CNN Guts Christiane Amanpour's Staff

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The proposed layoffs at CNN have started and they are sweeping through the network like a California wildfire. 

FTVLive told you that CNN had wiped out their entertainment news division, now word comes that the used to do cable news network has cut Christiane Amanpour's entire staff in New York as part of the restructuring. 

Mashable says that Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent and Anchor of a nightly foreign affairs program, will continue to produce international news segments and a daily show out of London, where more of her staff is located.

Of course CNN spokesperson Allison Gollust declined to provide specifics on how many jobs were affected.

Which begs the question, why do you need a spokesperson, if they are not going to talk?

Sounds like that is one of the jobs that should be cut.

Just saying.... 

Meanwhile Over at HLN...

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While CNN is looking to sack hundreds of people, the same thing is going down at sister station HLN. 

HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell is kicked to the curb in the cuts, giving her the honor of  the first major talent casualty.

HLN has pulled the plug on Mitchell's show and the entire staff that worked on te show has been axed.

More cuts are expected (please be Nancy Grace, PLEASE!)

Ax Starts Swinging at CNN

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FTVLive told you 4 days ago that the budget ax had started swinging at Turner owned properties.

Well, Today CNN started whacking employees as the first of what is expected to be 300 employees are getting pink slipped. 

The Wrap writes that cuts were going down at CNN's Los Angeles and New York bureaus on Tuesday, cutting the entire entertainment unit in the process.

The unit — which covers red carpet events and awards shows on both coasts — is now being disbanded. 

So far, a senior entertainment producer and an entertainment producer in L.A. were let go. The producer who runs CNN Entertainment in New York City is also out. The entertainment unit previously underwent massive cuts in November 2013.

CNN is not commenting on the cuts, but sources tell FTVLive that there will be more cuts everyday this week.

Stay tuned.... 

NBC News Beat ABC News after all

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Remember when Nielsen reported that ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir beat NBC Nightly News? It was a big deal that the new kid on the block, knocked off the old dog.

Well, forget about that.

Monopoly Nielsen now says that after looked at the data again, BriWi came out on top.

Nielsen, who's only job is to tell TV stations and networks how many viewers watched their channel, screwed up and has been giving ABC more viewers than they deserve for their shows, including World News Tonight. 

After the monopoly revised the data, NBC Nightly won in total viewers and ABC's World News Tonight won in the demo, which is exactly how it has been going for weeks. 

So, BriWi's  265 consecutive weeks of winning the total viewers streak still lives. 

As for Nielsen, let's hope that they are giving all the networks a big break on their astronomical bill as a way of saying they are sorry for screwing up.

Yeah...like that will happen. 

Out The Door in Buffalo

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WKBW Anchor-Reporter John Borsa, who has been at the ABC affiliate for more than 11 years, is no longer with the E.W. Scripps station.

Borsa’s name and picture were removed from the station’s website Monday and General Manager Mike Nurse confirmed his departure.

Nurse declined further comment but it is believed Borsa’s contract was about to expire and the station declined to renew it.

The Buffalo News reports that WKBW is expected to announce shortly a change in its weekend plans with newcomers Ed Drantch and Katie Morse anchoring on Sundays. Eaglin will remain the Saturday anchor.

Drantch moved to WKBW from WIVB, where he did very little anchoring. Morse was hired away Time Warner Cable News, where she was one of the station’s primary anchors.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman Issues Statement After Breaking Quarantine

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FTVLive told you yesterday that NBC Medical Correspondent Dr. Nancy Synderman was ordered into mandatory quarantine, after she was spotted out at a local restaurant. 

Last night,  Snyderman issued a statement about the violation that was read by Brian Williams on NBC's Nightly News:

While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal. 

As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused. We are thrilled that Ashoka is getting better and our thoughts continue to be with the thousands affected by Ebola whose stories we all went to cover.

We love how Synderman says, "members of our group violated" the self quarantine.

How about owning up to YOUR screw up, Dr. Nancy?

Just a thought. 

 

Is Local News Adding to the Fear?

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Ebola has been in the U.S. for just a brief time and you are already seeing people walking around with face masks on.

The fear level seems to be growing by the day. 

Many are blaming the media for the fear mongering and they could be right.

Yesterday, WJAX, the Cox station in Jacksonville sent out this tweet:

There was no confirmed case, a patient was just being tested.  It is a scene which is being played out at hospitals across the country.

So the question....is this tweet really news, or just another media scare tactic?  Should the station have withheld the information until the ebola was confirmed and if it was not confirmed, is it a news story at all? 

It is a gray area for sure, FTVLive is not saying that WJAX was right or wrong in their reporting of the story. 

We asked WJAX News Director Bob Longo why his station went with the story? 

"We never go into any story trying to instill fear or confusion or create hype. In particular, with the Ebola story – there is a heightened awareness on our part for the need to be a calm, accurate voice. When we learned a local patient was being tested, we confirmed it and what it meant – that while the hospital believed the risk to the patient who self-reported was extremely low, personnel there were  following CDC protocol and were indeed testing for Ebola," Longo told FTVLive. 

"The story was and is an important one that I believe needed to be reported. There are simply too many unknowns and potential threats in the larger, global story for us not to. To ignore or play down what occurred here today would be the real disservice," Longo added. 

If your station found out a person was being tested for ebola, would you report it, thinking the public should know? Or would you wait and see what the results were?

Email FTVLive with your thoughts and we may use your email in a follow-up on the story. 

Wake Up Comcast!

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Speaking of WJAX in Jacksonville....

It has been weeks since Cox changed the call letters of WTEV to WJAX and sister station WAWS to WFOX, yet Comcast appears to have no clue of the change.

My Comcast cable guide still shows both stations old call letters, even weeks after the change.

Of course, this is the company that wants to buy up Time Warner Cable as well. This is just some of the great service you TWC people can expect when Comcast takes over.

Just saying....

DC Station to Hold Terror Town Hall Meeting

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Sinclair owned WJLA and their cable station NewsChannel 8 will produce a live town hall meeting on Thursday, October 16th to address the new terror threats in the world today. The town all is expected to air on other Sinclair stations around the country.

Sinclair says that televised town hall will include an expert panel and live audience for an "all-sides", interactive discussion of the current terror threat, U.S. military action, DC politics, Homeland security, Middle East tensions and ISIL.

Many expect the Town Hall will be another tool used by Sinclair to push their right wing agenda.

Stay tuned....  

Why is Microsoft Mad at NFL Broadcasters?

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Tech giant Microsoft shelled out more than $400 million bucks to the NFL to get the league to make the Microsoft Surface the official tablet of the NFL. 

Problem is, the TV Announcers are calling the device an iPad on the air. Now, Microsoft will coach these announcers to better identify their device.

“It’s true, we have coached up a select few,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider. “That coaching will continue to ensure our partners are well equipped to discuss Surface when the camera pans to players using the device during game.”

“Microsoft is encouraging teams to use the Surface tablets and working directly with teams to make sure all players and coaches are comfortable using the device,” the Microsoft spokesperson added.

Made they can call the Announcers on their iPhones. 

Just saying.... 

$650,000! Are you Kidding Me?!

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TV Guide is out with a list of the highest paid TV stars and it should come as no surprise that actors sit at the top of the list. 

TV Guide says that new ABC Anchor David Muir is making $5 million a year. Which is interesting, because Scott Pelley at CBS has a lot less viewers and makes $2 million more than Muir does.

Then again, Robin Roberts has more viewers than Matt Lauer and makes $8 million less than Lauer's $22 million.

But, most surprising is that MSNBC is paying Ronan Farrow $650,000 bucks to put on his low rated show. 

In other words, Farrow is pulling in about 225,000 total viewers and is getting $650,000 bucks.

Doesn't seem like a very good return on MSNBC's investment, now does it?

But, when you think that NBC was paying Chelsea Clinton the same $650,000 for about 4 stories a year, that Farrow kid seems like a steal. 

Just saying.... 

You Can Blame the Doctor

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Earlier, FTVLive told you that the NBC News crew that traveled to Africa to cover the ebola story has been ordered under mandatory quarantine.

This was because the New Jersey Health Department says that the crew did not voluntarily quarantine themselves.

And now we know who was to blame?

Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman!

A local paper reported that Snyderman violated a voluntary quarantine placed on her and her crew after one member contracted Ebola while working in Liberia.

Snyderman, NBC's chief medical editor, was spotted sitting in her car outside of The Peasant Grill in Hopewell, N.J., Thursday afternoon, Planet Princeton reported. A man with her picked up the take-out order.

Snyderman is a regular at The Peasant Grill, which is known for its soup.

New Jersey officials made the quarantine mandatory late Friday after news broke that Snyderman, wearing sun glasses and with pulled-back hair, was spotted out and about.

No more soup for you! 

H/T NY Daily News