WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[wabceyewitness 818]

On 3/10/2024 at 10:10 AM, nycnewsjunkie said:

I’d bet on Pedro Rivera; nothing against Michelle, but sometimes it seems as though she doesn’t proofread her scripts before going to air.

She’s been passed over so many times for a weekday gig.. she’s probably just phoning in most of the weekend work at this point. 

[Vlad 325]

On 3/10/2024 at 9:05 AM, TheNewsTV said:

I'm talking about Friday nights.

 

Well like @MorningNews and a few of us have speculated, they are likely going to replace Bill with Mike Marza when he retires. So that's why they are grooming him for the role. Plus Sandra has been doing the 11 pm on the weekends for at least two decades now at this point,  so if she was going to get the 11 pm slot, it would've likely occurred already but they gave her Shirleen's former Noon slot instead. Plus the 11 pm on Fridays is the lowest rated show so its the best time for stations to try out new talent without necessarily impacting the quality of the dynamic. But the 5 and 11pm have been Sade and Bill's staple for a while. Very nice duo.

 

Though I am curious, when Mike fills in on Fri night in his intro does he say "I'm Mike Marza, in for Bill Ritter?" I have yet to watch an 11 pm Fri broadcast. That will give us more clues haha.

 

 

Edited March 26, 2024 by Vlad

[TellyGenic 33]

Mike hasn’t anchored a Friday 11 pm broadcast in weeks, maybe months.  Most often it’s been David Novarro anchoring solo; since Sade’s extended absence, sometimes it’s been Sandra anchoring solo Fridays at 11.

[MorningNews 1448]

When was the last time Sam Champion was on EWN This Morning? He’s been on GMA as a 6th host since early March with Brittany and Dani handling 4:30-7am. Not sure if he’s been on 10am but when I’ve tuned in it’s typically Dani.

[TVNewsLover 779]

On 4/2/2024 at 7:58 AM, MorningNews said:

When was the last time Sam Champion was on EWN This Morning? He’s been on GMA as a 6th host since early March with Brittany and Dani handling 4:30-7am. Not sure if he’s been on 10am but when I’ve tuned in it’s typically Dani.

It seems that Sam makes his own schedule. 
 

On another note, Bill and Pedro co-anchored Saturday at 11pm with Lee doing weather.

[MediaZone4K 2172]

On 4/14/2024 at 2:33 PM, TVNewsLover said:

It seems that Sam makes his own schedule. 
 

On another note, Bill and Pedro co-anchored Saturday at 11pm with Lee doing weather.

Speculation: Sam wants his GMA gig back, but Ginger is there, so he can't.  

 

Two male anchors plus the lead anchor and meteorologist in on a weekend! interesting.

Edited April 17, 2024 by MediaZone4K

[TheNewsTV 253]

8 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Speculation: Sam wants his GMA gig back, but Ginger is there, so he can't.  

 

Two male anchors plus the lead anchor and meteorologist in on a weekend! interesting.

 

I believe the reason was the coverage of the attacks in Tel Aviv. WABC already pulls its main anchors to anchor at 11pm when there is something urgent happening. (I've already seen Mike Marza with Chanteé Lans, Sandra teaming up again with Joe Torres and in the new year, there was Liz Cho)

[Muppetman03 31]

I'm assuming Lee was there because Dani was off that Saturday and Jeff was filling in for her Sunday morning

[TVNewsLover 779]

1 hour ago, TheNewsTV said:

 

I believe the reason was the coverage of the attacks in Tel Aviv. WABC already pulls its main anchors to anchor at 11pm when there is something urgent happening. (I've already seen Mike Marza with Chanteé Lans, Sandra teaming up again with Joe Torres and in the new year, there was Liz Cho)

Seems so as Pedro was on at 6 by himself. As much as I admire Bill and as hard of a worker as he is, he should’ve not been brought in, as he was too close to the story, and it showed. On Saturday they were doing a story on how Trump was using the situation to fundraise, and Bill added in his own commentary. And I say this as someone who is not a fan of Trump. 

 

53 minutes ago, Muppetman03 said:

I'm assuming Lee was there because Dani was off that Saturday and Jeff was filling in for her Sunday morning

Brittany did Sat AM and Lee did Sat PM. Jeff did AM and PM on Sunday. I’m assuming it’s because Dani and Jeff did a lot of heavy lifting during the week while Lee and Brittany were covering the eclipse, and those two got a break when they returned.

 

They really should bring in another meteorologist full time - perhaps Raegan Medgie.

 

Lee - 5,6,11

Jeff - Noon, 4

Brittany - Mornings, 10am

Dani - Weekend Evenings

Raegan - Weekend Mornings

 

Sam could continue as a features anchor on weekday mornings and 10am as his schedule permits and do some of the weather hits.

[Muppetman03 31]

11 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Speculation: Sam wants his GMA gig back, but Ginger is there, so he can't. 

I mean he already sort of fills in for Lara n Fridays so it's a possibility
I wouldn't be surprised if Sam became a feature correspondent for them

[MediaZone4K 2172]

3 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

 As much as I admire Bill and as hard of a worker as he is, he should’ve not been brought in, as he was too close to the story, and it showed. On Saturday they were doing a story on how Trump was using the situation to fundraise, and Bill added in his own commentary. And I say this as someone who is not a fan of Trump. 

I like Bill too. But again, he needs to keep his side commentary to himself.

 

By his own admission he was expelled from college for leading an anti- war protest. I don't disagree with him for doing so, but it does show that Ritter is a strongly political person. That's okay. Just don't let it bleed into your reporting. 

On 3/25/2024 at 1:45 PM, Vlad said:

 

 Plus the 11 pm on Fridays is the lowest rated show

I'm surprised Saturdays at 11 doesn't hold that title. 

Edited April 17, 2024 by MediaZone4K

[RealNews18 204]

No shocker Bill Ritter let his opinion show, station management should put a stop to it, you don’t really see any other local anchors including at his own station doing this, just him. 
 

I do agree with the whole weather team line up. Reagen has the personality for the lighter weekend morning newscast and would work great with Michelle. Brittany does great in the morning with the team and a promotion for Jeff is well over due 

[MediaZone4K 2172]

4 minutes ago, RealNews18 said:

No shocker Bill Ritter let his opinion show, station management should put a stop to it, you don’t really see any other local anchors including at his own station doing this, just him. 
 

I do agree with the whole weather team line up. Reagen has the personality for the lighter weekend morning newscast and would work great with Michelle. Brittany does great in the morning with the team and a promotion for Jeff is well over due 

Being the lead anchor (though not the longest tenured anchor) I'm sure he can get away with more than others at the station.

 

With the exception of Rosanna Scotto, I agree that I don't really see other anchors doing this

 

[GraphicsMan 114]

On 4/2/2024 at 7:58 AM, MorningNews said:

When was the last time Sam Champion was on EWN This Morning? He’s been on GMA as a 6th host since early March with Brittany and Dani handling 4:30-7am. Not sure if he’s been on 10am but when I’ve tuned in it’s typically Dani.

I could see him coming back to network. But Rob probably not leaving so no open slot. But maybe he do features and transition of off weather. He really good with features it’s like he never left GMA.

[MorganRadfordFan22 2]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, RealNews18 said:

No shocker Bill Ritter let his opinion show, station management should put a stop to it, you don’t really see any other local anchors including at his own station doing this, just him. 
 

I do agree with the whole weather team line up. Reagen has the personality for the lighter weekend morning newscast and would work great with Michelle. Brittany does great in the morning with the team and a promotion for Jeff is well over due 

Im all for Bill adding his opinion. 

[Vlad 325]

Are there any specific instances of when he adds his "2 cents" to the story? I wonder if there are any YouTube clips. 

[TVNewsLover 779]

Mike anchored the 4:30am half hour solo today. I wonder if Shirleen got stuck in traffic!

[RealNews18 204]

6 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

Mike anchored the 4:30am half hour solo today. I wonder if Shirleen got stuck in traffic!

Noticed that too, it was also her first day back from vacation lol. 

[Vlad 325]

Didn't see the earlier broadcasts, but she was back on for Morning's at 10. She looked so refreshed! 

Edited April 26, 2024 by Vlad

[abc7 Man 47]

Al Primo movie link available on ABC7NY:

 

https://abc7ny.com/al-primo-and-his-eyewitness-news-revolution-film-takes-a-look-at-history-decades-in-the-making/14758186/

[MediaZone4K 2172]

Whoops for Bill Ritter. Someone in the comments said he's working for KendrickThe audible "oh my God" in the background. 

 

Edited May 12, 2024 by MediaZone4K

[TheNewsTV 253]

Does anyone know when Sade will be back at 5pm?

[24994J 5575]

1 hour ago, TheNewsTV said:

Does anyone know when Sade will be back at 5pm?

 

When she's ready.

[MediaZone4K 2172]

On 5/3/2024 at 12:45 PM, abc7 Man said:

Al Primo movie link available on ABC7NY:

 

https://abc7ny.com/al-primo-and-his-eyewitness-news-revolution-film-takes-a-look-at-history-decades-in-the-making/14758186/

Going back to the conversation of WABC being flashy and the editorial tone of it's writing---in the documentary there was a writer who did WABC on the weekdays and ABC national on the weekends. For a story on a Vietnam war attack he wrote "death and destruction rained from the sky". That writer's superiors asked "couldn't you just say they droped bombs in an areal attack?!" to which the writer remarked "we already said that yesterday" and "that's how we do it on eyewitness news". An analyst in the docuntary even explicity stated that WABC's version of Eyewitness News mirrored the NY Post, something theorized by many in this chat.

 

I bring these clips up again---you could really see WABC'S flare for flashy and dramatic language in reports like John Gotti's conviction or John Johnson's report on New York City's crumbling infrastructure in the 1970s.

Johnson's report at (9:47)

 

Edited May 13, 2024 by MediaZone4K

[NYAZSporty 128]

Meterologist Rob Johnson from sister ABC O&O in Raleigh, NC will be filling in on weather for a few days. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2024 by NYCsporty