Select an Anchor

Posted at 10:26 AM on August 6, 2008 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Media

We've gotten a lot of praise over the years for the MPR Select A Candidate quiz that's intended to get people to know, at least, the names of the people running for office. In Chicago, the same idea is behind a novel way to introduce people to news anchors at WBBM in Chicago -- the "Which anchor are you?" quiz.

Some of the answers are pretty lame. For example, under the question "Who do you most admire?" the answers are "My mother, my grandmother, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa." Fathers? That's so Public Radio, I guess. (Like Select A Candidate, the options are only as good as the answers given by the candidates, err, anchors)

Apparently I'm most like Rob Johnson, whoever the heck he is. But he's got nice hair and good teeth, so that's encouraging. It's a pity he doesn't think much of old Dad.

How long do you think it'll be before WCCO picks up this idea?

Update: There's a flaw in this. It would appear it's predetermined what anchor you're matched with. There may, in fact, be no relevancy in your answers at all. Too bad. With the SAC quiz program, I could set something like this up for MPR's hosts in a couple of minutes. Hmmm....

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Comments (11)

I'm Rob Johnson too! I gotta find a bio on this yahoo.

Posted by Andy | August 6, 2008 10:41 AM

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WCCO's Jason DeRusha had a post about it on his blog at 4:11 P.M. yesterday but it since got pulled.

So maybe they are working on it and they don't want to spill the beans early or Jason decided that the results showing him to be most like a woman wasn't something he wanted sitting on his blog.

We could just ask him but it's more fun to speculate.

Posted by Aaron | August 6, 2008 10:57 AM

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I ended up like Anne State, so that's troubling. WBBM has a new anchor team: new main anchors, new sports guy, so they're trying to introduce them to the market.

We're... uh.. not in that same situation.

Posted by Jason DeRusha | August 6, 2008 10:58 AM

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'cept for the new weather dude.

Posted by Bob Collins | August 6, 2008 10:59 AM

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True enough. I forget he's new, since he's been here for a couple years in the morning.

Posted by Jason DeRusha | August 6, 2008 11:13 AM

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This is my first contribution to the News Cut blog in quite some time (relatively speaking), and may be the last one before I leave for Germany on the 18th. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

Anyhow, this was a pretty weak quiz...most of the time the answers did not appeal to me at all. I think it is safe to say that calculations or formulas were only as complex as adding responses corresponding with anchors. Although I really like Rob Johnson's teeth, I'm skeptical about how strong the correlation between Rob and me actually is.

Posted by Tyler Suter | August 6, 2008 2:25 PM

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You know
who i think is the MOST PLEASANT NEWSCASTER (next to you Bob, of course) is this guy who does the morning weather...I can't think of the channel that he is on but he has long side burns and a more pronounced chin. He has a very attractive character or personality. A happy man.
I just thought I would mention that since we were on the subject.

Posted by c | August 6, 2008 2:39 PM

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I'm like Anne State. Works for me... she is a marked improvement for CBS from Diann Burns. She's professional and engaging, delivers the stories well without the fanfare. I enjoy her. Nice work CBS.

Posted by ChicagoJ | August 6, 2008 3:47 PM

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I didn't think FANFARE was a real word but sure enough:

Main Entry: fan·fare
Pronunciation: \ˈfan-ˌfer\
Function: noun
Etymology: French
Date: 1605
1 : a short and lively sounding of trumpets
2 : a showy outward display

I especially like the first definition. and just the other night I was watching the news when I heard those very lively trumpets.
What's your sound Bob? if you don't have one it should be the tuba. what do you think

Posted by c | August 6, 2008 5:35 PM

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I don't know that Tuba is quite right... baritone maybe. Or French horn. When I think of Tuba I think "Oompa, Oompa, Oompa-pa" which doens't fit Bob at all (or at least the version of Bob I have in my head).

The Grandfather in "Peter and the Wolf" is represented by the Bassoon. Maybe that? Bob is a wise man after all.

Posted by brian | August 7, 2008 8:45 AM

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Well Brian!
there is our common ground because I was using Peter and the Wolf as the measuring tool and I thought that Peters Grandfather was represented as a tuba.

But a tuba could also be the leader of the band.
right?

Posted by c | August 7, 2008 6:41 PM

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