More on "First News at Four"

At the end of the last "New York Live!" today, Dana Tyler called the new program starting tomorrow "CBS 2 First News at Four". This is slightly different than what we reported earlier, "First at Four". Once again, the anchors will be Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos. Currently, we don't know who will do the weather (It was Ira Joe Fisher, but it's possible that David Rogers will replace him at 4:00). This appears to be the only change taking place tomorrow, as promos are still running for Todd McDermott and Angela Rae tomorrow at 5:00.

Here's a look "Behind The Headlines" of the 4:00pm newscast on CBS 2:
-Monday, January 24, 2000: "NEWS 2 at 4:00" launched with Dana Tyler and Stephen Clark. It used old "2 News This Morning" music from 1996 and 1997.
-Thursday, April 27, 2000: All "NEWS 2" newscasts get new openings, graphics, and music. "NEWS 2 at 4:00" uses a slight variation of the new CBS 2 theme.
-Monday, October 30, 2000: As the "CBS 2 Information Network" is launched, "NEWS 2 at 4:00" is renamed "New York Live!" and gets a new opening, theme, and slightly modified graphics.
-Friday, December 22, 2000: Stephen Clark's last day at CBS 2.
-Tuesday, January 2, 2001: Todd McDermott officially joins "New York Live!" to anchor along with Dana Tyler.
-Tuesday, April 24, 2001: "New York Live" is canceled and will be replaced with "First News at Four" tomorrow.

Major Changes Starting Tomorrow!

The New York Daily News and the New York Post report the following changes coming to CBS 2, starting tomorrow:
-"New York Live!" will be renamed "First at Four", and anchors will be Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos (replacing Todd McDermott). This change comes as CBS 2 is trying to give viewers more local news as it looks to improve its ratings.
-"The News at 5:00" with Todd McDermott and possibly Cindy Hsu (instead of Angela Rae), although only The Post is reporting this. This may be false because, just last night, CBS 2 aired a new 5:00 promo with Todd and Angela with a new slogan, "See What's New In Local News".
We're working on getting everything straight, and will have more information as soon as we get it.
(Thanks to Brian, Michael and David for sending me the articles!)

Changes Coming to CBS 2?

David has just informed me of rumors of changes coming to CBS 2! While we do not yet know what these could be, Brian tells me that the "NY Live! Photo Album" on CBSNEWYORK.COM has been renamed to the "CBS 2 Photo Album". I have also been informed by an inside source that "big changes" will happen very soon, possibly by tomorrow or Wednesday. The changes could include "New York Live!", which may be canceled, get a new name, a new format, or possibly anchor changes. As soon as we find out more, we'll pass on the information!

New York Live! E-mail Newsletter

The CBS 2 website now has a New York Live! e-mail newletter. Its description says, "If you can’t get enough of New York Live!, have we got the newsletter for you! This weekly e-mail gives you a peek at what happens behind the scenes each afternoon when Dana and Todd get together, a preview of the exciting guests and features scheduled, as well as Tony Tantillo’s recipes and exclusive digital photos taken on the set. Sign up now - so you won’t miss any of the fun!" To sign up, click here.
(Thanks to Brian for notifying me!)

Welcome Back Ira Joe!

Today on CBS 2's "The News at Noon", Ira Joe Fisher made his first appearance in over four weeks. He had to have knee surgery on January 30th after slipping on ice the night before. He has been on the phone twice for "New York Live!"; first on February 7th, and the second time on the 21st. At Noon, Ira Joe Fisher stayed at the news desk, rather than walking over to the chroma-key screen for the weather, and Michael Pomeranz gave Ira a "Welcome Back Home" cake. At 4:00, Ira didn't walk much because he said he need crutches. He was standing up quite a few times though. I'm sure everyone is hoping Ira Joe Fisher's knee heals completely very soon!

Ira Joe Fisher Returns Next Week

Ira Joe Fisher was live on the phone today at 4:00 during CBS 2's "New York Live!". He confirmed that he's coming back to CBS 2 Wednesday, February 28th as weatherman for the Noon and 4:00 broadcasts. On January 29th, Ira Joe slipped and fell on the ice while walking his dog, and had knee surgery the next day. This is the second time he joined anchors Dana Tyler and Todd McDermott on the phone, the first time was on February 7th.

CBS 2 Welcomes Back Ernie Anastos, and more

Today at 4:00 on CBS 2's "New York Live!", Dana Tyler welcomed Todd McDermott as her new co-anchor, and Cindy Hsu with the news headlines. The 5:00pm news is the only newscast that kept the same anchors, Todd McDermott and Angela Rae. At 5:20, they went to Ernie Anastos, and he talked for about a minute about coming back to WCBS. Then at 5:44, Ernie previewed The News at 6:00. Then the 6:00 newscast began, with Dana Tyler on the left and Ernie Anastos on the right. At 6:17, Dana and David Rogers welcomed Ernie back, just before weather. And right before sports, at 6:24, Warner Wolf welcomes Ernie Anastos back too.









There are also some more promos I saw this afternoon and evening. There's a new 30-second "Nightcast" promo, advertising the new 11:00pm newscast with different music (thanks to Delaware Valley Media Watch for the online video). There's also a new 5 second morning promo with Michael and Lisa, Noon promo with Michael and Cindy, and 5:00 promo with Todd and Angela.