Former Motown Anchor Goes Missing

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Former Detroit Anchor Charles Pugh is missing.

Pugh is the current president of the Detroit City Council has apparently gone missing without a trace.

Pugh had missed multiple council meetings over the last month and requested a four-week medical leave Tuesday. The request was denied and the city's emergency manager gave Pugh until 5 p.m. Wednesday to show up for work.  

He did not and now has been stripped of his pay and his power. 

But that isn't the only bad news for Pugh. 

A Motown attorney held a press conference claiming the Pugh had an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Ivan Land, an Oak Park attorney representing the teenage boy's mother, claims Pugh took the student off campus in a city car and bought him gifts. Pugh was her son’s mentor through a leadership program.

“I have text messages to substantiate some of the things I am telling you...." Land said, adding that he would not be releasing the text messages at this time. 

For for ten years Pugh weekend anchor at WJBK in Detroit. He was very active on social media, but now all those accounts have been shutdown.

The mystery of where he is continues.  

Sinning in Sin City

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Sinning in Sin City

It looks like one Las Vegas Reporter might want to update her resume. 

When the news came down that U.S. Supreme Court had thrown out a federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act stations all over the country covered the story. 

Las Vegas's KLAS Reporter Sharrie Harvin covered the story and it included a sound bite from Pastor Kelcey West of Nehemiah Ministries Christian Church.

Harvin said "Some people are extremely concerned about the direction this takes our nation" and cited God as "the ultimate judge" of same-sex relationships.

What Harvin did not say is that West is her pastor and Nehemiah Ministries is her church.

Oh! And she is the public relations director for the church.

Oops! 

After the leap, what the News Director has to say and how this is the first time this Reporter did this.  

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One Day at a Time

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Paula Deen's loss is the Today Show's gain. 

The NBC morning show beat it's rival Good Morning America in the ratings, although it was only for one day.  

Ratings showed "Today" got 168,000 more viewers than "GMA" on Wednesday, when Lauer interviewed Deen about the controversy over her use of the n-word.

This is the first win for Today over GMA since Hurricane Sandy last November.

Again...it was only one day, but for the staff at the Today Show, they'll take any good news at this point.  

What did Matt Lauer do after his interview with Deen? He played golf at Manhasset’s Deepdale Golf Club.

Good man. 

Changing Channels

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Adams Broadcast Consulting reports the following client news:

Julie Durda, morning meteorologist for WPLG-TV in Miami, will be filling in on Good Morning America on July 6th and 7th

Troy Hirsch is promoted to Sports Director at KSWB-TV in San Diego from weekend sports.

Jenn Strathman moves to WPTV in West Palm Beach where she will head up a new consumer investigative unit , leaving WEWS-TV in Cleveland where she was a consumer reporter.

Julie, Troy and Jenn are represented by Dana Adams.  Adams Broadcast Consulting is a full service boutique agency.  Visit ABC on the web at www.adamsconsulting.tv.

 

FindJodi.com Live Tweets Event 18 Years Later

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In an effort to keep the search active for missing anchor Jodi Huisentruit, FindJodi.com is live tweeting what happened 18 years ago Today when the TV Anchor went missing as she was leaving her apartment headed to the station. 

The site is live tweeting the 24 hrs before & after Jodi's disappearance, 18 years after the fact.

FindJodi.com site founder Josh Benson and board member Tara Manis are tweeting as the events unfolded at the time. You can follow the Twitter feed at this link. 

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This is your 15 Minutes Dan...Enjoy it

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This is your 15 Minutes Dan...Enjoy it

The Today Show has officially run out of guests and are now interviewing NBC Interns. 

This morning, Dan Stein was on the Today Show talking about how he ran with the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA to NBC Correspondent Pete Williams. 

Stein was featured on a umber of websites showing him running to Williams. 

It was interesting when Natalie Morales was introducing Stein she said because of Stein's running "Pete was first, or near first with the news." 

I can see the promo now, "NBC we are First....or near First with the news as it breaks."

Video of Stein's 15 minutes of fame on Today is up after the Jump.  

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Tucson Talent Leaving in Contract Disputes

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Tucson Talent Leaving in Contract Disputes

Three TV Newsies are leaving their TV news gigs in Tucson. 

Two of the three of are bolting because of contract disputes.

FTVLive FIRST told you that KOLD news anchor Scott Kilbury was leaving the station.

Kilbury's next stop is upstate New York, KVOA sports director Ryan Recker has taken a job in Pittsburgh, and KVOA reporter Lorraine Rivera is leaving the industry to spend time with her family.

But there is more to the stories of Kilbury and Rivera - both of whom say they would have stuck around had they managed to work out their contracts.

Anchor Kilbury, 46, had been with KOLD since 2001. He had been been working without a contract since August, when he declined to sign an extension while negotiating for higher pay. He said KOLD pulled its offer and told him he could stay until he found a new job.

Kilbury said he was willing to accept the original offer two days after he declined it, but KOLD management would not budge. He didn't start seriously looking for a job until February.

More after the jump.    

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Miami Anchor Desperately Searches for his Dog

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Miami Anchor Desperately Searches for his Dog

As a huge animal lover, this story breaks our heart and we can totally feel for WFOR (Miami) Anchor Elliot Rodiguez.

The WFOR anchorman has lost his dog and is desperately trying to find him.

Rodriquez 6-year-old silky terrier Freddie is the unofficial station’s night-shift mascot.

Rodriguez used to bring the 10-pound Freddie to the studios, and Freddie was known to lie down and guard Rodriguez as he did his on-air thang at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

But Freddie bolted from a dog-sitter Monday morning and Rodriguez is worried sick.

During his dinner break at work, the newscaster now drives to the Miramar Parkway complex and distributes flyers.

“It’s like losing a family member,” Rodriguez said.

More after the jump.   

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FTVLive Talent Spotlight - Ginger Gadsden

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Today in the FTVLive Talent Spotlight is Anchor Reporter Ginger Gadsden. Gadsden has been the morning anchor at WTSP in Tampa.  You can reach Ginger through her Agent Matthew Kingsley at 3 Kings Entertainment.

If you want your Resume featured on FTVLive.com, talk to your agent or email us. You will be seen by thousands of News Managers without the phone calls or the postage. 

Pelley + Page Six = Pissing Match

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There is no doubt that the NY Post's Page Six is in a pissing match with CBS News Anchor Scott Pelley. 

Pelley blasted Page Six for one of their gossip items and also took a shot at Fox News (both the Post and FNC are owned by Rupert Murdoch).

It seems that since then, Page Six has been pelting Pelley with gossip items in their column.  

This morning the paper writes: 

Ill-tempered anchor Scott Pelley is searching for a new executive producer to lift him out of third place, sources say.

We’re told Poison Pelley wants to replace producer Patricia Shevlin in a bid to boost his ratings. A source said, “Patricia has been there for a long time and does an outstanding job, but Pelley doesn’t want to be in third.”

Pelley — who recently told Page Six we wouldn’t “last 10 seconds at CBS News” — seems a bit confused about ratings, claiming Fox News has 200,000 to 300,000 viewers (it’s recently had 1.2 to 2.15 million at different times), while he talks to “7 million.” Last week he averaged 5.6 million.

A CBS rep said: “That’s ridiculous — another day, another silly rumor about the fastest growing evening newscast on broadcast TV.”

Let the media cat fight continue. 

Triple the Ratings

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WESH in Orlando will take a break from the George Zimmerman trial to cover the other HUGE story playing out in central Florida.  

The station will interview their Anchor Martha Sugalski.

In an Exclusive that you will only see on WESH, WESH Anchor Sugalski will talk about giving birth to triplets.

She delivered two boys and a daughter on Saturday. The station plans to tape the Sugalski interview during the day Thursday and play the segment in the 5 p.m. time slot, news director Bob Longo said.

WESH also will share the names of Sugalski's identical twin sons during the 5 p.m. news. The daughter is named Holden Quincy.

But Longo added that these plans could change if there is breaking news.

Sugalski announced her babies' arrival via Twitter on Sunday morning: "After 6 days on Babies Watch - guess who arrived!!! The triplets are here!!!!"

H/T Orlando Sentinel 

Jumping on the Titanic

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Jumping on the Titanic

FTVLive told you that WKBW in Buffalo had decided to blow up their morning news show and start over. 

"We view it as a restaurant," said WKBW GM Michael Nurse. "We're going to change the menu, spiff up the place and ask viewers to try it."

The problem is, most restaurants that change their menu, still end up going out of business.

But, the station is hoping that isn't the case and has hired two new anchors to try and revive the struggling AM show.

Starting in early or mid-August, Cole Heath and Tiffany Lundberg will be the co-anchors of "Eyewitness News This Morning," replacing Patrick Taney and Ginger Geoffery.

More after the leap.   

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New Chief Met Named in Bean Town

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Eric Fisher has been named Chief Meteorologist for CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV News and will anchor weather segments weeknights at 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM, as well as WBZ-TV News at 10PM on myTV38 (WSBK-TV). Fisher’s appointment was announced today by John Verrilli, News Director, and his first day at WBZ-TV will be Monday, August 19, 2013.

“Eric will be a great addition to our outstanding WBZ AccuWeather team,” said Verrilli. “Eric is a native New Englander who’s very familiar with our area’s dynamic weather, and he has a track record for spot-on forecasting. He also has a great deal of experience reporting live, in extreme weather, and his skills will serve the community well when he reports on breaking weather from the WBZ Mobile AccuWeather Lab.”

“I’ve lived in New England most all of my life, and I am thrilled to return home to Massachusetts and join the outstanding team of meteorologists at WBZ-TV,” said Fisher. “Like every member of the ‘BZ weather team, I’ve loved weather from a young age. I distinctly recall Memorial Day of 1995, when the infamous tornado ripped through Great Barrington. I was glued to the weather reports and the meteorologists showing active radar screens, and I knew this was the job for me. Plus, my wife and I are life-long fans of the Sox, Bruins, Patriots, and Celtics!”

Fisher joins WBZ-TV News from The Weather Channel in Atlanta

 

Chicago Station to Beef Up Investigative Unit

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Chicago Station to Beef Up Investigative Unit

WMAQ in Chicago is expanding the station's investigative unit at the NBC O&O. 

The station announced major plans to expand its current investigative team.  By adding five new members – both on air and off air – that will be exclusively dedicated to investigative stories, this newly expanded unit will be the largest of its kind in Chicago and the state of Illinois.  Currently the NBC 5 Investigates team includes veteran, award-winning journalists Carol Marin, Rob Stafford, Lisa Parker, Phil Rogers, Marion Brooks and Dick Johnson along with several producers and photographers. 

As part of this expansion, veteran journalist Phil Rogers will become a full-time investigative reporter.  Rogers has been a general  assignment reporter at NBC 5 since 1993 and has won numerous awards for his breaking news and investigative reporting.  

The obligatory sound bite after the jump.  

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