I Love It! Part Duex
/Here is my second favorite Twitter exchange ever:
If you missed my favorite Twitter exchange. Here's the link.
The Meteoric Rise of Ginger Zee
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In 2005 Ginger Zee was doing the weather at WEYI in tiny Flint, Michigan. She had only been in the TV business a couple of years, but those that worked with her could tell that she was going to be a star.
Zee was much more than just a pretty face. The Meteorologist really cared about weather, took it seriously and worked her ass off.
In 2005 and 2006 she made the move to her hometown of Grand Rapids, working at WOOD-TV.
But even though it was her hometown, most knew that she wouldn't be there long. Zee was much better than the Grand Rapids market and in 2006 she made the jump to a major market.
Zee joined NBC O&O WMAQ in Chicago, working in the Windy City until 2011. Again, many that worked with Zee and saw her delivery along with a work ethic that is often seen, knew she wasn't stopping at Chicago.
At the end of this week, Ginger Zee will takeover as the main weather anchor at ABC's Good Morning America.
She will replace Sam Champion, who as FTVLive FIRST reported is heading to The Weather Channel.
Thursday will just be another step in the meteoric rise of Ginger Zee. The people at ABC are happy to have Zee on board and taking the torch from Champion.
Her rise from small market to network star doesn't really surprise anyone that worked with Zee, nor does it surprise her agent Rick Ramage.
"When I first saw Ginger covering local weather, I knew right away she would have a huge future. She's an accomplished meteorologist with the rare skill set of combining fearless storm chasing with genuine personality and credibility. Her success is attributable to her great talent and tremendous work ethic," Ramage told FTVLive.
Zee proves that sometimes the good guy does finish first. And in this crazy world of TV News, it's nice to see that exactly happen.
Sweeping Up - Miami
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The November book is in for SoFlo and it appears that WSVN and WPLG have bragging rights till February.
It also shows what bad shape WFOR is in.
Looking at the demos for the english speaking only stations show that WSVN won mornings and 6PM and WPLG took the late news ratings crown.
CBS O&O WFOR scraped the bottom of the barrel in all time slots.
Here's the November Demos
P 25-54 DEMOS 10/31/13-11/27/13
**6AM
WSVN 1.42 12.8
WTVJ 1.19 10.7
WPLG .81 7.3
WFOR .39 3.5
**6 P.M.
WSVN 1.26 5.9
WPLG .96 4.5
WTVJ .79 3.7
WFOR .48 2.2
**LATE NEWS
WPLG 1.64 5.6
WSVN 1.65 4.5 (10 PM)
.91 3.1 (11 PM)
WTVJ .88 3.0
WFOR .75 2.6
I Love This!
/This might go down as one of my favorite exchanges on Twitter:
In fairness to Antonio, there were others on Twitter that didn't think FTVLive's report on Sam Champion leaving ABC was correct.
But you longtime readers of this site know better.
ND is Out the Door in Jacksonville
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WTEV/WAWS has parted ways with News Director Mike McCormick.
McCormick has been at the station since 2008 and seemed to do his best to try and make it look like WTLV, the Gannett station across the street.
“Mike McCormick has left our company,” general manager Jim Zerwek told TVSpy. "Mike Dreaden, WSB-TV News Director will additionally be overseeing the news operation until which time I name a new ND.”
H/T TVSpy
Ummmmm.... I Don't Think So
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Here we go again!
We're not sure how the website TVNewser defines being "first".
But we're fairly certain that this isn't it.
The Internal ABC Memo on Champion
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Here is the memo that Ben Sherwood sent to the staff at ABC telling them the news that many had already read on FTVLive:
I’m writing with important news:
Our friend and colleague Sam Champion is leaving ABC News for a new opportunity at the Weather Channel. He will become the on-air face of the network, appearing as a host and serving as managing editor. Sam calls it a once in a lifetime opportunity.
For 25 years, Sam has been a vital member of the ABC News family — joining powerhouse station WABC in 1988 and GMA in 2006.
Over the years at GMA, Sam has broadcast more than 1,800 weather forecasts. He has traveled to almost every major weather event in the U.S. As many of you know, Sam’s “Go” bag is always ready and his stellar reporting during Superstorm Sandy contributed to ABC’s Peabody Award for coverage of that historic storm.
Sam has broadcast live from a raft floating between polar icebergs, danced the salsa on “Despierta America” and interviewed countless newsmakers, celebrities and chefs. On his show “Sea Rescue,” viewers have shared Sam’s passion for marine animal rescue, rehabilitation and release.
While there is no replacing Sam, we are in excellent hands with his storm chasing partner of the last few years, meteorologist Ginger Zee, who will take over his weather responsibilities at GMA and across ABC News. As you know, Ginger always rushes straight toward the eye of any storm and weaves cutting-edge science with human emotion to elevate our coverage.
GMA will celebrate Sam’s last day on Wednesday’s program. While he is leaving ABC News, he will always be a part of our family.
Please join me in thanking Sam for his friendship and countless contributions to our news division. And let’s all wish him the very best and say so long for now.
Ben
Sam Champion Leaving GMA, Ginger Zee to Takeover
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FTVLive FIRST reported that Sam Champion is leaving Good Morning America and is headed to NBC owned The Weather Channel.
FTVLive told you back in October that Champion's contract was coming up and it appears that NBC figured they could lure Champion away.
He has been offered a lucrative deal at The Weather Channel that sources say will give him some sort management role at the cable net.
Word is that Champion was looking for a lifestyle change more than just dollars. Champion recently married his partner, NY artist Rubem Robierb and sources say they are looking at adopting children.
Word is that Ginger Zee who has been a rising star at ABC will be taking over for Champion. Zee is well liked inside ABC News and by viewers. The network expects it will be an easy transition.
FTVLive reached out to Zee's agent Rick Ramage at N.S. Bienstock for comment. We are waiting for a call back.
FIRST ON FTVLive! Sam Champion Leaving GMA
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Word is that Good Morning America Weather Anchor Sam Champion is leaving.
Sources tell FTVLive that Champion is headed to The Weather Channel.
Official word will be coming out soon from ABC News
Stay tuned and remember were you read it first.
O-Town Station Kills Off the NFL
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People have said that the giant monopoly that is the NFL is just too big to ever die.
Well those people were wrong, according to WESH in Orlando the NFL died this past weekend.
It was a lawsuit or low ratings that killed the NFL, WESH says it was an altercation that killed them.
RIP NFL.....you had a great run.
Huh? Did CNN Really Just Do that?
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Like the other cable nets, CNN has been devoting time to covering the Metro Train derailment that left 4 people dead and a number of others injured.
It makes sense that CNN would want to interview New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. What makes no sense is letting his brother Chris do the live interview.
But, that's exactly what CNN did this morning.
The interview crosses all kinds of ethical lines and CNN could have easily handed this interview off to someone besides the Governor's brother.
Cuomo did mention in the middle of the interview that he and the Gov were family.
CNN should have NEVER let this happen.
Better Late Than Never
/WPIX GM Rich Grazino sent out a boastful tweet about his station's coverage of the deadly NY train crash.
What he didn't point out in the tweet was his the last station to get on the air with anything on the derailment. And they went on the air at noon when the infomercial and lucrative kids' blocks concluded.
Guess he couldn't fit all that in 140 characters.
WNBC Drops the Ball on Train Coverage
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While WPIX was late on their coverage of the deadly train derailment, they weren't the only station to drop the ball.
At 8:30 AM, an hour after the train derailed and the severity of the accident became apparent, and while WABC began gearing up for a long morning of live constant coverage, WNBC inexplicably ended its morning newscast to switch to an episode of "Open House," its "pay for play" real estate show.
Viewers who switched to the other stations began to see ground and air footage of the disaster, as well as eyewitness descriptions of dead bodies being removed from the scene.
Meanwhile on WNBC, you saw a feature on seaside estates for sale.
At 8:51AM, when WNBC finally came to its senses and started back with their coverage of the accident, they showed a twitter photo of the scene, and interviewed WNBC Reporter Andrew Siff from his home in Queens, because, as anchor Pat Battle said, "He has covered many stories involving the MTA."
Battle and Gus Rosendale, did do a very solid job in their anchoring, but by that time, many who wanted to know about this story had gone elsewhere.
On WABC, main weekday anchors Bill Ritter and Diana Williams had by then raced into work and begun to anchor coverage.
Insiders blame WNBC's managers, who they say refuse to allow workers the autonomy to make decisions themselves during crises.
Bottom line was when big news did break, WABC was the place to turn.
Today Show Staffer Killed in Train Crash
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Jim Lovell worked on NBC's Today Show.
He ran audio along with other jobs at NBC. On Sunday morning, the assignment was special to help set up Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center which is to be lighted on Wednesday.
He took the early train from Cold Spring, N.Y., on the banks of the Hudson River, bound for Manhattan.
He never made it to 30 Rock.
The Metro-North train he was on, whipped around a sharp turn in the Bronx and derailed Sunday morning, killing four and injuring dozens.
Larry Who?
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When Larry Connors was fired at KMOV for a Facebook post that implied the IRS was targeting him because of an interview he did with President Obama, he was the highest paid anchor at the station.
It turned out that the IRS was trying to get the money they were owed long before the Obama interview and Connors got what he deserved when he was let go.
The question is how did KMOV do in their first November book since their high paid anchor was sacked?
They won every show that Connors used to anchor on.
In fact for the first time in a very long time, KMOV won the book at 5, 6 and 10PM.
KMOV #1 at 5pm & 6pm
KTVI #2 at 5pm & 6pm
KSDK #3 at 5pm & 6pm
KMOV #1 at 5pm &6pm
KSDK #2 at 10pm
KTVI #3 at 10pm
KTVI #1 at 6am
KSDK #2 at 6am
KMOV #3 at 6am
Ouch! That rating news has to hurt Connors giant ego just a bit.
Jax Sports Anchor Resurfaces Across the Street
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6 months ago, longtime Sports Anchor Dan Hicken signed off at WTLV in Jacksonville.
He has now resurfaced at WTEV.
“They definitely made me a better offer,” he said Friday about his new employer.
“They have just a tremendous commitment to sports. That’s what I like at Action News: the opportunity to do sports the way I want to do them. The chance to work with some guys who are really committed to doing sports the way I want to do it.”
Hicken worked at WTLV for 27 years, his six-month non-compete clause ended on Sunday and the station ran a number of promos with Hicken on CBS's NFL Football.
Hicken hit the air Sunday night 10:30 p.m. on FOX30 (duop of WTEV) and at 11:20 p.m. on WTEV.
Because the station has been unable to name Hicken on air, due to his non-compete clause, they’ve been referring, instead, to a “Jacksonville’s Sports Man.”
Though he wasn’t allowed to anchor the show, Hicken has been working as a producer, writer and cameraman for the station.
Also, while he was sitting out his non-compete his ex wife Donna Deegan's husband Tim Deegan was busted for DUI. Tim is the weather anchor at WTLV and has been off the air since his arrest.
