WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[JustinH 43]

On 9/6/2023 at 4:47 PM, MorningNews said:

I thought I was crazy this morning but Heather definitely wasn’t in the same studio. The lighting was pretty bad wherever she was.

 

It was reported here last week that Brittany would do 4:30-6 with Sam doing 6-7, 10am and Noon.

I'm guessing this is the Mon-Thur schedule, since Sam is off on Fridays. Also, no mention of who is handling the 7-8 AM live online newscast as well as the weather cut ins during GMA. I've noticed recently that Mike and Shirleen haven't been anchoring it as much lately, I'm sure due to their already packed schedule. If I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw Sonia Rincon anchoring a few times last week.

Edited September 28, 2023 by JustinH

[Muppetman03 30]

1 hour ago, JustinH said:

I'm guessing this is the Mon-Thur schedule, since same is off on Fridays. Also, no mention of who is handling the 7-8 AM live online newscast as well as the weather cut ins during GMA. I've noticed recently that Mike and Shirleen haven't been anchoring it as much lately, I'm sure due to their already packed schedule. If I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw Sonia Rincon anchoring a few times last week.

This also can apply to noons as Shirleen seems to have stepped down from the noon show

 

As for weather cut ins, Britney seems to be doing them now

Same for the noon show

 

[Big Rollo Smokes 232]

As for who is anchoring the 7:00a webcast...

 

At least for now, it's Kemberly Richardson.

 

[MediaZone4K 1872]

5 hours ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

Interesting. I guess I never realized how much of a common practice editorializing always was at WABC. That clip of John Johnson is a very good example of that. YMMV on how much of a good thing that is, but I agree that it certainly adds a spice (for lack of a better word) to their newscasts that the competing stations don’t have.

 

No wonder a character like Bill Bonds did so well at WXYZ with the same format; his newscasts were basically “Eyewitness News” on steroids (newscast titles notwithstanding).

Off-topic from WABC...Though I can admire Bond's presence and his no nonsense attitude, I think that his style should not be duplicated. I'm more of a keep it to the facts less of your feelings believer. I would accept Bond's style strictly in a commentator role, however.

 

As for the WABC Seventies clips, again, colorful language, but we could do without trying to make up the viewers' minds for them.

Edited September 28, 2023 by MediaZone4K

[TVNewsLover 750]

2 hours ago, Muppetman03 said:

This also can apply to noons as Shirleen seems to have stepped down from the noon show

 

As for weather cut ins, Britney seems to be doing them now

Same for the noon show

 

Who has been filling in for her at noon?

[MorningNews 1361]

6 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Who has been filling in for her at noon?

Sandra Bookman and Lauren Glassberg have alternated the last few weeks.

[NYNewsCoverage 280]

38 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Sandra Bookman and Lauren Glassberg have alternated the last few weeks.

 

Interesting- I suppose WABC is trying to find a permanent anchor for the noon, or shift someone into that spot. I wouldn't see any issue putting Lauren in that spot if they wanted. Although the trend these days seems to be rotating anchors. 

WCBS does this both at noon and 8pm. Noon now rotates every other day solo between Chris and Mary and 8pm now seems to rotate solo between Maurice, Kristine, and Dick; although these are both half hour shows.

[MorningNews 1361]

First time watching the full 10am show and it’s pretty damn good. A very unique hour for the traditional EWN brand.

 

Dani appeared on today’s show to provide a hot topics type of segment with Shirleen, Mike and Sam that ran for about 8 minutes and then stuck around through the end. It’s really cool to see this water cooler style format. Though as someone said earlier, this is a show designed for Michelle Charlesworth rather than Shirleen. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by MorningNews

[MorningNews 1361]

15 hours ago, Muppetman03 said:

This also can apply to noons as Shirleen seems to have stepped down from the noon show

 

As for weather cut ins, Britney seems to be doing them now

Same for the noon show

 

Talent opens scrapped and no mention of Shirleen at noon would seem to confirm this. 
 

Seems reasonable that she wouldn’t do 4:30-7, GMA cut ins, 10am and noon too.

Edited September 28, 2023 by MorningNews

[TVNewsLover 750]

1 hour ago, MorningNews said:

Talent opens scrapped and no mention of Shirleen at noon would seem to confirm this. 
 

Seems reasonable that she wouldn’t do 4:30-7, GMA cut ins, 10am and noon too.

Seems like a good opportunity to rotate Sandra and Michelle in that role permanently. Otherwise adding it to Liz’s duties makes the most sense. 

[Vlad 299]

4 hours ago, MorningNews said:

First time watching the full 10am show and it’s pretty damn good. A very unique hour for the traditional EWN brand.

 

Dani appeared on today’s show to provide a hot topics type of segment with Shirleen, Mike and Sam that ran for about 8 minutes and then stuck around through the end. It’s really cool to see this water cooler style format. Though as someone said earlier, this is a show designed for Michelle Charlesworth rather than Shirleen. 

 

Yeah, in my opinion, it's probably WABC's hottest new show (by far more interesting than the First at 4 launch back in 2011) I personally am really becoming a big fan of this show!  It's not a snoozer by any means. The new show is literally everything that I had hoped for and in some cases even better. The new laidback "down to earth" or "watercooler" format is just so refreshing to see and such a nice departure from the hard news. And what's nice is how dynamic the show can be in terms of the presentation and the adaptability of how they can always switch from the chill vibes and get serious when need be which really goes to show how they are really are professionals.

 

The show has been on for about 3 weeks now. It's already almost a month in and it's such a solid show. I loved yesterday's segment with Jon DelGiorno flying NewsCopter 7 to discuss the story about the crane that collapsed back in July, over the city and just how he took the extra time to explain everything, as I was saying before, we now get to access more of the perspective of the reporter and presenters on this show which is so very refreshing, the viewer simply does not get that access during the other shows which is why this show is so refreshing and quite frankly the best thing I've seen WABC do in recent times because First at 4 honestly is just another newscast, I expected First at 4 to be like that, but Mornings at 10, really good. I hope it continues to evolve! The topics are solid not just boring trying too hard topics they are all compelling interesting stories and also the interviews they get to do with the local officials and talent and doctors, it really is almost like must-see TV. 

 

And because the talent are veterans and locals and WABC only hires the top-notch, you really get to hear their shared experiences, see their personalities, and get to know them on a bit more personable level, which is so cool. I also love how the producers purposely full-screen the camera on the presenters when they provide their perspective because it just again differentiates it from their ordinary newscast. Solid Job WABC with this show!

 

Not to veer ofcourse here, but how are the sister stations doing? I believe there are two other O&Os that were gonna do this too. WPVI (6ABC in Philly) and WTVD (ABC 11 in Raleigh) how are they doing with their 10am shows? Do we know if they are following the same approach?

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Vlad

[MediaZone4K 1872]

16 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

 

Interesting- I suppose WABC is trying to find a permanent anchor for the noon, or shift someone into that spot. I wouldn't see any issue putting Lauren in that spot if they wanted. Although the trend these days seems to be rotating anchors. 

WCBS does this both at noon and 8pm. Noon now rotates every other day solo between Chris and Mary and 8pm now seems to rotate solo between Maurice, Kristine, and Dick; although these are both half hour shows.

Broken record but...I think stations should get away from morning news anchors having to do the noon because of that long stretch of hours,  working from about 3:30 am to 1pm ish. 

 

If anything:

TEAM A 4:30-7, GMA cut ins, 10am

TEAM B: Noon, 4, 6

TEAM C : 5 & 11pm.

[mountainave 557]

4 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Broken record but...I think stations should get away from morning news anchors having to do the noon because of that long stretch of hours,  working from about 3:30 am to 1pm ish. 

 

If anything:

TEAM A 4:30-7, GMA cut ins, 10am

TEAM B: Noon, 4, 6

TEAM C : 5 & 11pm.

They have, at times.  After Lisa Colagrossi died on the job (and her family later claimed WABC overworked her), Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato demanded to stop working the noon show and they were indeed replaced.  That's when Novarro started anchoring at noon in addition to at 4:00 pm.  When Shirleen arrived, she started on the noon show and because she had no seniority (i.e., leverage), she kept the noon show when she was given Lori's morning chair.

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by mountainave

[MediaZone4K 1872]

18 minutes ago, mountainave said:

They have, at times.  After Lisa Colagrossi died on the job (and her family later claimed WABC overworked her), Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato demanded to stop working the noon show and they were indeed replaced.  That's when Novarro started anchoring at noon in addition to at 4:00 pm.  When Shirleen arrived, she started on the noon show and because she had no seniority (i.e., leverage), she kept the noon show when she was given Lori's morning chair.

 

I do think in the long-run, probably after a future round of contract re-negotiations, you'll see Shirleen replaced on the noon show now that she's also anchoring at 10.

That's good because morning start times have been increasingly pushed earlier and earlier over the years yet the noon responsibility has not changed on many stations. 

[Abraham J. Simpson 311]

4 hours ago, Vlad said:

 

Yeah, in my opinion, it's probably WABC's hottest new show (by far more interesting than the First at 4 launch back in 2011) I personally am really becoming a big fan of this show!  It's not a snoozer by any means. The new show is literally everything that I had hoped for and in some cases even better. The new laidback "down to earth" or "watercooler" format is just so refreshing to see and such a nice departure from the hard news. And what's nice is how dynamic the show can be in terms of the presentation and the adaptability of how they can always switch from the chill vibes and get serious when need be which really goes to show how they are really are professionals.

 

The show has been on for about 3 weeks now. It's already almost a month in and it's such a solid show. I loved yesterday's segment with Jon DelGiorno flying NewsCopter 7 to discuss the story about the crane that collapsed back in July, over the city and just how he took the extra time to explain everything, as I was saying before, we now get to access more of the perspective of the reporter and presenters on this show which is so very refreshing, the viewer simply does not get that access during the other shows which is why this show is so refreshing and quite frankly the best thing I've seen WABC do in recent times because First at 4 honestly is just another newscast, I expected First at 4 to be like that, but Mornings at 10, really good. I hope it continues to evolve! The topics are solid not just boring trying too hard topics they are all compelling interesting stories and also the interviews they get to do with the local officials and talent and doctors, it really is almost like must-see TV. 

 

And because the talent are veterans and locals and WABC only hires the top-notch, you really get to hear their shared experiences, see their personalities, and get to know them on a bit more personable level, which is so cool. I also love how the producers purposely full-screen the camera on the presenters when they provide their perspective because it just again differentiates it from their ordinary newscast. Solid Job WABC with this show!

 

Not to veer ofcourse here, but how are the sister stations doing? I believe there are two other O&Os that were gonna do this too. WPVI (6ABC in Philly) and WTVD (ABC 11 in Raleigh) how are they doing with their 10am shows? Do we know if they are following the same approach?

 

WPVI is definitely not the same format. It is a more straightforward though lighter newscast. Headlines and all that, and a  good amount of feature-ish content—consumer news, trending/social media content, etc. No separate desk, or that kind of thing. The producer is one who helped shape their 4 pm, and she’s brought a similar (not identical) feel to 10 am. 
 

Good vibe among the presenters, and they’ve managed to work in the weekend morning meteorologist who typically handles Wednesdays at noon for one weather segment the last couple of Wednesdays.

[TVNewsLover 750]

2 hours ago, Abraham J. Simpson said:

WPVI is definitely not the same format. It is a more straightforward though lighter newscast. Headlines and all that, and a  good amount of feature-ish content—consumer news, trending/social media content, etc. No separate desk, or that kind of thing. The producer is one who helped shape their 4 pm, and she’s brought a similar (not identical) feel to 10 am. 
 

Good vibe among the presenters, and they’ve managed to work in the weekend morning meteorologist who typically handles Wednesdays at noon for one weather segment the last couple of Wednesdays.

I’m not sure they have a clear rotation at noon yet. It’s usually Brittney and Chris with Adam thrown in here and there. 

5 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Broken record but...I think stations should get away from morning news anchors having to do the noon because of that long stretch of hours,  working from about 3:30 am to 1pm ish. 

 

If anything:

TEAM A 4:30-7, GMA cut ins, 10am

TEAM B: Noon, 4, 6

TEAM C : 5 & 11pm.

B at Noon, 5

C at 4,6,11

that would give both those teams two hours of airtime. 

[Abraham J. Simpson 311]

Vacation type days and such aside, Brittany is pretty well set Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. With the launch of the 10 am, Chris seems to be, generally, Tuesdays and Wednesdays—Tuesdays being the new addition for him. Adam is indeed the fill-in when someone is off or what have you. All summer, the rotation of who had the weather at the shore segments also seemed to factor in on occasion. 
 

 

[MediaZone4K 1872]

16 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I’m not sure they have a clear rotation at noon yet. It’s usually Brittney and Chris with Adam thrown in here and there. 

B at Noon, 5

C at 4,6,11

that would give both those teams two hours of airtime. 

Fair points.

 

I had it as 5 and 11, as that would allow Team B to come in 3:30pm to 11:35pm, giving them not too much over 8 hours of work. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by MediaZone4K

[IceManNYR 226]

Lindsay Tuchman is reporting on the morning newscast today..

Edited September 30, 2023 by IceManNYR
Photo added.

[mountainave 557]

And, fun fact, she's the daughter of CNN's Gary Tuchman.

[MorningNews 1361]

I’m curious to what everyone’s general thoughts are about Tom Negovan? He was at WGN for a long time and I always thought he was one of their best. Surprised to see him as a freelance weekend reporter for WABC.
 

Obviously this current set up could be his preference.

[TVNewsLover 750]

6 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

I’m curious to what everyone’s general thoughts are about Tom Negovan? He was at WGN for a long time and I always thought he was one of their best. Surprised to see him as a freelance weekend reporter for WABC.
 

Obviously this current set up could be his preference.

Have they decided on Marza’s replacement? I feel like he’d be a good fit along Michelle. 

[nycnewsjunkie 1428]

2 hours ago, MorningNews said:

I’m curious to what everyone’s general thoughts are about Tom Negovan? He was at WGN for a long time and I always thought he was one of their best. Surprised to see him as a freelance weekend reporter for WABC.
 

Obviously this current set up could be his preference.

He’s fantastic; probably one of the best reporters WABC has going for them. I could be wrong, but I think he’s full time now.

[JustinH 43]

On 9/30/2023 at 6:54 AM, IceManNYR said:

Lindsay Tuchman is reporting on the morning newscast today..

She is probably Derick Waller's replacement, as his last day was 10/3. He said it was all his decision, as after 6 years of getting up at 2am, he needed a change. Hope to see him at another station soon, as he is an excellent reporter. Lindsay was great at NY1; good pickup by WABC. Always love her New Year's Eve segments with her dad Gary Tuchman on CNN.

[MediaZone4K 1872]

On 9/30/2023 at 6:18 PM, TVNewsLover said:

Have they decided on Marza’s replacement? I feel like he’d be a good fit along Michelle. 

Again, Toni Yates is my preference but it hasn't happened in all these years so it's either her choice or their's.