Fox O&O's Look to Drop Nielsen (Updated)

The Fox O&O's might be ready to walk away from the Nielsen monopoly.

The Fox Television Stations contract with Nielsen expires Today and sources say that while the two sides are talking about a new deal, they are far apart in negotiations. 

Fox is looking at using rival TV ratings service Rentrak.

Update: Sources tell FTVLive that Nielsen folded like a lawn chair and gave into Fox's demands. This should be a lesson to all other stations and groups that use Nielsen, threaten to go and you will get the service at a huge discount. 

50 Straight for Fox News

While CNN and MSNBC continue to take aim at their own feet, Fox News rolls on in the ratings.

FNC racked up its 50th consecutive quarter as the top dog in cable news.

Variety says that with a winning streak that dates back to shortly after 9/11  — and spans 150 consecutive months — Fox has been the most popular news outlet just about any way you slice it. According to Nielsen, it is No. 1 in both primetime and total-day averages, and in both overall viewers and the key news demo of adults 25-54.

In preliminary Nielsen estimates for the second quarter that ended Sunday, FNC was averaging more viewers in primetime (1.602 million) than the combined totals of MSNBC (578,000), CNN (461,000) and HLN (338,000). The same held true in total-day numbers, with Fox News Channel at 945,000, followed by CNN (342,000), MSNBC (336,000) and HLN (246,000).

If you Live in Tucson, You might want to Leave Before Sunday

According to KOLD in Tucson, Sunday might be the day to stay inside in the air conditioning. 

In the station's 7 day forecast, they have Sunday's temperature at a blistering 1056 degrees.

I used to live and work in Tucson, my rule was, when the temps got over 1000 degrees, I stayed inside for the day. 

Just saying.... 

This Reporter Brings out the Crazies

This morning FTVLive told you about the CityTV (Toronto) Reporter that interviewed a World Cup fan at a bar. When Reporter Natalie Duddridge asked the fan for reaction, the fan responded with "fuck her right in the pussy!" You can see that story here.

Well, later that day, Duddridge was sent to cover a "world pride" day event and a topless woman jumped into her live shot.

Poor Duddridge, she sure brings out the nut jobs. 

Let's go to the video:

Judge Tosses George Zimmerman's Case Against NBC News

A Florida judge has tossed George Zimmerman's lawsuit against NBC News. 

Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson ruled that the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer and killer is entitled to no money from the media giant.

Zimmerman can file an appeal but for now the case against NBC is dead in the water. 

Zimmerman had filed suit two years ago, accusing NBC of falsely portraying him as a racist in a series of broadcasts shortly after he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford.

Editors shortened audio from a 911 call Zimmerman made to a police dispatcher the night of the shooting, making it sound as if Zimmerman volunteered that Trayvon was black and that he racially profiled the Miami Gardens teenager.

NBC fired he two employees who were involved in the edits and made a public apology.

H/T Orlando Sentinel 

New Met Hired in Tornado Ally

KFOR in Oklahoma City has hired a new Weekend Meteorologist.

Matt Posgai is joining the station from KLBK in Lubbock.

Posgai joined KAMC in June of 2012, stayed just one year before going to KLBK in June of 2013.

Now in June of 2014, Posgai is headed to KFOR.

Where will Matt go in Jone of 2015?

Stay tuned.... 

New York Anchor Ogles Reporter in a Bikini

WNYW Reporter Anna Gilligan reported live from a park in New Jersey that featured a Tarzan rope swing.

Because all reporters now-a-days want to make the story about them, Gilligan figured she would try out the rope swing for herself.

So, she stripped down to her bikini (it's not even ratings) and tried the swing.

Problem was, Gilligan had horn dog WNYW Anchor Greg Kelly back in the studio. Kelly spent the rest of the live hit, ogling Gilligan in her bikini. 

"Nice bathing suit," Kelly gushed.  

Kelly's co-anchor, Rosanna Scotto, did her best to keep him "in check," urging him to "stay appropriate." 

It was too late, that train had already left the station.

Let's go to the video:

ND Out the Door In Cleveland?

No official word yet, but it appears that WJW (Cleveland) News Director Sonya Thompson will soon be gone from the station.

Insiders tell FTVLive that Thompson will be gone from the station by the end of the week. 

Thompson has spent 18 years at WJW, the first 11 as Assistant News Director and the last 7 as the ND.

She was promoted to the ND job by GM Greg Easterly. Esterly recently left the station to become the GM at WGN in Chicago. WGN's News Director Greg Cuputo just retired on Friday.

Could Thompson be headed to Chicago? She previously worked as an EP at WBBM in Chi-Town. Let's crank up the rumor mill. 

FTVLive obtained this photo of Thompson's office which has been cleaned out. 

Expect some kind of announcement from WJW this week and remember where you read it FIRST. 

Stay tuned..... 

Headed down The 5

KNTV Assistant News Director Matt Goldberg is jumping on I-5 and headed back to Los Angeles.

Goldberg will be the Managing Editor at KNBC.

He worked at KNBC before headed to KNTV and now he is returning to LA.

Both stations are NBC O&O's. 

Reporter Sentenced to 26 Years in Prison For Sex Crimes

A WNYW Fox 5 Reporter Charles Leaf was found guilty on 8 counts of sex crimes invoking children. The main count was a sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl at his home.

Leaf was sentenced in court and the judge gave him 26 years on the charges. 

Leaf maintained his innocence, speaking for more than 20 minutes during the hearing. "Child abuse of any kind is abhorrent, reprehensible, and those who prey upon children are the worst kind of criminal," he told the court. "I, however, am not one of them."

The former reporter took time, referring to a script as if he wrote his own story. He emphasized that he passed a polygraph test and psychological evaluation. 

“As I have emphatically said from day one and never waivered, I am innocent,” he said. “100 percent innocent of all eight counts.”

During the trial, the now 8-year-old girl he was accused of molesting withdrew her accusations.

Leaf's father-in-law testified during the trial that he, not Leaf, had viewed pornography on Leaf's computer.

H/T News 12 New Jersey 

Really?! CNN wants Viewers to Decide who Stays and Who Goes?

From the WTF file at CNN!

CNN wants its viewers to decide who gets to stay in this country and who should be kicked out.

CNN sent out this tweet last night:

FTVLive decided to turn the tables. We tweeted this out this morning. 

Do you think Jeff Zucker should be fired? Answer JEFFSTAY or JEFFGO using #FTVLive pic.twitter.com/qGAy8Cs9mK

— FTVLive (@FTVLive) June 30, 2014

OH No!

CityTV in Toronto was doing a live shot from a local bar, where fans were watching the World Cup.

Of course, local bars and live shots not always mix so well and when the guy being interviewed shouted out "fucked her right in the pussy!" We're guessing that this is one of those live shots that went bad.

Let's go to the video: 

Kissing the Reporter

WPIX Reporter Mario Diaz was wrapping up a live report on the arrest of another celebrity behaving badly.

Diaz was finishing up his live shot during the 5 p.m. news on the arrest of Shia LeBeouf when a woman in a large hat appeared behind him.

The woman began waving and walking back and forth as Diaz answered a question from anchor Tamsen Fadal.

Then the woman walked around the background for a few moments before trying to lean in to try and kiss Diaz.

Within seconds of the kiss, Twitter and Facebook exploded with people pointing out it was Erykah Badu (It's OK, I didn't know who that was either. Thanks Wikipeddia).

Badu responded to the social media burst denying it was her at first.

Hours later Badu confirmed that it was her, and apologized to Mario.

You can watch the video at WPIX website. 

Why Did Big Easy Station Dump the Today Show?

WDSU in New Orleans dumped the last hour of the Today Show on Friday, all because of who was co-hosting the show. 

Kathie Lee Gifford was taking the day off and Hoda Kotb turned to her very good friend Karen Swensen to sit alongside her.

You see Swensen is the News Anchor at WWL in New Orleans. So, WDSU decided that there was no way they were going to give Swensen free promotion on their air and they dumped Today.

A number of NOLA viewers were not happy that the station pulled Today and robbed them of their chance to see a local anchor on a national platform. Kotb met Swensen years ago when they both worked at WWL. 

WDSU took to their Facebook page to try and explain their decision:

Needless to say, viewers were still pissed:

No matter what WDSU says, it was a bad move and they made the wrong choice.

Just saying.... 

Helping Out the Competitor

Hearst owned WLWT's (Cincinnati) transmitter went in the crapper and the station over the air signal was down.

But, they were able to get back on the air thanks to Scripps owned WCPO.

Scripps are allowed WLWT programming on their digital channel WCPO 9.3.

"We express great appreciation for the helping hand from our fellow broadcaster and to our viewers for their continuing patience during this critical outage,” WLWT said in a statement. 

WLWT says that the repair crews arrived at the station on Sunday and hope to be back on the air soon. 

Aereo Shuts Down Service

The web streaming company Aereo shutdown their service over the weekend.

Last week the Supreme Court ruled against Aereo saying that it violated copyright laws. 

In an email to customers, Aereo said, "Our case has been returned to the lower Court. We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps."

In other words, you will never hear from them again. 

RIP Aereo, we hoped that you were the future against massive cable bills.