Happy Dance is the New Ice Desk

The Happy videos are the new ice desk. If everyone is so happy, why do I want to punch a hole through my monitor. 

This one from WUSA:

And WTVR...Please make it Stop!!!!

Damn That's Cold

If you were watching WMAR in Baltimore this morning, you might have been a bit scared to step outside. According to the station's on screen temperature it was -99999 degrees outside this morning.

But Weatherman Mike Masco at least tweeted that there was no windchill.

You will be Soon be Sick of these Photos

These photos will get more airtime on CNN Today than Wolf Blitzer.

Australian officials released this satellite image of what they say would be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

CNN's Competitors Criticize Missing Plane Coverage

While staffers inside CNN are quietly questioning CNN's missing plane coverage, those at other networks are doing it more openly.

“It’s a grab — a ratings grab, that’s what it is,” says Fox News Anchor Bill O’Reilly.

NBC's Chuck Todd poked fun at CNN's coverage in a Tweet last night. 

CNN is getting higher ratings with their coverage, but some feel they are throwing all credibility out the window in doing so.

"It's become a freak show," said one network correspondent to FTVLive. 

CNN admits they have gone "All in" in the coverage of the missing plane and it has shown to be a ratings winner for the network.

But at what cost?

Just ask Geraldo Rivera about Al Capone's vault.

Just saying.....

KOMO Newsroom Quiet After the Crash

It wasn't as somber in the KOMO newsroom Wednesday as it was after Tuesday's deadly crash, but it was extremely quiet. 

The sound of keyboard clicks and scanner traffic seemed to echo through the crowded room. The normal newsroom sounds of noise, laughter, and banter were gone.

A helicopter crash killed photographer Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Pfitzner. The deaths crushed co-workers who are finding comfort in the cards, calls, and flowers from the community. 

"Today it's much more of a reflective newsroom as everyone realizes what we've lost," said KOMO News Director Holly Gaunt.

KOMO radio announcer Tom Hutyler said the growing memorial in the lobby harkens back to when anchor Kathi Goertzen passed away. 

"It's neat that this family matters to the bigger family of Puget Sound," said Hutyler. He also noticed you can see on co-workers faces that this loss is tough to process.

"I think the shock has worn off and given way to realization that something terrible happened a couple yards away from us," he said. 

KOMO TV General Manager Janene Drafs said, "Now we're looking at one another and saying how do we move forward, how do we move on, and that's what the words of encouragement and support are helping us do."

H/T KOMONews

Statement From KOMO Bosses

In the wake of the station's News Chopper crash, KOMO News Director Holly Gauntt and GM Janene Drafs  released this joint statement:

It's never easy to say goodbye to co-workers and friends. It's even more difficult when they feel so much like family. That's what we're like here at KOMO, a family, sadly one that has been through some very difficult times.
 
Bill Strothman and Gary Pfitzner were good men, very good men. Bill worked full time at KOMO for more than two decades before deciding to start his own production company and work for Helicopters Inc. covering the morning shift for KOMO and KING.
 
Bill was an exceptional photographer who cared deeply about his craft. He wasn't just good at it. He was passionate about it. So much so that he mentored his son Dan who became a KOMO photographer a few years ago. We all watched the father and son team work together, tease each other, challenge each other.  Many of us have known Bill's family for many years. Our hearts go out to Dan, Bill's daughter Heidi and his incredibly strong wife, Nora.
 
Gary had been a part of our newsroom for the past several years. Even though he worked for the helicopter company, he worked WITH us. He was a man who loved to fly so much, he flew covering news in the mornings and then worked at Boeing all day. Like Bill he was a father, a father of two proud sons. A brother with six siblings and a devoted husband who adored his wife.
 
Our hearts are heavy today. We miss them. We cry for our loss and their families.  We thank everyone who has reached out to us and offered to help in any way they can. Our owners at Sinclair headquarters in Maryland. Our friends at ABC News, our competitors at KIRO and KING. The Seattle Mayor, Police Chief and Fire Chief who all came to the newsroom today to offer us help and hugs.

To the Governor who called as soon as he heard the news. To local businesses who sent food and flowers to our newsroom. And mostly to the hundreds of you in the community who have done the same. The flowers, the cards, the emails… they help more than you'll ever know. How lucky we are to be surrounded and supported by such compassionate viewers and listeners. You've helped us in hard times before. Thank you for doing it again.
 
Holly Gauntt and Janene Drafs
KOMO News Director & General Manager

San Antonio Anchor Opens Coffee Shop

KSAT Anchor Charles Gonzalez took 3 weeks off of work, but it was far from a vacation. 

Gonzalez has been working the last 3 years on opening up his own coffee shop. He spent the past 3 weeks putting on the finishing touches and finally opening the doors to his new business. 

The anchorman has been pulling double duty as a news professional and an entrepreneur, but finally was enjoying the fruits of his labor when he threw open Rosella Coffee Co.'s doors. 

The shop is located just north of downtown, the cafe brews Cuvee Coffee, sandwiches and baked goods, and — at night — beer and wine.

"Patience and dogged persistence" were the secrets to getting the job done, Gonzalez says.

This weekend Gonzalez heads back to the anchor desk after his time off.

He'll need some caffeine to handle both jobs, but at least he knows where he can get it.

H/T San Antonio Business Journal 

One and Done in Palm Beach

Well that didn't last long.....

WPBF new weatherman Justin Mosely is out and headed back to his old station.

After just a year at WPBF, Mosely who was doing Weekends is headed back to Sarasota.

Mosely came to Palm Beach from  Southwest Florida’s SNN and word is he is now headed back to the station as the Chief Meteorologist.

Mosely is best remembered for his fear cockroaches:

New Anchor Hired in the Twin Cities

WCCO has hired a Minnesota native to be its new Saturday morning anchor.

The Pioneer Press says that Kim Johnson will start her new job (which includes weekday reporting) with the station on May 12. She will be coming to WCCO from KTVX, the ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Johnson interned for WCCO while attending the University of Minnesota.

Aristea Brady, who was anchoring the WCCO Saturday morning news along with reporting, left the station earlier this month to move back to her home state of Colorado with her husband.

Back After Sitting out Non-Compete

Also hitting the air at WCCO is former KMSP Reporter Jason Matheson. 

Matheson, who left Fox 9 last year, is starting at WCCO on March 31.

News Director Mike Caputa said Matheson will be contributing live reports to the 5 p.m. newscast along with taped pieces that will air on the station's morning news show.

"The goal is for the segments to feature trending stories in the news and how Minnesotans are reacting to them," said Caputa, who notes Matheson has "great rapport" with anchors Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro.

Matheson, who began his TV career at WCCO, was with Fox 9 for more than a decade where he became popular for his take on entertainment news. Matheson was off TV for the past year due to a one-year non-compete.

"I'm so excited," Matheson said Wednesday afternoon. "It was always the plan to come back to TV and mentally it was always the plan to go back to 'CCO."

H/T Pioneer Press

Clean Shaven Matt

NBC's Matt Lauer hit the Today Show this morning with a new look. Lauer had shaved off the beard that he started growing in November as part of a Today Show sweeps stunt. 

Lauer did show that he is much better at growing hair on the bottom of his head then he is on the top. 

BriWi Stays on Top

For the 235th consecutive week, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams ranked as America’s most-watched network evening newscast for the week ending March 14, 2014.

The week was NBC's  biggest viewership in eight years and best total over ABC in 13 years. 

Viewership increase came as over 9 million Americans turned towards the newscast in the aftermath of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. This is the largest audience (9.501 million) since the 2005-2006 season. 

NBC Nightly News received a 6.0/12 Household rating and a 1.8 rating (2.199 million viewers) with adults 25-54.

The newscast won total viewers for 235 consecutive weeks and in 282 of the past 283 weeks.

Man Burned in KOMO Chopper Crash is Improving

Some good news out of the tragic KOMO News Chopper crash.

KOMO reports that the 38-year-old man who was injured on the ground when the KOMO News helicopter crashed Tuesday in Seattle is continuing to improve. 

Harborview Medical Center reports Richard Newman of Seattle was taken off a machine and is breathing on his own.

Spokeswoman Susan Gregg says he remains in serious condition Wednesday in the intensive care unit and will need surgery for burns.

Newman suffered second- and third-degree burns on his back and arms when his car was set afire by the helicopter crashing into the street near the Space Needle. Two other drivers whose vehicles burned escaped uninjured.

Obviously it's a Slow News Day in Richmond

Either there is not very much news happening in Richmond, or the staff at WWBT doesn't really care.

But they can dance (well, some of them can):

Dallas Newscast to be Replaced by America's Funniest Videos

KTXD in Dallas is pulling the plug on their nightly newscast The Texas Daily.   

The last edition is scheduled to air on Friday, March 21st, a little less than 18 months after launching on Oct. 1, 2012 with a constellation of former D-FW news stars as rotating contributors and former WFAA8 anchor Jeff Brady as the daily host. 

Phil Hurley, executive vice president and COO of London Broadcasting Company (which owns Dallas-based KTXD and stations in five other Texas markets), said that Texas Daily will be replaced at 9 p.m. weeknights with a new syndicated acquisition, America’s Funniest Videos. “We know it will draw an audience,” he said in an email reply. 

Texas Daily never found a substantial following after debuting as a one-hour 8 a.m. weekday program and lately airing at 9 p.m. Last week, Texas Daily’s biggest audience was for Thursday’s edition, which had 5,681 viewers in a D-FW market of 7.1 million viewers. The Monday and Tuesday March 10-11 Texas Dailys recorded “hashmarks” (no measurable audience), according to Nielsen Media Research data.

“2014 has started out great in all six of our markets,” Hurley said. “I just decided it was time to put my issues idea (Texas Daily) on hold and just concentrate on the show that was making a profit, The Broadcast. It is just more challenging and rewarding to create distinct and different local programs, but they have to work in today’s business/profit broadcasting world. We just could not draw the ratings needed to justify what we were spending on The Texas Daily.

H/T Ed Bark