The Definitive ABC 7 Thread

[Spring Rubber 658]

14 minutes ago, R.R. said:

Found an oldie (without a “Rebroadcast” label)

 

 

Wow, I had no idea that they used the same opener format from 1999-2001 (albeit with different colors and a different background) as the 2001 package.

[cbs2worksforyou 38]

3 hours ago, R.R. said:

Found an oldie (without a “Rebroadcast” label)

 

 

 

Miss that voiceover! (I don't like Bill Ratner's delivery on the current ones.)

[R.R. 81]

3 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

Wow, I had no idea that they used the same opener format from 1999-2001 (albeit with different colors and a different background) as the 2001 package.

If you look closely in the 2001 package, Jerry and John’s pose shots from 1999 were resued’

[brianpr3 176]

They ran the mag mile Christmas parade down here in ft Myers and  why can't they fire Cheryl Burton, why is it that she is untouchable?

Edited December 28, 2021 by brianpr3

[24994J 5391]

4 hours ago, brianpr3 said:

They ran the mag mile Christmas parade down here in ft Myers and  why can't they fire Cheryl Burton, why is it that she is untouchable?

 

I say this because of history, not because of any personal opinions, but stations are likely still leery to dismiss high-ranking Black talent after the protests against WBBM in the 1980's. They demoted weeknight anchor Harry Porterfield to weekends, when Bill Kurtis returned from the network, and Jesse Jackson called for a boycott. To this day, there is pressure to have Black representation on the lead anchor teams. It's been said that that's part of why Cheryl got that contributing anchor role in 2003. It's a touchy subject, for sure.

 

- - -

 

A terrible transition, but some bad news in the last hour. Jeff Dickerson, longtime Bears reporter for ESPN Chicago, and regular contributor to ABC 7's sports department, passed away today from colon cancer. He had been in hospice for a bit, 2 years after his wife's death from cancer. He was 44, and leaves behind an 11-year-old son.

Edited December 28, 2021 by 24994J

[Spring Rubber 658]

RIP Jeff, and I feel so bad for his son having lost both parents at age 11. I can't even imagine... 

[Jase 884]

5 hours ago, brianpr3 said:

why can't they fire Cheryl Burton, why is it that she is untouchable?

 

What has she ever done to justify being fired? I have said before and will say again, what is it that some people have against her? She may not be the 'greatest anchor that has ever lived', she is hardly the worse that has (or will ever) grace the Chicago airwaves. Her and Alan have good chemistry and on a personal level; she was very nice the two times I met her (which is often not the case with meeting news people).

 

It's fair to debate the way she presents the news and such, but outside of that, there's zero reason to dog her as many often do for no reason.

[MorningNews 1337]

Calls to fire Cheryl Burton are overblown for sure but last time I watched ABC7 Chicago with regularity I found her presenting style to be pretty amateurish and distracting, mostly in the way she reads the news and speaks with her hands. Haven’t watched in years so there’s a chance she’s gotten better but for a station with anchors like Alan, Judy and legends like Kathy and Ron, Cheryl was always the weaker of the bunch. She’s been there since the late 90s so even if her presenting style is weak, she’s no doubt a Chicago staple. 
 

Art Rascon of ABC13 in Houston is another glaring example of a weaker anchor that has other strengths to keep him in his position for 20 years. The man is abysmal at reading the news and that’s putting it kindly, yet he’s in Houston tv royalty.

Edited December 29, 2021 by MorningNews

[brianpr3 176]

6 hours ago, 24994J said:

 

I say this because of history, not because of any personal opinions, but stations are likely still leery to dismiss high-ranking Black talent after the protests against WBBM in the 1980's. They demoted weeknight anchor Harry Porterfield to weekends, when Bill Kurtis returned from the network, and Jesse Jackson called for a boycott. To this day, there is pressure to have Black representation on the lead anchor teams. It's been said that that's part of why Cheryl got that contributing anchor role in 2003. It's a touchy subject, for sure.

 

I understand, Hell as a jab I also think she has dirt lol 

1 hour ago, MorningNews said:

Calls to fire Cheryl Burton are overblown for sure but last time I watched ABC7 Chicago with regularity I found her presenting style to be pretty amateurish and distracting, mostly in the way she reads the news and speaks with her hands. Haven’t watched in years so there’s a chance she’s gotten better but for a station with anchors like Alan, Judy and legends like Kathy and Ron, Cheryl was always the weaker of the bunch. She’s been there since the late 90s so even if her presenting style is weak, she’s no doubt a Chicago staple. 
 

Art Rascon of ABC13 in Houston is another glaring example of a weaker anchor that has other strengths to keep him in his position for 20 years. The man is abysmal at reading the news and that’s putting it kindly, yet he’s in Houston tv royalty.

5 hours ago, jase said:

 

What has she ever done to justify being fired? I have said before and will say again, what is it that some people have against her? She may not be the 'greatest anchor that has ever lived', she is hardly the worse that has (or will ever) grace the Chicago airwaves. Her and Alan have good chemistry and on a personal level; she was very nice the two times I met her (which is often not the case with meeting news people).

 

It's fair to debate the way she presents the news and such, but outside of that, there's zero reason to dog her as many often do for no reason.

@jaseand @MorningNewshell I think of her as that teacher who has an annoying voice and the road to graduation passes through her, plus I don't find her credible

[R.R. 81]

On 12/28/2021 at 6:30 PM, jase said:

 

What has she ever done to justify being fired? I have said before and will say again, what is it that some people have against her? She may not be the 'greatest anchor that has ever lived', she is hardly the worse that has (or will ever) grace the Chicago airwaves. Her and Alan have good chemistry and on a personal level; she was very nice the two times I met her (which is often not the case with meeting news people).

 

It's fair to debate the way she presents the news and such, but outside of that, there's zero reason to dog her as many often do for no reason.

Many call for her to be fired after what happened 9 months ago. Despite the ratings apparently being decent, not many care for her after the Giangreco fallout.

[Daybreak 270]

What's really funny is, the people that blame Cheryl should really go after management for Giangreco firing. Cheryl filed a complaint to HR which is well in her right to do so. She didn't like the comment, and frankly like I said about a year ago, we don't know what happened behind the scenes for this to transpire. It's unfortunate but Giangreco like many other is well on his way to finding his footing again on tv/radio. I wish people would move on. Once he was put on leave, I felt management used this opportunity to slash a salary for someone who frankly was on his last contract with the station anyway. 

[24994J 5391]

Mark had been very vocal that he had been sitting on strike 2 since his tweeting incident a few years ago. I still think he got a raw deal with the Burton incident, and I'm on his side over hers, but perhaps more than the salary, he wasn't a first-time offender. That played a huge role in this. Even if he and Cheryl had had beef before, if he had no other priors, he probably would've survived this incident.

[R.R. 81]

1 hour ago, 24994J said:

Mark had been very vocal that he had been sitting on strike 2 since his tweeting incident a few years ago. I still think he got a raw deal with the Burton incident, and I'm on his side over hers, but perhaps more than the salary, he wasn't a first-time offender. That played a huge role in this. Even if he and Cheryl had had beef before, if he had no other priors, he probably would've survived this incident.

Mark also revealed that he was going to sue both ABC7 and Burton for this fallout. But the station gave him the buyout to prevent him from going through with the lawsuit
 

Many people have gone after Burton not only for this but it was also revealed that she was apparently always making fun of the late Jerry Taft’s weight on air and no apparent repercussions were brought into it. 
 

Management is another thing. Many viewers aren't too fond of Mr. Idler. Let’s not forget what happened to many others (i.e. Perez and Caplan). 

[Georgie56 3168]

31 minutes ago, R.R. said:

Management is another thing. Many viewers aren't too fond of Mr. Idler. Let’s not forget what happened to many others (i.e. Perez and Caplan). 

 

Does the average WLS viewer even know who John Idler is?

[Jase 884]

9 hours ago, R.R. said:

Mark also revealed that he was going to sue both ABC7 and Burton for this fallout. But the station gave him the buyout to prevent him from going through with the lawsuit
 

Many people have gone after Burton not only for this but it was also revealed that she was apparently always making fun of the late Jerry Taft’s weight on air and no apparent repercussions were brought into it. 
 

 

Not sure I buy him suing. More like management was going to pay him what he was due and wanted some insurances that this latest 'incident' and the aftermath was never going to see the light of day outside the hollow halls of WLS.

 

Never heard of any on-air remarks Burton made about Jerry's weight, but the two never really seemed too close (friendly) to begin with. Who knows really?? We don't know what we don't know.

 

Not to belabor the point, but I just don't get all the hate people tend to sling Burton's way as if she has never said/done anything positive. Just seems somewhat strange to me. 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by jase

[24994J 5391]

Oh, Jerry's weight was a frequent target for everyone. Ron, Mark, hell, even Linda a time or two, and I'll bet Cheryl made comments, too. Any quips we saw on-air were in good fun, and Jerry was sharp enough to laugh along or dish it right back. Right or wrong, it's a thing that happened, and no one got fired for it. Without knowledge of their history behind the scenes, it's reasonable that the average viewer would see this whole ordeal as Cheryl being a stick in the mud. That's likely not entirely fair to her, just like it's probably not fair to brand Mark as a bully, but the optics are as such, and almost nobody thought it was a termination-worthy offense.

Edited December 31, 2021 by 24994J

[R.R. 81]

2 hours ago, jase said:

 

Not sure I buy him suing. More like management was going to pay him what he was due and wanted some insurances that this latest 'incident' and the aftermath was never going to see the light of day outside the hollow halls of WLS.

 

 

 

He addressed the possibility of the lawsuit in a podcast back in November. He said he along with his agent (Joel Weisman) and his brother were going to take it to court.

 

Mark also added that WLS kept a LOG of Burton’s complaints to management on not only him but other anchors and reporters claiming she felt she was being dissed.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by 24994J
Direct link to relevant point in video

[Roadrunner 212]

On 11/22/2021 at 2:20 PM, R.R. said:

Well Jesse Kirsch is leaving ABC 7

Update for anyone who might want to know as to where he is headed: he posted on socials that he'll be with NBC News as a Cleveland-based reporter.

[24994J 5391]

So, with ABC expanding and enhancing the O&O's streaming utilities and offerings, WLS has debuted slower-paced, relaxed, and conversational newscasts at 7am and 7pm. Talent assignments haven't been announced for either hour, but Terrell and Tanja remain together til 7:30am, when Val Warner joins one of them (whoever is anchoring the GMA updates, that day). Tracy and Roz are around, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGimVvDXQGc

 

Meanwhile, Rob and Cheryl anchored at 7pm for the first 2 nights, while both were off on Friday, when Ravi and Judy sat in. As I said, the show is pretty laid back, which is a nice change of pace, but the real highlight is the open. Never mind that they screwed around with the pitch of Bill Ratner's voiceover, BUT CHECK OUT THE THEME. I have almost zero reason to believe the old theme is making a comeback, but someone over there had to put in the effort to dig this out of storage, so who knows?

 

 

Please note that each video is set to either private or unlisted, and will remain that way until the station formally announces their existence. It's certainly not a national secret or something, but I'd rather both videos stay among this community, for now. I'd appreciate it.

Edited January 22, 2022 by 24994J

[TheSpeedKing 265]

10 hours ago, 24994J said:

So, with ABC expanding and enhancing the O&O's streaming utilities and offerings, WLS has debuted slower-paced, relaxed, and conversational newscasts at 7am and 7pm. Talent assignments haven't been announced for either hour, but Terrell and Tanja remain together til 7:30am, when Val Warner joins one of them (whoever is anchoring the GMA updates, that day). Tracy and Roz are around, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGimVvDXQGc

 

Meanwhile, Rob and Cheryl anchored at 7pm for the first 2 nights, while both were off on Friday, when Ravi and Judy sat in. As I said, the show is pretty laid back, which is a nice change of pace, but the real highlight is the open. Never mind that they screwed around with the pitch of Bill Ratner's voiceover, BUT CHECK OUT THE THEME. I have almost zero reason to believe the old theme is making a comeback, but someone over there had to put in the effort to dig this out of storage, so who knows?

 

 

Please note that each video is set to either private or unlisted, and will remain that way until the station formally announces their existence. It's certainly not a national secret or something, but I'd rather both videos stay among this community, for now. I'd appreciate it.

I can't watch the video due to technical issues on my end, but assuming this "old theme" is News Series 2000+, it's important to know that 2022 will be 30 years since this package launched.

Edited January 22, 2022 by TheSpeedKing

[TheSpeedKing 265]

I watched the video on another device. I can confirm that is News Series 2000+, and might signal that WLS will revive it if it gets new graphics. I also hope that WLS finds a replacement for Bill Ratner.

[R.R. 81]

46 minutes ago, TheSpeedKing said:

I watched the video on another device. I can confirm that is News Series 2000+, and might signal that WLS will revive it if it gets new graphics. I also hope that WLS finds a replacement for Bill Ratner.

It is possibly time for new graphics. Going on at least 8 1/2 years. 
 

Plus yes, around the fall will be marking 30 years since NS2K+ came along and became the major and lifelong piece of Chicago news music history.

[MorningNews 1337]

That sounds so incredible.

[WeatherandTraffic 51]

What do you guys think of Greg Dutra, I think he's over the top, tries to be funny and fails and is a shitty meteorologist. I think he's one of the worst meteorologists ever as he doesn't take his job seriously.

 

 

[24994J 5391]

1 minute ago, WeatherandTraffic said:

What do you guys think of Greg Dutra, I think he's over the top, tries to be funny and fails and is a shitty meteorologist. I think he's one of the worst meteorologists ever as he doesn't take his job seriously.

 

I think your dislike of him is weirdly deep.

 

I like him, well enough. Probably not the best we've ever seen, but I'd love for you to give me some hard evidence of how he's a "shitty" meteorologist. What in his basic scientific job performance is specifically "shitty"?