they named their daughter after it.” This does not make him accessible and relatable to viewers; rather, it makes him out to be a boorish buffoon, and yes, an insufferable whippersnapper.

 

The only reason I continue to watch is because of Michelle, Toni, and Amy. 

 

Next thing you know, he’ll be pulling out an “I Like Ike” button, bragging that it belonged to his great-great grandparents. Staff at Eyewitness News should walk around wearing an “I Don’t Like Mike” button!
 

 

[Bill from Maspeth 33]

On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2020 at 7:16 AM, Tellinitlikeitis said:

Please send Mike Marza packing; he truly is an out-and-out embarrassment. 
 

No one cares that his wife was named for the Stevie Nicks song. He is (granted, inadvertently, because he’s clueless) ageist, pronouncing, “Look how young I am, My wife’s parents liked the song “Rhiannon” so much when they first heard it in 1975 that they named their daughter after it.” This does not make him accessible and relatable to viewers; rather, it makes him out to be a boorish buffoon, and yes, an insufferable whippersnapper.

 

The only reason I continue to watch is because of Michelle, Toni, and Amy. 

 

Next thing you know, he’ll be pulling out an “I Like Ike” button, bragging that it belonged to his great-great grandparents. Staff at Eyewitness News should walk around wearing an “I Don’t Like Mike” button!
 

 

They try to "lighten things up a bit" weekend mornings, therefore some stuff may come off as downright stupid.

With that said, weekend mornings haven't been the same since Phil Lipoff left the building.

[Vlad 325]

I think the problem a lot of viewers are having with Mike Marza, including myself is that he tries too hard to be funny and relevant and the 'trying' is more apparent than the relevance or the context of whatever he's saying. It feels like the chemistry is "forced" and it comes across as inauthentic and fake. He is an awesome reporter and anchor, but maybe not the right choice for a lighthearted morning broadcast. I think they need a more "bubbly" chemistry and personality for their weekend morning shows. Or maybe they oughta change the format a bit, maybe remove some of the hard news in the 9AM hour? Or, calibrate the stories with more words of empathy.

[RealNews18 204]

33 minutes ago, Vlad said:

I think the problem a lot of viewers are having with Mike Marza, including myself is that he tries too hard to be funny and relevant and the 'trying' is more apparent than the relevance or the context of whatever he's saying. It feels like the chemistry is "forced" and it comes across as inauthentic and fake. He is an awesome reporter and anchor, but maybe not the right choice for a lighthearted morning broadcast. I think they need a more "bubbly" chemistry and personality for their weekend morning shows. Or maybe they oughta change the format a bit, maybe remove some of the hard news in the 9AM hour? Or, calibrate the stories with more words of empathy.

Couldn’t agree more.. I wouldn’t mind seeing Mike take over the 5 with Sade and have Bill go back to doing just the 6&11. Would Phil Lipof come back to his old spot? Who knows? I guess it’s 2020 and anything is possible