NBC 5 Chicago 191 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 From Robert Feder this morning! Look for WMAQ-Channel 5 to shake up its morning news lineup with a change of faces. Rob Elgas, who has been anchoring weekend morning newscasts on the NBC-owned station, is expected to replace Dick Johnson from 4:30 to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday. The move, likely to happen later this month, will reunite Elgas with Zoraida Sambolin, who anchored weekend mornings before joining Johnson on the weekday show last September. Once they're in place, adjustments to the morning show's format will follow. Johnson, who joined Channel 5 in 2002 after 20 years at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, is expected to stay on as a reporter and fill-in news anchor. Elgas, whose deal was negotiated by agent Joel Weisman, has been seen as a rising star since he joined Channel 5 in 2002 from KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas. Born in northwest suburban Arlington Heights and raised in Crystal Lake, the University of Illinois alum previously worked at WICD-TV in Champaign. No word yet on who'll replace Elgas alongside co-anchor Ellee Pai Hong on the weekend morning shows. The two-step process of replacing Johnson and Hong with Elgas and Sambolin is a tacit acknowledgement of dissatisfaction with eroding morning news ratings at Channel 5. In Nielsen numbers for February, the station continued to run a distant third among households and among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54. Its very interesting what WMAQ has been doing with their morning anchors. I like Dick and Zoraida in the morning. Dick and Ellee were good in the mornings as well! Wonder what format changes they are going to be doing? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
first on fox 18 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Aside from this, has CBS2 named a replacement for the late Randy Salerno? Who has been filling in? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/#findComment-28953 Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Aside from this' date=' has CBS2 named a replacement for the late Randy Salerno? Who has been filling in?[/quote'] No replacement yet. Traffic anchor Susan Carlson has been filling-in. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/#findComment-28954 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amra 171 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 How are Susan and Roseanne doing together? Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/#findComment-28965 Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 How are Susan and Roseanne doing together? I'm trying to think of how can I put this... They are ok together but there is really such a sense of void that needs to be filled when watching CBS 2 Morning News now. It's like trying to watch an 11AM half-hour newscast stretched 2 hours long in the morning. Susan and Roseanne are 2 completely different types of anchors and the chemistry that should be there isn't really there. You can see Roseanne, Susan, Ed, and Bill are really trying their best but it's not something that will work out in the long run. Right now, there is no "guide" or "driver" at the anchor desk. A lead male anchor is really needed there. Some here are probably thinking, why not just try to get Dick Johnson who just got demoted to reporter/fill-in anchor at NBC 5? The problem with that is Dick Johnson has a completely different style of anchoring the news which kind of led to him losing the weekday morning anchor spot. NBC 5 is using this CBS 2 morning news vulnerability time to retool. If Johnson is brought into the CBS 2 mix, the morning news format will have to change. No more fun and jokes in the morning. However, just think of new on-air promos.. "Watch Johnson and Johnson on CBS 2! Dick in the mornings and Rob in the evenings!" However, if CBS 2 wants to keep the format they had with Randy Salerno, they'll have to find a replacement anchor soon. Roseanne is going on maternity leave soon. I really don't see anyone in this market that can fill Randy's shoes to continue what they had going. I'm thinking maybe Patrick Elwood but FOX isn't going to let him go that easy. He's too valuable where he's at. They may really have to look out of market for someone. If Ahern is willing to think outside the box, Bruce Wolf could possibly work out. When Bruce was still at FOX Chicago, he used to be fill-in morning anchor and he was good at anchoring the more serious news. It was almost like you saw a different Bruce Wolf than the sports he's more known for. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/#findComment-28975 Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsdude 61 Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Speaking of CBS 2, there's actually some talk that newly-hired meteorologist Don Schwenneker might get a whirl at filling in. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/3253-morning-shake-ups-on-wmaq/#findComment-28987 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.