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Spring Rubber

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Well 32 has a new morning EP (again):

 

Dan Salamone who spent some time as WXYZ's new media and news directors in the late 90's and went to some smaller stations after he was demoted in Detroit. He wasn't very well liked here and he caused a lot of friction and unrest in the newsroom. We'll see how long he lasts as a morning EP. He was last the ND at WOIO in Cleveland until January this year.

 

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/wfld-names-dan-salamone-morning-show-ep/153066

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  • 2 weeks later...
Apparently 32's morning show is soon to be expanded and Richard Roeper is one person auctioning for a role in it...

 

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/wfld-may-add-prominent-movie-critic-to-morning-show/154030

What's he thinking? He's got weekly appearances on 'Windy City Live' and WGN Radio, in addition to whatever his role is on whatever cable film channel, AND his columns and reviews in the Sun-Times. I couldn't possibly imagine what WFLD has to offer that would (presumably) pull him away from at least one of his existing jobs.

 

Also, expanding how? I mean, since they already go til 10, 4AM is definitely the logical addition, but that doesn't sound like a big enough deal to make such a hiring move.

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He had a contributor role once before on the morning newscast (during the Bob Sirott-era) and even filled in for him from time to time. That said, this isn't much of a surprise. While the move to 4A is a given, hopefully more changes are on tap.

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And WFLD sinking so low that it's drowning is because Fox still had its news operation as "Fox News Chicago" by 2006 (when it got the Fox O&O V1 graphics and it didn't rebrand back into Fox 32 until a few years ago with the arrival of the Fox O&O V3 graphics), which may have confused many people in Chicagoland into thinking it's Fox News in Chicago even though Fox O&O Stations and FNC are two completely different subsidiaries of Fox, and thus causing even less people to watch it. And it's still harboring the repercussions that it suffered from the "Fox News Chicago" era.

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As usual the WFLD revolving door continues to spin apace:

John Kelley is leaving his anchor role on the stations Good Day Chicago morning show on December 1st. He joined 32 in 2013.

 

George Smith is coming over from WOIO in Cleveland following new GDC EP Dan Salomone. Smith also spent some time reporting for ESPN Chicago. He starts October 12th.

 

http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/jon-kelley-leaving-wfld-george-smith-joining/155339

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Good for them, I guess.... I wonder who will anchor. Didn't they hire some guy from out of town for weekends when they announced Caplan had joined the station? Maybe this is where Strehl will be reassigned to do the weather.

 

I'm kind of surprised they beat WGN to this time slot.

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Building on ChiCubsFan's comment, aren't they kinda working backwards here? WFLD is adding weekend morning newscasts, when they haven't even added early evening newscasts on any night (and remain the only Fox O&O without any).

 

Other stations that once had news lineups structured like WFLD's, such as WGN, usually waited until after launching a 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. newscast before adding morning news on Saturdays and Sundays (though in retrospect, WGN's first weekend morning news attempt in the early 1990s did predate the launch of the weekday WGN Morning News by two years and the initial half-hour iteration of the WGN Evening News by 16).

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Makes no sense in adding a 5/6pm newscast where they would go head-to-head against 2,5,7,9 and be completely obliterated. Adding a weekend newscast(s) makes more sense seeing as there is less competition and they have the opportunity to try something different.

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I still think they could have a shot at 6pm (third, at best), but having TMZ and Dish Nation as a lead-in would suck. Now, if they found a way to move Family Feud to 5pm on Fox from sister WPWR at 6, they'd be on a good track.

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Makes no sense in adding a 5/6pm newscast where they would go head-to-head against 2,5,7,9 and be completely obliterated. Adding a weekend newscast(s) makes more sense seeing as there is less competition and they have the opportunity to try something different.

Its New York sister station WNYW has early evening newscasts that gs up against four stations at 5:00 and 6:00 (WABC, WNBC, WCBS and WPIX). The only difference there is that WNYW had a nine-year headstart over WPIX at 5:00 and a 12-year headstart over 11 at 6:00.

 

Even more to the point, WFLD competes with WLS, WMAQ, WBBM and WGN from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. weekdays. The performance of WFLD's morning program (as with its other newscasts) has more to do with management issues in the news department and the continuing musical chairs of talent. Remember too, that WJZY launched a 6:00 p.m. newscast only a few months after its news departmemt started, and that station (even with its shift toward a more traditional format) is in the ratings basement like WFLD is.

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Since WBBM/WFLD comparisons have become the norm in recent years, I've come to a certain conclusion...

 

Fox32 has a content problem, and CBS2 has a talent problem.

 

Yes, WFLD's anchor team is just okay and their reporting bench is small/bad, but look at what they cover/talk about. That's where the stench is coming from. They don't cover Empire to the crazy level that WNYW does, and things have toned down since American Idol's on its deathbed. Mention it? Sure. Devote up to 10 minutes of a broadcast to it? Right now, the 9pm, while different, is no worse than it was when Sirott and Robinson (an underappreciated team) were anchoring. The only difference now is that Herndon and Hasbrouck are too easily cast off as the punching bags. Hell no. On the morning show, I understand that they've always been the anti-WGN, but it seems (seems because it's true) that they get all the cast-off material that WGN wouldn't touch.

 

WBBM, on the other hand, has a very good reporting core, and they're content, while bland, isn't drastically different from what's just up the dial. The desk talent, though...my God. I still like Rob Johnson, but what in God's name is the appeal of Sargent, Kennedy, and Moise? It also boggles my mind that 3 of the station's best anchors are on weekend duty. How many female anchors get dumped before Mai Martinez gets a shot on weeknight? Hell, why is Marissa Bailey wasting away at 5am on a Saturday? Steve Baskerville's schtick got old years ago, and Kleist, Curran, or even Glaros would be an improvement. Ryan Baker was mediocre at NBC, and even worse at CBS, actually making me long for the days of Mark Malone. Hell, they haven't had a good sports director since Tim Weigel, and that poor guy was dying.

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