The Definitive ABC 7 Thread

[ns8401 846]

I was wondering when ABC 7 was going to start promoting Linda Yu's farewell, considering her last show is already next Wednesday. Sure enough, here's the first promo, with the hashtag #WeLoveYU. Is that tagline a little silly and predictable, yes, but it fits. Appearing in several old clips in the spot, you have to think that Joel will come back, and I just noticed the other day on social media that Magers shaved the beard, so I guess there's a chance that he might pop in.

 

Nice idea but... meh.

[brianpr3 173]

Since Alan is in Rome covering Cupich receiving his elevation to Cardinal who's filled his seat on the shows?

[ChiCubsFan 33]

Since Alan is in Rome covering Cupich receiving his elevation to Cardinal who's filled his seat on the shows?

Ravi was yesterday. Not sure about today.

[24994J 5269]

Ravi again at 10. If Alan is off, Rob will do the 6, 10 and possibly the 5 (Hosea did that once) on Monday and Tuesday. Ravi will do the 5 and 10 the rest of the week with Rob in the field on the late show.

[ChiCubsFan 33]

I honestly cannot watch this channel or any local news channel in a snowstorm. So much hype over two inches of snow.

[24994J 5269]

Well, if they (everyone) had forecasted the 6-8 that actually came down, the hype would've been more warranted. That said, until everyone stops forgetting how to drive/park/function in the first snow of the year, I guess they all have the right to hammer it home.

 

Unrelated, Karen Jordan is pregnant with her and Christian Farr's 2nd child. I didn't catch if they said when the baby is due, but based on her appearance, it shouldn't be for awhile. While it's never safe to assume, I kinda started noticing the baby bump a few weeks ago. Congrats to the whole family.

[24994J 5269]

The rumors of the WCIU newscast's demise have been exaggerated. While only drawing about a 1.0/0.3 (not much different from the programming that previous filled the time slot), both stations are satisfied enough with the arrangement to continue for at least another year. "Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but sources said it was a one-year renewal at terms more favorable to Weigel than the previous two-year deal"...whatever that means.

 

http://www.robertfeder.com/2016/12/08/u-renews-7-p-m-news-deal-abc-7/

 

[Daybreak 269]

Is Cheryl still a contributor on the 10 p.m. newscast. Like is she still in the opening.

[24994J 5269]

Is Cheryl still a contributor on the 10 p.m. newscast. Like is she still in the opening.

Yes, but they haven't shown the talent open for almost 2 years, nor made new ones for any of the new or timeshifted talent.

[24994J 5269]

They redid the in-news weather ticker. It's not as nice as the last one, but at least they don't add the social media line underneath like in the mornings.

 

[Jay Russell 25]

Anyone know all the Chicago news ratings for midday November 2016 sweeps

[Spring Rubber 609]

I'm not a fan of the bug position. Maybe I'll warm up to it, but right now, it feels awkward. It's also silly how close the radar is zoomed in at each location. You can't really glean much information by the super-zoomed radar.

[24994J 5269]

I'm not a fan of the bug position. Maybe I'll warm up to it, but right now, it feels awkward. It's also silly how close the radar is zoomed in at each location. You can't really glean much information by the super-zoomed radar.

Yeah, they should just stick with the area map like the pic I posted for warnings and radar. That close-up should only be for small supercell storms.

[Jay Russell 25]

11 am ratings for WBBM WMAQ and WLS

AND 12pm for WFLD? For November anyone?

[Spring Rubber 609]

Looks like Larry Mowry is off this weekend. Phil is in the studio with Mark McGinnis reporting on the roads.

[CircleSeven 1944]

Mowry was on yesterday morning.

[24994J 5269]

And Larry's doing midday work today. He might've had this morning as a scheduled off day, and came in when he could. They made it seem like he'll be in with Phil through the evening.

[Spring Rubber 609]

I didn't see the 5pm newscast, but it's Larry doing the 10pm tonight.

 

EDIT: Karen Jordan is off tonight and will be filling in for Tanja Babich on the morning news tomorrow, which will be beginning at 4AM to compete with the others on winter storm coverage.

[24994J 5269]

I misunderstood the message before. It was Phil who couldn't come in tonight, so they traded shifts. Talk about odd shifts, though, Karen Jordan will be on the air for an 8th day in a row tomorrow, her 6th straight weekday in for Tanja, while still doing the 5 but not the 10 this weekend. Definitely putting in the hours before maternity leave.

[ns8401 846]

I misunderstood the message before. It was Phil who couldn't come in tonight, so they traded shifts. Talk about odd shifts, though, Karen Jordan will be on the air for an 8th day in a row tomorrow, her 6th straight weekday in for Tanja, while still doing the 5 but not the 10 this weekend. Definitely putting in the hours before maternity leave.

Too bad she's on a salary...

[24994J 5269]

With Liz Nagy's official hiring, the general assignment reporter job listing was taken down from the station's website, but the bosses are apparently not done. While she wasn't quickly named successor, I thought Diane Pathieu was all but a sure thing to succeed Ben Bradley, especially considering ABC supposedly set a hiring freeze at the O&O's.

 

I was wrong... http://abc7chicago.com/careers/job-weekend-morning-anchor---general-assignment-reporter/1647834/

[24994J 5269]

FOUND IT! I'm only going to give the numbers at 10pm for this year and the two prior Novembers.

 

2013: WLS- 8.9, WMAQ- 5.9, WBBM- 5.5, Combined- 20.3

2014: WLS- 9.3, WMAQ- 6.6, WBBM- 4.6, Combined- 20.5

2015: WLS- 8.4, WMAQ- 6.2, WBBM- 3.2, WGN- 2.6, Combined- 20.4 (In-progress, at the time of this post)

 

I like when I'm right.

Follow-Up: For you-know-whats and giggles, I decided to check and see how another year adds up (aka, I randomly stumbled upon this post). I listed last year's final results, in addition to 2016's.

 

2015: WLS- 8.1, WMAQ- 6.7, WBBM- 3.0, WGN- 2.7, Combined- 20.5 / 34.7 Share

2016: WLS- 6.6, WMAQ- 5.3, WBBM- 2.5, WGN- 2.2, Combined- 16.6 / 28.0 Share

How fall did they fall? WLS- 1.5 (-19.5%), WMAQ- 1.4 (-20.9%), WBBM- 0.5 (-16.7%), WGN- 0.5 (-19.5%)

 

Interestingly, the losses were essentially proportionate, so no one station really suffered more than another, percentage-wise. I'll maintain that the Cubs likely had an affect during the first week, but NOW they all can definitely look with worrying eyes at the numbers, especially if said team strings a few good years together. For what it's worth, simple math says only about 8,000 more households were tuned in overall this year in that time slot compared to last year.

[Spring Rubber 609]

I nominate Anthony Ponce.

[24994J 5269]

Not gonna lie, it crossed my mind. It would certainly fit the trend, but a 5-day a week job in television might get in the way of his podcast.

 

But really, he left channel 5 because he was blocked from moving up. At 7, he'd replace a guy that left the same timeslot for the exact same reason, so his hiring would be a surprise.

 

(This whole ramble was me talking myself out of this possibility.)

[24994J 5269]

While NBC 5 debuted their new school closing ticker last night, ABC 7 rolled out their updated ticker this morning. The dark blue and gold are out, replaced by another white-washed look with the same layout as before.