Random WFLD thread

[Jase 1164]

Sylvia Perez announced today that Brian Jackson will be joining her as co-anchor at Noon. I believe he will still appear on GDC, albeit in a reduced role.

 

 

Also, the 3-anchor format has been reintroduced on Good Day (from 6-9A). The 9A hour is led by Brian, Mike and Kaitlin and it appears they will be going with a solo anchor from 4:30-6A. Don’t know who the solo anchor will be however.
 

Roseanne Tellez has been MIA (which is a bit concerning). Hopefully she hasn’t been cut.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2025 by Jase

[24994J 5888]

8 hours ago, Jase said:

Sylvia Perez announced today that Brian Jackson will be joining her as co-anchor at Noon. I believe he will still appear on GDC, albeit in a reduced role.

 

 

Also, the 3-anchor format has been reintroduced on Good Day (from 6-9A). The 9A hr. remains unchanged and it appears they will be going with a solo anchor from 4:30-6A. Don’t know who the solo anchor will be however.
 

Roseanne Tellez has been MIA (which is a bit concerning). Hopefully she hasn’t been cut.

 

 

 

So, you're saying that it's still Brian and Natalie at 9?
Side note, does Kaitlin come on earlier than 9am, these days?

Edited May 6, 2025 by 24994J

[Jase 1164]

On 5/5/2025 at 11:52 PM, 24994J said:

 

So, you're saying that it's still Brian and Natalie at 9?
Side note, does Kaitlin come on earlier than 9am, these days?

Yes & No. Previously, all four anchors appear at the very top (at 9A) and then everyone (including Mike and Kaitlin) will do a segment solo or they’ll do a segment (or two) as a group. It’s Brian, Mike and Kaitlin now at 9A. 

 

Kaitlin does the weather at 8A, 9A and Noon, but Mike often appears throughout GDC doing non-weather related stuff. Been that way for a while..
 

Over the past several weeks; they have also updated the openings for each newscast.

 

Edited August 18, 2025 by Jase

[GodfreyGR 812]

5 hours ago, Jase said:

Yes & No. From what I’ve seen, all four anchors appear at the very top (at 9A) and then everyone (including Mike and Kaitlin) will do a segment solo or they’ll do a segment (or two) as a group.

 

Kaitlin does the weather at 8A, 9A and Noon, but Mike often appears throughout GDC doing non-weather related stuff. Been that way for a while..
 

Over the past several weeks; they have also updated the openings for each newscast (don’t think they have updated the Noon just yet). 
 

Looks on par with the updates across the O&O's as they still work on phasing out the searchlights in the logos (KMSP recently redid their opens as well). Overall the stills with the FOX outline behind the logo give me "2010's WBBM 15 years later" vibes.

 

[24994J 5888]

Yeah, I've been working on uploading the new opens over the last few days. (Playlist that I'll keep updating...)
 

 

Meanwhile, it looks like they're trying to go toe-to-toe with WGN's morning after-show. Streaming at 10 (as I type this) is Chicago Now with Anthony & Kaitlin.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2025 by 24994J

[24994J 5888]

Yesterday was apparently the debut of the streaming hour. The full launch show is here.
 

 

[Jase 1164]

Anthony and Kaitlin are a ‘interesting’ choice to pair together. Nevertheless, I don’t think WGN (or anyone else) has to worry about ‘Chicago Now’. They should have brought back their ‘Good Day After the Show’ Facebook Live program. It was a lot more entertaining. 

 

On 5/6/2025 at 11:03 AM, 24994J said:

Yesterday was apparently the debut of the streaming hour. The full launch show is here.
 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2025 by Jase

[R.R. 126]

13 hours ago, 24994J said:

 

So, you're saying that it's still Brian and Natalie at 9?
Side note, does Kaitlin come on earlier than 9am, these days?

Some shows, yeah, I recall she often does WX hits during the 8am hour.

[Jase 1164]

Couldn’t help but notice the stand up area with the faux windows near the desk has been removed. So they’re now down to just home base and the interview area. Curious to see what the end result of this set remodel will be.

 

 

Also, a Chicago city grid has been added as a third background option (along with a tv monitor and the Fox 32 logo) in Studio 32.

 

Edited August 18, 2025 by Jase

[Jase 1164]

Looks like they’re getting close to unveiling the new stand up area near the desk. The scope of work ‘appears’ to be in areas where the old Fox 32 logo was featured.

 

While I commend them for trying to blend the old with the new, I’m not sure I like the end result. Maybe it will look better when fully lit.

 

 

 

[mouseboy33 137]

Ugh definetely not a improvement. The faux window element broke up the monster screen that already exisits. So they removed the faux window to add another big screen. Yawn. 

[R.R. 126]

And they’re slowly unveiling a new WX set in the main set from the looks of it after 8 years.

[Jase 1164]

2 hours ago, mouseboy33 said:

Ugh definetely not a improvement. The faux window element broke up the monster screen that already exisits. So they removed the faux window to add another big screen. Yawn. 

The faux windows were cool and could have been re-purposed somewhere. Throwing up a bunch of tv monitors, etc… seems like a step backwards design-wise.

 

 

1 hour ago, R.R. said:

And they’re slowly unveiling a new WX set in the main set from the looks of it after 8 years.

Is another weather center/area really necessary?  The current weather center is literally a few feet away and connected to the main studio.

 

Hopefully this area is multi-purpose otherwise this seems like a waste of space. 

[mouseboy33 137]

And its ugly dont forget this WXcenter is plain ugly. Zero design. Beige/woodgrain walls and some screens. Yawn. Defoca  step down.

[R.R. 126]

1 hour ago, Jase said:

The current weather center is literally a few feet away and connected to the main studio.

The current WX center is next to the newsroom on the other side of the building.....

[Jase 1164]

1 hour ago, R.R. said:

The current WX center is next to the newsroom on the other side of the building.....

See the door behind Emily? That leads (is connected) to the main studio. I’ve been there before…

 

[Chicago2008 39]

https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/sheila-oliver-gm-of-wfld-wpwr-chicago-to-retire/

[Jase 1164]

Sports Anchor/Reporter Cassie Carlson anchored Good Day Chicago this morning. I believe this is a first for her (anchoring a non-sports program/newscast). 

 

[24994J 5888]

52 minutes ago, Jase said:

Sports Anchor/Reporter Cassie Carlson anchored Good Day Chicago this morning. I believe this is a first for her (anchoring a non-sports program/newscast). 

 

And Dane Placko was anchoring yesterday morning. I haven't remembered to check in on the 4:30am weekday slot in forever. Is that an Elizabeth Matthews slot now, or was she was off, this weekend?

[Jase 1164]

On 7/6/2025 at 11:10 PM, 24994J said:

 

And Dane Placko was anchoring yesterday morning. I haven't remembered to check in on the 4:30am weekday slot in forever. Is that an Elizabeth Matthews slot now, or was she was off, this weekend?

The 4:30A Weekday slot is Roseanne’s. Elizabeth (and Brian) were filling in until she came back. Elizabeth hasn’t been on weekend mornings for weeks (she developed shingles… Mark was the one who suggested she go to urgent care to get checked out). I believe Mark said Elizabeth is expected to be back next weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2025 by Jase

[Jase 1164]

A new streaming show made its debut recently… ‘Chicago Live’. It’s like a local version of ‘LiveNOW from Fox’. Not sure if Elizabeth Matthews will be handling anchor duties M-F or will do M-W while retaining her anchor duties on the weekend editions of GDC. Chicago Live airs at 1P. 

 

Also worth noting is that they no longer air a repeat of the 10A hr. of ’Chicago Now’ at 11A. Instead, viewers get a new 2nd hour of CN hosted by Tia Ewing. I’m not sure if they have settled on who will co-host with Ewing.

 

Edited August 18, 2025 by Jase

[24994J 5888]

So, you're saying Tia does both hours? Last time I thought to tune in, it was still Ponce & Cody.

[Jase 1164]

1 hour ago, 24994J said:

So, you're saying Tia does both hours? Last time I thought to tune in, it was still Ponce & Cody.

No. Ponce & Cody do the 10A hour and Tia does the 11A. I think they’re still trying to differentiate between the two hours, so it’s very much a work in progress. 
 

Also, since Elizabeth is still dealing with the effects of shingles, my guess is that they’re trying to keep her workload as light as possible for the foreseeable future. 

[Georgie56 3661]

Chicago Sports Tonight expands to six nights a week this fall.

 

 

[Jase 1164]

According to the DirecTV guide….

 

Starting September 3, ‘Chicago Now’ will air from 10a-12p. Sherri will move to 1P. Jennifer Hudson will air at 2P followed by TMZ Live at 3P (no change). Not sure if this is a just a limited trial run or permanent.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2025 by Jase