WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[TVLurker 389]

4 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Broken record but it feels like Sam has been trying to get his GMA job back since his weather channel stint didn't work out. Too bad for him, Ginger Zee is firmly planted in her job.

 

I don't blame him. He thought he hit the jackpot when The Weather Channel (which was owned by a consortium of Blackrock and NBC at the time) offered him the chance to do his own morning show. Not only did the show not work out but the channel went to shit too under Allen ownership. I would try to get back together with GMA if I were Sam Champion too.

[GraphicsMan 345]

On 4/9/2026 at 9:15 PM, TVLurker said:

 

I don't blame him. He thought he hit the jackpot when The Weather Channel (which was owned by a consortium of Blackrock and NBC at the time) offered him the chance to do his own morning show. Not only did the show not work out but the channel went to shit too under Allen ownership. I would try to get back together with GMA if I were Sam Champion too.

I never understood why, he go to the weather channel he was fine on ABC. I thought it was weird back then we he got it.

[HanSolo 467]

4 hours ago, GraphicsMan said:

I never understood why, he go to the weather channel he was fine on ABC. I thought it was weird back then we he got it.

Not everyone has the same desires and needs in life, nor the same risk tolerance. It’s completely understandable why he’d choose to take the opportunity to lead a show himself. Some people might choose to stay put, also a perfectly rational decision. Sometimes you take a swing and it works out, sometimes not. 

[MisterBill 128]

Liz Cho co-hosted Up Close with Bill Ritter on Sunday and at the end Bill said that she would be joining him going forward. So I guess that's the succession plan for that program. Kind of surprised it didn't go to Mike Marza, since he's subbed for Bill in the past.

[Nynewsguy7 23]

5 hours ago, HanSolo said:

Not everyone has the same desires and needs in life, nor the same risk tolerance. It’s completely understandable why he’d choose to take the opportunity to lead a show himself. Some people might choose to stay put, also a perfectly rational decision. Sometimes you take a swing and it works out, sometimes not. 

Ok - let’s just make sure everyone understands how the things went down with Sam and NBC/TWC. 
 

GMA was killing it in the ratings - and it seemed like the additions of Sam and Josh really added to the spike - so NBC went after something them both. They fed Josh’s enormous ego - and Sam wanted to be closer to Miami - where Rubem was full-time, and Atlanta offered him that opportunity. 
 

of course NBCs plan all along was to pull them away from ABC was promises that would never pan out. Sam even filled in for Al on Today a few times - Josh subbed for Matt - but the needle didn’t move for NBC. 
 

Once Comcast bought NBC and sold TWC, the writing was on the wall for both. 
 

Sam was fortunate to have stayed in the good graces at ABC and WABC. Technically he is a GMA contributor through being an employee of channel 7.
 

When Bill Evan’s was on the outs years back - I knew Sam was making his comeback based on his daily appearances at 7 Lincoln Square.  
 

Sam never burned his bridges. He’s a very amicable guy. I believe he’s one of the longest talents in the market now - probably only with the exception of Kaity and Rosanna. 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

10 hours ago, MisterBill said:

Liz Cho co-hosted Up Close with Bill Ritter on Sunday and at the end Bill said that she would be joining him going forward. So I guess that's the succession plan for that program. Kind of surprised it didn't go to Mike Marza, since he's subbed for Bill in the past.

 

It makes sense. They're the longest-reining duo in the history of WABC-TV at 23 years and counting (as long as Bill continues at 6pm), and as long as Liz wants to do it, and as long as Bill wants to continue to do it, then why not?

[carolinanews4 455]

9 hours ago, Nynewsguy7 said:

Ok - let’s just make sure everyone understands how the things went down with Sam and NBC/TWC. 
 

GMA was killing it in the ratings - and it seemed like the additions of Sam and Josh really added to the spike - so NBC went after something them both. They fed Josh’s enormous ego - and Sam wanted to be closer to Miami - where Rubem was full-time, and Atlanta offered him that opportunity. 
 

of course NBCs plan all along was to pull them away from ABC was promises that would never pan out. Sam even filled in for Al on Today a few times - Josh subbed for Matt - but the needle didn’t move for NBC. 
 

Once Comcast bought NBC and sold TWC, the writing was on the wall for both.

Your timeline here is off. Comcast bought controlling interest of NBC in 2011. (A deal announced in 2009 back when media ownership reviews by the government took a long time.) Sam joined The Weather Channel in 2014 and left in 2016. NBC didn’t sell the channel to Allen until 2018. So your assertion that Comcast’s purchase of NBC and subsequent selling of The Weather Channel was in anyway connected to Sam’s departure from The Weather Channel doesn’t seem correct 

[HanSolo 467]

Regardless of timing, the idea that someone chooses something that fits their individual needs/desires/ambitions is entirely understandable. Yes, Sam had a good thing going, but making a move is not a sign of dissatisfaction with that good thing. At that point in his individual life, that was a good move. And wisely, he didn’t burn bridges. That doesn’t always give you a way back, but it sure as heck is a good strategy. 

[Vlad 406]

16 hours ago, MisterBill said:

Liz Cho co-hosted Up Close with Bill Ritter on Sunday and at the end Bill said that she would be joining him going forward. So I guess that's the succession plan for that program. Kind of surprised it didn't go to Mike Marza, since he's subbed for Bill in the past.

A sign of the times that Bill's days with WABC are starting to be numbered. But its fair, he's 76 now.

[TheNewsTV 342]

19 hours ago, MisterBill said:

Liz Cho co-hosted Up Close with Bill Ritter on Sunday and at the end Bill said that she would be joining him going forward. So I guess that's the succession plan for that program. Kind of surprised it didn't go to Mike Marza, since he's subbed for Bill in the past.

 

Mike Marza never fills in for Bill Ritter on the 6pm newscast when he's away; it's usually David Novarro. I believe that when Bill retires, David Novarro will take over the 6pm slot.

[RealNews18 271]

2 minutes ago, TheNewsTV said:

 

Mike Marza never fills in for Bill Ritter on the 6pm newscast when he's away; it's usually David Novarro. I believe that when Bill retires, David Novarro will take over the 6pm slot.

That would make sense in keeping consistent with the teams.

4/6 David and Liz

5/11 Mike and Sade  

[GraphicsMan 345]

On 4/21/2026 at 10:34 AM, Vlad said:

A sign of the times that Bill's days with WABC are starting to be numbered. But its fair, he's 76 now.

Bill days are getting numbered bet ya he doesn’t make it pass 2027. It’s be generous if he stays for 2028.

[Yankees4life 599]

Eh...Bill can still do this until he's 80 if he wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney let's him go for as long as he wants ala Marvin Zindler, Dave Ward, Bill Beutel, etc

[TVNewsLover 861]

3 hours ago, Yankees4life said:

Eh...Bill can still do this until he's 80 if he wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney let's him go for as long as he wants ala Marvin Zindler, Dave Ward, Bill Beutel, etc

He appears to be frail and his mind not as sharp as it used to be. I imagine that’s why he now has a co-anchor for Up Close and why he no longer anchors solo at 6pm when Liz is off. 

[Encore 323 79]

Let’s take a little trip down the Channel 7 memory lane because 15 years ago today, EYEWITNESS NEWS FIRST @ 4PM debuted. As many of us know, this newscast replaced The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ended the day before (May 25, 2011) and ran for 25 years and seasons respectively.
Today on FIRST @ 4PM, Liz Cho, David Novarro, and chief meteorologist Lee Goldberg celebrated the milestone.

 

FIRST @ 4PM DEBUT VIDEO FROM 15 YEARS AGO (MAY 26, 2011)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cvUPsa63Lrs&si=Y7E4vqbzhYWtVXGA

 

 

FIRST @ 4PM 15TH ANNIVERSARY VIDEO FROM TODAY (MAY 26, 2026)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eqv9tjVhvcc&si=7EGkYWMWXdklVAzY

Edited May 26 by Encore 323

[IceManNYR 249]

Something I don't understand with new studio, why does the lighting at the news desk sometimes look uneven and darky lit?
Heather looks like she does not have much studio lights on her and the logo under the desk looks very dark.

[Vlad 406]

You know come to think of it now, the studio lighting for WABC has always been on the dimmer side comparatively to other stations.

 

Even with their previous studios at the former 7 Lincoln Square building which is now completely gone and demolished (as we've discussed earlier) sadly only in our memories now..  the lighting was also like that. I almost wonder now if the set lighting being dimmer is intentional, maybe they don't want it to be too distracting for the anchors.

 

And yes I remember all too well that day, when the First at 4pm broadcast debut, they were so young! Haha as we all were. ;p.  On a side note, its wild to see how their graphics at the time were quite beautiful even though their studio was not as nice. Almost as good as what we have today!

 

Funny enough they were just months away from the debut of the Giant Octopus graphics which were also beautiful. They've come a long way, kudos to them for pioneering the 4pm broadcast here in New York! 

 

Can anyone identify specific key differences between the broadcasts in terms of tone and delivery? Is there a different tone for the 4pm, 5pm and 6pm?

 

Here is how I note the differences:

4pm seems to be emphasize more on lifestyle and more entertainment, more light hearted.

5pm being more investigative and long form reporting a bit harder and the

6pm of course being the traditional hard delivery.

 

Its also important to remind ourselves that that each newscast/show has its own dedicated staff. A lot of things behind the scenes that we don't know about its a lot more than just the people we see on camera haha.

Edited May 27 by Vlad

[swaggyboi128 3]

I remember when F@4 launched...I was only 6, and the idea of a 4p newscast was shocking...of course, now everyone seems to be getting them (except channel 2, who seem stuck on courtroom shows that just make everyone seem like jerks) 

[mountainave 618]

Part of the problem is that the anchor front-lighting is too dim and the skyline background is too bright, so there isn't enough contrast between foreground (ie, the anchors) and background. But a more subtle issue is that the height of skyline graphic is misaligned such that the heads of the anchors are directly in front of the dark buildings rather than the blue sky, again leaving insufficient contrast between foreground and background, giving the appearance of darkness.  They should get rid of the ticker (or move it to the top) and drop the background image down.

 

You can see how this was less of an issue with the prior set: 

[MorningNews 1711]

4pm is probably my favorite newscast on channel 7. Liz, David and Lee have that classic channel 7 chemistry.

 

Weekend mornings when Toni Yates is there with Michelle and Dani are a close second. 

[MediaZone4K 2661]

On 5/26/2026 at 6:53 PM, Encore 323 said:

Let’s take a little trip down the Channel 7 memory lane because 15 years ago today, EYEWITNESS NEWS FIRST @ 4PM debuted. As many of us know, this newscast replaced The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ended the day before (May 25, 2011) and ran for 25 years and seasons respectively.
Today on FIRST @ 4PM, Liz Cho, David Novarro, and chief meteorologist Lee Goldberg celebrated the milestone.

 

FIRST @ 4PM DEBUT VIDEO FROM 15 YEARS AGO (MAY 26, 2011)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cvUPsa63Lrs&si=Y7E4vqbzhYWtVXGA

 

 

FIRST @ 4PM 15TH ANNIVERSARY VIDEO FROM TODAY (MAY 26, 2026)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eqv9tjVhvcc&si=7EGkYWMWXdklVAzY

15 years!!! I remember watching the end of Oprah live. WABC's stellar afternoon lineup really took a hit with the cancellations of All My Children, One Life to Live, and Oprah's ending. 

 

A testament to the stability of WABC that the same anchor team is still in place at 4:00. 

Edited Saturday at 01:56 AM by MediaZone4K

[GraphicsMan 345]

2 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

15 years!!! I remember watching the end of Oprah live. WABC's stellar afternoon lineup really took a hit with the cancellations of All my Children, One life to ive, and Oprah's ending. 

 

A testament to the stability of WABC that the same anchor team is still in place at 4:00. 

Same here at WTVD in Raleigh I remember it to the last Oprah and the premiere of Eyewitness News at 4pm we actually became the #1 show in the market.

[TVNewsLover 861]

On 5/28/2026 at 12:08 AM, MorningNews said:

4pm is probably my favorite newscast on channel 7. Liz, David and Lee have that classic channel 7 chemistry.

 

Weekend mornings when Toni Yates is there with Michelle and Dani are a close second. 

I have always said the best team is the weekend morning team. Michelle, Dani, Perry (and formerly Pedro), and frequent fill-in Toni have the right personalities and chemistry for a morning show. I like Shirleen and Brittany but, like Mike who used to be on with them prior, feel their personalities are too dry for the mornings. 

[RealNews18 271]

6 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

I have always said the best team is the weekend morning team. Michelle, Dani, Perry (and formerly Pedro), and frequent fill-in Toni have the right personalities and chemistry for a morning show. I like Shirleen and Brittany but, like Mike who used to be on with them prior, feel their personalities are too dry for the mornings. 

I actually really like the weekday morning team. Not as much as when it was Ken,Lori,Bill and Joe but I really do enjoy the team they have now. Dani and Michelle are great together, I wish somehow they would work Michelle into Mornings at 10, she’d be a great fit for that format. 

[MorningNews 1711]

It’s time for Bill Ritter to retire entirely from his anchoring duties. Or they need to strictly prohibit him from going off script when reading a story.