ED2 144 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Where did it say that Steve Sanders is leaving the News at Nine? Either my eyes & brain aren't working properly, or the release on WGN's site doesn't explicity mention Suppelsa and Payne anchoring together at 9pm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbs2worksforyou 35 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 It was reported in today's Sun-Times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l14dap 1 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 From http://wgntv.trb.com/about/station/wgn-news-expansion-pressrelease,0,7112943.htmlstory: Anchor Mark Suppelsa will join WGN News and begin co-anchoring WGN News at Nine with Allison Payne later this month. So does that mean that Tom Skilling will be doing weather 11:30am-1:00pm, 5:30pm-6:00pm, and 9:00pm-10:00pm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 818 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Skilling will more than likely do all three newscasts. He already does the Midday news and his 5:55 p.m. weather update, so it wouldn't mean much more work than what he does now. It will be interesting to see how viewers will react to the changes and what WFLD does. Given that their most direct competitor is adding/expanding newscasts, WFLD has no choice now but to add an early evening newscast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l14dap 1 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I wasn't aware Skilling did a 5:55pm update, but then again I'm not from Chicago. In that case, you're right...not much more work for the guy. I think Suppelsa will be a good addition to WGN. Is the 5:30pm going to be on Superstation WGN (okay...WGN America)? Lastly, I can't keep getting out of my head the Tony Sco interview with Mark Suppelsa and Robin Robinson where Robin says she'll beat Mark silly if he shows up at another station competing against her. Very funny stuff! In case you've forgotten: [yt]nzYDS4a7oYk[/yt] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 I saw that video. This was a little bit after he left FOX 32. This was all cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Maybe WGN will finally produce HD news in September? Kind of hard to believe that Tribune's flagship station isn't producing HD news yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Feder reports this morning, that Mark will start his Channel 9 debut on the 9pm show on Monday Night. Steve Sanders will move back to his previous spot (15 years ago) as the Noon Anchor on Monday as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link 3 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I'm still trying to figure out what the big deal is about Mark Suppelsa?...WGN's newscast has been #1 at 9pm against WFLD (where Suppelsa anchored). I don't see why they'd want to change things by moving Steve Sanders to noon and replace him with a former competitor who never topped WGN's ratings. Now if WFLD was #1 at 9pm with Suppelsa and WGN snagged him then I could see why it's be a big deal. I have nothing against Suppelsa personally, but I just don't see what's so special about all this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I'm still trying to figure out what the big deal is about Mark Suppelsa?...WGN's newscast has been #1 at 9pm against WFLD (where Suppelsa anchored). I don't see why they'd want to change things by moving Steve Sanders to noon and replace him with a former competitor who never topped WGN's ratings. Now if WFLD was #1 at 9pm with Suppelsa and WGN snagged him then I could see why it's be a big deal. I have nothing against Suppelsa personally, but I just don't see what's so special about all this... You have to understand that Mark Suppelsa connects with/attracts the younger audience unlike Steve Sanders. WGN is thinking about their long term future. Yes, WGN is #1 at 9PM; however, the main chunk of WGN's 9PM audience is an older generation/audience and is lacking the needed growth with the younger audience to keep their 9PM position constant. The majority audience of FOX News Chicago at 9 is a younger audience and the younger new generation news viewers are tuning into FOX Chicago more and more. WGN needed someone "younger and fresher" to keep the new generation of news watchers turning to WGN News at 9 so WGN doesn't lose more of their audience. The reasoning is really that simple. Also, rumors have been for a while that Steve Sanders has plans on moving up to other things in the TV news business. WGN needed another top notch Chicago anchor in place. WGN is ready incase Steve decides to take a new different position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 I like Mark, ever since he started at Channel 5 and he was an outstanding as a replacement of Walter Jacobson at FOX 32 and I have a good feeling the he will do good on the Nine O'Clock News & the future Evening News @ 5:30 on Channel 9. But I dislike this new approach. Yes Mark brings the younger folks to the TV screens but will the older demo follow? To me I strongly doubt that. Steve was the guy that always hold the 9pm show well. Now he goes back to being a midday news again after 15 years of being on the 9pm show. Tom Negovan had alot of chemistry with Micah Materre and I won't get shocked if he comes back on the desk if Steve does leave the anchor chair on Channel 9 for good. I'm hoping for the best at Channel 9 with the new lineup but if I don't like it how it is, there's a certain low-power television station here in the Chi that I watch before turning on the 10pm news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I like Mark, ever since he started at Channel 5 and he was an outstanding as a replacement of Walter Jacobson at FOX 32 and I have a good feeling the he will do good on the Nine O'Clock News & the future Evening News @ 5:30 on Channel 9. But I dislike this new approach. Yes Mark brings the younger folks to the TV screens but will the older demo follow? To me I strongly doubt that. Steve was the guy that always hold the 9pm show well. Now he goes back to being a midday news again after 15 years of being on the 9pm show. Tom Negovan had alot of chemistry with Micah Materre and I won't get shocked if he comes back on the desk if Steve does leave the anchor chair on Channel 9 for good. I'm hoping for the best at Channel 9 with the new lineup but if I don't like it how it is, there's a certain low-power television station here in the Chi that I watch before turning on the 10pm news. The older demo will follow.. That's one of the good things about Mark Suppelsa. He attracts the younger people and at the same time, can keep the older folks watching. He's not an over the top "young and hip" type anchor. It's unlikely that the older folks will turn to FOX News Chicago. The people that have watched WGN News at 9 for years will continue to watch WGN News at 9. You have to remember what I said at the end of my last message about Steve Sanders.. He's looking into higher up things in the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 The older demo will follow.. That's one of the good things about Mark Suppelsa. He attracts the younger people and at the same time, can keep the older folks watching. He's not an over the top "young and hip" type anchor. It's unlikely that the older folks will turn to FOX News Chicago. The people that have watched WGN News at 9 for years will continue to watch WGN News at 9. You have to remember what I said at the end of my last message about Steve Sanders.. He's looking into higher up things in the business. Well you say the older demo will follow, I disagree with you, but we will see how it goes when he starts the 9pm show on Channel 9 on Monday and well see how it goes from there. And about your last paragraph from your previous message, I don't believe in those rumors. But if he does get a higher position someday, that's all cool. He deserves every bit of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 612 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Is Steve Sanders doing his last 9pm newscast tonight, or is he already gone from the spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 Is Steve Sanders doing his last 9pm newscast tonight' date=' or is he already gone from the spot?[/quote'] He was on last night at 9pm. I'm assuming that he'll be on tonight for his final night at 9pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagosNewsChannel 0 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Steve is on at nine right now. Waiting for the goodbye, if any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Steve is on at nine right now. Waiting for the goodbye, if any. Steve did say good bye and It was touching. Kind of sad that they decided to break up a good team. It looked like Allison wanted to break down and cry, but she managed to hold it in. Well, I guess we will be seeing Steve on the Midday newscast now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicksair 62 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 An excellent send off for Steve IMHO. All the gag gifts by Allison were funny as heck! Not too long and not too short. Just right. Heres to the news at Noon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 An excellent send off for Steve IMHO. All the gag gifts by Allison were funny as heck! Not too long and not too short. Just right. Heres to the news at Noon! Yes, I just saw it. It was a fantastic sign off, including the hug from Allison at the end. He didn't even mention Mark, which to me was also good. Now he comes back home to the 12pm show, the spot he left 15 years ago. It's sad to see him leaving the 9pm show but he'll do well at Noon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagosNewsChannel 0 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I just uploaded the sign off. It can be found at the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdPmxnkDqNc And it did seem like Allison was about to break down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
312newswannabe 7 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Thanks for uploading that vid CNC...I still don't know, as someone else mentioned earlier, what the big deal is about Suppelsa...Steve, Alison, Tom, Dan and Rich have been a great team and constantly, if not always #1 @ 9...Mark hopscotches from station to station here...how long does he plan on being at WGN? 1 contract length of time? I don't think it's worth breaking up a good team to bring someone else in, who couldn't top WGN's ratings...whatever, we'll see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpzml09 0 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I dont really know he was good at NBC5 & Fox but not great there are alot of other big anchors out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Mark hopscotches from station to station here...how long does he plan on being at WGN? 1 contract length of time? I don't think it's worth breaking up a good team to bring someone else in, who couldn't top WGN's ratings...whatever, we'll see what happens You have to remember that the management and the style of newscast at WFLD was very different when Mark Suppelsa left than when he started at WFLD in 2004.. He was originally brought in to WFLD when former management had original plans to add an early evening newscast. Of course, management changed, those plans were cancelled, and the direction that the newscasts were going changed. Mark hung on as long as he could but Mark wanted different. You have to also remember that one of the determining factors of Mark leaving NBC 5 was that he was being too restricted by management at that station. There were ideas Mark wanted to try out and do in the newscasts but his ideas were rejected by NBC 5 management. FOX Chicago gave him the opportunity to be more open and put his ideas into use when he was first hired; however, towards the end (the past year or so), he was being a bit restricted idea and newsroom-wise. FOX News Chicago and WGN News are 2 completely different styles of newscast at 9PM. Ever watch those newscasts side by side? Chances are extremely low that loyal WGN viewers are going to switch. Mark is going to stay. Knowing him, he likes to stick to something unless something good for him comes up. He most likely won't leave WGN unless he gets some amazing offer for the top spot at ABC 7 or NBC 5 which most likely won't happen for a very long time. Really, there's nothing wrong with an anchor changing stations. John Drury did a second very short time at WGN (not even completing his WGN contract) before going back to ABC 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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