Tyler 150 Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 As reported by the PG: WTAE Channel 4 announces changes to its anchor lineups. According to News Director Bob Longo, the new lineups are as follows: Channel 4 Action News This Morning (5-7 a.m. weekdays) Kelly Frey Mike Clark Demetrius Ivory (Weather) Scott Stiller (Traffic) Channel 4 Action News At Noon (12-12:30 p.m. weekdays) Sally Wiggin Mike Clark Erin Kienzle (Weather) Channel 4 Action News At 5 (5-6 p.m. weekdays) Wendy Bell Andrew Stockey Demetrius Ivory (Weather) Channel 4 Action News At 6 (6-6:30 p.m. weekdays) Michelle Wright Andrew Stockey Stephen Cropper (Weather) Jon Burton (Sports) Channel 4 Action News At 11 (11-11:30 p.m. weekdays) Wendy Bell Andrew Stockey Stephen Cropper (Weather) Jon Burton (Sports) The changes are effective beginning Monday 9/29. Wonder why they just have Kienzle doing 30 minutes at noon? I like her. And I don't think she's doing weekends anymore - that have someone else (don't recall his name off the top of my head). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newscopter7 198 Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 What a load of crap. I can't find any confirmation of this on post-gazette.com. If this is true TPTB at Channel 4 are far more inept than I realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler 150 Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Yea, sorry, I'm a compulsive liar. Anyway, here's confirmation: http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/tunedin/archive/2008/09/25/wtae-re-assigns-anchors.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Holy Cow, That was so unexpected!!! This is probably because their ratings are going down like crazy. I can't believe that after years of anchoring the evening news, Mike Clark is now going to be doing mornings. I do, however, like Andrew Stockey and think he is pretty good news anchor. I am disappointed that Michelle Wright will only be doing the 6pm news and I am also disappointed that Sally Wiggin will only be doing the noon news. I would like to see how this will affect the ratings and how these new teams work together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungstownTV 0 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I can't stand Stockey; he needs to go back to sports! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestbiteme 13 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I can't stand Stockey; he needs to go back to sports! Poor Mike Clark! What the hell kind of boneheaded decision is this? Mike's been a headliner at WTAE for ages, or at least since Andy Pearson. Things started going waaay downhill when Wendy Bell got an evening slot; jumped the shark when Scott Baker was let go and now it's moved to the point of idioticy. Just when I had started watching Channel 4, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takingaction4you 4 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I can't believe this. This is a huge smack in the face to Mike Clark. He's been the evening anchor forever! Although I feel even worse for Sally... are they trying to show her the door? She's the face of WTAE; they can't get rid of her. Also, it makes no sense to put Demetrius on mornings and then at 5. That has to be a crazy schedule for him. Why don't they extend Erin's shift or move Stephen to cover the 5PM spot, too? I'm happy Wendy and Michelle won't be anchoring together. They never worked together too well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I can't believe this. This is a huge smack in the face to Mike Clark. He's been the evening anchor forever! Although I feel even worse for Sally... are they trying to show her the door? She's the face of WTAE; they can't get rid of her. Also, it makes no sense to put Demetrius on mornings and then at 5. That has to be a crazy schedule for him. Why don't they extend Erin's shift or move Stephen to cover the 5PM spot, too? I'm happy Wendy and Michelle won't be anchoring together. They never worked together too well. I agree that it is a big smack in the face to Mike Clark. He used to do mornings in the mid 90's, but he moved to the evenings when Andy Pearson left in 1998. I have always liked him and I don't think he is too happy about going back to the AM. As I stated before, Andrew isn't too bad, but I think Mike is better, and Andrew and Michelle Wright are a good team so they will be good together. I don't know how Andrew & Wendy and Mike & Kelly will work with each other, but I hope it all results in higher ratings (which I doubt). And I do have the feeling that they are pushing Sally Wiggin out, which is a shame because she is the face of Channel 4. Over the past 5 years, Sally has gone from 6 & 11PM broadcasts to the noon and 6pm broadcasts and now just the noon broadcast. I think it is silly to have Demetrius do the mornings and 5 and Erin just do the noon. Why not just have Demetrius do the mornings and Erin could do the noon and 5. Overall, I am not too satisfied with the new anchor line-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueflag 0 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Pushing Sally Wiggin out? I'd say she's just scaling back her hours so she can ease into retirement. She's been there for what, almost 30 years now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takingaction4you 4 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I wouldn't be so quick to say that. On that article in the PG, Rob Owens mentioned that Sally returned calls after she was moved to the noon and 6 because she wanted a different schedule, but this time around she didn't return any calls about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I watched Mike Clark on the morning news and he seemed pretty relaxed and comfortable. I wonder how Andrew Stockey will do on the evening newscasts, even though for the past few months he has been filling in on the 5pm newscast for Wendy Bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I must say, the new anchor line-up isn't too bad. In my opinion, Andrew Stockey and Wendy Bell are a better team than Wendy and Michelle Wright. And like I stated before, Mike Clark was pretty good on Action News This Morning. Even though he was coming from the evening news, of all three morning anchormen in Pittsburgh, he is probably the most comfortable and relaxed. Overall, a pretty good move for Channel 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newscopter7 198 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 How ironic... The #1 station in Pittsburgh is CELEBRATING their lead female anchor's 30 years with the station. Meanwhile the brain trust at WTAE has reduced their most experienced and well known anchor to just the noon news. Good Luck with that Channel 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtmclaug 43 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Here's what I would do with the anchor line-ups: Weekday mornings: Kelly Frey and Wendy Bell Demetrius Ivory (weather) Scott Stiller (traffic) Weekday noon: Kelly Frey and Wendy Bell Demetrius Ivory (weather) Weekdays 5pm: Sally Wiggin and Michelle Wright Stephen Cropper (weather) Andrew Stockey (sports) Weekdays 6pm: Michelle Wright and Mike Clark Stephen Cropper (weather) Andrew Stockey (sports) Weekdays 11pm: Sally Wiggin and Mike Clark Stephen Cropper (weather) Andrew Stockey (sports) As for the weekends, I wouldn't change the anchors. I think Janelle, Shannon, and Jake are fine. I would change the weather and sports, though. Put Michael Haynes and Guy Junker on weekend mornings and Erin Kienzle and Jon Burton on weekend evenings. I still like WTAE and will continue to support them, but I think these recent changes are a little weird. I think my changes are pretty good. What do you think? I was also thinking that Michelle could fill-in at 6 and 11. I like her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElliotJones 52 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Has Ashley DiParlo been fired yet? This is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhratbrat 423 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Has Ashley DiParlo been fired yet? This is important. not as important as your dancing cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takingaction4you 4 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Has Ashley DiParlo been fired yet? This is important. She has so much passion* as a broadcast journalist they keep her on. *desire to look at gossip websites on a daily basis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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