Pam Oliver: I Was Humiliated at Being Replaced by Erin Andrews

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You can say what you want about Fox NFL Sideline Reporter Pam Oliver, but you can't say she isn't honest.  

In an essay for Essence magazine, Oliver describes her humiliation and shock at being replaced by Erin Andrews.

The 53-year-old Oliver keeps it classy in her first-person piece, praising Fox officials for giving her the news in person and expressing appreciation that she’ll still work the sidelines this fall, albeit with the network’s B-team. Still, the longtime sideline reporter during the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman broadcasts admits that the demotion hurt.

Oliver quickly dismisses any racial component to the move, but isn’t as definitive when asked about age. “Maybe,” she writes.

The business is very demographic-oriented. As one executive said to me, Fox Sports will look radically different in the coming years. I assume that means they want to look younger. It’s not difficult to notice that the new on-air people there are all young, blond and “hot.”

If you added "cheap" to the mix, you could be describing Today's TV News as well. 

Just saying....

H/T USA Today

WeatherNation Files Petition to Block Comcast/TW Merger

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There are a number of people that feel that merging Comcast's crappy cable service with Time Warner's crappy cable service is a really bad idea.

You can add WeatherNation to that list.

WN feels that a Time Warner-Comcast merger would compromise the weather information competition. WeatherNation made the point in a petition to block the merger of the two cable giants. 

The Washington Post writes that the petition, which was filed August 25, is both WeatherNation’s scathing review of The Weather Channel’s efforts to stifle competition and its lens into the harm such a merger would cause, particularly with respect to its interests both in TV and online.

The Weather Channel is owned in part by NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast.

The petition states that with a potential audience of 99.9 million cable subscribers, The Weather Channel is WeatherNation’s chief competition in the TV and online space, in addition to being the industry leader in supplying data and video feeds, often to its own competition.

The petition argues that these weather wars would likely continue due to loopholes in regulations of cable TV and internet, and could lead to the demise of WeatherNation altogether, should the FCC approve the merging of Time Warner and Comcast, which would increase Comcast’s TV subscribers by nearly a third.

Despite FCC rules intended to prevent cable operators from favoring their own channels, WeatherNation president Michael Norton says companies like Comcast have always been able to make it appear as if they are treating programmers fairly.

The merger potentially imperils the quality and diversity of available weather information, Norton says. “The more competition, the better.  Allow one company to control all weather information, however, and you won’t have that competition. You won’t have the best possible dissemination of critical weather data.”

“People’s safety is at stake,” he says.

Ah yes...the old "people's safety" card....now we have seen both The Weather Channel and WeatherNation play this card. 

Stay tuned.... 

Hey! Isn't That The Anchor from Channel 8?

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If you're like me, you can't wait to get your hands on your issue of Maine Magazine each month.

While thumbing through this month's issue, it appears we came across an ethical dilemma involving a WMTW, the Hearst station in Portland.

Splashed in a full page ad for local hotel/inn appears to be WMTW morning Anchor Erin Ovalle. It's not a good idea to have your Anchor pimping a local business, while at the same time reporting the news.

The question is, did she do this on her own? Or, did the station put her up to it? Either way, the ethics line has been crossed and someone needs to be talked to.

Just saying.... 

Houston Deuce Calling it Quits

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Yesterday, FTVLive told you that ABC O&O KTRK has hired their first female News Director, when the station bumped up Special Projects Executive Producer Wendy Granato is  being bumped up to the ND gig.

Now, word is that KTRK's Assistant News Director is calling it quits.

After 32 years at the station AND Don Kobos is retiring from the station.

Kobos station at the station  as a Reporter in 1982.

In 2000, after covering the George W. Bush inauguration, Kobos became Assistant News Director. 

H/T Mike McGuff

Frank Underwood Stops by The Colbert Report

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Kevin Spacey appeared on The Colbert Report as Frank Underwood from the hit Netflix show House of Cards.

Spacey....errrrr...Underwood took a shot at NBC's Meet the Press as well. Colbert said that he hoped President Obama was watching, Underwood responded that Spacey said that the real president was no doubt tuning in, because "The Colbert Report" is like “a ‘Meet the Press’ that people actually watch.”

Ouch!

Let's go to the video:

Really KRIV? You Did that?!

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You would think a Fox O&O would have a bit more sense than to air something like this.

After the Dallas Cowboys signed gay NFL player Michael Sam to the team's practice squad. KRIV ran a crawl during their newscast that read "Tony Romo, still the gayest player on the Cowgirls."

The station's News Director Bob Morford has not commented on the incident, but we're guessing that someone at least is getting time off without pay. Morford should be included in that, but likely will not be.

Here's the video that a viewer uploaded to Instagram: 

CNBC Summer of Sinking Ratings

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The Summer of 2014 has not been a good one for CNBC.

Last month, NBC's money channel saw ratings off by as much as 30% in the demo over August of 2013 according to Nielsen.

How bad has it gotten for CNBC's Business Day?

August was their lowest rated month in the demos since 1992. 

The cable channel's ratings have been dropping all year, but they have really sucked this Summer.

Nielsen numbers show they were down 24% in July in the demo and 30% in August. 

In fact, CNBC has not had a single month this year where they were up in their ratings over 2013.

Ouch! It looks like someone is missing the Money Honey. 

Fox News has Another Big Month

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While it has been the summer of suck for CNBC, Fox News has been pulling in viewers during the warmer weather. 

A busy summer of news has been good to FNC. In August, Fox News was No. 3 spot among all cable networks, in primetime total viewers, behind only ESPN and USA.

FNC also continued to thump its cable news competitors in the ratings.

While FNC handily beating its news competition, it was also a good month for CNN.

CNN showed the bigger August-to-August percent gains, owing to its smaller base.

Compared to August of ’13 –  CNN jumped more than 40% in total viewers (503,000) and the demo (154,000) for total day, and 60% in primetime demo (214,000) with a 39% hike in overall crowd (629,000). FNC grew 27% in prime demo (320,000), 15% in prime total viewers (1.782 million); the network grew 17% in total day demo viewers (224,000) and 9% in total day overall audience (1.056 million).

H/T Deadline

Another California News Crew is Threaten

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Working in TV News in Northern California seems to be getting more dangerous by the day. A couple of days ago, FTVLive told you that a KRON Reporter was robbed at gunpoint and KTVU Reporter was beaten up. 

Now, NoCal sources tell FTVLive that a crew from KTXL in Sacramento was threatened yesterday morning in Stockton.

The crew was covering a murder story from over the weekend when two men approached the crew, and one of them lifted his shirt to show the crew a gun in his waistband. The punks told the news crew they needed to leave.

The crew did just that.

The Stockton Police Department is investigation. 

Kicked to the Curb in San Antonio

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Word out of San Antonio is that KABB FOX 29 has parted ways with longtime Anchor Michael Valdes.

Valdes is one of the original members of KABB's FOX News at Nine team that made its debut in March of 1995.

Hired as a reporter, Valdes was named the weekend anchor six months later. He was then promoted to weekday anchor in March of 2000.

Now he's gone and his bio has been scrubbed from the station's website.