Savannah Guthrie found out how dumb the Internet can be on Tuesday.
Guthrie joked with Howard Stern that she planned to have her baby on air.
"I'm really hoping to bond with our viewers," she said. "The only way to do that is to do a live birth on the 'Today' show."
It didn't take long for the Twitterverse to chime in and many could not figure out that Guthrie was joking.
Guthrie finally jumped on Twitter to tell her fans that she was joking.
H/T HuffPo
Back on July 7th, FTVLive told you that Nexstar was doing their best to bust the IBEW and SAG-AFTRA union at KSEE/KGPE in Fresno (recently purchased duopoly).
Represented staff at the stations voted on July 11th to decide whether or not that still wanted to be represented by the IBEW union.
Station GM Matt Rosenfeld had been sending out a number of memos to the staff, trying to tell them why they don't need a union.
But, the votes are in and counted and the staffers voted to keep the union.
The SAG-AFTRA vote is expected to happen soon.
The Nexstar suits are not happy about the loss in the first vote.
One recent summer day, KRQE general manager Bill Anderson received a text message from long-time station anchor Dick Knipfing:
“I’m out walking my dog, and for the first time I’m thinking I don’t want to come in tonight. Maybe it’s time to talk about retiring.”
Anderson immediately shot back: “Get a cat! I’ll talk you out of retiring when I see you.”
Nope. Not this time. After 51 years, Knipfing, the elder statesman of local TV news, will be signing off after Channel 13′s 10 p.m. newscast on July 31. He will be replaced by anchor Dean Staley, who, Anderson said, was being groomed to slide into Knipfing’s 10 p.m. chair after Knipfing no longer wanted to sit there.
“I’ll figure out ways to get him back in the building and doing some work with us,” Anderson said Tuesday. “He has been so good for us on the inside as a leader, a journalist, editorial manager, writer, fact checker and cheerleader – stuff that viewers on the outside never get to see.”
Knipfing was taking it all in stride. “I’m 71 years old. It’s just time,” he told the Journal. “I’ve got a lot of energy and I’m in good health and I just want to participate more fully in life. Being a TV news guy, the daily deadline stress and pressure are unending. That’s the way it should be, but I’m tired of it. It’s time for me to move on and a younger guy to move in.”
It appears that one of the hosts for The Daily Buzz is out the door.
Charles Divins, one of 3 hosts of the show let his fans know on Twitter that he is no longer with the show.
The Daily Buzz is a syndicated morning news program based out of Orlando that airs in over 175 TV markets across the United States.
Divins bio is still on The Daily Buzz website, but we're expecting it won't be for much longer.
No official word yet from the show, but we expect that to be coming soon as well.
Update: Divins tells FTVLive "I actually chose to leave the show, it's very hard to leave a show I had so much pleasure working on. I have taken an offer for a job that I could not turn down."
Here is another example of the hazards of live TV....
Sky News' Adam Boulton was reporting live from 10 Downing street when he made a really funny face.
It was kind of like a half choking, half pooping my pants face that you don't often see on live TV.
The anchor asked Boulton if he wanted to take a break?
Boulton said he was fine and that he had just eaten a fly on live TV.
We know some News Managers that would consider that his lunch break.
Let's go to the video:
A News 12 New Jersey Reporter has been suspended for something that he said.
News 12 Reporter Sean Bergin has been told to stay home after he argued on the air that the “anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities” is largely the result of “young black men growing up without fathers.”
The Blaze says that the suspension could turn into a firing. They report that Bergin was asked not to come in Monday and Tuesday as the news station figures out how to handle the situation.
Here are Bergin's on air comments that landed him in hot water:
News 12 has pulled the story from the station's website.
Word is that management is still trying to decide the fate of Bergin at News 12.
Stay tuned....
When Al Jazeera America launched, FTVLive predicted that the network would bomb in the ratings and never gain a foothold with US viewers.
Next month marks the first anniversary of the debut of AJA.
Sources tell FTVLive that many employees have contracts coming up, or have windows in their contracts. It is expected that management will exercise their options on many contracts and tell a number of staffers that there deal is not being picked up.
Word is that some TV Agents are finding it hard to get through to AJA executives to discuss their client's future with the struggling network.
Some insiders think that the government of Qatar is exploring shutting down the money losing and ratings challenged operation?
Last week, AJA executive David Doss sent a memo to the staff asking them to stop booking guests in studios to save money on the studios and satellite time.
Look for guests to be on Skype and other low quality forms of communication.
The Future of AJA is not looking very bright.
A source tells FTVLive that The Weather Channel recently hired 24 hour, around the clock security (off duty cops) who were checking everyone's IDs as they enter the company's parking lot. Currently, there is no gate system of any kind. Anyone can drive in.
This is not the normal rent-a-cop that sleeps in the lobby. Apparently, there has been an issue with a former employee who was making threats.
FTVLive reached out to TWC and they did confirm that security had been beefed up.
"We did put additional security in place at our Atlanta office and had officers checking ID badges as employees and contractors entered our property....but that has since been discontinued, said Weather Channel Spokesperson Shirley Powell to FTVLive.
Powell added, "We took those measures in an abundance of caution after an isolated employee incident that occurred offsite. We take all security concerns seriously and our employee's safety is our first and foremost priority."
TWC did not mention which employee was involved incident or what said employee did that caused the step up in security.
Do you think it's right that a Tv News Reporter does ads for companies on her social media accounts?
Would you plug Coke on your Twitter account to earn a few extra bucks?
What if you could double your salary by doing it?
WWAY (Wilmington) Reporter Sara Hopkins makes as much doing ads on social media as she does reporting the news for her station. She did a Vine for old Navy and they paid her $2000 bucks. Coke coughed up some cash for her to pimp the pop. Check out this Vine she did for Coke below:
But isn't this crossing over the ethics line?
Her News Director says he's cool with it. “[Sara] was active on social media before we hired her,” Pickey told Newslab. “She has a huge following that has nothing to do with her job.”
FTVLive gets emails from time to time asking us if we want to promote a product for extra cash on our social media accounts? We have yet to take any offers. But, now it seems that has TV talent grows social media followers, more and more might be given the chance to pimp a product and make some cash.
Is this a good idea or is it showing once again how Journalism is slowing going down the toilet?
Just asking....
Talk about getting the shot....
WVVA (Beckley, WV) Reporter Annie Moore was out covering the scene of a homicide.
hile Moore was shooting video, someone took drove by and fired a shot at her.
Moore says she felt the bullet "whiz by" her head and immediately took cover in the news vehicle. We should point out to Moore that unless your news car is armor plated, bullets can still get to you.
Cops are now using the video that Moore shot to find those involved. Officers and witnesses near the scene say it was definitely a gun shot.
The vehicle appears to be an older model Ford pickup truck with a silver tool box in the back.
An old pickup truck in West Virginia, that narrows the suspect list down to about 800,000.
Let's go to the video:
A Motown Reporter was shot at after knocking on the door of a home invasion victim.
Last week an 88-year old man answered a knock at his door. The person knocking was a woman who encouraged the 88-year-old to open the door. As he did, two men rushed inside his home.
The two men pushed in, shoved the man to the ground, put a handgun to the man's head and tied him up with a phone cord. A blanket was put over his face.
Yesterday, WXYZ (Detroit) Reporter Jonathan Carlson thought it would be OK to knock on this man's door again. Really?!
The 88 year old man was obviously a little traumatized from what happened the last time a stranger knocked.
So this time the old man answered the door with a gunshot.
WXYZ says the man came out on the porch, looked at Carlson and fired a shot, while the photographer was still on the porch trying to escape.
After the shot was fired, from about 10 feet away, the crew ran for cover behind the news van, then noticing the man went back inside, they ran behind a farther away tree, and called 911.
Cops lead the poor man away in handcuffs.
It is unclear if the man will face any charges.
Let's hope the poor old guy is not brought up on any charges.
As for the news crew that knocked on this old guy's door? Will let Judge Judy show you how we feel:
The battle over comp time in TV news is as old as TV news itself. News Managers expect you to work 80 hours a week to gain 5 minutes of comp time. The employee usually sees that as a little different.
A spat over comp time at one Miami station has gone public.
WFOR Reporter Gary Nelson called out News Director Liz Roldan in an email that went out to the entire newsroom.
Nelson claimed he had been denied requests for time off based on comp time for several 15-hour work days. Nelson was told his comp time expired before he was able to enjoy it.
Gossip Extra writes that Nelson emailed Roldan Friday to ask her to spell out comp time policy at the CBS-owned and operated station. He noted that never in his two decades at CBS did comp time expire before employees could use it.
“I have no problem working company holidays, etc.,” Nelson wrote, “but expect to be compensated without any time limit applied to using the comp time that that was earned, given that time off requests are known to be frequently denied.”
The back and forth between the two continued:
– Roldan: I’m speaking at the Florida Newspaper Editors conference
– Nelson: I’m covering a murder trial
– Roldan: Let’s talk when we’re both in the office
– Nelson: Sure, but “I would expect comp time to roll over, as it always has in my career with the company or, in the alternative, be compensated financially for unused comp time. I appreciate your attention to this, and please know that my inquiry comes with great respect and deference to your position.”
Said one newsroom insider: “It’s pretty surprising someone is calling out management so publicly. Everyone here is scared for his job! These emails are all we’ve been talking about.”
Nelson released a statement after the two met:
“Regarding the matter of the comp time issue: I met with my News Director, Liz Roldan, this morning and we had a very productive, mutually respectful conversation and I came away with all my concerns addressed to my satisfaction.”
Sources tell FTVLive that Scripps is sending KNXV (Phoenix) Assistant News Director Dan Wilson to WPTV in West Palm as ‘interim’ News Director.
As FTVLive told you, WPTV's ND Mike Garber left the station to become the new ND at KTVT in Dallas.
Word is Wilson is at the top of the list to replace Garber on a full time basis.
Stay tuned....
If you work in TV news, it is likely that you have seen a snake or two in the sales office.
But, at WAAY (Huntsville) there was a different kind of snake. A real live rattlesnake was spotted in the corner of the sales department.
A station photographer got some very close up shots, before the snake took off through a hole in the wall.
No one seemed very afraid or concerned of the rattlesnake. Then again it was a snake in the sales office. So, it was somewhat expected.
Let's go to the video:
H/T Kevin Eck @ TVSpy
A new show hit the air on the Scripps stations in Denver and Kanas City. The show is called 'The Now' and it is being billed as combination of news, lifestyle information and entertainment stories with a focus on topics that are trending on social media networks.
Judging by the first show, it needs work.
The Now was broadcast on KMGH Denver and KSHB Kansas City, Mo. with plans to roll out the show to six more Scripps stations over the next couple of months.
TV has still not figured out how to put news and social media together and The Now is not either.
Basically, Scrips is hoping if they throw up a few viral videos and mention Twitter a bunch of times, they will have a young and hip show on their hands.
Social media doesn't work like that and it is scary how few TV news people have no clue how social media works at all.
In the first show, The Now talked about how 'Instant Coffee Sales Skyrocket Overseas'....excuse my french, but who the fuck cares about that?
Someday someone is going to figure out how to make a news program and social media work together.
Judging by The Now's first show....Scripps hasn't done that yet.
Stay tuned, we have a feeling that The Now will be The Cancelled before too long if Scripps doesn't retool the show.
Stay tuned....
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