Beginning today with Eyewitness News at Noon, viewers of WABC-TV, the flagship station of the Disney-owned ABC Television Network, and the ratings leader in New York, will see updated shots of anchors and meteorologists at the top of every newscast. The opens were not updated previously since the current graphics package debuted on the channel in 2011. While there has only been one personnel change, and one on the way, the shots were outdated, as described by the morning producer for Eyewitness News.
The only personnel change was the switch of traffic reporters Joe Nolan and Heather O'Rourke, with Nolan moving from the morning newscast to the afternoon newscasts, and O'Rourke moving from the afternoon to the morning. Although the refreshed morning open didn't debut this morning due to technical difficulties, it is expected that O'Rourke will be included in the talent open, as the new promotional commercials have included her.
The upcoming personnel change will be in December, when weekend morning anchor Phil Lipof will leave WABC for WCVB-TV, the flagship station of the Hearst Television Network, which owns and operates affiliates for the major networks. WCVB covers the Boston metropolitan area, and is the largest ABC station not owned and operated by Disney-ABC. The refreshed open for this newscast will likely debut tomorrow, but will be reverted to a general Eyewitness News open with no talent, until Lipof's successor is named and new anchor shots are taken.
More on this story on Monday, after all of the opens debut.
The only personnel change was the switch of traffic reporters Joe Nolan and Heather O'Rourke, with Nolan moving from the morning newscast to the afternoon newscasts, and O'Rourke moving from the afternoon to the morning. Although the refreshed morning open didn't debut this morning due to technical difficulties, it is expected that O'Rourke will be included in the talent open, as the new promotional commercials have included her.
The upcoming personnel change will be in December, when weekend morning anchor Phil Lipof will leave WABC for WCVB-TV, the flagship station of the Hearst Television Network, which owns and operates affiliates for the major networks. WCVB covers the Boston metropolitan area, and is the largest ABC station not owned and operated by Disney-ABC. The refreshed open for this newscast will likely debut tomorrow, but will be reverted to a general Eyewitness News open with no talent, until Lipof's successor is named and new anchor shots are taken.
More on this story on Monday, after all of the opens debut.
>>UPDATE: In the refreshed open for Eyewitness News This Morning, there are updated shots of all the anchors, and Heather O'Rourke was added. For the weekend refreshed opens, WABC updated the shots of the anchors, as expected.