Devlin Design Group Adds New Designer

Studio set builder Devlin Design Group has added another staffer to their already strong line-up.

Diane Fiolek, is now part of the award winning team at Devlin Design Group.

DiFi is a graphics, animation and scenic guru recognized around the world and on all platforms for her breakthrough designs.  She brings her considerable expertise in broadcast design and branding to Team DDG as Creative Services Director.

“I have worked with Dan and Team DDG on a number of projects over the years. Because of our connection, we trust in each other’s abilities to do what needs to be done. I am impressed with the creative culture Dan fosters at DDG. The culture is what creates the foundation for all future innovation…it's a shared way of doing something with a passion. Culture breeds dedication, knowledge delivers results.” —Diane “DiFi” Fiolek, CSD, Devlin Design Group

“DiFi is a great addition to an already great team.  In addition to being a design guru and a branding goddess, she’s a bit wacky, and we like that.  Her proven abilities will complement the well-established creativity, knowledge and innovation of the crazy geniuses at Team DDG.” —Dan Devlin, Owner/Chief Creative Strategist, Devlin Design Group.

Zucker Told Staff To Ignore Car that Crashed into CNN Center (Updated)

FTVLive told you early this morning that a Mercedes with Florida tags, drove onto the sidewalk and right into the lobby at CNN Center.

The story was covered quickly by WSB in Atlanta and was all over Twitter. But where was the coverage on CNN?

Insiders tell FTVLive that CNN boss Jeff Zucker told the morning crew to not cover the story.

In other words, Zucker did not want them to "Go There".....ha ha you see what I did there, didn't you?  

Update: The story finally makes CNN's website at 2:44PM and of course after FTVLive posted this story. 

Nice Gig if you can Get It

You went to J-School and now you are in debt with your school loans. You are working your way up from crappy stations in tiny markets barely making barely enough to make ends meet.

So how would you feel if someone that had no Journalism experience and never worked at a TV station, landed a job at the network paying $600,000 a year and only worked a few days a month at most?

Doesn't seem fair, does it?

Well, say hello to former first daughter Chelsea Clinton. 

Politico reports that Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year.

Clinton, who joined NBC News as a “special correspondent” in November 2011, was up for renewal or non-renewal this year. Instead, the sources said, the network decided to keep her on the payroll on a month-to-month basis so that the two parties could sever ties if Clinton’s mother, Hillary, runs for president.

“We don’t comment on details of existing contracts,” a network spokesperson said. “NBC News continues to enjoy a wonderful working relationship with Chelsea, and we are proud of her work.”

We might be proud of her work as well.

If we ever see any of it.

Clinton is pulling in more money than a number of NBC Correspondents you see on a nightly basis. 

Life is not always fair....especially in TV news. 

Falling into the Fire

WXMI (Grand Rapids) Michele DeSelms found out the hard way that she makes a lousy barbecue.

And it has nothing to do with her cooking. 

The veteran anchorwoman at Fox 17 was relaxing beside a cozy campfire.

In the next minute she was falling into it.

Ouch!

“Like a snow angel,” she tells the Grand Rapids Press. “My arms are waving like this out to my side, and suddenly I’m sitting in the fire,” trapped for an instant that seemed to never end, “like a turtle on my back.”

She emerged with second and nearly third-degree burns that cover the lower third of her back. Her left foot incurred the worst damage, when prior to falling into the inferno, she stepped onto a red-hot grate that had just been removed from atop the firepit. It seared the flesh on her foot and eventually created a massive hole in her arch.

It could have been much worse. Moments earlier, she’d changed from a flimsy one-piece cotton sundress into a long-sleeve shirt, jeans and denim jacket that doctors say almost certainly saved her from more incurring more severe and widespread burns.

The drama unfolded nearly three weeks ago, she got out of a chair next to the fire. Her back was to a roaring fire that had been lit earlier and around which others were sitting and standing. When she stepped down, her left foot landed on the grate, which she couldn’t see. The jolt propelled her backward, directly into the blaze.

She re-lives the moment often – recalling how as she fell she looked with disbelief and locked eyes with that of close friend Marilyn Henderhan.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m falling into the fire… I’m falling into the fire…’”

Michele remembers ice and wet towels being applied to her affected areas, and also how “my foot was blistering and popping and blistering and popping.”

It's been a tough 3 weeks. 

“I cry all the time,” she told me when I visited her home this past Sunday. “And believe me, I’m not a crier. 

As for partaking of future outdoor fires, Michele didn’t hesitate to answer that one, either.

“Never,” she said. “Never. Not ever again. And our girls are not allowed to go around a fire.” Her eyes welled up instantly.

“The other day, I was out on the deck and I smelled a bonfire,” Michele told me. “I came inside and just burst into tears.”

NBC Doubles Down on Matt Lauer

There is no question that one time NBC golden boy Matt Lauer has lost much of his luster.

Lauer was widely blamed for getting Ann Curry kicked off the Today Show and his future with Today was uncertain at best. But, Lauer outlasted his bosses at Today and the new leadership is sticking behind Lauer on the morning show. 

Word comes that Lauer has inked a new contract which NBC said is multiple more years.

Deborah Turness, the president of NBC News, said, “We couldn’t be more thrilled with Matt’s decision. As I’ve said many times before, he’s the best in the business, and there is nobody I would rather have in the Today anchor chair than Matt.”

“I consider this the best job in broadcasting,” Lauer said in statement. “I love people I work with every day and I have such respect and gratitude for the people I work for. I couldn’t be happier to be staying.”

Car Crashes into CNN Center in Atlanta

Early this morning a Mercedes with Florida tags crashed into CNN Center in Atlanta.

The car crashed into the lobby of the CNN Center just off Marietta Street.

A witness said there was a man and a woman inside the car. The witness said the car drove onto the sidewalk, and then into the lobby of the CNN Center.

The man was taken away by police.

There were several shoe boxes, a television and other boxes inside the car.

The car has been pulled from the lobby and was loaded onto a truck.

Thankfully because Jeff Zucker has moved most people out of CNN Center and sent them to New York, there were no injuries.

CNN Crew Injured at World Cup Protest

The World Cup has kicked off in Brail, but most of the action is happening outside the stadium.

A number of protests have gotten out of hand and it is tough on the Journalists trying to cover them. 

Staffers from a CNN crew were injured after Brazilian police fired tear gas and stun grenades at a protestors. 

Reporter Shasta Darlington and her crew were reporting on one of the many protest, when police fired tear gas and stun grenades. One of the canisters hit CNN Producer Barbara Arvanitidis (right).

Darlington also said she was hit in the arm, but continued her report. 

Who Boosted the Booze?

It's been some tough times at WTEV/WAWS in Jacksonville.

As FTVLive FIRST told you the station is basically wiping out their Anchors and starting over from scratch.

Insiders say that the mood in the newsroom is not good.

Former WTLV Reporter (now radio anchor) Melissa Ross sent along a care package to outgoing Anchors at Action News Jacksonville to help left their spirits.

Ross sent some snacks and a bottle of Patron.

Problem was, before outgoing anchors, Mark Spain and Paige Kelton even made it into work, someone boosted the booze.

Trying to figure out who stole the Patron was part of a Twitter back and forth. FTVLive thinks we know who stole the booze, but we ain't saying. Right Bob? 

You have Our Full Spuuort....HUH?

KOCO in Oklahoma City Sports Director Bryan Keating had a story about some of the Oklahoma City Thunder players supporting Derek Fisher's hiring as coach of the NY Knicks.

The players are giving Fisher their fell Spuuort....whatever that is. 

Longtime GM Stepping Down in Miami

Longtime WSVN GM Bob Leider says he is going to retire from the station in September.

Leider will consult the station on a part time basis after he steps down. Leider has been with WSVN for almost 40 years and was a big part of taking the station from an NBC affiliate to a very  successful independent/Fox station.

When NBC was dropping WSVN, Leider along with owner Ed Ansin decided that the station would fill much of their empty schedule with news.

"We were going to be an independent that skewed toward the news. People thought we were nuts." Leider said.

It was a formula that has been copied over and over since then. 

On a side note, I worked at WSVN in Miami back in the 90's and this is the first time I have ever seen what Bob Leider looks like. 

It's a much different place than most stations.

Just saying.... 

New York Anchor Headed for Dallas Temp Job

Back in January FTVLive told you that WPIX in New York was going to pull morning Anchor Dan Mannarino from his newscast.

A few days ago the station did that. 

Although, Mannarino is expected to say in another role at WPIX, he is first headed to Dallas for a few weeks.

Mannarino is going to fill in Anchor on Tribune's Eye Opener. 

Mannarino says he will be returning to the Big Apple in July. 

Returning to Play in Traffic

KHOU (Houston) announced that former Morning Traffic Reporter Darby Douglas is returning in same job.

Douglas left the station in 2009, but is now coming back to his old station in his old job.

“Darby is a one-of-a-kind guy, there’s nothing cookie cutter about him. He’s not just another morning traffic guy—Darby’s a storyteller. He loves weaving a personal yarn or two as he shares his wisdom on how to beat the latest freeway mess,” said KHOU 11 Executive News Director Phil Bruce. “That’s his passion, talking to people and being completely authentic in what he says and how he presents himself. After all these years on the air in Houston, Darby Douglas is a friendly voice and a familiar face viewers know they can count on. We’re looking forward to having him back in the KHOU Family.” 

Katherine Whaley, who replaced Douglas back in 2009, will stay on at the station as a Reporter. 

Adding News in Motown, South Bend

FTVLive hears that WMYD in Detroit will add some newscasts that will be produced by WXYZ.

Starting next week WMYD will air a one-hour nightly newscast at 10:00 p.m. called "7 Action News at 10:00 on TV 20 Detroit" (that is one long title for a newscast), utilizing WXYZ's news team.

This all comes after WXYZ's owners Scripps brought WMYD.

Down the road in South Bend, Indiana, WBND is expanding it's morning presence, 7-days a week.

The station's weekday morning newscast (5:00-7:00 a.m.) will become 4:30-9:00 a.m. with the 4:30-5:00 a.m. half-hour on WBND ABC 57 and the 7:00-9:00 a.m. portion on WCWW-LD 25 "The CW Michiana". Also they will expand to weekend mornings: Saturdays: 6:00-8:00 and 9:00-10:00 AM Sundays: 6:00-8:00 and 10:00-11:00 AM

Beefing Up the Consumer Team in DC

Now that longtime WRC Consumer Reporter Liz Crenshaw is retired from the station, WRC is filling her job with two people.

The station says that starting next week, Erika Gonzalez will become WRC's daily consumer reporter. She’ll report on consumer news of the day.

Also, Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson will expand her role and contribute more consumer investigative stories to WRC's newscasts.

Back in the World HQ

Finally! FTVLive has made it back to the World Headquarters.

Although we had plans to update your favorite website this morning, our laptop had other plans.

Out computer's hard drive is shot and we could not boot up or access any of our files. 

Frustrating to say the least.

We have just now made it back into the office (7:00PM) and are going through hundreds of emails and getting ready for Friday. 

Look for FTVLive be back in business in the morning. 

Travel Day....

FTVLive is about to get on I-10 and head over to Tallahassee.

A buddy and myself are playing in a qualifier for the Florida State Golf Association tomorrow. Tee time is 8AM in the morning.

That means that the rest of Today's and most of tomorrow's updates will be few and far between.

If you're in management, this will be a good time to fire anyone you want to fire for any reason you want.

I'm hoping to be able to post more updates each day, but just not sure what my access to the Internet will be like while traveling.

If you're are not following FTVLive on Twitter. This might be a good time to do so.

You can also Like Us on Facebook if you want.