Posted by chicagomedia.org on March 07, 2008 at 10:06:08:
This probably isn't news to anyone. A younger, more hip-appearing morning show was destined to come. It's the way of the world. And look at Joel Weisman lately.... who doesn't he represent?! Joel, call me.
Look for WMAQ-Channel 5 to shake up its morning news lineup with a change of faces.
Rob Elgas, who has been anchoring weekend morning newscasts on the NBC-owned station, is expected to replace Dick Johnson from 4:30 to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday.
The move, likely to happen later this month, will reunite Elgas with Zoraida Sambolin, who anchored weekend mornings before joining Johnson on the weekday show last September.
Once they're in place, adjustments to the morning show's format will follow.
Johnson, who joined Channel 5 in 2002 after 20 years at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, is expected to stay on as a reporter and fill-in news anchor.
Elgas, whose deal was negotiated by agent Joel Weisman, has been seen as a rising star since he joined Channel 5 in 2002 from KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas. Born in northwest suburban Arlington Heights and raised in Crystal Lake, the University of Illinois alum previously worked at WICD-TV in Champaign.
No word yet on who'll replace Elgas alongside co-anchor Ellee Pai Hong on the weekend morning shows.
The two-step process of replacing Johnson and Hong with Elgas and Sambolin is a tacit acknowledgement of dissatisfaction with eroding morning news ratings at Channel 5.
In Nielsen numbers for February, the station continued to run a distant third among households and among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54.