Is that a Cold Front or is it a.....

O-Town Anchor is On Da Bus

WFTV (Orlando) anchor Vanessa Echols can be seen on TV and on a big pink bus.

Echols a breast-cancer survivor is plastered on the side of a  bus to promote mammograms.

Her face decorates Florida Hospital's Mobile Health Coach, which encourages the fight against breast cancer with new urgency and ease.

"The mobile unit is just about as convenient as you can hope for," Echols said. "It will be at businesses, churches, community centers. So for all the women who say they're too busy to schedule an appointment for a mammogram, now there's one less excuse."

Using a News Anchor's pic for a local hospital maybe seen by some as a conflict of interest. And there is no doubt that if it doesn't cross the line, it most certainly touches it. 

But, it is also hard to argue if it helps save lives. 

Will let the purist debate this one.  

H/T Orlando Sentinel  

Dog Gone It

Here's proof that WXMI's (Grand Rapids) morning show is going to the dogs. 

Well You Knew this was coming...

How many local stations morning shows did something similar to this Today?

Crystal Egger to Resurface at KNBC

FTVLive FIRST told you that Weather Channel Hottie Crystal Egger was leaving and headed to the Left Coast.

Now, we know where she is going to resurface. 

The popular Egger has been hired by NBC O&O KNBC (NBC also owns the Weather Channel). 

The station announced that Egger will join KNBC next month as a meteorologist for its morning newscast, “Today in L.A.,” which airs Monday -Friday, 4:30 a.m.-7 a.m.  

“Our goal is to keep our viewers prepared for any kind of weather,” said Todd Mokhtari, NBC4 Vice President of News. “Crystal’s skills and in-depth knowledge will be a great addition to our team, and will deliver to our viewers the weather information they need to start their days.”

Egger was born and raised in Southern California.  She replaces Elita Loresca who will be demoted to weekend edition of “Today in L.A.”

Chicago Blowtorch Could be Flaming Out

When it came to news ratings in Chicago, it was WLS and then everyone else. 

But the Chicago blowtorch might be starting to flame out. 

Robert feder reports that the ABC O&O's dominance of Chicago viewership from dawn to high noon may be slipping away.

“ABC 7 News This Morning” has fallen out of first place from 5 to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday in overall audience and, more significantly, among adults between 25 and 54. In addition, the move earlier this month of “Windy City Live” to 11 a.m. in order to make room for “Live with Kelly and Michael” at 9 a.m. has cost the station viewership in both time periods.

Though still the market’s revenue leader, ABC 7 no longer commands the top spot it once took for granted in all local time periods. The daytime juggernaut fueled for a quarter-century by “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is a memory.

Nor is the formerly bulletproof station immune from the harsh realities of the industry, as it once was. Last month six ABC 7 staffers were laid off as part of companywide cutbacks ordered by Disney/ABC Television Group. (Among them was managing editor Andy Porte, a legendary figure in the newsroom, who began his career 52 years ago at Chicago’s City News Bureau. “This business we’ve chosen doesn’t really seem to have room for dinosaurs or anachronisms like me,” Porte told his colleagues.)

More on the story from Robert Feder  

Barfing Britney

Pop singer Britney Spears wasn't talking when Good Morning America's Sam Champion was trying to ask her a question.

But it turns out that Britney wasn't blowing off Champion....she was blowing chow. 

Word is the pop princess got airsick during a sunrise helicopter flight Tuesday to a desert location for her appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

The Las Vegas Review Journal says that might explain why her helicopter hovered for 15 to 20 minutes over the dry lake bed before landing for a live interview with ABC’s Sam Champion.

As the helicopter hovered, the pop princess, who earlier confirmed her two-year “Britney: Piece of Me” residency at Planet Hollywood, was surprised by a flip-card salute by 1,330 greeters, most of them young women dressed as schoolgirls. It was a nod to Spears’ schoolgirl look in the video of her hit song, “Baby One More Time.”

At one point during the flip-card reveal, while Spears was still in the air, Champion tried to engage her but got no response. She might have been a little busy.

Spears, who wore sunglasses during her interview with Champion, called the flip-card stunt “such a sweet thing to do.” Organizers said the 1,330 card flippers created two images of Spears 10 stories long and seven stories across.

Earlier on “GMA,” Spears unveiled her new single, “Work Bitch.”

Big Anchor Shuffle in Wichita

As FTVLive told you, KAKE (Wichita) Anchor Jeff Herndon left the station for WFLD in Chicago.

He's leaving has triggered a series of personnel shifts at the ABC affiliate.

The station is filling the void left by Herndon by moving existing personnel to different newscasts, but it’s backfilling with some new faces, too.

Veteran anchor Larry Hatteberg is now co-anchoring all of KAKE’s weeknight newscasts, at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m., essentially adding Herndon’s shifts to most of his own. 

Hatteberg in recent years has anchored KAKE’s earlier-evening newscasts and its weekend evening newscasts.

With more hours during the week, Hatteberg will no longer be anchoring weekend newscasts. Mike Iuen is moving from “Good Morning Kansas” to cover those. Meteorologist Ben Pringle is moving with him.

Jemelle Holopirek remains as “Good Morning Kansas” anchor and KAKE has added El Dorado native Frank Waugh as a morning meteorologist.

Annette Lawless was hired to anchor a new Sunday-morning version of “Good Morning Kansas” and will also serve as a reporter throughout the week. She fills the position that opened when Jared Cerullo left KAKE in June. (Cerullo has since filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against KAKE and its parent company, Gray Television Group Inc.)

On the sports desk, KAKE recently hired Kansas native Jake Schlegel to replace Chris Frye, who left in July to take a job in Arkansas with Fox affiliate KNWA.

H/T Wichita Business Journal  

Where's the WKMG Reporter?

Reporters from the local Orlando stations gathered for a picture.

Why?

Who the hell knows?!

The only station not represented in the pic was WKMG.

We're guessing either the Reporter was a dude or too busy actually covering the story they were sent out on. 

DC Station Names New News Director

Fox O&O boss Dennis Swanson was in the WTTG (DC) newsroom Today as it was announced that Dana Hahn is the new News Director.

GM Patrick Paolini announced to the staff the hiring Hahn. 

Previously, Hahn served as Vice President and News Director for WJBK FOX 2 for the last 12 years. Before her appointment to Vice President of News in 2001, Hahn was FOX 2’s Assistant News Director, a position she held for four years.  

“Dana led WJBK (Detroit) to the #1 position and under her leadership, maintained its role as the market leader for many years. Her creativity, signature style and news acumen is unmatched and I look forward to seeing her influence on our newscasts,” Said Paolini.

Added Hahn, “I am extremely proud to have worked alongside a tremendous staff at WJBK and I am confident they will continue to make great strides in the Detroit community. To be given the opportunity to work alongside a leader like Patrick in one of the best news towns in the country is a dream come true; I can’t wait to get started.”

Hahn joins the station just while WTTG is still wiping some egg of their face after making a number of mistakes while reporting the shootings at the Navy Yard.    

Talk About a Backhanded Compliment

Some guy Tweeted that he thought Katie Couric is "super sexy even though she's like 100 years old."

Couric showing what a good sport she is, Re-Tweeted the the Tweet and added "Ouch and Thanks."

So not only is Katie Sexy...she also still has a good sense of humor. Not bad for someone of her advanced years.  

Ummmm You Know that's Not Your iPad...Right?

This morning  veteran BBC anchor Simon McCoy was introducing a story about privately run drunk tanks while holding what appeared to be a heavy ream of photocopier paper. 

Huh?! 

The BBC later tried to say why their anchor was holding a package of paper while reading the news on the air?

This morning as Simon McCoy was preparing to introduce this story, instead of picking up his tablet to hold as he went to air, he mistakenly picked up a ream of paper that was sitting next to it. In the rush of live news, he didn’t have an opportunity to swap the items, so simply went with it. 

Damn...maybe he needs to be in the drunk tank.  

Here's the video: 

Hmmmm So Starbucks wasn't their Choice

It looks like Morning Joe (MSNBC) anchors Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, were really not that found of Starbucks coffee after all.

For years you would see the Starbucks cups and logos all over the morning show.  

But, Starbucks ended their sponsorship with the MSNBC program and now you see when no one is paying them, Mika and Joe like Dunkin Donuts coffee. 

The sharp eyed peeps at BuzzFeed noticed the Dunkin Dounuts coffee cups on the set and asked MSNBC what happened to Starbucks? 

The network says that the formal partnership between Starbucks and Morning Joe  ended several weeks ago.

“MSNBC and Starbucks had a successful partnership for more than four years and we’re looking forward to working on new projects together in the future,” said an MSNBC mouthpiece.

Of course one Starbucks catches wind of Mika and Joe really like, we doubt they'll be back. 

Twitter Rape Threat Gets Idiot 5 Years

An idiot in Philadelphia who threatened over Twitter to rape a KYW meteorologist and kill her and her child was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison.

Justin Vernot, 30, made the threats against KYW Kate Bilo through the Twitter account @ColdDeadEyes in February 2012, telling her that he knew her routine, was coming for her, and planned to kill her in front of her son.

The chilling messages were noted by U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond when he handed down a sentence that topped both federal guidelines and the term requested by the prosecutor. The sentence also focused heavily on conduct Vernot was not charged with, including messages he sent on the CaringBridge networking site to two children with potentially terminal illnesses.

Diamond said Vernot "intended to inflict severe distress" on those families and Bilo, rejecting the defense's argument that Vernot's actions were partially the product of a brain injury sustained during a drug-induced blackout. "You weren't in a fog. You weren't asleep. You weren't brain-injured, as far as you know," Diamond told Vernot before imposing sentence.  

Personally, this jerk should have gotten a hell of a lot more than 5 years. Let's hope he rots in prison. 

H/T Philly Inquirer  

Everyone is a Winner at Fox News

Fox News has unveiled their top secret plans for a new prime time line-up and everyone at FNC could not be more happy.  

Greta Van Susteren's show moves to 7PM which replaces Shepard Smith who heads to the "News Deck."  

Papa Bear Bill O'Reilly stays at 8PM. Megyn Kelly takes over Sean Hannity's spot at 9PM. Hannity goes to Greta's old spot at 10. 

So who was demoted in all of this? 

No one if you ask Fox News.... just like your kids little baseball games, everyone is a winner. 

Shep lost his 7PM show entirely, but he's still a winner. Greta is bumped down from prime time to fringe, yet she's still a winner. 

In fact, Greta took to her blog to say she's ecstatic to be moving to 7PM. In her blog post on Greta's headline was "

We earned this one! All of us – and that means you, loyal 10pm viewer, too!"

How a "loyal 10PM Viewer" help move her to 7PM is beyond us.

Fox News is still the number one cable news channel. But they were suffering viewership loss, particularly in the demos.  

Hannity has been losing viewers for quite awhile.  

Roger Ailes is a very smart man and he knew that if he didn't shake things up, FNC could continue to shed viewers. 

But, Ailes shows that all his years in politics were not wasted. The guy demoted people and yet they all feel like they are winners. 

Damn! He is good.