Joel Siegel Passes Away

Joel Siegel, the well-known movie critic, passed away yesterday after battling colon cancer. He was 63.

Siegel was a fixture at WABC-TV and ABC's "Good Morning America," but started his New York career at WCBS-TV. He joined the station in 1972 as a reporter before moving to Channel 7 four years later where he became a movie critic.

For more on the life of Siegel, click here.

CBS 2 Presents "Eye On The Storm"

CBS 2 News will air a 30-minute special tomorrow night at 7:00 on the hurricane threat to the tri-state area. The weather team of John Bolaris, John Elliott, Lonnie Quinn and Elise Finch will host.

Bolaris to Weekend Evenings

In a piece headlined "Ch. 2's Quinn not so mighty at weather," the Daily News' Richard Huff reports that John Bolaris is assigned to weekend nights. This is until his contract expires at the end of the year. John Elliott again adds the noon broadcast to his morning duties. Huff goes on to criticize the making of Quinn the lead weatherman.

The article also points out that "[Jim] Rosenfield is considering his options." The anchor has been on vacation since last week and has not been on the air since the shakeup was announced last Friday. "Whether he returns, or in what capacity, is the big question," Huff writes. During Rosenfield's previous tenure ending in April 2000, then-News Director Joel Cheatwood tried to demote him, but the anchor chose to leave the station instead.

Quinn to 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00

WCBSTV.com updated Lonnie Quinn's bio this evening. It states that he "serves as the weathercaster for CBS 2’s 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM weekday newscasts." Since April, his bio listed no specific time slots. We reported earlier that TVSPY.com's ShopTalk reported today that Quinn was promoted to the 11PM newscast while remaining on the 5PM newscast, but it did not mention anything about Quinn joining the 6PM newscast. The biography of former 6PM and 11PM meteorologist John Bolaris was also updated today, and it now does not state a specific time slot.

Additionally, the bios of sports anchors Ducis Rodgers and Sam Ryan have been updated today. Rodgers is now referred to as "Sports Director / Anchor" and his bio states that he is CBS 2's sports anchor Sundays-Thursdays. Ryan's bio now says that she is the sports anchor for Fridays and Saturdays, as well as a sports reporter during the week.

Previously, Rodgers was referred to as "alternating sports anchor for the 6 and 11PM weekday newscasts" while Ryan's bio said that she was "alternating sports anchor for CBS 2’s weekday newscasts, as well as the weekend sports anchor/reporter."

Valerie Feder Hired As Assistant News Director

CBS 2 News has named Valerie Feder as its new assistant news director, effective July 23rd. She comes to the station from VAF Television Consulting.

Said News Director David Friend: "Valerie is a very experienced television journalist. She's been a winning Assistant News Director and creative producer in large, successful television news departments and is a terrific addition to our strong management team here at CBS 2 News."

Feder fills the position that was vacated back in April when Kim Godwin became a senior editor for the CBS Evening News.

Quinn to CBS 2 News at 11PM

According to the TVSPY.com ShopTalk website, CBS 2 weathercaster Lonnie Quinn will be adding CBS 2 News at 11PM to his duties, while remaining on CBS 2 News at 5PM. Quinn will no longer be seen on CBS 2 News at Noon because of this change. Presumably, CBS 2 Meteorologist John Bolaris will now be seen on CBS 2 News at Noon and CBS 2 News at 6PM.

Quinn joined CBS 2 News on April 11, 2007 as the weathercaster for the 6PM and 11PM newscasts, replacing John Bolaris, who retained the 5PM newscast and added the Noon newscast. This lasted less than 2 weeks as Bolaris was moved back to the 6PM and 11PM newscasts with anchors Dana Tyler and Jim Rosenfield, and Quinn joined the Noon and 5PM newscasts with anchors Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson.

Breaking News and Weather Promos

CBS 2 News launched two new image promos yesterday. Both are fast-paced and show shots of the reporters and anchors in action. One begins with the announcer saying, "News breaks in an instant and instantly we're there." The other has no voiceover, only the CBS 2 News theme playing.

There is also a new spot that debuted last week promoting the weather team, aside from the weather factoids ones.

Here's the video, but it doesn't do these HD spots any justice:

Wragge and Johnson Promoted to 11:00

Richard Huff breaks the news in today's Daily News: "Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson on Monday will become the A-Team at WCBS/Ch. 2." The pair will trade in their noon anchoring duties for the 11:00 p.m. spot. Dana Tyler and Jim Rosenfield will move to noon.

Here are some of General Manager Peter Dunn's comments to the paper:
- "We've been trying to work on every newscast since we've been here. Everything we've done so far has been a benefit to the station."
- On recent ratings increases: "We just want to keep that momentum going. We have tremendous confidence in all our anchor teams, we just want to put them in the right time slot."
- On not wanting to rank his teams: "I would never put an A-C or C label, they're all very experienced. They all do a phenomenal job."

In other news, Dr. Max Gomez returns to Channel 2 as a freelance medical reporter, while Dr. Holly Phillips will remain the station's lead reporter on that front.

New Creative Services VP Named

CBS 2 announced yesterday that Bruce Brauer has been promoted to vice president of Creative Services. He's been with the station since December 2005. Here is his job description:

He directs the marketing of the WCBS-TV news operation, oversees the production of all on-air promotion, radio/print design and advertising, and produces the overall scenic, music and audio design for the station. He is also responsible for the stations advertising budget and a creative staff of over 20 people consisting of editors, designers, writers and producers. Brauer and his team also created the WCBS-TV HD package which launched in an impressive 112 days.

WCBS-TV President and General Manager Peter Dunn said of Brauer: "Bruce is a huge asset to our management team and has vastly improved the look of our broadcasts, promos, and overall scenic design for the station. He has brought our promotions up to a new level of quality and production standards, and has helped turn CBS 2 into the most efficient in-house creative boutique in the market."

New Promos: Weather Facts

CBS 2 News unveiled new weather promos earlier this week. The spots feature the four weather anchors -- John Bolaris, John Elliott, Elise Finch and Lonnie Quinn -- in front of a white background. The promos tell viewers interesting facts about forecasting the weather and feature drawings to illustrate the information. Viewers are then told to get the forecast from CBS 2 HD and The Weather Channel.

WCBSTV.com has the promos available online here.

CBS 2 At The Tonys

CBS 2 will air an hour-long special this weekend in advance CBS's broadcast of the 2007 Tony Awards. "CBS 2 At The Tonys" with host Dana Tyler comes on this Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Tony Awards will be seen Sunday night at 8 on CBS.

NewsByte2 Announcement

You might have noticed that this blog has not been updated this week. That's because I have just started interning at WCBS-TV. That will mean that this space may be slow to update for the duration of the summer, though the news about CBS 2 News will still be covered.

Additionally, due to the conflict of interest that now exists, this website will refrain from making the occasional editorial remarks regarding the station and its newscasts.

Stay tuned...