Programming Note

As I told you yesterday, I am down in Orlando playing in a Winter Series golf tournament.

I am trying to update this morning's stories but my laptop is having all kinds of problems. Each story takes forever to update and to say it's frustrating would be a major understatement. I'm hoping to buy a new laptop so when I'm on the road, I don't run into these kinds of problems. 

Today's morning update is extremely light because of all the problems. I will be heading back to the World Headquarters later Today and everything should be back to normal. 

As for the golf? Today is the final round of the tournament and I can only hope that the wind lets up a bit. Yesterday's round was played in 25-30 mph winds and was gusting to almost 40. Not sure how many of you play golf, but believe me when I say that those conditions are far from ideal. Today's forecast is for wind and rain (perfect).

I'm sitting in 4th place right now and hoping to move up the leader board.  

Katherine Green Out at HLN

HLN sources tell FTVLive that senior vice president, managing editor for HLN Katherine is out the door.

Green had been at HLN since 2008 coming from WTTG in Washington, DC.

In DC, Green was vice president and news director at Fox owned WTTG. A job she held for nearly 10 years.

Green came to CNN as senior vice president and general manager for CNN International, before being bumped up the food chain.

Now sources tell FTVLive she is out at the cable network.

Her bio is still posted on the CNN website. 

Sources Say Indy Anchor was Fired for Ethical Violations

FTVLive FIRST told you that WTHR in Indianapolis had parted ways with Anchor Nicole Pence.

FTVLive reached out to WTHR for comment and they never responded. As we FIRST told you Pence had hired an Attorney and is looking into legal action against the station. 

Sources tell FTVLive that Pence was working on story for sweeps about unsolved murders at a Burger Chef Restaurant. 4 workers were kidnapped killed and the crime.

Sources tell FTVLive that Pence fired because she was trading info with local police while working on the story. One insider says that it became extremely unethical - and that’s why she was let go.

Obviously Pence does not feel that she crossed any ethical line and is now fighting the firing. 

The story still aired on WTHR, but it was done by another Reporter. Here's the story that aired:

13 WTHR Indianapolis

Xmass Shopping for the TV Newsie

If you're looking to buy a Christmas gift for the TV news person in your life, head on over to Ebay.

There are no bids yet on this Judy Instucto Woman TV Reporter & Camera Man Wooden Puzzle.

The description says: Yellow board with 13 pieces featuring a female T.V. Reporter interviewing a young man who witnessed the building on fire behind him, all being videotaped by a male camera person.

This is the one gift that everyone working in TV News.

And since the puzzle is only 13 pieces, most TV newsies should be about to complete the puzzle in under a week.

Most. 

John Zarrella Out at CNN

Sources tell FTVLive that longtime CNN correspondent John Zarrella is out at the network.

Zarrella has been CNN’s Miami correspondent since the 80's.

In fact Zarrella was named to the Miami bureau when it was established in December 1983.

His bio is still posted on the CNN website.

More when we hear it. 

On The Road Again

This morning, FTVLive is on I-95 and headed south.

We are playing in a Winter Series golf event Today and Tomorrow in the Orlando area.

So, what does that mean to you. Basically it means that updates to FTVLive over the rest of Today and Tomorrow will be sporadic at best. 

Between driving and playing in the event, we will be away from the computer for large blocks of time. 

But, since FTVLive has updated 7 days a week and has only taken 2 1/2 days off in the last 300+ days, we're fairly certain you understand. 

At least we're hoping you do. 

Sinclair to Takeover Barrington Stations This Week

If all goes as planned, Sinclair is expected to take control of the 18 Barrington stations that the company agreed to purchase back in March.

Sources tell FTVLive that  Sinclair is already sending daily memos to the stations on what stories to cover and what not to cover.

We also hear that the memos include instructions to on air talent as to what to wear and what not to wear on-air. 

We're sure the folks at the Barrington stations are all giddy that Sinclair will now run them.

Stay tuned.... 

Is Katie Couric Yahoo's Last Gasp?

Back in the infancy of the World Wide Web, Yahoo was THE site to go on the Internet.

A better way to put it, Yahoo was Google before there was a Google. 

But years of bad management and a bloated website that people quit using and Yahoo is now dying a slow death.

Yahoo's net income during the last year is down 68%, as the company continues to struggle to compete with online juggernauts Google and Facebook for eyeballs and advertising dollars.

oogle sits high atop the mountain and watches Yahoo drown in the river below.

Now, Yahoo is hoping that some big name hires will help put the one time search engine giant back on the map. Their latest next savior is Katie Couric.

Word broke last week that Couric was working on an exit agreement to leave ABC and go to the Internet company.

But will paying Couric millions of dollars pay off for Yahoo? It's unlikely.

First of all, Couric is on the high end of the demos that use the Internet. Some 23 year old kid isn't going to use Yahoo because they hired Katie Couric.

Couric is 56 years old and her biggest fans are basically her age or older. The only people left using Yahoo now-a-days are the old people that have been using it when it was relevant. 

So, in other words, Yahoo already has the olds...it's the younger demo they need to get to survive. 

There is no question that Katie Couric is going to get rich off her deal with Yahoo.

But, will hiring Couric help save the Internet company?

We highly doubt it. 

Former Reporter Now a Psychic

When Reporters and Anchors leave TV news, the most likely job they go into is PR.

Former KSTP (Minneapolis) investigative reporter Lorraine Roe might be the first that left TV news to become a Psychic. 

Roe claims that her training as a Reporter has helped her in her new role. She says "I go to interview the other side and I come back, is how I operate".

She also claims to see dead people. When the Star Tribune asked her who the last dead person she saw?

"Someone’s father in a reading. It was on a radio station in Mankato. I did an interview in Mankato and her dead relative came in'' Roe said. 

She also claims that spirits tell her things that are unrepeatable. 

No word if she has talked to Walter Cronkite recently. 

Read the full interview at the Star Tribune. 

And Another One is Gone at KNBC

Would the last anchor that gets pushed out at KNBC...please get the lights.

FTVLive has been telling you about the anchor purge that has been going on at the Left Coast NBC O&O. Alycia Lane was sent packing. Then as FTVLive FIRST told you, main anchor Lucy Noland was shown the door. We also FIRST told you that Robert Kovacik was being taken off the weekend anchor desk and being sent back to full time reporting.  

Now, word comes that Weekend morning Weather Anchor Carl Bell is gone from the station. His bio is still listed on the station's website and KNBC still has him listed on the weather roster, but he says he is not at KNBC anymore.

Anchors have been dropping like file and the station is making up stories as to why they are leaving.

Of course calling KNBC's PR person is nothing more than a total waste of time. We'll see how long it takes the station to pull Bell's bio from the website. Or will they continue to keep it there, even though he's gone from the station?

place your bets now. 

LA Anchor Signs Off

FTVLive FIRST told you that KNBC Anchor Lucy Noland was being taken off the Evening newscast and that she was going to be leaving the station.

On Friday, Noland signed off from KNBC. Noland said her goodbyes at the end of the noon news broadcast.

KNBC  said in a Facebook post she wants to "spend time with her family." 

Which is total bullshit. 

FTVLive would call KNBC to get more info, but we've been waiting for over a month for the station's PR person Terri Hernandez Rosales to call us back from the last time she said she would get right back to us. 

The Callback Clock continues to tick away in the right hand column of this page. 

Protest to Bring DC Anchor Back

FTVLive told you back in October that WUSA Anchor J.C. Hayward was suspended from the station.

Hayward is among several people being sued by District Attorney General for their alleged roles in taking more than $3 million from a D.C. public charter school.

A small group of viewers gathered outside the station on Thursday to protest Hayward's suspension.

About two dozen people gathered near the station show support for the suspended news anchor and to call for her return to her station.

Friends and supporters prayed and sang, and said there’s no way Hayward — who has frequently volunteered for and donated to local charities — would have knowingly been involved in anything inappropriate.

“The charges against J.C. do not match the J.C. that we know. J.C. has always given,” said Norma Stewart, who said she has been a friend of Hayward’s for decades.

“JC is a leader in the community and has been a mentor to young people aspiring to work in TV for decades. All of us here at WUSA are hoping for a speedy resolution to these legal proceedings,” WUSA General Manager Mark Burdett said.

But, WUSA is not letting Hayward return to the air. 

H/T Washington Post 

Like Watching Radio

The hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks was suddenly cut off to Chicago viewers and people were stuck watching a slate with an audio feed of the game. 

WGN says that at 11:32 pm Saturday night during a particularly tight and exciting Chicago Blackhawks-Vancouver Canucks game on their station, for reasons yet to be determined, their vendor in Canada suddenly cut our signal.

The station says that numerous attempts were made to reach said vendor, but no one picked up the phone on their end.

WGN was forced to air a slate and audio-only feed of the remainder of the game, which was won by the Hawks.

Ironically, unfortunately, coincidentally, this happened almost 45 years to the day of the famous "Heidi" football game incident on NBC: http://bit.ly/lr0Yls

WGN says they sincerely apologize for viewers unable to finish the game, and will do our best to avoid similar incidents in the future.

It's Like Doing News in the Dark Ages

WABC in New York has been battling technical problems the past few days.

GM Dave Davis sent an email out to the staff let on Saturday night saying "due to the failure of the main Cisco switch, we have limited phone use and computers are not working...."

He told the staff that they better prepare to arrive at work early and expect to use their mobile phone for communication. He also added "bring any personal smart device if you need access to the Internet."

Now these kids get to experience what it was like putting on a newscast back in the 80's.

You know when we all walked to work, uphill, both ways in the snow.

Funny...It Felt Colder than That

Wow! Talk about a weather turn around. Yesterday in Albany, NY the temps struggled to get above 20 degrees. But, folks watching WTEN's news break during Fox's NFL Football must have really been happy when the weather anchor said it would be getting up to 70 degrees Today.

WTEN was ford to admit that the balmy forecast was a mistake and they were trying to figure out what went wrong.

They posted this on their Facebook page:  

BIG CLARIFICATION: Hi everybody, while I was beginning the 6pm show on NEWS10 ABC -- I was informed that an incorrect news update aired during the NFL on Fox. Just want to clarify that it will NOT be 70 degrees in Albany tomorrow. All of the reports in that update were from several weeks ago, and are not current. I am so very sorry this happened -- and we, as a team, are working to find out what went wrong.

In the meantime, here are the REAL temperatures for Albany:
18 degrees by 7 p.m. (with some scattered snow flurries across the area)
15 degrees by midnight
12 degrees by daybreak Monday.

TV is Dying And WiFi maybe to Blame

Business Insider says that TV is a dying business. It's the same thing many people have said for years, except Business Insider says they have the facts to prove it.

And you might be surprised to hear that free WiFi is helping kill it. 

They write that TV business is having its worst year ever.

Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research.

Broadband internet was supposed to benefit from the end of cable TV, but it hasn't.

In all, about 5 million people ended their cable and broadband subs between the beginning of 2010 and the end of this year.

This is the macro problem: Ratings are falling across the board. They have been for years.

It's not too surprising that broadcast TV ratings are down. The major networks have faced increasing competition for years from niche-interest cable channels and the better-quality programming on places like AMC and HBO.

But ratings for both cable and the broadcast networks are down.

So why are ratings in decline?

We're at the beginning of a major historical shift from watching TV to watching video — including TV shows and movies — on the internet or on mobile devices.

This is going to hurt cable TV providers.

Even though iPhone and Android phones still struggle to show video seamlessly, the amount of video seen on mobile devices is going through the roof. About 40% of all YouTube traffic comes from mobile.

So if fewer people are watching cable TV and fewer people are paying for Internet service, does that mean that we just don't care about watching our favorite shows anymore?

Not necessarily. 

Free wifi — at work, in coffee shops, and on campuses — is making it easier for consumers to get the shows, movies and videos they want without subscribing to any kind of cable or broadband service

All of Starbucks offers free wifi, for instance.

Fifty-seven cities in the U.S., including Los Angeles, offer free wifi. Facebook and Cisco have joined to offer free wifi access to customers in any business who check in to Facebook. Facebook’s original free wifi test included just 25 stores in the Bay Area. The company has now expanded it to 1,000.

For some people, there is just no need for a cable or pipe to deliver the internet or TV to their residence specifically, as long as they are within range of a free wifi hotspot.