O-Town Station Tacks on More News

It's always good when a station adds more newscasts. 

In June, WFTV-Channel 9 added a half-hour 4PM Newscast and now they have decided to lengthen it to an hour. 

The new 4:30 news will replace "Family Feud."

"Our viewers made it very clear that what they wanted at 4 p.m. was a full hour of news," WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt. "We paid attention and made the necessary changes."

I always love when I read quotes like this...

Did thousands of viewers really call the station and say "we want you to expand that 4PM newscast to an hour"? Or did they picket out front the station demanding "more News!"?

Just how did the viewers make it "very clear"? 

I'm betting the truth is the station liked the ratings of the 4PM news and figured they can make more money selling news than they can syndication.  

But, it doesn't sound good when the GM says "we are expanding news, because it's cheaper to produce and we can still get money from the suckers that pay us to run ads." 

Anyway...like we said...no matter what, it's always a good thing when a station adds more news.  

Ohio station Names New Morning Anchor

Starting Today, WNWO will have a new anchor on the morning show.

Annette Falconer hit the air early this morning at the Toledo station. ,

Falconer hails from Texas, most recently spending two years at KLTV in the eastern part of the state. A graduate of Brigham Young University, she participated in beauty pageants for four years and was Miss Dallas USA in 2004. She is married and has a 7-month-old daughter. The position has been vacant since Abby Powell left in early May after less than a year in the job.

WNWO Today airs from 4:25 a.m. to 7 a.m., preceding NBC’s Today Show. Falconer will work in concert with meteorologist Jon James.

H/T Toledo Blade

Geraldo Tweets Naked Selfie

Move over Anthony Weiner, here comes Geraldonado! 

Fox News Anchor Geraldo Rivera thought it would be a good idea to tweet a naked selfie of himself on Twitter and make thousand of followers throw up in their mouth.

Geraldo posted the picture with the caption: 70 is the new 50 (Erica and family are going to be so pissed...but at my age...)

Of course Rivera did show his age by posting the picture sideways.

We're not sure if Fox boss Roger Ailes has seen it yet, but we're guessing old Rog might not be too happy and one of his Anchors is posting topless selfies.  

By the way, of all the Fox News anchors to post a naked photo, why God did it have to be Geraldo? That would be my last choice...except maybe for O'Reilly.  

Needles to say Twitter blew up with funny replies to Geraldo's pic: 

The Top 5 Most Read Stories on FTVLive This Week

Guessing the most read story on FTVLive this week is as easy as ever. But here's a look at the most top 5 most read stories the past week: 

No. 5 -  TO CATCH A PREDATOR MISTRESS SPEAKS OUT

No. 4 -  THIS GUY IS BETTER THAN YOUR WEATHERMAN

No. 3 -  STATION SAYS LEAVE US OUT OF "HOT" ANCHOR CONTEST

No. 2 -  AL ROKER LIKES TO TWITTER FIGHT

And the most read story was: OMG! YOU CAN NOT BE THIS STUPID

Talk About covering Your bases...

The Royal Baby is due Today....or Next Week. WTF?! 

What We Did Before the Internet

Watch this video and I am sure it will bring back some memories. Also if you have very young children, it is a video that you defiantly will want to show them.

From DC to The Burgh

Pittsburgh's WPXI has named Katherine Amenta as the new morning anchor at the station. 

Amenta will co-anchor the newscast with Joe Arena from 4:30 to 7 a.m. weekdays beginning in August.

Before joining WPXI, Amenta anchored the morning newscast at NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C. She is originally from Philadelphia.

“Originally a Pennsylvania girl, I'm very lucky to have so many family and friends nearby,” she says. “Plus, as a big sports fan, Pittsburgh is obviously the perfect city. I already have Pirates fever and can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds!”

H/T Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Al Roker Likes to Twitter Fight

It looks like NBC's Al Roker doesn't back down from a fight on Twitter. 

Roker can dish it out as well as he can take it. 

But since June, Roker has been involved in a beef with one of his followers that is entertaining to watch. 

OK....I just became a bigger Al Roker fan. But we still Love Hoda and Kathie Lee more. 

H/T Gawker

After Zimmerman Trial, CNN Slips Back to 3rd

George Zimmerman did something John King could not...he raised CNN's ratings. 

The cable net saw big ratings gains during the Zimmerman trial and especially right after the verdict.

On Monday CNN had two exclusive interviews related to the George Zimmerman trial verdict, lead by Anderson Cooper's interview with a Juror from the trial.

But with the Zimmerman case over and now all the cable nets just fanning the racial flames, CNN has slipped back in the ratings.  

Wednesday's numbers show that CNN fell back to 3rd place in prime time. 

FNC: 2,197,000 in P2+ (416,000 in 25-54)

MSNBC: 734,000 in P2+ (241,000 in 25-54) 

CNN: 575,000 in P2+ (219,000 in 25-54)

It might be time to order up another trial of the century. 

Haven't we had like 8 of those over the past few years? 

We're Guessing it Was a Slow News Day

The dog days of Summer can make for some slow news days and that appears to be the case in Albuquerque and KOAT. 

The station has found a shitty way to fill the gaping news hole.

If you don't believe me...watch this: 

Out in Atlanta

Word is that WGCL CBS Atlanta will not renew Anchor/Reporter Brandon Rudat’s contract.

Rudat joined the station May 2010. He was the morning anchor on Better Mornings Atlanta from 5 a.m. – 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Trey Fabacher, general manager, said they were going a different direction in the mornings.

The serach for a replacement has started.  

CBS Pitches in with Back Up Power

The heatwave in the Northeast (or Summer as we call it here in Florida), it's putting a stain on Power companies. 

Brown outs have occurred as people are doing what they can to stay cool. The power companies having been urging customers to try and conserve power as the system is being taxed to the max.

CBS is done their part during the heatwave to not strain the system. The CBS Broadcast Center in NYC has been operating on generator power, pulling itself off the grid, to help ease the power demand on Con Edison. 

From the Burgh to the Windy City

WTAE Weather Anchor Demetrius Ivory is bouncing from the Burgh and blowing into the Windy City.

Ivory is headed to WGN in Chicago. He is being added now that WGN has decided to expand its morning news block to six hours this fall.

Ivory will share duties with meteorologist Paul Konrad on “WGN Morning News.” 

Before he joined WTAE as morning meteorologist in 2005, Ivory worked at WYTV-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, and WOHL-TV in Lima, Ohio.

He's an Ohio native and a graduate of THE Ohio State University.

H/T Rober Feder