There is no doubt that the cable news anchors and pundits enjoy nothing more than hearing themselves talk.
But, when you have on more than one at a time and they aren't screaming at each other, they do sometimes, as much as it hurts, have to listen.
Conan O'Brien takes a funny look at the talking heads of cable when they are not talking.
Here's the video:
They say you can't go home again, but Sheila Brummer is proving that you can go home again....and more than once.
Brummer is returning to KTIV in Sioux City (where I just learned they have the Internet) a station she worked at in the mid 1990's. Brummer is also a native of Sioux City.
She will start on Thanksgiving Day anchoring the evening newscasts alongside Matt Breen.
Let's go to the obligatory sound bites:
"I am so happy to have this opportunity to return to the team at KTIV," said Sheila. "I have worked in bigger cities, but the talent and the enthusiasm at KTIV surpasses them all. Matt Breen could work anywhere in the country and I can't wait to sit next to him each night. I worked with Matt, Ron and Brad when I started my career at KTIV and coming back will be like returning home."
"I am very excited to bring back home to Siouxland a familiar face for our viewers," said KTIV Station Manager, Bridget Breen. "Sheila's dedication, experience, leadership and professionalism will complement our already successful news team. Having Sheila back at KTIV with Matt, Ron and Brad is like having a sibling return home to a close-knit family."
Note: Earlier I wrote that she was headed to Sioux Falls, not Sioux City. So Sioux me!
Former KTRK Anchor Alan Hemberger died at his home in Massachusetts over the weekend.
Family members became concerned when they couldn't reach him, and authorities found him during a welfare check. The cause of death has not been determined.
Hemberger came to Houston in 1989, and was the anchor of Live at Five for nine years.
Melanie Lawson said, "As my co-anchor for many years, Alan was wonderful to work with, and a real gentleman."
A KTRK spokesperson issued the following statement: "Alan's friends and former co-workers at KTRK-TV are saddened by his passing. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family."
Hemberger was 65 years old.
(KTRK)
CNBC is not happy that a Producer left the network to join another company. And the business channel is thinking about suing the Producer, even though he didn't leave for a rival channel, or cable television at all. He went to a social media company.
BuzzFeed writes that Executives at business news cable network CNBC are threatening to file a breach of contract lawsuit against a producer who left to become Chief Executive of StockTwits, which describes itself as a real-time social network for investors and traders, according to two sources close to the situation.
StockTwits two weeks ago hired John Melloy, a seven-year veteran of CNBC who produced the network’s Fast Money Halftime Report and Fast Money shows as well as wrote its Behind the Money blog, as its new CEO. And while Melloy told Business Insider that it was his decision to leave CNBC, he is apparently still under contract with the network, meaning that he wasn’t an at-will employee free to leave at any time, sources said.
According to both sources, part of the reason why Melloy left CNBC is because executives rebuffed his overtures for a broader role with more involvement on the digital side of the business.
“He wanted to do something more creative and in the news flow,” this source said.
That CNBC, a cable network worth several billion dollars, is even considering filing a lawsuit against a relatively unknown producer underscores the rise of social media, particularly Twitter and websites like StockTwits that seek to leverage Twitter’s reach, as a medium for breaking news and information. Typically, such legal remedies are reserved for high-ranking executives who are attempting to leave one company to go to a direct competitor, which in this case would more traditionally be defined as another cable news network such as Fox Business, Bloomberg, or perhaps even CNN.
Indeed, if CNBC does move forward with a lawsuit against Melloy, one of the sources said the cause it would most likely pursue would be “exclusivity,” meaning that Melloy is only authorized to work for and get paid by CNBC while under contract.
A CNBC representative said the network does not comment on the contract status of employees. Howard Lindzon, the founder of StockTwits who will move into the chairman role to make room for Melloy, declined comment. Melloy, who both sources said was “well-liked and well-respected” inside the CNBC newsroom, did not respond to a request for comment.
Keith Olbermann is back at ESPN and he's there because he believes in redemption. He tells
Olbermann who has an ego as big as any in the business, and eventully wears out his welcome everywhere he's been, says that he wants to try and stay at ESPN this time.
Good luck with that.
GQ: Do you believe in redemption?
Keith Olbermann: Yeah. I wound up working for ESPN again because I believe in it and because I was pursuing it. I've made no secret of this, and I believe it sincerely. As I said several times, if there's anybody who bothers to write an obit for me, it will include something in the first paragraph about contentious exits. And I'd like to change that. So yeah, I kind of believe in redemption. This is my third tour at ESPN. I've had two at NBC, an eight-year run. We retire our presidents at eight years; I think we should retire our political commentators at something less than that. So I believe in it, and it's not necessarily a permanent thing, but in this case I want to try to make it as permanent as circumstances will allow.
GQ: Can you be successful without anger?
Keith Olbermann: It depends on what people perceive me from. I mean, there was not an awful lot of anger on SportsCenter.
GQ: You've spoken in the past of being bullied in grammar school. Do you feel at a certain point you became the bully? That you crossed over?
Keith Olbermann: No. Because a bully is fighting out of a need to dominate. And is usually unwilling to take the consequences.
WMAQ Anchor/Reporter Kim Vatis is resigning her full-time position at the NBC O&O to pursue “new adventures.”
After 16 years at the station, Robert Feder says that Vatis last day anchoring weekend morning newscasts is expected to be Dec. 1. But Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news at NBC 5, is leaving the door open for Vatis to return.
“Kim has decided it’s time for a change in her life,” Whittaker said in a memo. “With her daughter, Dakota, now off to college, Kim is hoping to travel more and take on other projects outside of local television news.
“While Kim is off to new adventures, she and I have discussed continuing her relationship with NBC 5 News on a part-time basis, both for daily reporting and special projects. We’ll be working out those details in the weeks ahead.”
Whittaker praised Vatis, calling her “an integral part of NBC 5 News both on the street as a reporter and on the anchor desk. Her work is exemplary — she is aggressive, hard-working and always gets the goods.”
Before joining NBC 5 in 1997, Vatis was an anchor and reporter in Orlando, Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida, and Bangor, Maine. She graduated from the University of Florida.
Free Press writes that the U.S. broadcast television industry is in the midst of a wave of consolidation, which one longtime industry insider described as “the biggest wave ... in the history of television.”1
This wave is leaving in its wake shuttered newsrooms and jobless journalists in communities all across the country. And there is likely much more of this to come.
Local broadcast journalism is already suffering from two decades of rampant media consolidation. Absentee corporate owners, concerned only with profit maximization, long ago pushed out most station owners with ties to their communities. Prioritizing profit above public service, these corporations replaced political reporters with political ads. Cross-promotions for American Idol displaced important news stories. Cheap-to-produce traffic, weather and sports updates now comprise nearly half of all local news programming. And in many communities, the same company owns multiple media outlets: Changing the channel brings the same content from the same newsroom, packaged with slightly altered graphics.
The Federal Communications Commission — the agency tasked with ensuring the public airwaves serve the public interest — has been a willing accomplice to this destruction of local journalism.
Read the Full report at this link.
....even the Anchors are bored with the newscast:
In a book about Fox News, Reporter David Folkenflik writes that Fox News' public relations staffers used an elaborate series of dummy accounts to fill the comments sections of critical blog posts with pro-Fox arguments.
Folkenflik's soon to be released book 'Murdoch's World' claims that Fox News' public relations staffers scores of dummy accounts that the PR people would "post pro-Fox rants" in the comments sections of "negative and even neutral" blog posts written about the network.
This does not come to anyone that runs a blog. FTVLive saw this practice for years by both Fox News and other cable nets when we allowed comments on our site.
Fake accounts are nothing new and goes right down to Anchors at local stations that do the same thing to prop themselves up while tearing down others in the station.
According to Folkenflik, the staffers at FNC used various tactics to cover their tracks, including setting up wireless broadband connections that "could not be traced back" to the network.
A former staffer told Folkenflik that they had personally used "one hundred" fake accounts to plant Fox-friendly commentary.
H/T MediaMatters
Former WPTV (West Palm Beach) Weatherman Rob Lopicola's trial finally starts Today.
Jury selection is set to begin this morning as he faces charges of sex-with-underage-boys.
Lopicola, 43, is accused of having sex with boys he met online who were 15 and 17 respectively at the time of the alleged crimes, in 2010 and 2011. He is charged with unlawful sexual activity of a minor, lewd and lascivious conduct, lewd and lascivious battery and child exploitation, all felonies.
Gossip Extra writes that once considered a steady guiding hand by TV viewers for his hurricane coverage, the openly-gay Lopicola left the television station in 2006 in circumstances that the NBC affiliate’s officials have steadfast refused to explain. Rumors swirled at the time that Lopicola appreciated younger men.
At first, the muscle-bound ex-broadcaster became a personal trainer and life consultant. But eventually, he lost his West Palm Beach house in foreclosure and moved to Broward County, where he was known to perform as a stripper in gay clubs.
More after the Jump.
Read More
Sometimes a TV news reporter will really touch you, it's rare when it touches the Reporter telling the story.
After reporting a story last year, WLEX Reporter Leigh Searcy decided to donate a kidney to anyone who needed it, even if it was a stranger.
Searcy does not know who the recipient was, but it was a woman "whom I'm told is doing very well and I'm happy for her."
Searcy, a WLEX-TV news reporter, told University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital officials that she would like to meet the recipient if the woman is willing. The meeting would be "wonderful;" however, Searcy said she understands if it never takes place.
"If I don't, I just hope my kidney is doing its job for her ... I just really hope it continues to work for her,'' Searcy said.
It is fair to say that Searcy never really thought of donating a kidney.
What changed her mind and what she told her kids after the jump.
Read MoreLongtime Orlando Weatherman Danny Treanor is signing off this week.
The News 13 meteorologist will retire Wednesday after being in the Orlando TV market since 1978.
"I'm not going to say goodbye," Treanor, 68, said recently. "It's not a farewell. It's like another day."
"Danny will never really be gone," said Tim Geraghty, News 13's senior director of news. "The memories of Danny — people aren't just going to forget Danny on Wednesday."
Treanor seems embarrassed by the attention. "I would save it for somebody more important," he said.
Told that his name means something, he shoots back, "Well, so does Ted Bundy's."
How Treanor lost his TV job, but stayed in the market to fine another after the leap.
Read MoreESPN was on hand with live coverage of the Florida/Clemson game and did some live hits with some fans in the background.
One fan, that likely was enjoying a beverage or two, photobombed one live shot to the point where all you could do was watch him and not pay any attention to what the Reporter was saying.
I'm sure that this kid's Mom is just oh so proud.
The video is up after the jump.
Read MoreWSAZ *Charleston, WV) has named their new anchor to replace Jessica Ralston, who left for a new anchor gig at WTVF in Nashville.
And the station did not go far to find their replacement.
Amanda Barren who rejoined the WSAZ News Team in December 2012 to co-anchor First at Five with Bill Murray. She will remain in that capacity until a replacement is found but will also anchor the 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
"It's a lot but I'm looking forward to it," Barren said. "I love to write and I love people so this job is perfect for me."
After graduating from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Barren took a job at WTAP in Parkersburg. She then moved to Erie, Pa., where she covered the crime and courts beat before becoming the anchor of "Good Morning Erie" for two years.
When the opportunity arose to work at WSAZ, Barren jumped at the chance to make the move to Charleston in 2006.
And I think FTVLive speaks for everyone out there when we say "who wouldn't jump at the chance to move to West Virginia?!"
OK maybe I don't speak for everyone....
KELO in Sioux Falls, SD is debuting a new newscast Today, and no matter where you live, you can watch it.
The station is launching KELOLAND News First@4, being billed as the market’s first and only online newscast.
First@4 will be anchored by veteran reporter Ben Dunsmoor and will include a mix of top stories, reporter briefings, live reports from the field.
“We think the time is right for an online newscast. It’s designed for busy people who want the news, but might not have access to a TV. Anyone who has an Internet connection or mobile connection can watch wherever they are,” said Jay Huizenga Vice President and General Manager for KELOLAND TV.
There's Internet in South Dakota?!
Who knew...
It looks like the nerds are starting to takeover the news.
As newspapers struggle to survive and TV might not be far behind, it appears that the news industry might have a saving grace.
The Techies.
The NY Times writes that with serious money, fresh ideas and no small amount of enthusiasm. Silicon Valley and its various power brokers — some who had roles in putting the news business in harm’s way to begin with — are suddenly investing significant sums of money in preserving news capacity and quality.
Pierre M. Omidyar, the founder of eBay, revealed last week that he would back the journalist Glenn Greenwald and his colleagues in a newly conceived news site to the tune of $250 million. Just over two months ago, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, spent the same amount to personally buy The Washington Post. That’s half a billion dollars dropped into serious news production, a sector that investors in distressed assets have been fleeing.
More after the jump.
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