Snow Brings Big Ratings to the Big Apple

The winter storm that blew into New York City brought a lot of snow and some big ratings as well. 

Here is a breakdown of the numbers for the Big Apple stations:

Worst Week Ever for CNN's Zucker

Earlier Today, FTVLive told you about the bad ratings CNN garnered in Jeff Zucker's first year running the place.

2014 is not looking much better for Zucker regime.

Last week's ratings (January 13 -19), CNN had its worst week among adults 25-54 in both total day and primetime since Zucker took charge. 

CNN pulled in a measly 78,000 viewers in the demo. 

MSNBC just about doubled CNN with 148,000 in the demo and Fox News crushed CNN pulling in 212,000.

Ouch!

N.S. Bienstock to Merge with UTA

Huge news out of the TV Agent world.

One of the most powerful TV agencies, N.S. Bienstock is joining forces with United Talent Agency.

UTA’s acquisition of N.S. Bienstock and its dominant market share representing TV news personalities makes UTA the world’s largest agency in the broadcast news space. The announcement was made by UTA Managing Directors Jeremy Zimmer, David Kramer and Jay Sures along with N.S. Bienstock founders and co-presidents Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper.

N.S. Bienstock represents the biggest names in TV news – including Bill O’Reilly, Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, Megyn Kelly, Bob Scheiffer, Norah O’Donnell, David Muir, Glenn Beck, Steve Kroft, Bob Simon, Lara Logan, Dan Abrams, Becky Quick and many more – and is responsible for some of the biggest deals in the history of the television news industry.

N.S. Bienstock founders and co-presidents Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper will remain co-presidents of the company, managing day-to-day operations, and will serve as special advisors to UTA’s Board of Directors. Longtime Bienstock executives Jonathan Leibner and Adam Leibner have been made partners at UTA, while remaining in their current senior roles at Bienstock. N.S. Bienstock will retain its name, corporate identity, location and corporate ethos with the entire leadership team and agents remaining in place. UTA Managing Director Jay Sures will oversee the relationship. 

UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer commented, “We are excited to expand our representation platform with N.S. Bienstock. UTA will continue to seek new opportunities that offer artists and other professionals the best and broadest representation. As the entertainment, media, news and technology industries commingle in new and exciting ways, we see tremendous potential for broadcast news talent across every conceivable media platform.”

UTA Managing Director Jay Sures said, “We share the same strong belief in the clients-first approach with Richard, Carole and the entire N.S. Bienstock team, and we believe the complementary strengths and resources that UTA brings to the table will be a tremendous benefit to present and future N.S. Bienstock clients.”

N.S. Bienstock co-founder and co-president Richard Leibner said, “As the leader in broadcast news representation, we strive every day to innovate on behalf of our clients.  Aligning with UTA and utilizing their global reach and resources while still retaining our personal touch is a significant step forward in the growth and evolution of N.S. Bienstock.”

Carole Cooper, N.S. Bienstock co-founder and co-president, commented, “Richard and I and the extended Bienstock team are excited to leverage our new relationship with UTA and our shared ‘clients-first’ approach for the benefit of all of our clients.”

Oh No!!!! Geraldo Rivera Tweets Another Selfie

Geraldo Rivera has tweeted another selfie, but this time he has clothes on.

Rivera tweeted the selfie this morning after his says a taxi cab ran into his Bentley. 

Rivera says that the car company that typically picks him up to drop him off at the station for his radio show called to say it was running four hours behind schedule.

He decided to try the commute himself.

And now look what happened?!

He should have just stayed home and posted naked selfies instead. 

Let the Countdown Begin

Fox News Anchor Sean Hannity says that he is sick of the high taxes in New York and he's moving to Florida.

Let's see how long it takes for him to make good on his promise.

FTVLive has added another countdown clock on the lower right side of every page on this website.

The Sean Hannity Countdown Clock joins the Terri Hernandez Rosales Callback clock.

Any bets on which one happens first? 

Horse Guy Shows up Again for Storm

The horse head guy video bombed WBAL's (Baltimore):

Horse Guy also showed up during Hurricane Sandy? When bad weather hits you can count on two things. Horse head guy will be there and so will horse's ass AKA Jim Cantore.

Zucker Celebrates 1 Year at CNN

Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of Jeff Zucker's reign at CNN. 

Instead of doing a stupid report card grading Zucker on his first year, let's look at what truly counts, the ratings. 

During Zucker's first year, the network has experienced the most dismal ratings in CNN’s history.

According to Nielsen, in primetime, CNN delivered its lowest rated year ever in Total Viewers and it's second lowest rated year in the demos. 

As for Total Day numbers, the story isn't any better. CNN pulled their lowest rating ever in the demos. In total viewers it was their worst year since 2000.

When Zucker came in to CNN, he promised to remake the network and launch new shows. How did that go?

Not so well. 

Every single regular program Zucker has launched is down in ratings and Zucker has already had to cancel two programs he launched/attempted to launch this year.

Get to the Point aired one week from 4/1-4/4, Mon-Thu 10-11p and Stroumboulopolous aired 7 Fridays from 11p-12a from 6/14-8/16 before being canceled.

Other shows that Zucker created are still on the air, but not doing well either.

Zucker's biggest project to date has been the remake of CNN's morning show. The network spent millions launching New Day.

New Day is down 9% in total viewers (278,000) and down 20% in demo (97,000) compared to the program it replaced (6/17/13 launch to 1/15/14 vs. 12/31/12-6/14/13).  Ranked third in total viewers and fourth in demo in 6-9am timeslot.

The CNN boss was really excited about bringing back Crossfire to the network. The viewers were not nearly as excited as Jeff was.

Crossfire is down 25% in total viewers (373,000) and down 23% in demo (125,000) compared to the Situation Room which it replaced (9/9/13-1/15/14 vs. 12/21/12-9/6/13). 

Don't forget Jake Tapper, one of Zucker's big hires and a guy that Zucker promised would have a big impact at CNN.

The Lead with Jake Tapper is down 10% in total viewers (515,000) and down 3% in demo (141,000) compared to the Situation Room which it replaced (3/18/13-1/15/14 vs. 12/31/12-3/15/13). 

And then there is the show Unguarded with Rachel Nichols.

Unguarded is unwatched by viewers and his down a whopping 59%. 

Zucker did have one highlight, the one night documentary Blackfish was a hit in the ratings.

If we were grading Zucker and his first year at CNN, we would have to give him an "F" it would have been "F minus" but the Blackfish saved him. 

Zucker says he is going to shake up prime time this year. 

We can hardly wait to see how that turns out.

Stay tuned.....

He Looks a lot like Brandon Rudut

Brandon Lee

FTVLive FIRST told you back on December 12th that KTVK in Phoenix brought in former Atlanta Anchor Brandon Rudut for an interview and run through on the set.

Rudut was let go from the Meredith station in Atlanta.

After  Rudut had his interview at KTVK, Meredith ended up purchasing the station. So, it appeared since that was the company that let him go in Atlanta, his chances of getting hired in Phoenix had dropped significantly.

In the end, Brandon Rudut did not get hired at KTVK.

The station hired Brandon Lee instead. 

If Brandon Rudut and Brandon Lee look like the same guy, that's because they are. No word on why Rudut or the station decided to change his name.

Here's the internal memo sent to the staff after Rudut....errrrr Lee's hiring:

From: Beck, Cameryn
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 1:47 PM
To: KTVK News
Cc: KTVK Leadership Team; Brandon Rudat; Cerreta, Jaime
Subject: Introducing.....

Newsies,

I’m excited to announce the newest member of our team.

Please join me in welcoming Brandon Lee.  He will anchor the 4:30pm news with Jaime Cerreta starting next Wednesday!  When Brandon isn’t anchoring in studio, he will have other roles in the evening and late newscasts including reporting from the “breaking news desk.”

Brandon will start work next Monday, using his first two days to get settled and spend time with all of you.. mapping out a plan for his role in the shows!

Below is the press release that is going out shortly.

Welcome to 3TV, Brandon!

Cameryn Beck
Executive News Director

New York Weather Anchors Miss the Mark on Snowstorm

While New York City is getting basted by the latest snow storm, it seems the local NYC Weather Anchors missed the mark on predicting this latest blast of winter.

TunedIn writes that on the 11 p.m. newscast Sunday night, Elise Finch on WCBS alluded to snow in her forecast. But she said that the latest model showed “some snow” primarily for Eastern Long Island and Central and Southern New Jersey, Tuesday into Wednesday.

At the same time, WABC’s Jeff Smith was leading his weather segment saying, “By Tuesday, will have some accumulating snow in parts of the area.” He added that New York City was on the storm’s fringe, and could see a dusting to an inch. Smith cautioned, “It wouldn’t take much of a jog to the north to get more snow right here in the city.”

WNBC’s Steve Villaneuva also was forecasting snow for south and east of NYC. Using the RPM model, he projected 3 inches for Barnegat, 1 1/2 inches for Asbury Park, and .7 inches in Hampton Bays. There was a 0–not a bullseye–for the snow amount expected in the five boroughs.

In a late edition of the WNYW 10 p.m. Sunday night, Audrey Puente was at the map.

She forecast 2-3 inches east of the city.

And then there’s Craig Allen. He saw the complexity of the storm. On WPIX, he ended the 10 p.m. broadcast by pointing to the potential for weather problems this week.

“There are so many maps out there that are just indicating the possibility for some snowfall. One says it could be a lot, another says it may not be a lot. This is the thing were going to go through, obviously, for the next several days.”

Allen put an “Uh Oh” under Tuesday in his five-day forecast, stating that there was definitely a chance for shovel-able snow south and east. But Allen was hedging his bets– not giving any accumulations until Monday morning– 4-8 inches in New York City.

Thank You Snow Much

I guess if you're a Reporter stuck out covering Winter Storm Anus you get free food. Or maybe it's only for people wearing goofy hats.

SNOW MY GOD

Stations up north are breaking the huge news that it is snowing in the middle of winter! Who knew?

Team smotherage of the storm has been going for hours. 

Brett Larson of TechBytes put together a great cold open that all these over hyping stations should be using.

Here is is:

Looks like The Weather Channel Liked Our Name after all

Yesterday, FTVLive joked that The Weather Channel was going all out on their coverage of Winter Storm "Anus."

It appears from this screen grab, they liked my name.

Of course, anytime Jim Cantore is involved in the coverage, using the word "anus" is almost always appropriate.

Just saying.... 

Maybe the NYC Mayor....

....has DirecTV Al and didn't see the Weather Channel's prediction.

ABC Anchor Returns After Rehab

Elizabeth Vargas was spotted at work in the 20/20 offices of ABC News. Word is that she will be returning to anchor the show on Friday.

The ABC News veteran finished a second stint in rehab for alcohol abuse in November.

"Hello everyone! I am home, and so grateful for all your support and well wishes. I am so much better and taking it one day at a time. :)," Vargas tweeted when she got home eight weeks ago.

H/T NY Daily News

Cancer Free

WKMG (Orlando) Traffic Reporter Jessica Sanchez took on cancer and kicked it's ass!

Sanchez is coming back to the station next week. 

"I am pleased to announce that Jessica Sanchez continues to get positive news from her doctors," WKMG General Manager Skip Valet said Tuesday. "Jessica tells us her oncologist reports recent tests are negative, and after a year-long battle, her cancer is gone."

Sanchez's take: "I am ecstatic. I'm out of breath. I've been calling everyone."

On March 16 last year, the station announced that Sanchez was battling stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Sanchez is coming back to the station but will be working off air as she gets familiar with some new equipment the station purchased.

"Six months ago, I didn't think I would ever feel right again," she said. "It feels so good to say I see the light again. I see normal again."

Awesome news!

H/T Orlando Sentinel