Chicagoland viewers get odd start to ‘Today’

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

At least some viewers in the Chicagoland area saw a bumpy start to “Today” Wednesday, March 6, 2019.

• At 7 a.m. local time, local affiliate WMAQ began showing the network’s live feed, showing the start of the 8 a.m. eastern hour of the show.
• About 20 seconds into that, the feed abruptly cut to the show’s tape delayed 7 a.m. teases.
• Viewers then saw the show’s teases as normal and the show’s normal open.
• A split second after the announcer said co-anchor Hoda Kotb’s name, however, the feed cut to black for a brief moment.
• The show then cut back to the live network feed, showing Kotb and co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin at the anchor desk introducing the 8 a.m. eastern hour (which was unfolding live for east coast viewers).
• As Guthrie began the “Your News at 8” segment (at 7 a.m. central time), the feed cut back to the tape delayed version showing just Guthrie and Kotb at the anchor desk starting the show from the very beginning.
• “Today” lead both the 7 and 8 a.m. hours with the bitter cold hitting the country — so there was at least some continuity there, despite the odd jump cuts.
• Viewers in the central time zone typically see “Today” on tape delay unless there is breaking news, when most local stations will join the show in progress.
• Some viewers in the central time zone in other markets also report that “Today” started with the live feed before switching to the tape delay, but did not appear to have as many issues as in Chicago.