Sweeps Stunt

Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell is coming back to "The View".... for one day

The View announced this morning that O'Donnell will be a guest on the daytime gabfest on Feb. 7.

O'Donnell's tenure as a cohost on the show was stormy at best. O'Donnell claimed after leaving The View, she had something like post-traumatic stress disorder.

Barbara Walters said she resented the way O'Donnell dumped on the show.

Walters said Monday that she has great affection for O'Donnell. She called O'Donnell a lively and engaging guest who is a part of the show's history.

It's also happening during the February book.

Barbara left that little tidbit out of the release. 

How I Work - Dan Devlin

In this edition of How I Work, FTVLive catches up with Dan Devlin the main man behind the news set building company Devlin. Design Group.

Dan's company designs some of the best news sets you have seen, we asked him how he works.

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Location: Crested Butte, CO & Cave Creek, AZ

Current gig: Creative Director, DDG

Current computer: a VAIO custom spec

Current mobile device: iPhone

One word that best describes how you work: Methodical

What are your favorite Apps that you can't live without? 

AutoCAD, Rhapsody, Project, Outlook, Firefox

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What's your workspace like?  

I like to daydream out the window, a habit I picked up in Catholic school that I never got over, so I have to have a window in order to do my best work.  I try to keep my work in organized piles, but some days my desk can be a real train wreck.  I have a dual monitor graphics card, so I have one screen for work, the other for my music & YouTube video browsing.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can't you live without?

My mountain bikes…stress relief is a must in TV!

What Music are you listening to? 

70’s Soul & Funk…my all-time favorite! The Brothers Johnson, Isley Brothers, Al Green, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.

What's your sleep routine like? 

Some nights I’m a night owl, some nights early to bed, but I always seem to get up early regardless.

Best Advice you Ever Got?  

"You're better than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can!”  Ken Chlouber, Leadville Trail 100 Race Director.

Best Thing About your Job?

Getting to work with a very talented group of people every day!

Worst thing about your Job? 

Paperwork!


The Weather Channel Rolled the Dice and Lost

The American Bald Ego has gone silent

The American Bald Ego has gone silent

The Weather Channel figured when they asked DirecTV to give them more money to carry their signal it would be a slam dunk.

It wasn't and now TWC is fighting a losing battle to try and get back on the satellite provider.

When DirecTV first pulled the plug on TWC, the network pulled out The American Bald Ego AKA Jim Cantore to lead the fight.

Cantore ended looking like an idiot and hasn't been heard from in days involving the retrains spat.

DirecTV's CEO Mike White knows he's winning the battle and wrote and open letter to DirecTV customers on their website.

White says "We conducted a very thorough evaluation of the usage and value of The Weather Channel, and we determined it was worth one-quarter of the price The Weather Channel is demanding for their programming."

Which sounds about right since the Weather Channel is doing about one quarter the weather coverage that they used to. 

TWC would have you believe that millions of customers are dumping DirecTV and moving to another provider. 

In his letter, White calls B.S. on TWC's claims. "99.9995% of our current customers have voted to stay on the DIRECTV platform," White says.

So in other words, Al Roker is basically the only one to drop DirecTV. 

Ouch!

Vegas Anchor "Shocked" That she was Fired

Mckenzie Warren

Mckenzie Warren

FTVLive FIRST reported last week that KSNV parted ways with Anchor Mackenzie Warren (other websites are getting around to reporting this news Today, with no credit to FTVLive of course).

FTVLive told you that Warren was escorted out of the building on Thursday. 

Now she tells the Las Vegas Review Journal that she was "shocked that she was sacked.

“This is my hometown. No longer being allowed to do what I love in the city that I love will be a painful adjustment. I’m shocked. Channel 3 gave me no reason for my termination. I thank this community for welcoming me into their homes over the years.”

If you work in TV News and you are "shocked" when you get fired, then you haven't worked in TV news very long.

Just saying.... 

Former Anchor Turned Congressman Resigning from Office

Trey Radal

Trey Radal

Former WINK (Ft, Myers) Anchor Trey Radal is quitting his job as a US Congressman.

Radal was busted last October for cocaine possession and plead guilty in November. He was sentenced to one year probation.

There were calls for him to step down from Congress after his arrest and it appears that he is doing just that.

No word if he will try and resume his TV news career. 

Mark McEwen Returning to TV

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Mark McEwen worked at the CBS morning show for 16 years, in 2004 he came to Orlando's WKMG. Before he could hit his stride in local news, in 2005 he suffered a massive stroke and has been off the air since.

Until now.

McEwen is returning to the CBS affiliate to report inspiring local stories for the noon news. McEwen's reports will start airing in several weeks, the station announced Friday.

His workload?

"Two reports a week to begin with," said McEwen, 59.

WKMG General Manager Skip Valet said McEwen will "cover stories designed with one simple goal: to make our viewers smile." The reports will "look at the positive moments that make Central Florida life so enjoyable," Valet added.

"You hear a lot of bad news," he said. "We're here to show the positive light on things, telling stories you might not hear anywhere else ... about heroes who may be across the street."

McEwen has battled back from a massive stroke in 2005. How is he these days?

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said. "I go to the gym every day. I'm glad to be here."

Since leaving WKMG, McEwen said he has been "giving speeches, getting healthy, writing a book ['Change in the Weather']." He also hosted a proposed series called "McEwen's Mark," but that is over, he said.

McEwen said he wanted to be an example to the public that people can come back from strokes. "It's something to achieve, something to set your course by," he said. "I would like to help people know there is life after a tragedy in their lives. There's part 2, part 3."

H/T Orlando Sentinel 

Bounced in the Big Apple

Dan Mannarino

Dan Mannarino

Word is that WPIX in New York is pulling morning anchor Dan Mannarino off the Anchor desk.

 Sources confirm to Tuned In that Mannarino will be removed from his anchor chair in the coming weeks. 

Mannarino co-anchors the PIX Morning News early edition with Marysol Castro. Sources say Mannarino will stay on as a reporter at WPIX for the short term.

WPIX denies the report. 

Mannarino joined WPIX as a reporter in September 2011. He got his first taste of anchoring on Channel 11 last June, teaming with Kaity Tong for the weekend broadcasts. However, that pairing was panned, and Mannarino was bounced from the newscasts after just three weekends.

Stay tuned..... 

Layering Up before Going Live

Layering Up before Going Live

WLS (Chicago) Reporter Diane Pathieu says a device and 4 batteries helps get rid of the shivers.

No.... you pervert, we're not talking about that.

Pathieu has spent much of this frigid winter doing live shots of the cold weather. She says she may have found the secret with battery operated socks.

“The first time I wore them was for the Mundelein story” says Pathieu, a self-proclaimed purchaser of any and all clothing or devices that can keep her warm during her 4 a.m. Chicago winter live shots. “There are four AA batteries in each sock, which has wiring down to the toes. I turn them on high and they get warm. I also have heat-generating gloves.”

More warming Reporter tips after the jump.  

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From Internet to TV

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While many TV outlets are taking their product to the Internet, there is one Internet company that is looking to take their product to TV.

FTVLive has learned that VoiceAmerica/World Talk Radio, LLC which mainly does talk radio over the Internet is currently in talks with several cable providers to launch VoiceAmerica, a cable channel.  

A large portion of this new channel would be political/news talk shows.

You know, because we don't have enough of that already. 

Moving to Mornings in Minneapolis

Ken Barlow

Ken Barlow

Nighttime KTSP Meteorologist Ken Barlow is going to have to wake up a lot earlier.

Starting Today the Minneapolis station has moved Barlow to the morning shift. 

Barlow will be on the air from 4:30-7 a.m. on KSTP 5 Eyewitness News and from 7-9 a.m. on KSTC 45 TV.

The station claims Barlow has also been promoted to Morning Chief Meteorologist for 5 Eyewitness News and 45 TV.   

Not sure if getting up in the middle of the night is a promotion, but that's how they are spinning it. 

News Director Lindsay Radford said, “Minnesota weather is tricky because it changes throughout the day so by moving Ken to mornings, we’ve got our viewers covered throughout the day with our most experienced meteorologists.”

“I know how important weather is to our viewers and I’m looking forward to helping them prepare for their day,” said Barlow. “On the personal side, I’m excited, after 20 years in TV, I get to have dinner with my family.”

And then right after dinner, going to bed. Good luck with that Ken. 

Reporter Quits TV for Cupcakes

Reporter Quits TV for Cupcakes

Most often when people leave the TV news business, they end up going into PR.

That's not the case for former KRGV (Laredo) Reporter Becky Medellin.  Medellin left TV news to open up Scratch Kitchen Cupcake and Bake Shop.

We did everything ourselves, so my dad told everyone that ‘it’s not just the cupcakes that are from scratch — but the whole place,’” the 32-year-old former KRGV-TV news personality said.

Scratch Kitchen opened about two weeks ago and celebrated a grand opening last week, but Becky has been working toward the goal of owning her own business for years.

More on her move out of TV news after the jump.   

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NBC Confident of Olympic Security

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There are people that have said they are going to watch the Winter Olympics just to see if anything happens.

NBC says they are "confident" that security wise, nothing will.

Fears of a potential terrorist attack have grown since late last month when a bomb blast in the Russian city of Volgograd, about 400 miles from Sochi, killed more than 30 people. There have been other incidents and threats of further violence as well.

NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel, during a conference call with reporters on Thursday to discuss NBC's television coverage plans, said he was "confident" with the level of security being marshalled by the Russian government.

"We have never seen the type of security that we are seeing in Russia," Zenkel said. "We are overwhelmed and comfortable with the amount of security that has been deployed."

The LA Times writes that Russia reportedly plans to dispatch 40,000 police and military members to guard the Black Sea resort region that will become the picturesque backdrop of the Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 7. 

The U.S. military has confirmed plans to position ships and other military assets in the Black Sea in case an evacuation is needed.

NBC has 900 employees on the ground in Russia to prepare for its more than 1,500 hours of coverage on TV networks and digital platforms. An additional 1,400 NBC employees are scheduled to fly over in the next week or so, which will bring NBC's staffing levels to roughly 2,300 people in Russia.

Zenkel said Russian authorities have installed a vast network of surveillance and are requiring credentials for event attendees. That means all spectactors for Olympics venues must submit to a background screening.

Russia also is preventing vehicles without local license plates from entering Sochi, and officers are routinely inspecting vehicles.

Because of the nine- to 12-hour time difference, NBC will begin its prime-time coverage on Feb. 6.  Its coverage will run 18 days.

Saying Goodbye to Chet

WCVB's Janet Wu

WCVB's Janet Wu

The Boston TV News world turned out in mass to say goodbye to Chet Curtis. 

The Boston Herald writes that mourners including a long list of news stars stood in line for hours in the cold yesterday outside a North End funeral home at the wake for longtime popular Boston news anchor Chet Curtis.

“This is just a wonderful outpouring of love for Chet,” said his ex-wife and former co-anchor Natalie Jacobson.

“I just wish he was here to see how many people are here because of how much he cared about them.”

The late television newsman and his then-wife Jacobson — known as “Chet and Nat” — ruled the local airwaves for 
decades as the Channel 5 anchor team.

“It was never about Chet,” said his former coworker and Channel 5 anchor Susan Wornick.

“He knew the names of every employee, their spouses, their children ... because he cared about people.”

Channel 5 reporter Janet Wu, WBZ anchor Paula Ebben, former sportscaster Bob Lobel and local Fox anchor Maria Stephanos were among those who came to pay their respects yesterday.

“Everyone knew Chet and Nat. They represented stability, solid journalistic ethics,” said Donna Latson Gittens, a former Channel 5 public affairs executive.

“That’s what people are mourning. It’s the end of an era — the golden age of journalism.”

CBS News Shuts Down Production Unit

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CBS News Productions is closing up shop.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that CBS News Productions, the small division that has produced alternative programming for a slew of cable networks, is closing its doors. CBS News is shuttering the unit, with plans to redirect the bulk of its staff.

“The resources of CBS News Productions will be redirected toward reporting and news programming,” a CBS News spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

The division, which has employed more than a dozen producers, has made episodes of A&E's Biography, The Science Channel'sBrink, Survivor reunion specials and repackaged episodes of 60 Minutes for second run on Investigation Discovery.

CBS News Productions launched in the mid-1990s. Its offices are housed in the same building as 60 Minutes' in New York.