Josh Elliott Raises Eyebrows with Demands

This morning FTVLive told you that Good Morning America Anchor Josh Elliott is demanding a huge raise to stay at ABC.

The story from Page Six claimed that Elliott now making $1.2 million a year, is demanding $8 million a year to stay, ABC sources tell FTVLive that those numbers are inflated by quite a bit. Sources says that Elliott's current contract is much closer to the 700-800 thousand dollar range and not $1.2 million.

Also word is that ABC has an offer on the table in the $3-4 million dollar range and that Elliott's agents are looking for something around $6 million.

I have to ask, how many of you people would turn down an offer that more than triples your salary?

Exactly.

Sources also tell FTVLive that ABC boss Ben Sherwood feels like Elliott has turned up his nose at him. Sherwood gave Elliott a big break by putting him on GMA. The money grab by Elliott and his agents has some inside ABC shaking their heads. 

While Elliot's agents are making noise about have other options for their client, ABC has also held quiet talks about who they can replace Elliott with.

FTVLive reported earlier this month the negotiations had turned nasty between the two sides and it seems that that nastiness is moving up a notch.

Stay tuned.... 

Seattle Station's Name is Mud

KIRO in Seattle had some viewers fuming mad when they cut away from the end of the NCAA game between UNC-Iowa State game.

The game was tied with just seconds to go, Iowa State made a last second shot and North Carolina called a quick time out. 

The refs huddled and looked at a monitor. People watching KIRO could see the video, but were also seeing and HEARING a press conference about the mudslide. They had no clue what was going on in the basketball game and why the refs were in a huddle watching a monitor?

KIRO Viewers then saw the two coaches hug, again no sound as to what was happening.

The refs had decided that the clock had run out before UNC called the time out and Iowa State had won the game. KIRO viewers were totally in the cary as to what happened. Of course, they took to Twitter to voice their displeasure: 

Expect Job Losses with Lin/Media General Merger

While LIN and Media General were hosting about their big merger on Friday, they did not take about what everyone expect is coming.

Job losses. 

“It certainly wouldn't surprise me to see job losses and other ‘efficiencies’ from this merger,” former news director Steve Kraycik, who's now Director of Student Television at Penn State University and a talent agent with MediaStars, told TheWrap. “It's happened after other deals and I think there's a good chance it will here too.”

The problem is in cities where both companies already operate a local station, such as in Mobile, there will almost certainly be job cuts once the merger is approved.

“From the corporate perspective, many times it makes sense — consolidate, save money and increase the profit margin for shareholders,” Kraycik said.

LIN currently operates 43 small and medium market stations, including CBS affiliate KRQE in Albuquerque, NBC affiliate KXAN in Austin and Fox affiliate WALA in Mobile, Alabama. Media General has 31 stations including MyNetworkTV affiliate KRON in San Francisco, NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa and CBS affiliate WKRG in Mobile.

The merger would make the combined company the second largest pure-play broadcast business in the United States. The move would also give it more leverage to compete with media giants such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV for local TV advertising revenue.

“They're merging because they're seeing some of their competitors in the pay TV arena that are getting a lot larger in terms of scale,” Dennis Wharton, Executive V.P. of Communications for the National Association of Broadcasters told TheWrap. “Broadcasters, I think, believe that they have to have scale to compete against providers who are not giving away their programming for free.”

However, Wharton played down the possibility of newsroom layoffs. “If there are, potentially there will be job losses in the back offices –  in the areas of finance, human resources and IT,” he said.

But history shows big media mergers also lead to newsroom layoffs.

Stay tuned.....

Union Urges Viewers to Turn off St. Louis Station

Back when the economy was in the tank, Gannett was asking making staff take furloughs and asking others to take a pay cut.

Fast forward to Today and the company shelled out over $2 billion dollars to snatch up the BELO stations.

The IBEW Union points out that Gannett's memory seems to be really short. IBEW is asking viewers to turn off KSDK in St. Louis because the Union contract is up and they say the station is not negotiating in good faith.

Flyers, such as the one below have started circulating around St. Louis and on the Internet:

Hanging it Up in St. Louis

Speaking of KSDK....

KSDK's Jennifer Blome, the longtime anchor of Today in St. Louis, announced her retirement from the station on Friday. 

Blome's last day will be March 28. She is taking a job as director of humane education at the Animal Protective Association of Missouri, according to KSDK.

Blome started with the station in 1979 as a weekend weathercaster and weekday reporter. She was the anchor of a morning newscast in the early 1980s. Later, she teamed up with Tom O'Neal. In 1989, she partnered with Art Holliday, and in 2011, her co-anchor was Pat McGonigle.

H/T St. Louis Post Dispatch 

NTSB: Helicopter rotated 360 degrees before crash

More news out of Seattle and the deadly News Helicopter crash.

The AP reports that surveillance video shows that a Seattle news helicopter began rotating at takeoff before it pitched forward into a fiery crash that killed both men aboard and burned a third man on the ground, the National Transportation Safety Board said late Friday in a preliminary report.

Video culled from three security camera recordings near the crash site shows the aircraft began rotating counterclockwise during takeoff Tuesday morning and rose slightly, nearly level, from a rooftop helipad, the agency said. The helicopter continued rotating counterclockwise for about 360 degrees before it pitched forward, nose low.

It "continued the counterclockwise rotation in a nose low attitude until it disappeared from the camera's field of view," the agency said in its one-page statement.

Available video apparently did not show the actual crash on a street next to the Space Needle, where the KOMO-TV chopper burst into flames, setting several vehicles ablaze and spewing burning fuel down the street.

Multiple witnesses reported seeing the helicopter lift off and begin a counterclockwise rotation, then pitch downward, still rotating, and crash. They indicated the fire began after the crash, the NTSB said.

Witnesses earlier told reporters they heard unusual noises coming from the aircraft as it lifted off from the helipad atop KOMO's six-story headquarters after refueling. The initial NTSB report did not discuss any noises.

The helicopter came to rest on its right side and "all major structural components" were located in the immediate area of the main wreckage, the NTSB said. Wreckage debris was found in a 340-foot radius of the main wreckage.

The initial report did not attempt to pinpoint a cause for the crash. A final report could take as long as a year, agency officials have said.

Josh Elliott Wants Huge Pay Raise to Stay at GMA

20 days ago, FTVLive told you that the negotiations with ABC and Good Morning America Anchor Josh Elliott had turned sour.

Elliott, who’s now making about $1.2 million a year, is demanding $8 million a year to stay, sources exclusively tell Page Six.

Elliott has just four weeks left on his contract, and the two sides are deadlocked over cash. Meanwhile, Elliott's people also claim he's in talks with NBC to possibly jump ship and take on a role covering both news and sports there.

A source told Page Six: “Josh knows he is integral to the success of ‘GMA’ and wants a huge pay increase to stay. He wants $8 million, while ABC is offering $4 million. Josh’s background is sports. He started at ESPN, so his agents at CAA [Creative Artists Agency] have been actively talking to NBC about a part-news, part-sports role, like a younger Bob Costas.”

The source added: “Josh only has four weeks left on his contract, and there’s a lot of talk about how CAA has dragged the negotiations out. ABC wants Josh to stay. He is a very talented broadcaster, but $8 million is too much. He isn’t bigger than ‘GMA.’ ”

CNN Anchors Fight Over Piers Morgan's Spot

Piers Morgan hasn't even officially signed off and the battle is raging as to who will replace him.

Page Six writes that Bill Weir, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper are in a “death match” for it, with one TV insider saying, “It’s like ‘The Hunger Games’ at CNN, a fight to the death between Weir, Lemon and Tapper for the slot.”

The source added that while Weir has posted promising ratings with his coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 while guest hosting in the past week, “he has produced a number of pilots, which haven’t been picked up.”

To add fuel to the fire, Weir and Tapper are old ABC rivals, “and are fiercely competitive, to the point of strong hostility.”

There’s currently no guarantee that any of this trio will land the slot, and CNN reps have repeatedly refused to comment.

Let the games begin.

Keith Olbermann: The Drugs Make me Danger to Humanity

Years ago, while I was working at WPXI in Pittsburgh, I came down with the Shingles. It was very painful and I missed a few days of work. To battle the pain I took a couple of aspirin. 

ESPN's Keith Olbermann has also been off the air while battling the Shingles and he has missed much more than a few days. Olby is blaming the drugs that Doctors are giving him for the Shingles pain.

He claims the pain killing drugs make him a "danger to humanity." 

Out the Door in Houston

Ford Atkinson has retired from Fox 26 KRIV after working at the station for 22 years. 

“Today, we announce the retirement of longtime FOX 26 newsman, Ford Atkinson," said Bob Morford, FOX 26 KRIV news director, in a statement to mikemcguff.com. "Whether on the anchor desk or out in the field reporting, Ford has established a solid reputation for his keen news sense and dedication to this station. We will miss his aggressive approach to covering news and wish him well in this next chapter of his life."

Atkinson was most recently a morning newscast reporter. Before the AM duty, he anchored the station's weekend newscast starting in 1997.

The managing editor of City Under Siege gig brought Atkinson to the station in 1992. He came to Houston in 1982, where he worked as a reporter at KPRC 2 and then as an executive assistant to a Harris County Commissioner.

After his absence from the airwaves since December 2013, McGuff contacted Atkinson for comment but did not hear back from him. 

Now he's gone from the station. 

Bill O'Reilly: I'm Tired

Fox News Anchor Bill O'Reilly hinted in an interview with the Washington Post that he will be cutting back on his work.

O'Reilly was talking to the Post to pimp his new book "Killing Jesus," at the end of the interview he was asked "Do you think that you’ll ever stop?" O'Reilly replied back "Yes, I do. I’m tired now, so I’ve got to cut it back soon. I just don’t know when that will be."

No word on what "soon" means to O'Reilly, but we're guessing it isn't next month.

We have a feeling that Bill O will be around for awhile, not sure his ego could survive otherwise.

Stay tuned.... 

Former Motown News Director is Dead

Former WXYZ  News Director Phil Nye has passed away.

Nye recently worked for public television in Detroit area.

He was last at WXYX reuniting with Bill Bonds and others at the retirement party for Diana Lewis.

Some of the comments refer to him as a "super leader," "a true talent" and a "wonderfully compassionate human being."

He was 87-years-old.

How are they Expected to fine the Missing Plane....

.....when KXAN doesn't even know where Perth, Australia is?

Just saying.... 

Anchor Busted for DUI

KFSM (Fort Smith) Anchor Austin Reed was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on Friday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.

Reed faces a DWI charge and charges of careless driving and violating the implied consent law, according to the website.

He was involved in a single-vehicle accident near Northwest Arkansas Mall late Thursday, according to a court document. No one was hurt.

Reed was released from the detention center on bond early Friday and is set to appear in Fayetteville District Court on April 21, the website states.

H/T KFSM

Can Someone Please Tell me....

Which Aviation Expert was Kathleen Banging?

Just asking.....