Signing Off in B-More

WMAR Morning Anchor Megan Pringle announced on her Facebook page that she was leaving the station.

She is leaving the station to become Director of News and Multimedia at Maroon PR.

Pringle writes: After almost 7 fantastic years at ABC2 News, I am stepping away from the anchor desk and onto a new adventure. It was an agonizing decision...the happiest moments of my life happened while here. I was swept off my feet by the funniest guy I know, made wonderful friends, and gave birth to my magical twin daughters. I am beyond grateful to our viewers who let me tell their stories, welcomed me into their homes, and celebrated the great things that happened in my life. You will never know what your kind words and gestures meant to me. From the bottom of my very humbled heart, thank you.

Crossing the Street in Cincy

WCPO reached across the street to find a replacement for longtime sports anchor Dennis Janson?

The station announced that they have hired WLWT Sports Anchor Ken Broo.

Broo is filling the vacancy created when Janson left the sports anchor desk in May.  He starts Saturday, Dec. 14.

Broo joins WCPO Sports director John Popovich and is expected anchor Friday-Saturday, and travel Sundays to cover Bengals away games.

Broo is clearly batting around the order of Cincy TV stations. WCPO will be Broo’s third TV station he's worked in the market. 

He has worked  17 years at WLWT over two stints, and six years at WKRC-TV (Channel 12) during which he did Bengals radio play-by-play. He also was a sports director for four years at WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with the pros at 9 On Your Side. ,I’ve always admired them as competitors. It will be terrific working alongside the incomparable John Popovich and with former colleagues Clyde Gray and Chief Meteorologist Steve Raleigh (both from Channel 5),” said Broo in the WCPO-TV news.

Popovich said in the release: “My friendship with Ken goes back 40 years when we were students at Ohio University and both hoping to get into this business. But, we’ve never had a chance to work together. I’m thrilled this is finally going to happen.”

H/T Cincinnati Enquirer 

Leaving Dallas for Family

WFAA Reporter Monika Diaz will be ending a six-year career with the Dallas-based station after deciding not to renew her contract.

Her last day is Dec. 3rd, news director Carolyn Mungo confirmed.

“It was not an easy decision,” said Diaz, who has opted to return home to Miami to help care for her stepfather. He has a rare brain disorder, Supranuclear Palsy, she said. “I want to be there for my mother and my family at this time.”

Diaz joined WFAA8 in December 2007 from KXTD-TV in Sacramento, CA. 

“Right now, I don’t know what the future holds,” she said. “But I do know that I love what I do. I’m exploring other opportunities.”

Diaz praised the staff at WFAA8, who have “challenged and motivated me to do my very best. The hardest part of leaving is not being able to see the people I work with every day.”

She also thanked “the people who have shared their stories with me. I have met some of you on the best days of your life. Sometimes I’ve met you in the darkest of times. I hope I have made you proud during the good and the bad -- treated your story with fairness, objectivity and heart.”

H/T Ed Bark 

Bumped Up to the Deuce in Harrisburg

WHTM tells FTVLive that Laura Schmidt has been named Assistant News Director at the station. 

Schmit joined the station in 2005 as a weekend producer and was quickly moved through the ranks working on abc27 News at 7:00 p.m. where she worked for two years. She then spent two years working as an assignment editor and later producing abc27 News Live at Five. In 2011, Laura was promoted to executive producer. 

Before joining WHTM, Laura was a producer for WCTI-TV in New Bern, North Carolina.  

Summer Job lands to Bigger Job

You always hoped that summer job would lead to something bigger.

For The Daily Show's John Oliver it certain has. 

Oliver was given Jon Stewart's seat on the Daily Show while Stewart himself took the summer off from the show.

Oliver got excellent reviews and now he's getting his own weekly show on HBO. 

"I’m incredibly excited to be joining HBO, especially as I presume this means I get free HBO now," Oliver said in a statement. "I want to thank Comedy Central, and everyone at ‘The Daily Show’ for the best seven and a half years of my life. But most of all, I’d like to thank Jon Stewart. He taught me everything I know. In fact, if I fail in the future, it’s entirely his fault."

Really?! Can you Get More Lame than This?

There is no real polite way to put it....when ratings roll around stations lose their shit in an effort to get viewers. 

Stations will do stories or stunts that they think will bring in the numbers.

One Orlando station has proven that they have totally run out of ideas and is resorting to stunts that radio stations did back 30 years ago.

WOFL Fox 35 Reporter David Martin is perched on a billboard along I-4 and says he is staying there until the station gets to 85,000 Likes on their Facebook page (currently the station has 76,621). 

We're guessing that the Promotion Department woke up from a 30 year nap and came up with this brilliant plan for one of the station's Reporters.

We're sure Martin can't wait to come down from the billboard and get this right on his resume tape.

Stations will do just about anything for ratings and Facebook 'Likes'....but WOFL should be ashamed at themselves for such a lame stunt that is decades past it's time. 

Heads Up!

Fox Sports Ohio Reporter Allie Clifton takes one to the mellon and just keeps on giving her report.

She says it's all part of the game she loves: 

Thumbs up to Oklahoma Station Owner

FTVLive points out enough how screwed up TV station management is. It's nice to have something good to say about a station.

Every employee at KOTV in Tulsa got a thanks you note with $500 bucks stuffed inside. 

The station is owned by Griffin Communications and the company decided to give the 5 bills to each employee because the the station is doing well in the ratings and business is good. 

Word is that staff at KWTV in Oklahoma City also got the $500. That station is also owned by Griffin. 

Earthbound Misfit Life as a News Chopper Pilot

Jerry Foster spent 20 years as a TV News Chopper Pilot and now he's dishing the dirt in a book (because everyone in TV is writing a book now-a-days).

The book titled 'Earthbound Misfit' is the story of Foster's run as a pioneer in the field of news helicopter pilots.

What began a routine flying job reporting traffic for a local TV station, soon became much more, as Jerry began reporting news stories as well.

His former training as a pilot/paramedic and his association with several law enforcement agencies, also allowed him the opportunity to help with rescues and recoveries. Very often, instead of just reporting the story, Jerry Foster was the story.

The book also covers Jerry’s early life, and the demons that followed him for years, as well as his life after 20 years in the TV business.

It covers his fall from grace, and his years of reclusiveness, before venturing out into the world of Facebook and discovering that he was still loved by many.

Here's a link to amazon if you're interested in buying the book.

Bombing in the Ratings

KNBC was evacuated Wednesday evening after a bomb threa was made against the station.

The station reported the threat on Twitter shortly after 7 p.m.

About 45 minutes later the station was given the all clear and everyone went back to work.

Well, Almost everyone went back to work. 

The Woman that Ran Over Reporter May Not be Competent to Stand Trial

 The woman accused of running over WSYX (Columbus) Reporter Steve Levine with her car may not be competent to stand trial.

Teresa Peters is accused of hitting Levine with her vehicle while he was trying to interview her for a story he was working on.

Peters' attorney requested that his client undergo a competency evaluation Wednesday afternoon in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

He said Peters is both scared and mentally handicapped.

"She has previously been found not competent to stand trial and not restorable to competency," said Peters' lawyer.

WSYX says that Levine was working on a story about people stealing packages from others' doorsteps.

"The defendant then pulled her vehicle forward, running over the victim's body a second time. The injuries sustained to the victim were multiple broken ribs, multiple fractures to his left femur and multiple lacerations," said the prosecution before Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott.

Peters pleaded not guilty to charges of felonious assault and aggravated vehicular assault.

"She doesn't have the capacity to understand everything going on," said Peters' lawyer. At the same time, he said, Peters held a job as a janitor for seven years.

"Whatever her mental condition is, she's allegedly been committing offenses enough to be indicted and charged, apparently smart enough to hold down a job. I'm not going to let her out on a lower bond, I just don't think that's appropriate. I think we need to protect the public," said Serrott.

He added that Peters has at least two pending charges.  She also has prior convictions for theft and for not appearing in court.

Peters was sent back to jail with bond set at more than $100,000.

H/T NBC4i.com

Cutting Couric

Katie Couric is going to live out her dream of being a Barber.

Huh?!

Page Six says that believe it or not, ever since Katie Couric was a girl, she says she’s dreamed of becoming a hairstylist.

Her fantasy will come true next week when she’ll give a haircut on-air.

Katie’s show commandeered the New York City salon for training, as Couric got lesson and practiced on a mannequin. 

Don't worry Katie, no matter how bad you do....it can't look worse than Matt Lauer's hair. 

Falling on Their Sword (or Sabre)

FTVLive grew up in Buffalo and we can tell you that in the Winter time there are only two things in Buffalo, snow and hockey.

The Western New York landscape is dotted with hockey rinks and many kids build a rink in their backyard every Winter.

So, it was a bit jaw dropping when the City's beloved NHL team the Buffalo Sabres fired both their GM and Coach and replaced them with two hockey legends. 

And while the press conference was happening, Buffalo's fits and last place station ignored it.

The Buffalo News writes that the  Sabres hiring of beloved former Sabre star Pat LaFontaine as president of hockey operations and extremely popular former Coach Ted Nolan (both pictured) as interim coach this morning was almost  equaled by the stunning decisions of WIVB and WKBW to stick with their regular programming rather than carry the press conference live announcing the moves.

The hiring of LaFontaine and Nolan and the firing of General Manager Darcy Regier and Coach Ron Rolston were big news stories that are larger than just sports stories in this community.

The story lead of the station's evening newscasts, yet they ignored covering the presser live. Buffalo television has not yet grasped the idea that the news no longer waits until 5:00 and in a world of social media and immediate coverage, they need to get with the times. 

Maybe the snow has frozen their brains. 

It should be pointed out that the press conference was carried live by WGRZ and Time Warner Cable's news operation.