Changes to WLNY's "The Couch"

When WLNY debuted its 7-9 a.m. broadcast "The Couch" in July 2012, it was hosted by weathercaster John Elliott, sportscaster Lisa Kerney and former Z100 radio personality Carolina Bermudez. While Kerney and Bermudez both took maternity leaves toward the end of the summer, the station brought on former PIX 11/News 12 Long Island/Fox 5 anchor Jodi Applegate to fill in. Now, as both women have returned from their respective leaves, it appears Applegate has replaced Kerney on the morning show.

@Mister_Bill @TheRealCarolina @WLNYTV Hi Bill! I'm focusing more on sports now all morning long on @CBS2ThisMorning Catch me there!!!
— Lisa Kerney (@LisaKerney) November 15, 2013

@RITGIN unfortunately @lisakerney is focusing more on sports for @cbsnewyork & @alexdenistv is great- still working for @wlnytv #thecouch
— Carolina Bermudez (@TheRealCarolina) November 17, 2013

The show also bid farewell to Katie McGee two weeks ago.  She said her husband was taking a job in Los Angeles with the NFL Network so she's going to look for work there.  McGee first joined CBS 2 in October 2002 and reported on entertainment primarily for the morning newscast until "The 2 Crew" was removed in early 2006.  She rejoined when the station went HD in April 2007 as the morning traffic reporter, a position which she held until January 2012 when Alex Denis took over, sending McGee at first to 5:00 p.m. entertainment reporter until joining WLNY's "The Couch" in the summer of 2012.




WLNY's other newscast at 9:00 p.m. also saw changes this year with Dick Brennan and Alice Gainer taking over the anchor desk after its previous anchors became exclusive to CBS 2: Chris Wragge left for the mornings and Dana Tyler remained at 6:00.

Sandy Anniversary Promos

CBS 2 has been airing "Reporting Sandy" promos since last week to mark tomorrow's first anniversary since the destructive storm. They feature the anchors, weathercasters and select reporters looking back at the challenges Sandy brought.

Kristine Johnson, Chris Wragge, Maurice DuBois, Dana Tyler and Mary Calvi:

John Elliott:


Christine Sloan, Carolyn Gusoff, John Slattery and Cindy Hsu:


Kristine Johnson and Maurice DuBois:


John Slattery, Lonnie Quinn, Carolyn Gusoff, Emily Smith and Cindy Hsu:


Chris Wragge and Mary Calvi:


Weijia Jiang, Cindy Hsu and Jennifer McLogan:


Kristine Johnson:


Elise Finch, John Elliott, Lonnie Quinn and Vanessa Murdock:


Update: A few more:

Carolyn Gusoff, Tony Aiello and Christine Sloan:


Kristine Johnson and Maurice DuBois:

Chris Wragge to Guest on "The Talk"

CBS 2 News anchor Chris Wragge will guest co-host CBS's "The Talk" this afternoon at 2:00. He'll be at the table with former CBS 2 reporter Julie Chen.

Wragge appeared live during CBS 2 News at Noon:

Word is out! Thanks to #CBS pr dept. Looking forward to heading west tomorrow for Thursday show… http://t.co/PPUbLPN2wm
— Chris Wragge (@ChrisWragge) October 22, 2013

Anchor Kristine Johnson and weathercaster John Elliott have guested on "The Talk" in the past.

Former CBS 2 meteorologist Megan Glaros, now at WBBM in Chicago, will get her chance tomorrow.

Don't forget to watch moi on The Talk on Friday ✌️ pic.twitter.com/W2UdmL5b7C
— Megan Glaros (@MeganGlaros) October 21, 2013

CBS 2 to Host Mayoral Debate

CBS 2 is hosting the New York City mayoral debate this evening.  Anchor Maurice DuBois will moderate the event between Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota from the CUNY Graduate Center.

As was the case for past debates, WLNY will simulcast the debate in Spanish.

BEHIND THE SCENES: 4 hours till the gloves come off at CBS2's Mayoral debate. Be there. #NYC2013 pic.twitter.com/JbxCB1K3Nh
— Dan Forman (@danfor) October 22, 2013

BEHIND THE SCENES: finishing touches on questions for CBS2 Mayoral debate with Maurice. Starts 7pm. #NYC2013 pic.twitter.com/RML75irSIf
— Dan Forman (@danfor) October 22, 2013

Sneak peak at 5pm. The real deal at 7pm. #NYC2013 Mayoral candidates are held accountable. Tune in to CBS2. pic.twitter.com/1mxg88MVR0
— Dan Forman (@danfor) October 22, 2013

CBS 2 Airs Tunnel To Towers Run

CBS 2 will again air the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run this morning. The hour-long broadcast, which is aired on a tape delay, begins at 10:30.  More information on the event can be found at cbsnewyork.com/tunneltotowers.

"Face The Nation," which usually airs at that time, will instead run at 1:00.

New Graphics Notes

Now that it's been a full work week since CBS 2 launched the new graphics package, it's time to look back on some notes:

1. This is the first time the newest addition to Manhattan's skyline, One World Trade Center, has appeared in CBS 2 News opens (in the morning, at 6:00 and at 11:00). Its predecessors, the Twin Towers, had been featured in some opens prior to 9/11 (though not the opens used immediately prior).

2. This past Tuesday was National Punctuation Day but don't tell that to CBS 2.  Their new lower-third banners appear unable to display apostrophes. In these snapshots taken today, the apostrophe in "McDonald's" was omitted at noon while places where an apostrophe should have existed showed up as a blank space this evening: [9/28 Update: It appears that this issue has been resolved as of this morning.]

3. The lower-thirds place the @CBSNewYork Twitter handle (or @CBSThisMorning in the morning) beneath the anchors' and reporters' names.  It would seem to make more sense to put that person's own Twitter name in that spot, especially as the station's Twitter account is already being promoted on the bug.

4. As there is no shadow behind the website, Facebook and Twitter section of the logo bug, the white text becomes unreadable whenever it appears over white.

5. The split screens appear to be designed for widescreen use but the camera shots are only sometimes framed correctly for 4:3 screens. In the below GIF, the Mary Calvi/Weijia Jiang screen is framed correctly, though it appears weird for viewers watching in high definition as neither talent is centered in the box. The second snapshot shows two anchors in both boxes and they will get cut off on some standard definition television sets.  (The black overlays show the "safe area.")  Many channels on both cable and broadcast now take advantage of the entire 16:9 widescreen space and letterbox their broadcasts for SD viewers.

6. The previous logo still appears on the Mobile Weather Lab, which is seen in promos as well as in an ad on the bottom of the screen during some weather forecasts.

7. The logo has also yet to be replaced on cbsnewyork.com, which would seem to be simpler than replacing it on a vehicle and redoing promos. In addition, the Facebook page continues to use some weird do-it-yourself version of the previous logo.

8. Sister station WLNY has yet to see the new graphics for the most part. The lower-thirds did receive a slight update, changing the color from a semitransparent black to blue on the two-line banners. They are also now using the new "live" bug CBS 2 is using. (And the 2012 copyright is used, at least Tuesday night when the below snapshot was taken.)

Regarding the music: The old theme is still used in teases for the noon and 5:00 newscasts during the day. CBS 2 News This Morning reverted to the previous morning theme Tuesday morning (though the open still uses the new theme).

Slideshow of New Graphics

We've compiled this gallery of snapshots showing CBS 2's new graphics:

CBS 2 to Host New Jersey Governor's Debate

CBS 2 will host a debate with the two candidates for New Jersey governor.

The debate between incumbent Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican, and State Sen. Barbara Buono, the Democrat, will air Tuesday, October 8th at 7:00 p.m.

CBS 2 anchor and New Jersey resident Kristine Johnson will moderate.

New 6:00 Open

Here's the CBS 2 News at 6:00 open... Video includes the end of the 5:00 as well as the "Campaign 2013" animation:

New 5:00 Open

Here's the open to CBS 2 News at 5:00 (apologies for the audio hiccups):

Noon Graphics Recap

Continuing our roundup of CBS 2's new graphics, here's a look at the noon newscast:


1. The open follows the same wording as the morning: "Live from Studio 46, this is CBS 2 News at Noon." (Last night, it started out: "Live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City...") Since the HD launch in April 2007, only the morning newscast's open had a specific mention of the time of day -- all other opens named the newscast simply "CBS 2 News."

2. The "@CBSNEWYORK" Twitter handle appears on most talent lower-third banners. (Anchors previously did not have any other text below their names. Reporters in the field used to have "CBS2 NEWS" written beneath.)

3. The lower-third graphic does not loop smoothly and appears to "restart" when it reaches the end of the animation.


5:00 p.m. promo:

New Graphics Make Morning Debut

This morning starting at 4:30 brought us another look at CBS 2's new graphics and a the new Enforcer's morning cuts.  A video montage is in the process of uploading and will be added to this post shortly.

Some notes:

1. The wording in the opening is changed a bit: "Live from Studio 46, this is CBS 2 News This Morning." Last night, it was: "Live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City, this is CBS 2 News at 11."

2. The social media and website portion of the logo bug did not appear for the first two blocks (approximately 20 minutes) this morning.

3. The ticker was originally in sentence caps, meaning that most of the letters were lowercase, until a few minutes into the third block when the text became all capital letters.

4. The WCBS Newsradio 880 logo does not appear in the ticker anymore, making the "Traffic and Weather Together on the 8's" mention seem out of place.

5. The old morning theme was used a bunch of times today, including as a bed during top stories recaps as well as for local cut-ins during CBS This Morning.

6. The old logo has pretty much been wiped from CBS 2's air, except for in a few small spots.  The cups used by Chris Wragge and Mary Calvi still show the "CBS 2 HD" logo and it can also be seen in the close, which is a promo for the "YourDay" mobile app. The desk still has the same CBS 2 logo inside a box, which has been used since the studio debuted nearly two years ago, but still does not directly match the new look.

7. There does not seem to have been an update to WLNY's "The Couch" presentation, which used a look very different from the regular graphics.  WLNY's next newscast is tonight at 9:00 and that newscast's graphics have been more in line with the CBS 2 look (though maintaining its own style).

8. These graphics have also debuted on KYW in Philadelphia and KCBS in Los Angeles. KYW has already added the new gold-3 logo to the top of CBSPhilly.com.  KCBS's logo already had a gold 2 in their logo. (WCBS's gold 2 has not been added to CBSNewYork.com yet but it's possible that it'll stay all blue as they're using an all-blue WLNY logo as well.)  It looks like the other CBS O&Os will eventually get the upgrade.

9. The previous theme is being used in teases for the noon news again this morning. Also, Dana Tyler is doing the teases. (The noon newscast is usually anchored by Chris Wragge and Dana Tyler.)

Update:
Here's the video:

New Graphics and Enforcer Music Debut

CBS 2 debuted a new graphics look as well as a new Enforcer theme tonight.

Here's the open: "Live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City, this is CBS 2 News at 11."


This post will be updated with more video shortly...

Update:
Here's a promo for CBS 2 News This Morning, which includes a morning version of the new Enforcer theme:



Here's a Twitter promo:



Stay tuned for a montage in a few minutes...

Update:

The microphone flag has been updated. (The other two sides of the cube likely have the WLNY 10/55 logo.)

Update:

Here's a montage of tonight's broadcast, including the open, teases, weather and close:



Some notes:

1. The bug uses the correct Twitter bird icon (as does the promo above). The long outdated "t" icon was seen in last week's leak and had been appearing in promos for months.

2. Also about the bug, most of it (the time, temperature and logo, leaving only the social media/website line -- which is still very distracting) disappears during the seven-day forecast because it would otherwise cover up parts of the fifth and seventh days. This leaves the screen logo-less as it does not otherwise appear on the weather graphics.

3. For the first time since April 2006, CBS 2 is using new weather icons (sun, clouds, etc.). (The leak showed the previous icon set still in use.) The Titan radar/satellite map has been renamed Vortex. The seven-day still shows days six and seven on top of each other (which started as a five-day forecast with a "Plus 2" bonus even before the station went HD in 2007 but now seems to be out of place).

4. Team logos were not used in the sports score lower-thirds tonight, though they were seen in the leak.

5. Nearly all mentions of "high definition" have finally been removed.  It's no longer announced in the open and the logo no longer has the "HD" letters growing out of it. But the closing voiceover still says, "You've been watching CBS 2 News in high definition," the same that's been used since the April 2007 HD launch.

NewsByte2 will have more video from other newscasts tomorrow. We're also waiting to see how WLNY will implement the new look.

New Graphics Debuting Tonight

A few minutes ago during the Primetime Emmys broadcast, CBS 2 showed off the new graphics that appear to be debuting tonight on CBS 2 News at 11:00 after the Emmys. Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson are anchoring and the same cut of Enforcer is used in this spot:



According to this post on TV News Talk, KYW in Philadelphia launched the new look, along with a different version of Enforcer, this evening during an NFL halftime broadcast and during their 10:00 broadcast on their CW sister station.

We'll have more on the new look shortly...

New Graphics Leak

It appears that we have a sneak peek of CBS 2's new graphics package.

The user "HulkieD" on the TV News Talk message boards uncovered an online video, which was pulled this morning, showing a new look as well as a newer version of the Enforcer theme.

The look incorporates the HD-less logo with the gold "2" that debuted in promos in late April and looks to be heavily inspired by graphics used by NBC's owned stations, including WNBC, as well as the circular CBS network graphics used in primetime.

The CBS 2 logo bug has a subtle animation, something the station has not done since the April-August 2006 look. Below, the website, Twitter (with the outdated "t" logo -- the service's logo is simply a bird these days) and Facebook handles take turns appearing. (This is something WNBC does but has also been the trend among stations across the country as well.)

The lower-thirds and full screens change from blue to red for breaking news. (One hopes that Lindsay Lohan's troubles won't regularly be treated with "breaking" intensity.)

One other note: If the placement on the video is final, the lower-thirds, bug and ticker are positioned noticeably lower than the current on-air look, which were higher than in the past and as compared to most other stations' graphics.

Overall, it seems to be a much more highly detailed graphics package, using colors other than just blue and includes multiple full screen background animations, than the one the station and most other CBS O&Os have been using for the last three years.

It will be interesting to see how the graphics are modified to fit WLNY.

For a closer look, check out hulkied.com for a gallery of snapshots and a few more on TVNewsTalk.net.

CBS 2 Produces 10 p.m. Primary Special

CBS 2 News will air a special 10:00 newscast tonight to cover the results of the New York City primary elections.  Voters will narrow down the parties' candidates in races for mayor and comptroller.  Polls close a 9:00.

CBS 2 News at 4:00

It's not a permanent addition to the lineup but CBS 2 News will air a 4:00 broadcast today. It's due to CBS Sports' coverage of the U.S. Open men's championship, which begins at 5:00 and will preempt the usual 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts.

This is the first time the tennis tournament has been scheduled for this day from the start as opposed to it being forced due to postponements caused by rain.

Wragge In New AM Promo

Since Rob Morrison's sudden departure from CBS 2 in February, Mary Calvi has been without an official co-anchor in the morning and at noon.  Chris Wragge, who had co-anchored the 6:00 p.m. and WLNY 9:00 p.m. newscasts, has been filling in since February 20th, but no announcement has been made about it being a permanent change.

Topical promos for CBS 2 News This Morning, which had featured just Calvi since Morrison left, began including Wragge a few weeks ago.  Now, nearly three months after becoming a temporary team, the two appear in an "Expect More" promo for the morning newscast in what appears to be a sign that the change is more permanent than not:

Wragge's bio still identifies him as the 6:00 anchor (but it also says he will co-anchor the WLNY broadcast "beginning this summer," which was last summer).

New Logo Spotted Again

The new CBS 2 logo with the gold "2" and no mention of "HD" shows up in a promo for tomorrow's 11:00 news.  It also uses the capitalization for the website address seen in the "Expect More" promos (in the past, it was written in all lowercase letters in promos).

Morrison's Darien Times Tirade

Former CBS 2 morning and noon anchor Rob Morrison, who left the station in February after being accused of trying to choke his wife Ashley, is back in the news today after being verbally abusive toward his hometown newspaper.

The Darien Times reports Morrison called them to complain about wrong facts about the paper reported that he was due in court today.

In Morrison’s heated tirade, he repeatedly stated The Times’ sources “sucked.”

“Your sources suck in the Stamford Court, and the Darien Times — I know this is big time for ya, OK, but your sources suck, brother,” Morrison said.

The Times asked if the court is what Morrison was referring to, since the clerk is part of the court.

“The clerk is your source? [The state’s attorney] you fu***** idiot,” he said. “F*** the clerk.”

(Thanks to Doug for sending in the link.)

"Expect More" Video

Here's a look at the new May 2013 sweeps promos we reported on over the weekend:

The full 60-second spot


A 15-second version


Another 15-second version


A 30-second weather spot


An ID


An ID mentioning the 5:00 and 11:00 newscasts


A weather ID

"Expect More"

Beginning Thursday, the first day of the May 2013 sweeps period, CBS 2 began airing promos with the mysterious tagline of "Expect More." Notably, a new logo is used -- or at least a modified logo where the "2" has been turned gold but the CBS eye and the "NEWS" remain white/gray.

A five-second ID promoting the 5:00 and 11:00 weeknight newscasts.

In two 15-second spots, various scenes that appear to have been purchased from stock photography are accompanied by words that seem to tie in to the main tagline.

Another five-second ID for the weather team and Mobile Weather Lab with the same slogan.  This is the first time the station has chosen to put the Facebook and Twitter handles on the bottom of the screen instead of the website, much like NBC 4 has been doing.  Interestingly, CBS 2 uses the wrong Twitter logo -- it's actually their icon from two logos ago (see Twitter's logo guide here).

CBS 2 has been using the same graphics look for three years.  It began using this version of the "2" next to a shorter gold eye in May 1997 when "2 News" became "News 2" and "More News in Less Time, Every Time" became the slogan.  Less than nine months later, that slogan was dumped but the basic eye-2 logo stayed the same until January 2003 when the eye became white.  Now it appears that gold is being reintroduced to the logo.

CBS 2 has generally been very clean when unveiling new logos in that two versions rarely appear on the air at the same time for very long.  The 1997 look debuted in promos just hours before the Sunday, May 11th 11 p.m. launch.  In January 2003, the new look debuted in an 11 p.m. promo the weekend before the Monday morning launch.  Perhaps the worst instance was from January until April 2000 when a new rectangle logo appeared in promos and opens but the "slanted" logo remained during newscasts.

CBS Considering Moving To Cable-Only in New York

The New York Times' Brian Stelter scoops that CBS is looking into no longer broadcasting over the airwaves, quoting CBS boss Less Moonves:

CBS has already had some exploratory talks with cable operators about taking its local station signals off the air. “For now, we’re talking about the New York-Connecticut area,” Mr. Moonves said, because that’s the only area where Aereo now operates.

The news comes after the head of Fox floated the idea yesterday in response to Aereo, which uses antennas to capture the signals of broadcast stations and streams that to subscribers.

Hennessey to Become Professor

CBS 2 reporter Sean Hennessey will leave the station along with the broadcasting business to become a college professor.  FishbowlNY reports he's going to Boston College, from which he received his B.A. as well as a graduate degree.

Hennessy joined CBS 2 as a reporter on March 19, 2007, then served as co-anchor of the weekend morning newscast for a few months until the summer.  He previously served as a reporter at WHDH in Boston.

Dahler Going Network

Weekend anchor Don Dahler is leaving CBS 2 and headed to CBS News, Jerry Barmash reports at FishbowlNY. There he'll report for the CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning.

Dahler has been sitting next to Dana Tyler on CBS 2 News at 6:00 and WLNY-TV 10/55 News at 9:00 this week, filling in for Chris Wragge, who has been doing the morning and noon newscasts.

Dahler has served as co-anchor (with Cindy Hsu) of the weekend morning, solo anchor of the weekend evening newscasts, and a reporter two days during the week since September 2011, when Chris Wragge returned to the station after leaving for The Early Show.  Before that, Dahler co-anchored CBS 2 News at 6:00 with Tyler, taking over in May 2008 after the station let Jim Rosenfield go.  He joined the station in September 2007 as Mary Calvi's co-anchor on the weekend evening newscasts after being a correspondent for ABC News.

This opens up a second seat at CBS 2's anchor desk in recent weeks as Rob Morrison's replacement has yet to be named.

Morrison Blames Wife For Abuse

Former CBS 2 anchor Rob Morrison tells the Post that his wife is to blame for years of abuse.

While drinking Bud Light at Buffalo Wild Wings in Stamford, Morrison said Ashley struck him in the face with a remote control late Saturday/early Sunday after they had watched "Mystic Pizza."  He admitted to seeing a psychologist once a week to help with his anxiety.

The paper also reports that Connecticut child protective services will soon talk with Morrison over his brother-in-law's claim that Morrison said he'd shoot his son in front of Ashley before shooting her if she ever left him.

The Daily News has more details on what happened behind closed doors at CBS 2 yesterday: Morrison told station management that he was quitting just before they were about to let him go in a 40-minute meeting.  The paper says he was making $300,000 to anchor the morning and noon newscasts.  After, he told the paper:

I truly believe this is the best for everybody. It’s increasingly apparent, as the story becomes more inflamed and ridiculous, there’s no way I could go on and read the news to everybody.

The News also reports:

While Morrison was adamant that the decision to quit was his, sources indicated his CBS career ended the minute that cops put him in handcuffs early Sunday morning. “After he was arrested for choking his wife and allegedly threatening to kill her, it was clear that he would never be back on the air at CBS ever again,” one insider told The News. “The bosses have no tolerance for any type of scandal and have had difficulties with Rob for several months. This was the final straw.”
Morrison made a horrible situation even worse when he called in sick to work Monday without telling station executives about his arrest, the insider said. Bosses instead learned that their “News at Noon” anchor was handcuffed and freed on $100,000 bail by reading the shocking news online.

In a separate story, the News takes a look at the long road to comebacks for news anchors who've gotten in trouble.

Morrison appeared in yesterday's Sean Delonas cartoon in the Post in which he's been replaced on CBS 2 by Chris Brown, the musician who's infamous for beating girlfriend Rihanna:

Morrison Resigns

Rob Morrison resigned from CBS 2 News today and released this statement:

My family is my first and only priority right now and I have informed CBS 2 management that I need to put all of my time and energy into making sure that I do what's best for my wife and my son. I very much appreciate the opportunity that CBS 2 has given me and I thank them for accepting my decision.

He had been the anchor of CBS 2 News This Morning and CBS 2 News at Noon for the last two years and previously anchored on weekends and reported during the week.

Morrison tweeted this afternoon:

Sincere thanks to our family, friends, colleagues and viewers who continue to show support. It's humbling and overwhelming.
— Rob Morrison (@RobMorrison1) February 20, 2013

To those who prefer to believe the outright lies printed in the tabloids, I ain't mad at ya. Goodluck.
— Rob Morrison (@RobMorrison1) February 20, 2013

Morrison spoke with FishbowlNY's Jerry Barmash and was defiant when it came to the police charges of red marks on his wife Ashley's neck: "Police can say anything they want. Is there any sort of photographic evidence? There is none."

The Daily News reports Morrison faces five years in prison if convicted of the strangulation charge.

Proof that you can't believe everything you read about this story, there are contradictory reports about what happened behind-the-scenes Monday morning.  From the Daily News' story:

Officials at WCBS were livid that the "News at Noon" anchor allegedly lied to them about the bruises on his face when he came to work Monday, sources said.
He "misled station management and has made a horrible situation even worse," a source said.

Whereas FishbowlNY reported a source said yesterday:

"Evidently, he lied to the station about how his face was injured when he called in sick. That alone is a serious offense."

He either called in sick or showed up for work, depending on which source you believe.

The station's website quickly pulled Morrison's bio today (though they still list Asa Aarons, who was let go months ago, as a reporter).  Promos featuring Morrison have been pulled from the air.  The topical spots for the morning newscast now feature only Mary Calvi speaking and a full screen graphic has replaced the shot of the anchor team smiling.

The CBS 2 News This Morning Facebook page (which, incidentally, Morrison created when he moved to weekdays) changed its cover photo to an image of the Manhattan skyline, though team photos including the now former anchor are still visible when looking at older images.

Wragge to Fill in for Morrison

Chris Wragge announced on his Facebook page this evening that he will be Mary Calvi's co-anchor on CBS 2 News This Morning tomorrow.  Don Dahler filled in yesterday and today for Rob Morrison, who was arrested for allegedly choking his wife.

Dahler has a four-day workweek as a result of his morning and evening anchoring on weekends, meaning he usually reports on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Wragge is of course no stranger to mornings, having co-anchored "The Early Show" on Saturdays for a couple of years before moving to the weekday version for 2011.  But there is definitely a difference to going on air at 7:00 a.m., as he did with the network, and going on at 4:30 a.m., as he'll  be doing tomorrow.

Morrison Threatened to "Kill His Wife," Detective Says

Rob Morrison appeared in Stamford Court earlier today and told reporters that he never choked or struck his wife.

Here are the local tabloid headlines:

Rob Morrison outside Stamford Court today. (Photo: Darien Times/Laureen Vellante)

New York Post: CBS anchor Morrison 'would kill his wife' if released: court papers

Daily News: WCBS-TV newsman Rob Morrison threatened to 'kill his wife' after he was arrested and accused of choking her; Police report paints angry anchorman as a boozy bully with an internet porn habit

The Darien Times says Morrison is not allowed to be within 100 yards of his wife, except at work, where the couple shares a desk, according to what his lawyer told the judge (probably referring to how they both appear at the anchor desk).  Both Rob and Ashley requested to have the order lifted but the state's attorney asked for it to remain, citing the severity of the charges and Rob's history.

FishbowlNY quotes an insider as saying "Evidently, he lied to the station about how his face was injured when he called in sick. That alone is a serious offense."  That source suggested that the station would let Morrison go.

Morrison's next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26th.

Morrison Makes Front Covers

Morning anchor Rob Morrison's bloody mug shot makes the front covers of New York's tabloids this morning (both of which don't understand the difference between CBS and WCBS):

The Post reports it wasn't the first time police have been called to the home. In fact, they were there "several weeks" ago but filed no charges. But in 2009, Morrison was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife when they lived on the Upper West Side.  And between 2003 and 2009, police had responded to seven "verbal disputes."

Rob Morrison Arrested, Accused of Choking Wife

CBS 2 News morning and noon anchor Rob Morrison has been arrested and accused with choking his wife Ashley Morrison, according to the Darien Times.  Ashley is the CBS Money Watch reporter and appears with her husband at the anchor desk weekday mornings.

Darien Police mug shot

The Darien Times says Morrison faces felony strangulation and misdemeanor threatening and disorderly conduct charges.  Darien Police responded after receiving a call from Ashley's mother at 1:30 a.m. yesterday alerting them of a fight at the couple's Darien home.  Police reported red marks on Ashley's neck and that Rob had used both hands to choke her.  The Daily News reports Rob continued to threaten his wife after officers arrived.  FishBowlNY's Jerry Barmash tweeted that Rob posted $100,000 bond and is due in court tomorrow.

Morrison tweeted an image of what he called "Our joint (and only) statement on this unfortunate and exaggerated incident."

Rob and Ashley Morrison are cooperating fully with the authorities to insure (sic) that all of the information necessary to properly evaluate this unfortunate incident is made available.
The Morrisons are confident that a full review of this matter will show that the allegations have been greatly exaggerated.
While this matter is being addressed, Rob and Ashley hope that their family's privacy will be respected.

Morrison joined CBS 2 News on October 5, 2009 as a weekend morning anchor and weekday reporter.  He added weekend evenings to his duties when Mary Calvi moved to weekdays in the summer of 2010, then joined the weekday morning and noon team in January 2011.

Weekend anchor Don Dahler sat alongside Mary Calvi this morning, saying he was "in for Rob Morrison."  CBS 2 News' Maurice DuBois reported the story in the first block of the 5:00 p.m. newscast.

Lots of Breaking News: Ferry Crash and Crane Collapse

It was a busy day for breaking news in New York.

CBS 2 broke in after a commuter ferry crashed into Pier 11 at South Street Seaport at around 8:45 a.m..  Mary Calvi handled the early coverage and was soon joined by Rob Morrison.  Jim Smith reported from above the scene in Chopper 2 and, because of a chopper sharing agreement with Fox 5, Smith was also heard reporting "in SkyFox."

John Slattery reported from the pier via Mobile 2 signal by 10:22.  At 10:51, Sean Hennessey was live at New York Downtown Hospital, where around 20 of the injured had been taken, and the camera showed very close-up images of patients being loaded off ambulances.  Dr. Max Gomez later joined the coverage from the desk with analysis on what types of injuries might have been suffered.

As if often the case during special report situations lately, WLNY switched to airing CBS network programming, so viewers looking for "Let's Make a Deal" and "The Price is Right" didn't miss their shows if they knew where to look.  CBS 2 ended their special report at 11:30 and included more coverage during the regular noon newscast with reports from Slattery, Hennessey, Gomez as well as Tony Aiello in the newsroom and Steve Langford at the scene.

CBS 2 News interrupted regular programming again just before 3:00 with news of a 380-foot crane collapse in Long Island City, Queens.  Dana Tyler handled the brief special report with Chopper 2 coverage from Joe Biermann.  The station switched to "Dr. Phil" at 3:04.

CBS 2 broke in once again at 4:15 to carry an NTSB press conference with coverage anchored by Maurice DuBois until 4:30.