No More Mr. Nice Guy?

Is Matt Lauer being mean to the underlings at the Today Show?​

If you want to believe Radar Online, then the answer is "yes."​

The website says that as the Today Show ratings continue to slide Lauer is still on a rampage with staffers and no one can escape his wrath.

“The way Matt treats staffers at work is so derogatory and dismissive,” a source close to the show said about the 25-year-veteran host.

“He is so demeaning to many people on the staff. He is cordial to his fellow hosts and the senior executives but to anyone below him they say he treats them like dirt.”

For the first time in 19 years Good Morning America trounced The Today Show in the May Sweeps, beating them solidly, and the show’s failures are landing squarely at Matt’s feet.

“For a while Matt was acting nicer to everyone, but now the staffers are afraid of him,” the source said.

“So many people feel like he doesn’t even listen when they’re pitching stories or trying to break news. They say they could have the biggest breaking news of the year and Matt wouldn’t pay attention to them.”

They say that it is harder than ever to work with him.

Ax Swings in Eugene

Word out of Eugene, Oregon is that about 30 staffers were told they're being let go at KMTR.

Fisher owns the station and has decided to shut it down and combine it with KVAL.

We're told the only staff member being kept is KMTR Morning Anchor Kelli Warner.

Coincidentally, Sinclair is in the process of acquiring Fisher. So you have to wonder if the ax swinging was on orders sent over from Sinclair?
​

Houston Anchor Has New Hair Style!

The big news out of Houston is that ​KPRC Anchor Dominique Sachse has a now hair style that....get this... is longer than before.

Sanchse tells Mike McGuff that she is getting a lot positive feedback in person and on  social media.

Sachse won't take the credit. She says the new doo was the idea of her stylist.

And Walter Cronkite ​flips over one more time. 

Milwaukee Anchor Leaving the Business

You can stick a fork in WISN reporter/anchor Abe Lubetkin.....he's done!

Lubetkin is leaving the station to work in the private sector. 

Lubetkin worked as weekend morning anchor and general assignment reporter.

He joined the station in 2010 from El Paso, Texas, where he was a news anchor and reporter. He previously worked in Providence, R.I.

"Leaving television news was a difficult decision for me," Lubetkin wrote in an email.

"But having worked in the news business since graduating from college, I decided it was time for a new challenge. ... I deeply appreciate all the viewers who made me feel right at home here. Milwaukee is ... full of great people, so I'm glad to be staying in town."

H/T Milwaukee Journal ​

Crawling Along on the Information Highway

Just wanted to throw you guys a heads up. ​

We are updating this morning's FTVLive from a Hyatt Hotel just outside Orlando and we can tell you the internet connection speed is about as fast as slow dial up. 

We're not saying it's the slowest we have ever seen, but we were able to take a shower and eat breakfast in the time it took to download ​a picture of Wolf Blitzer.

FTVLive is on the road most of the day, so updates might not be as timely as you are used to. But, we plan on being back in the World Headquarters by tomorrow ​morning and should be back to full strength. 

The Week's Top 5 Most Read Stories

As we get ready to kick off a new week, it's time to look back at what stories you guys read the most from last week.​

​Here are the Top 5 stories from the last week in May on FTVLIve.com:

No. 5 -​ The Strange Dating Life of Katie Couric

No. 4 -​ That Didn't go so Well

No. 3 -​ Be Like Mike....

No. 2 -​ Reporter Fired Because he Was "Painful to Watch"

And the most read story for the Week was: Sorry Jay.... But that's Kind of How TV News Works

CBS Buys Up TV Guide Digital

TV Guide Digital has fared well between its web portal and mobile apps, but part-owner CBS thinks there's a lot of potential locked away.

Enough so, in fact, that CBS is taking over TV Guide Digital by acquiring Lionsgate's remaining 50 percent stake in the venture.

The media giant now has full control of both TVGuide.com and the TV Guide Mobile apps, both of which are folding into CBS Interactive's Technology, Games and Lifestyle division. CBS mostly hopes that the deal will make it a font of wisdom for channel surfers -- it sees TV Guide Digital's rapidly growing audience and programming knowledge as complements to TV.com. We don't yet know how the acquisition will affect the TV Guide properties themselves, but we'd expect more than just the status quo.

Engadget

Video Inside The Weather Channel Truck Hit by Tornado

Here's the video inside The Weather Channel Tornado Hunt vehicle ​as it takes a direct hit from a Tornado. 

Tornado 1 Weather Channel 0

FTVLive told you last night just minutes after it happened that a tornado took out some revenge on The Weather Channel's Tornado Hunt team. ​

The Weather Channels vehicle ​was tossed 200 yards into a field by the tornado. TWC's Mike Bettes was on board with a crew. 

No injuries were reported.