CNN's Don Lemon 'Schooled' By Hip-Hop Star

CNN's Don "It's all about me" Lemon got a little surprise when he interviewed Talib Kweli in Ferguson. Lemon asked the rapper why he chose to go to Ferguson and participate in protests?

Kweli said the media was doing a horrible job of making sure the stories get out in the right way.

Then the interview went south and the two started arguing about who greeted whom:

KWELI: Let me explain something. I would listen to you if you had the decency—let me finish—if you had the decency to greet me.

LEMON: I do have the decency. I invited you to come on CNN.

KWELI: Let me tell you what happened. You didn't invite me. Nicole invited me, first of all. You came up—you didn't even say nothing to me. You were on your phone the whole time. You asked how to pronounce my name. You have no respect for who I am.

All of this on Network TV. I'm sure Walter Cronkite is spinning.

H/T Gawker

Don Lemon as John McLaughlin?

Speaking of Don Lemon....

It's no secret the CNN anchor thinks very highly of himself. But who anointed him "Twitter King"?

Plus, will someone please tell him that the only person that gets to refer to himself in the third person - is John McLaughlin?

So instead of worrying about who's the "King of Twitter" and writing about yourself in tweets, Don; maybe you should study the difference between automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

I promise this is 'shake your head' material. Click HERE.

Bill O'Reilly Cancels Vacation - Beats CNN & MSNBC On Ferguson

Bill O'Reilly was on vacation when the situation broke in Ferguson. The FOX celebrity cut his trip short to return to the air and proceeded to beat CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Chris Hayes.

O'Reilly had 3.3 million viewers to Cooper's 946,000 and Hayes' 637,000.

Fox News Channel grew in primetime while CNN and MSNBC both lost significant audience. In fact, CNN's primetime dropped 23 percent. Maybe it's because Don Lemon stopped wearing his gas mask.

H/T The Wrap

Radio Guy Tries To Understand TV

I'm not sure why St. Louis CBS Radio talent Michael Calhoun decided to poke at his fellow colleagues in TV? But he did and he did it on Twitter.

Sounds like Mikey couldn't find a parking spot.

My advice? Stick to radio.

Are Erie (PA) Stations For Sale?

FTVLive is hearing rumors there were suits walking the halls of WICU/WSEE in Erie.  There's no confirmation, but a source says those suits belong to the fine folks at E. W. Scripps.

WICU & WSEE are owned by Lilly Broadcasting who are also selling their stations in Toledo and Flint.

It could make sense given Scripps owns stations in Buffalo, Cleveland & Detroit.

Then again, it could have just been reps from the copy machine company.

Former TV Newsies Back with Music Video

Former Raleigh Anchor Penn Holderness and his former Reporter wife Kim Dean Holderness are back with another one of their very well made videos. 

Penn left his Anchor job at WNCN late last year to join Kim in the couple's production company. 

TVLive first should you the family when they made a awesome Christmas video last year. This time they are going back to school:

Journalist Is Appalled By Industry Behavior In Ferguson

You've probably never heard of Ryan Schuessler, but he's now a 'big deal' in my book.

Ryan was in Ferguson as a contributor for Al Jazeera. He said what he saw being done, even by network correspondents, made him decide to leave. Some examples:

     - Journalists making the story about them (Could Don Lemon be the poster boy?)

     -  National correspondents glossing over the context and depth of this story, focusing instead on the sexy images of tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. (God forbid the story center on context)

     -  One reporter said he came to Ferguson as a 'networking opportunity." He later asked Ryan to take a picture of him with Anderson Cooper. (I would have chosen Sloan Sabbith)

Schuessler is a graduate of the University of Missouri. He said, "We should all be ashamed and I cannot do it anymore."

BRAVO, Ryan. Many of the national 'correspondents' can't do a story, unless it's about them - especially on the cable networks. I'll talk to the Boss and see if he has room for another intern here at FTVLive. In the meantime, hopefully someone will check out your background and see if you'd like to work for them given you have the gravitas to say what news executives should be enforcing. Ryan Schuessler

H/T Daily Caller

Ex CIA Spy Turned Producer Hits KNBC With A Lawsuit

A former CIA spy and Emmy & Peabody winning producer filed a wrongful termination complaint against KNBC a day before an age-discrimination complaint is set to be heard.

Frank Snepp, who worked at the LA station for almost a decade, says Comcast started getting rid of older employees after acquiring NBCUniversal.

“Those targeted for elimination, invariably older employees, soon found themselves ‘marginalized,’ cut off from the station’s mainstream work or inhibited or harassed in doing it, then criticized in employee evaluations for allegedly not doing it, then finally terminated on some vague, trumped-up performance-related complaint,” the filing adds. To the Plaintiff and many of his colleagues at KNBC-TV the message was clear: Age was not welcome at the new NBC4.”

I don't know if the suits at NBC have done a Google search, but Snepp used to be a CIA operations analyst. He certainly isn't afraid of a fight. In fact he took on the US government over a Free Speech battle. Click here for that story.

Welcome to life in television, Mr. Bond.

H/T Deadline

Sinclair Starts Original Programing Division

Sinclair Broadcasting is not only buying up stations, but now the company is going to get into the programing business as well.

Sinclair says they have launched a new division called Sinclair Original Programming. They company says the division will develop and create original content.

Sinclair said, will focus on entertainment content and business-to-consumer content such as infomercials (because, God knows we need more of those).

Going Back in Buffalo

Now that Granite is out as the owner of WKBW in Buffalo and Scripps is taking over, former staffers are returning to the station.

Last week, FTVLive told you that former WKBW Weather Anchor Andy Parker was returning to the station, now another one has decided to as well. 

Laura Gray is coming back to the Anchor the morning and Noon newscast. She worked at the station for 5 years, but left in 2011 for a PR job and to get the hell away from Granite.

FTVLive told you earlier this month that the station had blown out the morning anchors Cole Heath and Tiffany Lundberg after only a year. 

Now, Gray returns to TV news and the station that is trying to turn itself around after being decimated by Granite Broadcasting. 

"We saw someone with Laura who has a good news presence, is local and is committed to the market," GM Mike Nurse said.

Man Sentenced for Killing KC Reporter's Mom

The man that was running from police and ended up smashing his car into a Kansas City Reporter's mom's car  and killing her was sentenced by a judge to over 22 years in prison.

KCTV Reporter Sandra Olivas was in the courtroom, not as a reporter, but as a victim. She told the court not how she lost just her mother, but also her best friend. 

Her 62-year-old mother, Graciela Olivas, was killed in February when a driver fleeing from Kansas City, Kan., police sped through a red light and plowed into the side of Graciela Olivas’ car.

“It was not the way my mom’s beautiful story was supposed to end,” Sandra Olivas testified before the other driver was sentenced. “She was happy and healthy one day and gone the next.”

Police attempted to pull over Stewart, 29, on Feb. 17 because he was wanted on a warrant for missing his sentencing in a drug case. He sped away, but only made it a few blocks before the collision.

He rammed the first new car that Graciela Olivas had ever owned, her daughter said. It was a Mother’s Day gift from two of her four children.

Following terms of a plea agreement approved by the Olivas family, a judge sentenced Christopher Bradley Stewart to 22 years and five months in prison.

H/T KC Star 

Sources: Tampa GM is Out at Scripps Station

Sources tell FTVLive that WFTS GM Richard Pegram is out the door the Tampa station.

Pergam has been at WFTS since 2008 after spending 13 years as president and general manager of WTHR in Indianapolis. 

Pergam replaced Bill Carey who left the station shortly after being arrested after a traffic incident. 

Our source says that WPTV GM Steve Wasserman will commute between Tampa and West Palm Beach until a new GM is found.

Both stations are owned by Scripps. 

Signing Off in Denver

After a half century in the business, KMGH anchor Mike Landess will sign off a week from Today during the Denver station's 10PM newscast. 

The station plans to air nightly tributes all next week.

In a statement released by the station, News Director Jeff Harris said, “7NEWS will miss the warm and wonderful presence Mike has provided each and every night. I am grateful for his service to our newsroom. We are all indebted to him, his professionalism, and his credibility.”

And we will replace him with a much cheaper anchor, Harris did not say but was surly thinking. 

H/T Denver Post

Al Roker - Joe Biden 'Love Fest'

It was Al Roker's 60th birthday yesterday, and Vice President Joe Biden was one of the surprises.

It's interesting to see just how 'giddy' Al gets that Biden is in the studio. But in usual Biden form, as he keeps talking, the stuff gets crazier. Before it was all over, Biden offered Al the position of heading up NOAA.

I wonder how much that pays?

Here's the video:

CNN Exec to The Weather Channel

Nora Zimmett is leaving CNN to join The Weather Channel. Her new title is "Senior Vice President of LIVE Programming at The Weather Channel".  (Will that fit on a business card?)

At CNN, Zimmett was responsible for the weekend edition of "New Day" and "Smerconish". Both shows aren't very good, so it's interesting NBC thinks she'll be able to pull TWC out of the cellar.

Ready for the obligatory accolades? “Nora’s vast experience covering important issues makes her the ideal leader for a team with an editorial mission focused on safety and preparedness as well as science,” Weather Channel president David Clark said.

I'm not sure how "Fat Guys In The Woods" and "Momerology" are going to keep me safe?

Here's the rest of the story.

First Brother-Sister Act at ESPN?

Former quarterback Greg McElroy is the face of the SEC. His sister, Blair is looking to become a sports anchor. So of course, she gets an internship at ESPN.

Could Blair be the new Erin Andrews? She's certainly hot enough.

Check out the predictions from Busted Coverage.