Nexstar Buys IBS for $20 Million

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Nexstar Broadcasting has announced that it is purchasing Internet Broadcasting Systems for $20 million.

IBS is digital publishing company that mainly makes bloated websites for TV stations. 

Nexstar said it expects to close the deal later this month.

IBS clients include media companies such as Hearst Television and Post-Newsweek Stations, both of which have recently renewed their agreements with the company.

His the obligatory soundbite that says basically nothing. “IB’s leading digital publishing platform adds new IP and digital workflows to our digital platform offerings, allowing us to marry best-of-breed digital media practices from our current operations with those of IB to deliver more fully integrated digital management solutions to IB’s clients and our markets to generate new revenue across multiple digital platforms," said Tom O’Brien, Nexstar Broadcasting group executive vice president/digital media and chief revenue officer.

NBC Boss to Meet with David Gregory

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Well, we know what NBC's David Gregory is doing Today.

He has a meeting scheduled with the boss. 

Politico writes that NBC News President Deborah Turness is in Washington, D.C., this week and will meet with "Meet the Press" host David Gregory and executive producer Rob Yarin to discuss changes to the format of the show. 

The meeting, which will take place on Today, is part of Turness's ongoing effort to improve "Meet the Press," which has suffered in recent years and came in third place behind ABC's "This Week" and CBS's "Face the Nation" last quarter.

"Yes, the president of a news division is visiting with the staff of its DC-based show. Also known as business as usual," said Meghan Pianta, an NBC News spokesperson.

Sources said that improvements to "Meet the Press" will be one of Turness's chief concerns on her two-day visit. The show's fourth-quarter ratings marked the lowest total viewers "Meet" has had in a fourth quarter since 1991. Its ratings in the coveted 25-to-54 demo were the lowest in the show's history.

Many feel that Gregory is the main reason for the show's decline. 

Houston Anchor Busted for DUI

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KHOU Anchor Ron Tervino was arrested busted by police on a drunken driving charge.

On Wednesday, KHOU announced on the news on its website that morning anchor, had been arrested on a DWI charge.

The station did not add any details about what led to the arrest.

According to county court records, it is the 55-year-old's first such offense.

The records state that Trevino was taken to jail with bail set at $500.

Trevino is a 29-year KHOU veteran who began his television career in high school, according to his KHOU biography page. He is scheduled to appear in misdemeanor court on March 19.

in the statement posted on their website, KHOU staff wrote that they were "aware of the circumstances surrounding the arrest and are grateful that neither Ron nor any others were injured in this incident."

According to the statement, "Ron will go through the system and present his own defense. KHOU supports Ron as he goes through the legal process."

Susan McEldoon, the station's general manager, was not immediately available for comment, and messages to Trevino's Facebook accounts were not returned.

H/T Houston Chronicle 

Will Buffett Buy More Stations? It's Likely

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Eyebrows were raised yesterday when word came down that Warren Buffett was buying WPLG in Miami. 

Buffett's company Berkshire had been an investor in Washington Post Co. since the 1970s, with Buffett having served as a board member of the publishing and TV station conglom.

WPLG's parent company changed it's name to Graham Holdings  from the Washington Post Co. after it sold its flagship newspaper to Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos last year.

But, the big question is Warren Buffett going to stop at just one TV station?

It seems very unlikely that Buffett will own WPLG and no other TV properties. 

Could Buffett also make a play for the ABC O&O's? 

As FTVLive told you back in October of last year, Disney looked to hire an investment bank to explore a possible sale of its eight O&O's.

Could Warren Buffett be snatching them up?

WPLG and ABC affiliate would fit nicely in the portfolio of Buffett with the other ABC O&O stations. 

Stay tuned.... 

Twitter Fight

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When we were little kids, everyone would gather on the playground to watch a couple of kids fight.

More often than not, the fight was usually lame and over something really. really stupid.

Today, we have Twitter and that's where the kids like to take their lame battles.

Like this one in Chicago.

WLS meteorologist Jerry Taft might be on vacation, but that didn't stop him from throwing a Twitter snowball aimed at WMAQ meteorologist Brant Miller's wildly inaccurate depiction of a possible 16-to-17 inch snowfall in Chicago.

Ouch. 

The map Miller showed depicted information from one model. Forecasters typically crunch data from several models before making predictions. Miller did explain there was more than one model and eventually made a final prediction much closer to the general 3 to 6 inches the area received.

Taft's tweet after the snow stopped Wednesday kept the conversation going on Twitter, with at least one person "hoping for an Anchorman-esque brawl." In that scene from the first "Anchorman" movie, everyone who was anyone in San Diego media showed up for an epic fight.

We're not sure what Ron Burgundy would do, but it appears that Miller isn't taking the bait. There has been no response from Miller on Twitter, either on his Twitter account or the NBC Storm Team account.

H/T Chicago Tribune

B-More Station says Sorry for Wrong Reporting

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B-More Station says Sorry for Wrong Reporting

WBAL in Baltimore says they are sorry for spreading wrong information in the mall shooting that happened in January. 

Police saying definitively Wednesday that there was no "domestic" motive for the Columbia Mall shooting in January that left three people dead, WBAL apologized for its reporting on the story.

Most of that bad reporting came from John Patti, an anchor and reporter at WBAL Radio. His erroneous reports were also carried on WBAL-TV.

“Columbia Mall shooting domestic. Former boyfriend of Zumiez clerk shot her and new boyfriend also an employee of store," Patti tweeted on Jan. 25.

Patti reported more details of an alleged relationship on WBAL-TV, saying “this is indeed a domestic incident” and that the two victims were “engaged to be married.”

But none of it was true, according the report from the Howard County Police today.

More after the jump.  

Read More

Report: ABC Anchor's Hubby Had an Affair while She was in Rehab

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Page Six says that ABC Elizabeth Vargas’ husband, Marc Cohn, had an affair with Flywheel co-founder Ruth Zukerman while the ABC anchor was in rehab.

The Tabloid writes that their sources claim that songwriter Cohn — who wrote “Walking in Memphis” and has been married to Vargas since 2002 — was seen with the divorced spin guru during and after Vargas was undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction.

Vargas sought treatment in rehab last fall and returned to the air on “20/20” in January. Prior to that, Vargas and Cohn were both friends with Zukerman after becoming regulars at her Flywheel spin classes.

One source told us, “Marc made out he was an angel, standing by his wife while she was in rehab. But meanwhile, he started an affair with a mutual friend, Ruth Zukerman.”

The source said the affair came to light when they dined together at a restaurant near Flywheel’s Flatiron studio, just after Vargas left rehab. “A mutual friend spotted Ruth with Marc and called Elizabeth,” the insider said. A second source added, “It was disgusting that he was with Ruth while Elizabeth was in rehab.”

Vargas, who has two sons with Cohn, ages 7 and 10, was not available for comment. An ABC rep declined to comment.

NY Stations Shine with Building Explosion Coverage

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The news of an explosion in Harlem had all the stations in town going all out with coverage.

Every Station in New York rose to the occasion and did first class work.

WNYW was able to use TVInteract (the app we have been telling you about) to get some of the first pictures of the scene on the air. 

WABC, WCBS and WNBC were solid with their coverage right from the beginning. ,

Wednesday's coverage even showed also ran WPIX doing a solid job with their coverage.

Studio anchors across the board were solid...thinking on their feet...and weaving information and live shots together seamlessly.

While it doesn't happen all the time, this is what you'd expect for New York City TV newsrooms.

Good job by all. 

Lara Logan is Still MIA at 60 Minutes

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Lara Logan was suspended ....errrrrrr.... put on leave from 60 Minutes last year. She has still yet to return and some are wondering if she ever will.

Logan was put on leave back in November after her Oct. 27 story on Benghazi was "deficient in several respects.”

When CBS announced that Bill Whitaker was joining 60 Minutes, at least some people wondered if he was replacing Logan?

Kevin Tedesco, CBS News/60 Minutes communications executive director, cut that short in an email to Poynter: Lara is still on a leave of absence and Bill Whitaker’s appointment has nothing to do with her.

So Logan is still in "time out" and there is no word on her return. 

Warren Buffet Buys WPLG Miami

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Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to by Miami station WPLG.

Post Newsweek is trying to calm down employees telling them that the other PNS station's are not for sale. Of course, unless someone offers them a good price.

Here is the internal memo that Post Newsweek Boss Emily Barr sent to staff to try and clam their fears. 

March  12, 2014

To: All PNS Employees

From:  Emily Barr

Re:  WPLG

Today, Graham Holdings Company has announced that it has reached a deal in principle to trade a subsidiary that will include WPLG along with other assets to Berkshire Hathaway in exchange for GHC stock owned by Berkshire Hathaway. PNS and its five remaining stations will continue to be an integral part of Graham Holdings. WPLG and its employees are expected to join Berkshire Hathaway later this year, after the deal is approved by the FCC.  

Please know that the decision to trade WPLG, which has long been an important part of the fabric of Post-Newsweek, was not made lightly or without regard to the implications this has for our remaining five stations.  We are a broadcast group that has long been the envy of many in our industry and we remain healthy and influential.  Let me assure you we will continue to innovate, lead and evolve far into the future.

When you are asked (and you will undoubtedly be asked) if Post-Newsweek Stations is for sale, you can emphatically state we are not.  Don has asked me to innovate and grow our existing stations, not prepare them for sale.

The exchange may take several months to complete. We cannot answer every question that will arise today because some issues remain to be resolved as the deal is finalized. Be assured, though, that we will work together in the coming months to make the transition as smooth and simple as possible for all concerned.

 

Howard Kurtz Doesn't Know Funny

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Fox News Media Critic Howard Kurtz has proven over his career that he has trouble when it comes getting the facts right.

Today, he proves he doesn't know comedy either.

Writing about President Obama's web show appearance on “Funny or Die” with Zach Galifianakis, Howie writes that Obama died.

"He wasn’t funny," Kurtz writes.

Unfortunately for Howie, millions of people don't agree with him.

You see, the website Funny or Die let's the people watching the show instantly decide whether the show is "Funny" or "Die"? Over 90% of the millions of people that have watched Obama square off with Galifianakis have voted the show "Funny." This goes against what Howie Kurtz thinks.

Howie writes "Now some folks online found it funny, so maybe I’m in the wrong demo."

BINGO!

Kurtz finally got something right (there's a switch), yes Howard this was not geared for you. It was geared for a younger demo that looks to the web for their entertainment.

It was funny Howie and millions of people thought so.

Then again, this is what Howard Kurtz thinks is funny, so now I get why he didn't think the Funny or Die show wasn't funny.

Hmmmm? Maybe it's Not Kate?

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CNN has Brooke Baldwin (pictured) filling in this week for Kate Bolduan on New Day.

Did have a new Anchor sitting next to Chris Coumo spike in the ratings?

Nope.

New Day still finished in 4th place on Monday pulling just 81,000 in the demo. Fox, MSNBC and HLN all pulled over 100,000 in the demo.

As for the Don Lemon experiment at 10PM, Lemon finished 3rd in the slot losing to Hannity (Fox) and O'Donnell (MSNBC). Lemon pulled 222,000 in the demo.

At 10:30PM, another Zucker Experiment "Making the Case" dropped the demo even further to 132,000.

With numbers like that, it doesn't appear that Making the Case will be making the cut. 

Stay tuned...