Jase 818 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 "Additional hiring [following the selection of Erin Mendez as Val Warner's replacement] is expected as WGN prepares to move up the start of its morning newscast to 4am by this summer." -- Robert Feder Will other stations follow suit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickedYoungMan 0 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 "Additional hiring [following the selection of Erin Mendez as Val Warner's replacement] is expected as WGN prepares to move up the start of its morning newscast to 4am by this summer." -- Robert Feder Will other stations follow suit? Tribute's WXIN started doing this a few months ago roughly. 6 Hours of news in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1805 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 "Additional hiring [following the selection of Erin Mendez as Val Warner's replacement] is expected as WGN prepares to move up the start of its morning newscast to 4am by this summer." -- Robert Feder Will other stations follow suit? Maybe WFLD will add another half hour to up their chances at getting the big --. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 I would expect WLS to eventually follow suit.. But I think other stations may wait to see what numbers look like compared to their early national news before they do actually follow. CBS has Morning News, NBC has Early Today, and ABC has America This Morning.. What does WGN have at 4AM? A rerun of The Andy Griffith Show which puts them behind in any sort of news at that time slot. WGN has local news at 5:30PM while the big 3 has their national evening newscast. As for WFLD, they need to fix up their mess before doing anything of this sort.. If they were to start their news at 4AM, they would lose the sex chat/line and strip club related advertisers they have at that half hour since those are not to be aired during newscasts.. They are already having an extremely hard time trying to sell ad space on their newscasts. They need to cut that last hour of Good Day Chicago too for sure. What I would probably expect to see is WBBM, WMAQ, and WLS to start running their news/weather/traffic tickers and time/temp bugs on the screen at 4AM during those early national news. Maybe even having just their meteorologist start a half hour earlier cutting in during the commercial breaks with the local forecast. But hell, I wouldn't exactly be surprised either if any stations came out tomorrow saying they are going to start their morning news at 4AM too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
15connects 4 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 And then 3am then 2am, and then expect no programming at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 818 Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 As for WFLD, they need to fix up their mess before doing anything of this sort.. If they were to start their news at 4AM, they would lose the sex chat/line and strip club related advertisers they have at that half hour since those are not to be aired during newscasts.. They are already having an extremely hard time trying to sell ad space on their newscasts. They need to cut that last hour of Good Day Chicago too for sure. I agree they have to get it together, but with WGN being their direct competitor, they have to decide whether they want to compete or just lay down and die. They're already on their death bed and it could be months/years before they start having an easier time selling ad space. Things like that (along with ratings/demos, etc..) don't seem to be much of a concern to them, so adding the extra 1/2 shouldn't be a big deal. I figure they would drop the 9AM hr at some point anyway and air Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show in that time slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I agree they have to get it together, but with WGN being their direct competitor, they have to decide whether they want to compete or just lay down and die. They're already on their death bed and it could be months/years before they start having an easier time selling ad space. Things like that (along with ratings/demos, etc..) don't seem to be much of a concern to them, so adding the extra 1/2 shouldn't be a big deal. I figure they would drop the 9AM hr at some point anyway and air Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show in that time slot. That's true.. It really shouldn't be a big deal. The 4:30AM half hour is already a drunken free for all which can really be enjoyable to watch at times so adding a half hour to that may make for more good TV. All they really have to do is store more booze in the file drawers in the weather center. But unfortunately, I think the station (well, certain people) has already decided whether they want to compete or just lay down and die.. Those certain people may see it as competing in their fantasy world minds but everyone else around them can see it as complete suicide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Javon 0 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I do not think their is any thing wrong with a 4:00 am news cast i know my wife she get home from work at around 4:15 am so if we had one here in La im pretty sure that she would be a regular viewer .but we don't.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 The date has been set - July 11th http://www.wgntv.com/about/station/pressrelease/wgntv-early-birds-wgn-morning-news-starts-at-4am-20110616,0,5721549.story I'm a little bit confused by the statement that Larry and Robin will start at 5:30 AM. (They start at 5 AM currently.) Was this a mistake in the press release? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 The date has been set - July 11th http://www.wgntv.com/about/station/pressrelease/wgntv-early-birds-wgn-morning-news-starts-at-4am-20110616,0,5721549.story I'm a little bit confused by the statement that Larry and Robin will start at 5:30 AM. (They start at 5 AM currently.) Was this a mistake in the press release? It's hard to say.. Because for the longest time, Larry and Robin didn't start until 5:30AM. Maybe they're going back to that? Or maybe it was a typo. Like I said, hard to say.. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
former newsboy 50 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 The date has been set - July 11th http://www.wgntv.com/about/station/pressrelease/wgntv-early-birds-wgn-morning-news-starts-at-4am-20110616,0,5721549.story I'm a little bit confused by the statement that Larry and Robin will start at 5:30 AM. (They start at 5 AM currently.) Was this a mistake in the press release? It's hard to say.. Because for the longest time, Larry and Robin didn't start until 5:30AM. Maybe they're going back to that? Or maybe it was a typo. Like I said, hard to say.. lol. Looks like they ARE going back to that. From today's Feder blog: •It shouldn’t take long for competitors to follow suit now that Tribune-owned WGN-Channel 9 has announced plans to begin its weekday morning newscast a half-hour earlier at 4am. Starting July 11, Erin McElroy will anchor WGN Morning News from 4 to 5:30am, followed by Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten from 5:30 to 9am. “What’s driving this early morning news expansion is advertiser demand,” observed media blogger Terence Henderson. “Many are willing to pay a premium to reach viewers heading out the door in the morning.” I wonder why Larry & Robin would lose the 5AM half hour when first thought would be to bump them up to 4:30. My guess is since the show goes until 9am, doing it this way will keep things fresher. And I'll bet Larry & Robin aren't complaining. Maybe Val Warner should have stuck around. Her old half-hour anchor role just turned into an hour-and-a-half gig. Well, when Windy City Live is cancelled, she could always do traffic for Channel 2. 'Course she was never that good at traffic. But compared to that Derrick Young, she was a Garmin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I wonder why Larry & Robin would lose the 5AM half hour when first thought would be to bump them up to 4:30. My guess is since the show goes until 9am, doing it this way will keep things fresher. And I'll bet Larry & Robin aren't complaining. Maybe Val Warner should have stuck around. Her old half-hour anchor role just turned into an hour-and-a-half gig. Well, when Windy City Live is cancelled, she could always do traffic for Channel 2. 'Course she was never that good at traffic. But compared to that Derrick Young, she was a Garmin. Sure that was fully management's decision to put Larry & Robin back to 5:30? I have a hunch they were complaining for a while about working that additional half hour.. This probably was just the opportunity management had to change their schedules back where it wouldn't be the main focus of the story. As for CBS 2, I still am baffled to the decision of choosing Derrick Young for traffic.. I know he wasn't the one who got top votes from the online voting. My feeling is halfway through the competition, management had a change of mind about the whole thing so they just chose someone they can easily replace after the first 3 months or whenever they find a REAL replacement. Note that he doesn't have a bio on the CBS 2 site as originally planned that the winner would get. If Windy City gets the axe, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets welcomed to CBS 2 with open arms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 This is interesting...even though it was never announced, Dan Ponce is co-anchoring with Erin. I wonder if this is just for the first day or if it's a permanent move that they decided not to announce for some reason. If it is permanent, it would make sense why it's an hour and a half show. I always thought having a solo-anchored hour and a half show was a bit odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 This is interesting...even though it was never announced, Dan Ponce is co-anchoring with Erin. I wonder if this is just for the first day or if it's a permanent move that they decided not to announce for some reason. If it is permanent, it would make sense why it's an hour and a half show. I always thought having a solo-anchored hour and a half show was a bit odd. Something that hasn't been really announced publicly that there may be a "tweak" to WGN's morning talent.. Since Val left, their morning show has lacked "diversity". Why some newscasts in Chicago get more scrutiny than others, I don't know, but I think there have been some complaint(s) by certain groups/people since Val left. So don't be surprised if they play around with some combinations. Management should have known better to begin with.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Who do they have in the "diverse" category that they would be willing to put on the morning news? It's ridiculous that they have to mess with something that works for "that" reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Who do they have in the "diverse" category that they would be willing to put on the morning news? It's ridiculous that they have to mess with something that works for "that" reason. This is Chicago.. The only market in the US where this sort of thing goes on (still). Chicago is the market with some of the most ridiculous Unionizations and unwritten rules but stations have to "comply". But there's alot on the line for the stations and management if they don't "comply". Whoever they put would either have to be Black or Hispanic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 So are we talking replacing Larry, Robin, or Erin, or would they be adding a "third wheel" like how Cheryl Burton became a "third wheel" on ABC 7's 10PM after Diann Burns left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazynetjunkie 34 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 So are we talking replacing Larry, Robin, or Erin, or would they be adding a "third wheel" like how Cheryl Burton became a "third wheel" on ABC 7's 10PM after Diann Burns left? More of a third wheel is my guess.. Maybe anchor a half hour along with Erin and then "contribute" news to the rest of the morning show with Larry and Robin. Similar to what Nancy Loo did back during the David Novarro & Tamron Hall days "FOX News In The Morning" (before turning to Good Day Chicago). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Does Erin even have a permanent co-anchor on this newscast, or is it a rotation of Dan Ponce and Tom Negovan depending on who's available? Since the newscast began, there was a week of Dan Ponce, followed by a few weeks of Tom Negovan, and now it's back to Dan Ponce. Since no one ever says that they're filling-in, it would seem that they just rotate the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24994J 5269 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 If they were to formally introduce a 4am co-anchor, my bet would be on Dan Ponce. Tom Negovan has proven to be far too valuable as Mark Suppelsa's #2 and as an unofficial "chief" reporter in the evenings. Besides, WGN still owes Tom big time after taking him off the noon news in '08. Hardly would they think of dumping him on early desk duty, permanent time slot or not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Rubber 609 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If they were to formally introduce a 4am co-anchor, my bet would be on Dan Ponce. Tom Negovan has proven to be far too valuable as Mark Suppelsa's #2 and as an unofficial "chief" reporter in the evenings. Besides, WGN still owes Tom big time after taking him off the noon news in '08. Hardly would they think of dumping him on early desk duty, permanent time slot or not! That's a very good point. I had a hard time believing that Tom would be placed permanently at 4 AM, but I figured anything might be possible, especially considering that one morning, they played a video of the goofy times Erin and Tom had together over those few weeks. I was wondering if WGN was trying to promote the duo or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
312newswannabe 7 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Tom and Micah are great at 9. Adios Supplesa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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