Vickie Burns is Back in the Big Apple

It appears that former NY and LA News Director Vickie Burns is back in the Big Apple. 

As FTVLive earlier reported, Burns was spotted in a talent audition at WPIX. Now word is that Burns will be hooking on with a full time role at the struggling Tribune station. 

Tuned In reports are that all indications are she’ll be named a consultant alongside news director Mark Effron. There is also a possibility that Burns could assume a newly created station manager position.

Burns’ last TV job was as KNBC news director in 2012.

So far WPIX isn't talking.  

San Diego Station Hires New ND

Word is that Don Shafer is going to be the new News Director at XETV in San Diego.

Shafer is coming from WEEK in Peoria. IL.

Shaker has play in Peoria as the News Director since 2008. XETV goes through News Director like most people change shirts.

So, our advice to Shafer is, rent don't buy. 

No word yet on his start date.  

That's a Very Hot Forecast

In a Summer stunt, KXTV in Sacramento had viewers vote on who they wanted to deliver the weather.  

And like most often, the T&A was the winner. 

Viewers voted for the News10 Weather team to head to arena where the Sacramento Kings play and have the NBA team's dancers to help with 7-day forecast.

Let's roll the video: 

NBC Boss Makes Big Change in Her First Week

New NBC President Deborah Turness spent her first week on the job, listening and observing.

Anow now she has decided to make a major change at NBC, that should rocket the network to the top of all ratings. 

Turness sent a memo to the staff telling them that the morning meeting, which was called "Share Meeting" is moving it's time to 9AM.

The meeting will also no longer be called the "Share Meeting," it will now be reffered to as "The Exchange."

Wow! What a major change in just the first week for the new boss. 

Here is her Internal Memo to the staff: 

Thank you for the amazing welcome I have had this week. I’ve been able to spend time in newsrooms and control rooms and have attended meetings across NBC News. I am ending my first week even more excited at the work we will do together and the great things we can achieve.

I wanted to let you all know that starting Monday the daily editorial Share Meeting is moving. The conference is a useful one that enables the many parts of NBC News to find out what’s going on across the division, but I believe we can make it work much harder for us.

It will, in future, be called The Exchange, and will start at 9am. That’s because I am keen that the various NBC News operations can coordinate earlier in the day around the key editorial prizes and to identify opportunities for enterprise journalism. Working together we can deploy the collective might of NBC News more strategically to hit the biggest stories.

All those who previously attended should still come. And it will be held in the same place, 310E. The structure of the meeting will change to be more focused around key stories, and I am interested in feedback so we can adapt and improve it to maximize success.

Have a great weekend.

Deborah.

New ND in Tucson

KGUN finally has a new News Director.

The Tucson station has hired longtime ND Tom Burke.  

Burke will takeover the gig, replacing Forest Carr who left the station a few months ago. 

Al Jazeera Hires the Has Beens and the Never was's

FTVLive was chatting with a Network Executive on Friday Afternoon and we started discussing the upcoming launch of Al Jazeera America. 

We both agreed that the channel will be hard pressed to pull any decent ratings for any of their shows.

But, the Net Exec said something about the Al Jazeera hires. "They are hiring a bunch of has beens or never was's and they are lacking a major star," said the Executive. 

The statement seemed kind of harsh, but was it off base? Al Jazeera has hired some people of have heard of in the past, but many of them were out of work and on the beach.

The network suit called them the  "B-listers of TV news" Antonio Mora, John Seigenthaler, Joie Chen and Del Walters are some of the names. Yesterday they announced former MSNBC anchor David Shuster was also joining the network.

AJA seems to be lacking that big name that might induce viewer sampling when the network is expected to hit the air in 10 days.

You can bet that there will be many times the network will get just hash marks for ratings. 

As he Network Executive said, the other cable news channels may watch them out of curiosity, but no one else will. 

As we said, it sounds cold, but it may in fact be true. 

Stay tuned...  

Out the Door in the Twin Cities

After 3 years, former CNN Anchor Heidi Collins is out at KMSP in Minneapolis. 

Collins last day on air was July 29th, but the station is just getting around to announcing it now. 

No one is saying anything in regards as to why Collins is leaving, but sources tell FTVLive the two sides could not agree on a new contract.  

"It has been gratifying to contribute to the success of Fox 9 during these past 3 years," said Collins in a prepared statement. "However, I have decided to explore new opportunities. It has been entirely my honor to serve the great people and communities in and around Mpls./St. Paul. Without a doubt, it is my much-appreciated viewers I will miss the most. I am blessed to have several opportunities both in television and global business to pursue. Neither of which will be without my continued non-profit work of 17 years supporting our brave troops and their families."

Collins was hired by the station in Sept. 2010 to replace longtime anchor Robyne Robinson, who left the station in May of that year.

Carol Rueppel, vice president and general manager of KMSP, said in the same statement: "We want to thank Heidi for her contributions to the FOX 9 news team and we wish her much success in the future."

How Tall is He?

Watching NBC's preseason NFL game last night, I surprised that more wasn't made about Cleveland Cornerback Trevin Wade. 

It appears that Wade is the shortest player in NFL history and it's likely it is record that will never be broken. 

According to the NBC graphics department, Wade is only 1 foot tall.  

As KTVU would say Sum Ting Wong.  

LA Station Pulling Plug on News

While news departments around the country are adding newscasts, one LA station is giving up. 

KCOP is yanking te plug on their 7 and 11PM newscasts and replacing them with The Simpson's and The King of Queens.

The FOX O&O is part of the LA duopoly along with KTTV. 

Fox says there will be no layoffs, but sources tell FTVLive some contracts will not be renewed as they come up. 

Former Anchor Says Even He Can't Fix It

Former WCCO (Minneapolis)  anchor Don Shelby has come to his senses and says he won't run for Congress.

Shelby realizes that Congress is now broken beyond repair. The former anchor says the current gridlocked Congress is not a place where important issues can be resolved.

Democrats approached Shelby to consider running for office, but Shelby told his old station he's not willing to give up time with his family or his 50-year career as a journalist.

Shelby says he's not comfortable getting labeled a Democrat or Republican. He says he's neither.

With the way Congress acts, can anyone blame him? 

Salisbury Station Sells for Nothing

While this has been the Summer of the TV station sale, one station was stolen.

Delmarva Broadcast Services is selling WMDT (Salisbury, Md) to a couple for just $9 million bucks.  

Brian and Patricia Lane are getting into the TV owership biz with WMDT as their very first station.  

And to pick up up the station for just $9 million, or roughly the same amount of cash you can find in Jeff Bezos couch cushions, is a good deal. 

What's up with you Dude? Vol. 7

Time to open up the email and clean out the inbox with another of the very widely popular "What's up with you Dude?"

So let's dive right in: 

Email 1 - I have landed a job in TV news and I hate it. There is so much drama in the newsroom and everyone talks behind everyone else's back. I feel like I wasted 4 years of going to J-school, to now work in an industry that I hate. What's your advice?

The answer to that question and more in ScottLand

MSNBC to Turn to Actor into Anchor

Just when you thought MSNBC could not get anymore shallow, they seem to drain just a bit more water out of the pool. 

The cable news channel that admits it doesn't like to cover news is looking to give a show to actor Alec Baldwin.

Mediaite reports that the so far untitled show will air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET and will feature a large dose of Baldwin’s outspoken liberal politics.

MSNBC has long given up on Journalism when it started giving shows to people like Al Sharpton. Now, they are looking to make actors, anchors. 

MSNBC released a statement not denying the story but not confirming it either. “We’re fans of Alec but we’ve got nothing to say regarding this unconfirmed report.”

So yeah...it's totally happening. 

Sorry Sean, You're Out!

Fox News appears to have too many stars and not enough time. 

Ever since the network announced that daytime host Megyn Kelly was moving to prime time, tongues have been wagging as to who's slot she was going to get?

Many expected Kelly to push aside Greta Van Susteren, but that does not seem to be the case. It looks like Sean Hannity is moving aside to make room for Kelly.

FNC is not talking, but now speculation is Hannity is getting knocked down to 7PM with Van Susteren remaining at 10 p.m. O'Reilly would keep anchoring the night at 8 p.m.

Since the Presidential election, Hannity's ratings have fallen off quite a bit at the 9PM slot. It appears that Fox News is ready to move some new blood into that time period and Kelly is the perfect fit.

Stay tuned...