wabceyewitness

The job is Mike Marza’s to lose, unless someone they rotate it has undeniable chemistry. That’s how Ken Rosato got the job (over Jeff Rossen who became the primary sub, and an auditioning Don Dahler), and how Steve Bartelstein moved in from sports to replace Robb Hanrahan as morning news anchor.

The “wake up with..” is not too new, but updated to have Ken edited out. A more recent promo (“a new day is a new start! Start new with…”) has also been edited to remove Ken. crazy idea: I think WABC shouldn’t replace Ken and should instead elevate Heather and Sam to co-anchors. Go the route of GMA with three anchors and just have Heather and Sam trade off some of the stories with Shirleen being the main “news” person.

One of the plus sides of an anchor suddenly leaving a station is you get to see different faces in new places. At WABC, it’s been nice to see Sandra Bookman and David Novarro in the morning on some days.

Bill Ritter. Liz Cho. Lori Stokes.

THIS. I find it incredibly alarming that, after all these years, character assassinations of a woman have launched only because a man in a more senior position was fired for using a vulgar term to describe her.

Perhaps things seem fishy to you because you do not have the facts, or care to understand them? Lori did not mysteriously leave with a taped goodbye. They blew out the the last 6 minutes of their newscast for a highlight reel and she said goodbye to viewers live on the air. They also posted her final sign off from EWN on social media. All of that for a person who decided to leave for a gig on a competing morning show. And there is no consensus that Shirleen is not well liked, or that she is well liked for that matter. There are a small number of posts by anonymous people claiming they know what type of person she is in real life based on how she appears on television, or claiming to know her from 20 years ago to now. Perhaps there is truth to it or perhaps it’s all made up. There’s nothing verifiable and no data to make any of it a fact let alone a consensus.

If true, sounds like ABC acted quickly and made the right call. Good on them for prioritizing the workplace environment.

Agreed. And the fact that it was caught on a mic means there’s a recording of it that will last forever and they know it will get out at some point. If they didn’t move quickly, it would be damaging not just to his reputation but also the station’s reputation and how management views the workplace environment.

It was not heard over the air, according to the Post article you shared. Rosato was off the air when he uttered the phrase, we’re told, but an insider told us his remark was picked up “on an open mic” and was “immediately let go.”

I wouldn’t say Lori left unceremoniously. They knocked out the final 5 1/2 minutes of the morning news to run a highlight reel and have her say goodbye live. Yes, it was something agreed upon with lawyers involved, but it’s pretty significant for someone that exited because of mismanagement and then jumped to a competing show. Steve was unceremonious because he was terminated for cause. Bill’s exit was definitely unceremonious. We’ll see if Ken’s exit is addressed.

And this morning it’s Mike Marza and Toni Yates at the desk with only Toni saying she is in for Shirleen.

Interesting. Michelle last said she was “in for Ken” when signing off Tuesday, May 9’s broadcast. Ken was last on the air on May 2. On May 4, he posted on Facebook that it was his birthday but he was dealing with back issues. Always had a feeling Ken would be next to go.

It happens everywhere, we just learn of it more often when it happens in television because a reporter or anchor that viewers see daily is suddenly removed from a program. In some cases, it’s also a credit to the network and its corporate parent that they take allegations seriously these days and will now act on things swiftly and publicly unlike other industries where behavior like this is still swept under the rug.

Exactly what I was thinking. He’s still on air so there’s no way for him to claim right now that they’re sidelining him. They can ask him to report from the field or any other studio as they please … I’m sure we’ll see a “Rob Marciano has departed ABC News and we thank him for his contributions to our organization” statement in the near future.

That would be nice and a good use of time. However, with news divisions running on tighter budgets and being asked to do more with less, I fear that more time for the evening programs will just mean more light news, extreme weather, viral videos and content traditionally seen on morning programs.