<\/a> Tanja Babich<\/p><\/div>\n

It seems like Chicago news anchors come and go all the time \u2014 except at WLS-Channel 7.<\/p>\n

The ABC-owned station is such a bastion of stability that it\u2019s been seven years since anyone from outside joined the anchor team (Ravi Baichwal in 2006), and 10 years since a new anchorwoman was added to the lineup (Karen Jordan in 2003.)<\/p>\n

And once they settle in, they tend to stay, well, anchored:<\/em> Two have been at ABC 7 since Ronald Reagan\u2019s first term (Alan Krashesky in 1982 and Linda Yu in 1984.) The last anchor to leave voluntarily was Rob Johnson, who jumped to CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 in 2006.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s a pretty big deal whenever Chicago\u2019s news leader makes a move, as it did last week with the hiring of Tanja Babich from WSYR-TV, the ABC affiliate in Syracuse, New York. The announcement by news director Jennifer Graves said Babich will start in January as a general assignment reporter and substitute anchor. But don\u2019t let the \u201csubstitute\u201d fool you. We should be seeing a lot more of Babich sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whom she\u2019ll replace, although it doesn\u2019t take an expert to see that the station\u2019s weekday morning ratings have never been worse. For now, John Idler, president and general manager of ABC 7, appears to be keeping all his anchor options open.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdler knows he has to build up a bench and then let it sort itself out,\u201d one insider said.<\/p>\n

In moving from Syracuse, where she anchored the top-rated morning newscast, Babich, 32, makes a impressive jump from the No. 85 market to No. 3. She joined WSYR in 2007 straight out of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she earned a master\u2019s degree. Fluent in French, Spanish and Serbian, the Toronto, Canada, native earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in government from Cornell University.<\/p>\n