WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[nynewsguy 66]

On 7/26/2021 at 3:41 PM, Liugrad2020 said:

There’s a reason why WABC went with Bill Ritter over Greg Hurst and Robb Hanrahan when Bill Beutel retired. I actually think they should have went with Harry Martin although that obviously was not the direction they wanted to go in. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mike Marza reached Bill when he eventually does retire. 

David is heir apparent. He’s 14 years younger than Bill. He will get his day in the sun before anyone else does. Mike has a long time before he even gets off weekends. 

[Liugrad2020 80]

14 hours ago, nynewsguy said:

David is heir apparent. He’s 14 years younger than Bill. He will get his day in the sun before anyone else does. Mike has a long time before he even gets off weekends. 

I thought David was born in 1959. He did start at WABC during his original tenure in 1981. I think Mike will replace Bill although we will see what happens. 

On 7/26/2021 at 3:41 PM, Liugrad2020 said:

There’s a reason why WABC went with Bill Ritter over Greg Hurst and Robb Hanrahan when Bill Beutel retired. I actually think they should have went with Harry Martin although that obviously was not the direction they wanted to go in. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mike Marza reached Bill when he eventually does retire. 

WABC should have replaced Bill Beutel with Greg Hurst. He was about 30 years younger than Bill and familiar with the viewers. It is what it is although that would have made the most sense.

[IceManNYR 240]

 

[MediaZone4K 2176]

I like Bill but I’ve gotten that vibe from him too. Everyone said it best already, its one thing to say “sad story” or “tragic” bit its another to insert your outright opinion. Perhaps because he knows retirement is not far off, he’s more comfortable editorializing.

 

I agree that a lot of the anchoring today is monotone and just reading the story, case and point Steve Lacy on Fox 5. At least when I say I want an anchor to add a personality I mean like Roz Abrams or Sue Simmons who used to add flare, voice inflections and charisma when they read the news, not their personal political opinions. 

 

Rosanna Scotto (and of course Sukanya Khrisnan did so as well) does this a lot on Good Day New York (but for the other political team). Lori always tried to keep it straight news woman when she read stories on Good Day from what I saw.

Edited July 31, 2021 by iron_lion

[nynewslover 277]

1 hour ago, iron_lion said:

I like Bill but I’ve gotten that vibe from him too. Everyone said it best already, its one thing to say “sad story” or “tragic” bit its another to insert your outright opinion. Perhaps because he knows retirement is not far off, he’s more comfortable editorializing.

 

I agree that a lot of the anchoring today is monotone and just reading the story, case and point Steve Lacy on Fox 5. At least when I say I want an anchor to add a personality I mean like Roz Abrams or Sue Simmons who used to add flare, voice inflections and charisma when they read the news, not their personal political opinions. 

 

Rosanna Scotto (and of course Sukanya Khrisnan did so as well) does this a lot on Good Day New York (but for the other political team). Lori always tried to keep it straight news woman when she read stories on Good Day from what I saw.

Lori is a class act. One of the best. She is on at 5,6,10 now and is much more comfortable in that element you can tell. The morning honestly is a little bit different and I feel it’s a little more acceptable to interject some more “insight” or “view” there. But on the evening shows where there are no interviews or anything like that I don’t think it’s acceptable. 

[wabceyewitness 818]

Sad news from WABC-TV News Director Rehan Aslam — he announced publicly today doctors recently removed a tumor from his head. The pathology report determined that is a glioblastoma, a very aggressive type of brain cancer. He continues treatment later this week at Sloan Kettering. 
 

Aslam just joined WABC-TV in May of this year as VP & News Director after six years in management positions at sister station KTRK-TV in Houston. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by wabceyewitness

[nynewsguy 66]

On 7/29/2021 at 12:26 PM, Liugrad2020 said:

I thought David was born in 1959. He did start at WABC during his original tenure in 1981. I think Mike will replace Bill although we will see what happens. 

WABC should have replaced Bill Beutel with Greg Hurst. He was about 30 years younger than Bill and familiar with the viewers. It is what it is although that would have made the most sense.

Ok well Greg Hurst parted ways because he wanted Beutel off the 11pm as part of his contract renewal. At the time, Bill wasn’t ready to hang it up at 11pm as it was before his diagnosis with Lewy Body. Hurst didn’t want just the 5pm and left. Hence Robb Hanrahan’s ascension to 5pm.   

On 7/31/2021 at 8:14 PM, nynewslover said:

Lori is a class act. One of the best. She is on at 5,6,10 now and is much more comfortable in that element you can tell. The morning honestly is a little bit different and I feel it’s a little more acceptable to interject some more “insight” or “view” there. But on the evening shows where there are no interviews or anything like that I don’t think it’s acceptable. 

Ahh the coulda, shoulda, woulda story of Lori. She should have been made 5pm anchor when Roz left for CBS, which would have set her up for 11pm several years later. Would have been a great team. Bill Ritter admired Lori, and vice versa. 

[Liugrad2020 80]

9 hours ago, nynewsguy said:

Ok well Greg Hurst parted ways because he wanted Beutel off the 11pm as part of his contract renewal. At the time, Bill wasn’t ready to hang it up at 11pm as it was before his diagnosis with Lewy Body. Hurst didn’t want just the 5pm and left. Hence Robb Hanrahan’s ascension to 5pm.   

Ahh the coulda, shoulda, woulda story of Lori. She should have been made 5pm anchor when Roz left for CBS, which would have set her up for 11pm several years later. Would have been a great team. Bill Ritter admired Lori, and vice versa. 

I remember reading about that. I also read that WABC didn’t plan on giving Greg the 11pm newscast after Bill retired and that they decided to get rid of him instead of keeping him on at 5. When you was Bill diagnosed with Lewy Body? I remember Robb. Was he ever considered for the 11pm job? Lori would have been good at 11. Speaking of Roz is it accurate that she left because she wasn’t picked to replace Diana at 11pm?

[MediaZone4K 2176]

For whatever it’s worth Sade was a solid choice for the evenings.

[MorningNews 1448]

And despite Lori being a really nice and genuine broadcaster, Sade is much more polished in her presenting style.
 

I don’t remember Lori being as woeful reading the news at channel 7 as she is at 5. It must be something in the air at Fox.

[mountainave 606]

14 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

And despite Lori being a really nice and genuine broadcaster, Sade is much more polished in her presenting style.
 

I don’t remember Lori being as woeful reading the news at channel 7 as she is at 5. It must be something in the air at Fox.

 

The anchors at WNYW control the teleprompter themselves with a remote, which would probably screw with anyone's delivery.

Edited August 8, 2021 by mountainave

[wabceyewitness 818]

On 8/7/2021 at 3:42 AM, Liugrad2020 said:

I remember reading about that. I also read that WABC didn’t plan on giving Greg the 11pm newscast after Bill retired and that they decided to get rid of him instead of keeping him on at 5. When you was Bill diagnosed with Lewy Body? I remember Robb. Was he ever considered for the 11pm job? Lori would have been good at 11. Speaking of Roz is it accurate that she left because she wasn’t picked to replace Diana at 11pm?

 

Yes, anchoring the 11pm news was a prime factor in Roz leaving for Ch. 2. What’s sad is that after it didn’t work out, they shifted her to Noon and 5pm and then just pulled her off the air and paid out her contract.  Her only real farewell to viewers came from her Ch. 7 send off a few years prior. 
 

Bill Beutel started showing symptoms of his illness in his finals years at the anchor desk, though, I’m unsure when it was officially diagnosed. He passed only a few years after retiring.  
 

WABC did not see Greg or Robb as their future newsroom leaders so let them go elsewhere. For Robb, they actually let him out of his contract early.   
 

5 hours ago, iron_lion said:

For whatever it’s worth Sade was a solid choice for the evenings.

 

I always enjoyed when Lori filled in at 5pm with Diana. They made an excellent team and she was excellent filling in at 11pm also. I understand Ch. 7 wanting to keep ratings steady in the mornings but they missed several opportunities  to keep Lori. I’m glad she’s doing well at Ch. 5. 

[MediaZone4K 2176]

On 8/8/2021 at 11:20 AM, mountainave said:

 

The anchors at WNYW control the teleprompter themselves with a remote, which would probably screw with anyone's delivery.

Really? I would think that would make an anchor feel more comfortable and in control. 

On 8/8/2021 at 11:12 AM, MorningNews said:

And despite Lori being a really nice and genuine broadcaster, Sade is much more polished in her presenting style.
 

I don’t remember Lori being as woeful reading the news at channel 7 as she is at 5. It must be something in the air at Fox.

Dari and Steve are the same way. Lori does sound a bit choppy sometimes. 

[IceManNYR 240]

 

[Yankees4life 559]

4 hours ago, IceManNYR said:

 

Oof...hopes second time is the charm for her...

[MediaZone4K 2176]

With all this talk about past anchor teams I’m surprised Roz Abrams and Bill Beutel were never official  co-anchors, granted that they were two large presences at Eyewitnesses News during that time period. It would’ve been like Chuck and Sue, the straight-laced news man with the more vibrant and personable female coanchor. I grew up on Diana Williams who was awesome, but I feel like Roz would’ve been a stronger presence with Bill B at 11.

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by iron_lion

[Liugrad2020 80]

On 8/15/2021 at 8:36 PM, iron_lion said:

With all this talk about past anchor teams I’m surprised Roz Abrams and Bill Beutel were never official  co-anchors, granted that they were two large presences at Eyewitnesses News during that time period. It would’ve been like Chuck and Sue, the straight-laced news man with the more vibrant and personable female coanchor. I grew up on Diana Williams who was awesome, but I feel like Roz would’ve been a stronger presence with Bill B at 11.

 

Does anyone know why WABC never paired Roz and Bill together at 11? I thought it was odd that they didn’t given that they often co-anchored special coverage of different events with Diana reporting in the field during that coverage.

[Liugrad2020 80]

11 hours ago, Liugrad2020 said:

Does anyone know why WABC never paired Roz and Bill together at 11? I thought it was odd that they didn’t given that they often co-anchored special coverage of different events with Diana reporting in the field during that coverage.

“The news continues NOW with Bill Beutel.”-Roz Abrams 1990s. Remember that?

[wabceyewitness 818]

8 hours ago, Liugrad2020 said:

“The news continues NOW with Bill Beutel.”-Roz Abrams 1990s. Remember that?

 

Always LOVED that signature line leading into the 6pm news. Wish they kept in place and adapted for current times… “the news continues NOW with Bill Ritter and Liz Cho”… certainly sounds better than, “There’s still much more news ahead. Eyewitness News at 6 starts now.”

 

 

[Liugrad2020 80]

14 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

 

Always LOVED that signature line leading into the 6pm news. Wish they kept in place and adapted for current times… “the news continues NOW with Bill Ritter and Liz Cho”… certainly sounds better than, “There’s still much more news ahead. Eyewitness News at 6 starts now.”

 

 

So do I. I think Roz continued that for Bill and Liz although once she left WABC is when they stopped doing that.

[Liugrad2020 80]

6 hours ago, Liugrad2020 said:

So do I. I think Roz continued that for Bill and Liz although once she left WABC is when they stopped doing that.

The best was when Roz would say “The news continues now with DIANA Williams.” I don’t think Roz ever filled in for Bill at 6. It was either Diana, Greg Hurst or Harry Martin.

[nynewslover 277]

Sam Champion is not on air this morning l, nor was he on this weekend with the rest of the team.. was he on last week at all? 

[Vlad 325]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:17 AM, nynewslover said:

Sam Champion is not on air this morning l, nor was he on this weekend with the rest of the team.. was he on last week at all? 

He's probably on vacation.

[Liugrad2020 80]

10 hours ago, Vlad said:

He's probably on vacation.

Being out a week or two does not mean he left the station.

[Paradox 7]

6 hours ago, Liugrad2020 said:

Being out a week or two does not mean he left the station.

No one ever said he left the station, you did in your reply here. 

 

They only asked if he was on air during that week, in which another replied he's probably on vacation.