May 17, 2013

Want a Free iPad? Switch to DISH

May 17, 2013/ Scott Jones

If you want to score a free iPad you can do it by switching over to the DISH network.

The entire pay TV industry has hit a plateau in subscriber growth, and now these companies are upping the ante to get people to sign up.

Dish Network is now giving away free Apple iPad 2 (just the 2? Weak) to new subscribers who take its Hopper multiroom DVR. Alternatively, new customers can opt for monthly discounts of $25 to $35 per month on programming packages for the first year.

Dish had a very weak first quarter in terms of subscriber trends, as did DirecTV, and cable operator video losses mounted in the period. Dish added 36,000 net TV subscribers in Q1, compared with 104,000 a year earlier.

More on the promotion and the term after the jump.

May 17, 2013

San Antonio ND Heads to CBS News

May 17, 2013/ Scott Jones

KENS News Director Kurt Davis is moving on up the food chain to CBS News.

Davis has been named Vice President, News Services for CBS News.

Davis will take charge of CBS News’ satellite newsgathering organization, which provides news and information to 200 CBS affiliates.

The appointment is effective immediately, and he will be based in New York.

Davis spent 10 years as the News Director at KENS in San Antonio.

May 16, 2013

Former KNBC Anchor Lands at CNN

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

Former KNBC Weekend Anchor Stephanie Elam is headed to CNN as an LA based Correspondent.

Elam worked at CNN, so this is a return back to the cable network for her.

Elam joined KNBC in October 2011 after nearly 8 years at CNN. She was the station’s weekend evening anchor and general assignment reporter until November 2012.

“Stephanie is an excellent communicator and tenacious reporter, and we are pleased to have her back as a part of the CNN family,” said Terence Burke, vice president of newsgathering for CNN US today in a statement.

This continues Jeff Zucker's hires of people from either ABC or NBC since he took over as the boss at CNN. Zuck has been trying to increase CNN's West Coast presence by increasing its emphasis on the business aspect of the entertainment industry.

Elam is the second LA hire by CNN in as many months.

H/T Deadline

May 16, 2013

Bumped up the Food Chain in LA

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

Araksya Karapetyan, who started out during her college years interning at both KFI and KABC-TV, has been promoted to full-time anchor with the KTTV's FOX 11 Morning News.

She joined the station last year as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor, where she had been contributing to the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts as well as Studio 11 LA.

She will anchor weekday newscasts from 4:30 to 7:00 a.m. and again from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., as well as continue to contribute to Good Day LA.

The obligatory quotes after the bounce.

May 16, 2013

Anchor gets Co-Anchor by Messing with the Prompter

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

t was like a scene out of Anchorman.

Karl Stefanovic, the legendary Australian TV presenter and co-host of Nine Network's breakfast show Today, decided to pull the old Anchorman Prank on his colleague Roz Kelly during this morning's broadcast.

While reciting her teleprompter script about a soccer match in Amsterdam, Kelly suddenly came across the line "how good are the [hash] cookies there," which, of course, she had no choice but to read.

"Karl, you've won the battle. The war has just begun, though," Kelly told Stefanovic, suggesting that viewers should expect the shenanigans to escalate quickly.

The anchors cracked up and now it looks like it's on.

The video after the jump.

May 16, 2013

DirecTV Figuring a way Around Retrans Fees

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

DirecTV is working on a way they won't have to pay your station or company a fee for carrying the station's signal.

Retransmission fess have become a big part of station's bottom lines and DirecTV wants to get away without paying that money.

DirecTV is considering testing a new set-top that incorporates an antenna allowing customers to pull over-the-air broadcast signals, which could allow the satellite giant to avoid paying millions of dollars per year in retransmission consent fees.

More after the hop.

May 16, 2013

Cincy Sports Anchor Kind of Retiring

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

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Here's a thought, when some anchor leaves their job and they say "it was entirely my decision" it most likely wasn't.

WCPO Sports Anchor Dennis Janson told viewers tonight he’s leaving anchor chair next Wednesday. Unbelievably that is also the last day a sweeps. What a coincidence!

The sports anchor says he is leaving the anchor chair to work primarily for the WCPO.com website writing a column.

Details of his new duties will be revealed later, he said, but “there will be a role for me on the air, with an edge.”

More often than not, stations staffers working on the website are just kids right out of school making next to nothing.

So the idea of taking the main sports anchor off air and having him work mainly for the station's website, shows a great commitment by the station and how much they realize that the Internet presence is vitally important.... Or they wanted to bump down the sports guy and replace him with someone new.

Janson claims the idea was all his. “This transition is solely – I say solely – my decision,” he tells Cincy Enquirer.

Uh-Oh!

May 16, 2013

That didn't Last Long

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

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Back in February the Chicago Sun Times newspaper came up with and idea to use popular Chicago Anchor Carol Marin to host an online newscast for the Sun-Times website.

The Marin Report appeared at noon Monday through Friday on the home page of suntimes.com. Marin hosted the show from studio in the Sun-Times’ newsroom. The Marin report was 90-second roundup of headlines and highlights of her colleagues’ work at SunTimes.

It didn't last long. Less than 3 months to be exact.

Today the paper announced that they have pulled the plug on The Marin Report.

The paper said: Calling it a "proud experiment," Carol Marin announces the demise of her "Marin Report" daily videocast for suntimes.com after three months. "Endless thanks to great subscribers!" she writes.

May 16, 2013

Brain Shrinking GMA

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

While NBC's Today Show seems to be most TV Critics target now-a-days, not everyone is loving the gang at GMA.

LA Times Media Reporter Joe Flint was watching Good Morning America and sent out this Tweet shortly after 8AM this morning.

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May 16, 2013

Denver Station Posts Video of DA Ripping Reporter

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

KMGH in Denver did something that they admit is not normal for them.

The station was working on a story about Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey and how he refuses to prosecute a higher percentage of felonies and felony sex assaults than many other judicial districts in Colorado and several similar ones around the country.

The station had been working on the story for months, but they were having a problem getting DA Morrissey to appear on camera.

Reporter Keli Rabon finally caught up with the DA in public, but he refused to answer he questions on camera.

A number of times he told Rabon that he would talked to her off camera because according to him, Rabon and the station don't "tell the truth" and they distort the story through their editing of the video.

During the encounter Morrissey repeatedly predicts that none of his criticism being shot would be shown.

So the station showed the entire exchange when they posted the video on the station's website and it made the DA look like a pompous ass.

Back to the Future in Medford

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

It looks like we have officially run out of sweeps stunt ideas and we are now starting over again.

At least that is the case at KOBI in Medford, Oregon.

The station has gone back to the late 60's early 70's and is bringing back "Dialing for Dollars.".

For you people under the age of 50, Dialing for Dollars is where the station calls viewers up. If the viewer knows the "secret" word they win cash (in this case $60). If they don't know, the station adds another $60 bucks to the pot, and they next person has a chance to win $120 dollars when they call.

The reason for this stunt in the 60's and 70's? It would force people to be at home (no cellphones back then) and watching the newscast to see what the secret word is. The stunt basically forced you to watching the newscast from your house in case the station called your home phone.

You can see how in 2013, this might not work like it did in the past.

Then again, I've never been to Medford...maybe they don't have cellphones and the Internet there just yet.

Or they might just drive Deloreans with a flux compacitor.

May 16, 2013

Getting it Right More Important than Getting it First

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

MediaSource's Lisa Arledge Powell writes that as a communication professional, I know the importance of gaining integrity and trust from the audiences I try to reach. I also know that as an industry we are sometimes quick to point the finger at other communicators who report for a living. Due to the 24/7 news cycle of today, the spotlight on media inaccuracies is brighter than ever. In times like these, it is important to remember those key principles of journalism that most of us learned when we first began our core coursework in college.

When breaking news is in the hands of reporters these days, it always seems the emphasis is placed on being the first to distribute a story, blog, tweet, Facebook post, and every other kind of possible communication. Being first on the scene can catapult your story out of the cluttered media world and into the public eye. At times, however, the first person to report a story might also be the first person to miss key information. Luckily, even after recent inaccuracies in the media, some journalists are still doing well at being the first to report quality, factual stories.

So which Cleveland Reporter is getting it "right"? Find out after the hop.

May 16, 2013

Moving from Sports To News

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

KHNL (Hawaii) has found their new news anchor and they found him hanging out in the station's sports department.

The station announced that main sports anchor Chris Tanaka, will move from the sports desk to become the new early evening anchor alongside Stephanie Lum.

Tanaka's move comes after long-time local news anchor, Shawn Ching, announced he will leave the newsroom to concentrate on his law practice.

The obligatory News Director quote after the jump.

May 16, 2013

CBS Boss Takes Swipe at the Today Show

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

CBS boss Les Moonves used the Advertiser Scamming event known as the Upfronts to take a swipe at NBC and the struggling Today Show.

In taking about the CBS prime time lineup, Moonves said “We believe that great drama belongs in primetime between 8-11 PM, not at 7 in the morning.” He said that while a picture of a crying Ann curry was flashed on the screen behind him.

OUCH!

Never mind the fact that CBS has changed out more morning show anchors in the past 5 years than NBC and ABC combined, you never let the facts stand in the way of a good joke.

from Curry’s departure from “Today” appeared on stage behind him (see the photo to the left).

We can only say to Mr. Moonves, pick on the Today Show all you want, but don't be mean to Hoda and Kathie Lee. We love them.

May 16, 2013

CBS's John Miller with Big Boston Scoop

May 16, 2013/ Scott Jones

CBS Correspondent John Miller has been one of the stand out reporters that covered the Boston bombings.

And while the bombings happened over a month ago, Miller is still breaking news in the case.

Miller reports that Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left a note claiming responsibility for the attack.

Sources tell Miller that Tsarnaev wrote the note in the boat he was hiding in as police pursued him, and as he bled from gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier shootout between police and his older brother.

More after the bounce.