Like We Said...

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Like We Said...

On Friday morning, FTVLive reported FIRST and EXCLUSIVELY that the axe was going to swing at WXXA in Albany, NY.​

​We wrote "Not sure what the total body count will be, but FTVLive hears that Morning Weather Anchor Jason Caterina is one of the names is on the hit list."

Well, we hate to say we told you so (actually we love saying that) but it went down just as we said.

The Albany Times Union writes that WXXA, which merged its news operation with that of WTEN, laid off meteorologist Jason Caterina and reporter Steve Flamisch on Friday.

More after the Jump  
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30 Years Ago Today

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30 Years Ago Today

30 Years ago Today Motown Records celebrated 25 years with a live TV special. It was there that Michael Jackson "Moonwalked" for the very first time.

It was one of those live TV moments that is etched in time.​

Jackson came out  and song his new hit "Billie Jean," while showing off some of the coolest dance moves anybody had ever seen.  People just went insane. Especially when he did the "moonwalk" move - it only lasted a second but you can hear people in the audience suddenly scream - they had never seen anything like that.

That was 30 years ago Today, which makes me feel really damn ​old.

The video of the moment after the Hop  ​

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RIP: Longtime Big Easy Anchor Dead

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​Alec Gifford, a born newsman who had been on the local TV-news beat 51 years when he retired from WDSU in December 2006, with a career spanning Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina, and covering countless colorful newsmakers and political scoundrels, has died, WDSU reported late Friday night. He was 85.

“He was an incredible journalist, and a wonderful teacher,” said WDSU anchorNorman Robinson, whom Mr. Gifford, then WVUE’s news director, brought to New Orleans from Mobile, Ala., in 1975. “It was about writing. It was about being aggressive. It was about going to the source of the story, and not being timid about asking questions. That’s what I learned from him.”

More from The Time Picayune

Today Show Stoops to New Low to Get Viewers

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Today Show Stoops to New Low to Get Viewers

​There is no question that the Today Show is getting more and more desperate to ​get ratings.

Just how desperate? ​

They are willing to basically lie to get viewers to watch them.​

OK...it's not a "Matt Lauer didn't do anything to get Ann Curry fired" kind of lie...but it's still pulling the wool over the viewers eyes. 

“In an exclusive interview airing Monday on TODAY, former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky will speak out for the first time since he went to prison,” the show wrote in a story posted on Today.com. ​

Sounds like a hell of a "get".... The Today Show will sit down with the Pervert from Penn State.​

Well, that's not exactly what is happening.

More after the Hop  ​

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Hollywood Agent Fires off Letter to NBC after BriWi Interview

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Hollywood Agent Fires off Letter to NBC after BriWi Interview

It looks like Brian Williams has pissed off the Emanuel brothers and they are starting to push back.​

At least hot shot Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel is.​

The New York Post reports that uber-agent Ari Emanuel sent a fiery legal letter to NBC after he objected to a contentious interview he and his high-powered brothers sat for with Brian Williams for “Rock Center,” sources tell Page Six.

More after the Skip  ​

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Fox to NBC: We'll Take Leno off your Hands

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Fox to NBC: We'll Take Leno off your Hands

​They had Joan Rivers in the spot, but ended up firing her. Then Arsenio Hall ​replaced Rivers and he became very popular with the young audience. That went off the air in 1994.

And Fox has basically been a non factor ever since.​

Well, Fox could get back in the game a big way and it would be thanks to the boneheaded bosses ​at NBC screwing things up once again.

More after the Jump  
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Top 5 Most Read Stories on FTVLive This Week

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Get out your brackets and see how well you did predicting the Top 5 mots read stories on FTVLive this week.​

Here we go:​

No.5 -​ A Kiran Chetry Sighting

No.4 -​ Ummmm... The Dogs are Doing it

No.3- ​Vegas Anchor Out after Just 8 Months

No.2 -​ The Worst Reporting Ever by a Network..... Ever

And the Number 1 most read story on FTVLive this week was:​

Come on NBC! Really?

FTVLive Quoted on CNN?!

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FTVLive Quoted on CNN?!

If you asked how much we would bet that Jeff Zucker's CNN would quote FTVLive in a story? We would have bet the house. ​

And we would have lost.​

CNN Correspondent Jeanne Moos (one the of the best writers on TV anywhere), did a story ​on the Huntsville News anchor that was proposed to on air during the newscast (something that we truly hate). Moos quoted FTVLive in her story about the on air proposal.

And by doing so....Jeanne Moos becomes our favorite CNN Talent.

Sorry Wolf.

The video after the Jump  ​

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20 Years Two Stations

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20 Years Two Stations

O-Town Weather Anchor Glen Richards ​is hitting a milestone in the Orlando market.

20 Years on the air.​

The Orlando Sentinel says  it's an unusual anniversary because it is split between two stations: WFTV-Channel 9, where he worked 10 years, and WOFL-Channel 35, where he has been chief meteorologist since 2003.

When a station doesn't renew a contract, TV talent usually moves on. But when WFTV dropped Richards in January 2003, he was determined to stick around.

Find out why and how he did after the Jump

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The 60 Minutes Line-Up for Sunday

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Here's what on the scheduled for TV's Number 1 News Magazine:

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CRACKDOWN IN RUSSIA – Female punk protest band Pussy Riot piqued the ire of Russian authorities after they staged an anti-Putin rally in Moscow’s largest cathedral.   The subsequent viral video of the stunt and stiff prison sentences for some of its members made the band a cause celebre.  Lesley Stahl reports. Shachar Bar-On and Alexandra Poolos are the producers.

BLINDSIDED – Brian Banks may yet play in the NFL. But he knows it’s a longshot, after spending five years in prison for a rape charge he was exonerated of. James Brown reports. Peter Radovich is the producer.

THE NILE CROCODILE – Anderson Cooper finds out that underwater, the man-eating Nile crocodile can look graceful, even beautiful, as he swims with the dangerous predators and the researchers studying them.   Michael Gavshon is the producer.​

CNN Might Want to Change the Name of Tapper's Show

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CNN Might Want to Change the Name of Tapper's Show

​Jeff Zucker's new face of CNN Jake Tapper has debuted his new show "The Lead with Jake Tapper" this week.​

How's it doing in the ratings?​

They might want to change the name of the show from the Lead to the Lost. As in Lost Viewers. 

In the first four days Tapper's show is not pulling in near the ratings that the most boring man on planet earth Wolf Blitzer did in that time slot. 

Some numbers, plus look who's beating him after the Hop  
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Nexstar Continues Buying Spree

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Nexstar Continues Buying Spree

Nexstar Broadcasting is on the verge of closing a deal to acquire Communications Corp. of America, according to sources.

Nexstar has signed a letter of intent and is conducting due diligence on CCA properties encompassing 12 stations in smaller markets.

CCA stations are in markets ranging Shreveport, La. (DMA 82), to Alexandria, La. (DMA 179). Nexstar's portfolio ranges from Washington (DMA 8) to St. Joseph, Mo. (DMA 201). Most are in mid-size to smaller markets.

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Sponsor Love - Devlin Design Group

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Sponsor Love - Devlin Design Group

Another week draws to a close and FTVLive continues to kick ass and take names. I want to thank all of you for the emails about how much you are enjoying the site (it makes these 15 hours days almost worth it).

Please continue to tell your friends and co-workers how much you like FTVLive!​

Of course the real people to thank is our sponsors! Without them, this site never would have gone free for all of you to enjoy.​

Sponsors like Devlin Design Group.​

Read more on this great builder of news sets after the Jump  ​

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Ted Koppel: Quit Rolling the Rock!

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Ted Koppel has a few words for the suits at NBC.​

Quit rolling the Rock!​

As in, stop moving the struggling NBC News magazine 'Rock Center' around on the schedule. ​

NBC has moved the show 4, 5, 6, hell we can't remember how many times and Koppel thinks they should just pick a slot and leave it alone.​

"Just when you think somebody might figure out when it's on and want to see it the next week, they move it to another place," said the former "Nightline" anchor. "That's not helpful, and I think Brian deserves more support than that."

Koppel does about four or five stories a year for "Rock Center."

H/T The AP