Raleigh Station to Use Google Glass for Feb Book Sweeps Stunt

FTVLive has been telling you about our wearing of Google Glass and what we think the future holds for the technology in and around TV news.

One Raleigh station is using Glass as part of a February sweeps stunt.

WRAL is giving viewers a live, behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes into putting its morning newscast on air with the help of Glass.

This week a different person associated with the newscast will wear the glasses between 6:30 and 7 a.m.

Bill Leslie, one of the station’s morning anchors, woreGoogle Glass in the studio so viewers could see what he sees as he delivers the newscast. Throughout the rest of the week other people working on the newscast, including news producer Kianey Carter, studio crew chief Stuart Todd and traffic anchor Brian Shrader, will each wear Glass.

WRAL occasionally will drop video from the Google Glass into a picture-in-picture window on the lower left of the screen, says Steve Hammel WRAL VP and general manager. The Capitol Broadcasting Co. flagship station also will make the Google Glass perspective available on its website for the full 30 minutes of the newscast, including during commercial breaks. Unless the Glass user goes to the bathroom we're guessing.

How is WRAL getting the signal from Glass live to air?

The station will use a combination of consumer and broadcast technology, says WRAL’s Pete Sockett, director of engineering and operations. The Google Glass will stream video via a Wi-Fi connection to an Apple iPad, which in turn will stream the video via an Apple AirPlay connection to an Apple TV box, Sockett explains.

We're expecting that as Glass becomes more available and includes more apps, we will see a better use for this technology in the newsroom than just using it as a live camera. 

H/T TVNewsCheck 

NBC's version of Red Eye has some Advantages for Costas

Fox News has their show Red Eye, but NBC's Bob Costas takes it much more literal.

As FTVLive has told you, Costas is battling an eye infection that has turned both eyes very red.

Last night Costas figured out one advantage to having red eyes on the air. He can get hammered on the show and no one will know by looking at his eyes.

Newspaper vs TV Station Pissing Match

Back in April, FTVLive told you about a story in the Seattle Times that was questioning Sinclair Broadcast and their purchase of KOMO.

The Times said that the conservative leaning Sinclair was not a good fit for the Seattle market.

Late last month, KOMO ran a story under the header "Is the newspaper industry dying?"

The story appeared and the Seattle Times feels was a direct attack by KOMO/Sinclair for the Seattle Times story about Sinclair.

Here's the KOMO story that the Seattle Times thinks was more of a hit piece:

The Times says that KOMO should have labeled the "news" story as opinion. "The piece on KOMO seemed more of an opinion piece and less of a news piece. Sinclair/KOMO has every right to cover subjects as they see fit, but it is a good practice to advise audiences of the difference between news and opinion," Seattle Times Vice President of Public Affairs Jill Mackie tells Seattle Weekly via email. She says the Times "did hear a clear message from Sinclair and KOMO that they were unhappy with the Opinion piece."

It appears that the Seattle Times and KOMO are in a bit of a bitch slapping fit. 

To be honest, in all these days of Newspaper partners and collaboration, this is kind of refreshing.

Don't you think?

Have you seen our New Flag?

According to WXYZ in Detroit, the United States as a new flag and it looks very much like Canada's old flag. Canada lost their old flag to us, but got a new one and the Netherlands picked up our old starts and stripes.

WTF?!

Now it's Both Eyes for Bob

5 days ago FTVLive told you that NBC's Bob Costas was having problem with his eye. 

His eye had some sort of infection and NBC said it should have been gone by last weekend.

Wrong!

Now it appears that the infection is in both eyes. This picture is from last night's coverage of the Olympics.

Longtime Houston Medical Reporter to Retire

It's and end of an era in Houston TV news.

Saturday night, Christi Myers announced her upcoming retirement from KTRK at an unofficial station party and everyone in attendance was shocked.

Myers has been a staple of Houston TV since the 1980s - working at KHOU, KPRC and KTRK. 

Beyond longevity in an industry when you're hot one minute, and the next not, Myers is the last Houston TV reporter standing in the medical news world.

Mike McGuff says that there was a time when every Houston television station had a dedicated health reporter. Considering Houston is home to the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, you would think medical reporting would be a priority in this city. Not anymore. Now most health reporting consists of an anchor telling us about the latest fat removal procedure.

It's unknown if KTRK will hire a full-time medical reporter to take her place.

She signs off for good at the end of the month. 

Here we Go Again...

We know where the American Bald Ego....AKA Jim Cantore will land next.

HLN to Try and Become Social Media TV

HLN is going to try and do what most networks have not been able to do....get the younger people to watch TV.

The cable net plans to rebrand itself as a TV gathering place for the social-media generation.

The network says it will reformat its programming to curate news, trending topics and other viral content from all media platforms.

HLN executive vice president Albie Hecht says other networks may report on the conversation, but "HLN will be part of it."

The reformatting starts with the syndicated "RightThisMinute," a daily hour that spotlights emerging Web videos. It premiers Monday and will air at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

In other words it will be YouTube on TV.

The network says HLN's "social-media format" also will be integrated into existing programs including "Morning Express," ''News Now," ''Jane Velez-Mitchell," ''Nancy Grace" and "Dr. Drew on Call."

H/T AP

O-Town Station Hires New Anchor

WESH has hired a new 5PM Anchor and he starts in a week.

Brett Connolly has joined Orlando's NBC affiliate from WFXT, the Fox-owned station in Boston where he was a morning anchor and reporter.

So what happens to current 5PM Anchor Jim Payne? The station says that Payne will continue to anchor at 4, 6 and 11 p.m.

"Given our commitment to news, we're adding to the team," WESH General Manager Jim Carter told the Orlando Sentinel "We wanted to let Jim cover more news in the field."

Connolly will be reporting in addition to anchoring at 5 p.m., and the station brought him on air last week.

"It's a positive thing," Carter said. "We've been wanting to add to the team. When we're in vacations, we're in a jam." He called Connolly "a great addition."

From the Big Apple to Bean Town

FTVLive was the FIRST to tell you that WNBC Anchor Erika Tarantal signed off from the station back in January. 

arantal is resurfacing at WVCB in Boston. She has joined Hearst-owned ABC affiliate as an anchor and reporter.

Tarantal will be seen on EyeOpener (weekdays, 4:30-7 a.m.) and will take over the anchor desk during the news at noon when longtime anchor Susan Wornick retires at the end of the month.

Tarantal has roots in Boston, she was a production assistant at WHDH Boston.Before beginning her career in broadcasting, Tarantal was a paralegal for the Office of the Attorney General in Boston.

Just when you thought it was over....

Just when you thought the ice desk fad was finally over, WLUK in Green Bay debuted their own ice desk this morning.

And since this ice desk is in Green Bay, we're expecting it to still be around for the July 4th holiday.

Chris Hansen's Former Mistress Hired at O-Town Station

Sheeeeee's back in the Sunshine State.

Former WPTV (West Palm Beach)  Reporter Kristyn Caddell  as landed a job at WFTV in Orlando.

Caddell made gossip news a few times and it had nothing to do with her reporting.  

The first time, in 2011, she worked for the West Palm Beach NBC affiliate when she was outed by the National Enquirer as the secret lover of the married Dateline: NBC star Chris Hansen.

And the second time was in July, when she bitterly complained to Radaronline of the double standards in television!

Her theory: She got the short end of the stick in the news biz because she’s a woman!

Caddell, who was quietly let go by WPTV in the wake of the scandal, was hired by stations in Seattle and Las Vegas in 2012 and 2013.

But both stations dismissed her after word spread in those communities that Caddell was the “other woman” in the Hansen saga.

With tears streaming down her face, she whined during her sit down with Radaronline about being jobless while Hansen, whose controversial Dateline segments involved his catching alleged sex predators lurking online, was still working at Dateline.

She even provided selfies of Hansen making out with her in a West Palm Beach bar.

As of today, however, things are very different: Caddell is working for O Town’s ABC affiliate — and Hansen was canned by NBC a months after her interview. He hasn’t been heard from since.

H/T Gossip Extra

Mika won't say it, But Bill O'Reilly was a Douche

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski said on Monday's Morning Joe that she ran into Fox News kingpin Bill O'Reilly at a Knicks game over the weekend.

“Oh, and Bill O’Reilly was there,” she said.

Joe Scarborough then chimed in: “Oh, really? Was he nice?

“Uh, yeah,” Brzezinski said, looking down. “He was nice.”

Scarborough: “Oh, come on, tell me the truth. Was he nice?”

Brzezinski: ”I wanted to — I was telling him about his (pre-Super Bowl) interview with the president…”

Scarborough, interrupting: “Back to you. Was he nice?”

Brzezinski: “I felt that he felt that I babbled too much. I was just trying to be nice.”

Scarborough: “Was he nice to you? Yes or no?”

Brzezinski: “I think he was, like Christie Brinkley,  tired of people coming up to him.”

“I heard he was extraordinarily rude,” Scarborough said.

Brzezinski, once again, tried adding some context to the encounter.

Scarborough wasn’t buying it. “No, he was. But that’s Bill,” he said. “He’s just not a chatter. You know how some people are one way on TV?”

In other words, Bill O was a douche.

H/T The Blaze

Oh Snap! LA Reporter Pisses off Samuel L. Jackson

KTLA Entertainment Reporter Sam Rubin pissed off Samuel L. Jackson when he confused him with Laurence Fishburne.

No matter what he tried, it was one mistake that Rubin was not going to recover from:

The Happiest Place on Earth is a Newsroom in Buffalo

Disney World makes the claim as the happiest place on earth, but Today that place is in a newsroom in Buffalo, NY.

As FTVLive told you was going to happen, E.W. Scripps announced this morning that it has agreed to buy WKBW in Buffalo.

The station had been own and run into the ground by Granite Broadcasting and everyone inside the newsroom at WKBW is on cloud nine with the news that Granite will no longer be the station's owner. 

"They (Scripps) are extremely excited to be purchasing this station," said WKBW GM Mike Nurse. "The Buffalo market fits perfectly with their strategy of targeting turnaround markets, especially along the Great Lakes."

"I don't anticipate many changes," said Nurse. 

Wrong!

FTVLive thinks the station can expect many changes and most of them to be positive. The station will finally be owned once again by a company that understand you need good people and to spend some money to cover the news.

Granite didn't do either one of those things. 

Congrats to the few decent people still left at WKBW and for once the future finally looks good for Eyewitness News. 

Dallas Reporter Stuck at Japan Airport

Tokyo is getting hit with a rare snowstorm and WFAA (Dallas) Reporter Jason Whitely is getting a first hand look at how the people of Tokyo are dealing with it.

Whitely was stranded at the airport and the cab ride to the airport took 12 hours and cost him about $400.

WFAA did a story on Whitely's struggles, but not by talking to him, they just went to his Twitter feed. Because you know, that's how everyone gets their news now-a-days. Including the news stations.

Here's their story: