And Just How is this Guy still Employed by MSNBC?

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MSNBC continues to let Al Sharpton host a show on the network, despite the fact that the guy not only crosses the ethical line, he has set up a mansion on the other side of it.

But, while Reverend Al dresses in his fine suits and travels first class to anywhere there is a camera, he still his millions in debt to Uncle Sam.

The NY Times took a look at Sharpton's finances and it is not pretty. 

The Times writes that Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses. And though he said in recent interviews that he was paying both down, his balance with the state, at least, has actually grown in recent years. His National Action Network appears to have been sustained for years by not paying federal payroll taxes on its employees.

With the tax liability outstanding, Mr. Sharpton traveled first class and collected a sizable salary, the kind of practice by nonprofit groups that the United States Treasury's inspector general for tax administration recently characterized as "abusive," or "potentially criminal" if the failure to turn over or collect taxes is willful.

How this guy is still employed by MSNBC is beyond us.

Also, you can bet your bottom dollar, or just barrow one like Al does that if there is any unrest and or cameras in Ferguson, Rev. Al will be there.

And you know he will travel first class to get there as well. 

Ouch! That's Going to be Costly

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The suits at CBS O&O KYW (Philly) might want to get their checkbook out. 

Back in late September Ancho Chris May reported that a school police supervisor at a city charter school was fired over allegations that he sexually abused a boy.

"Howard Rubin is the suspect," May intoned, as Rubin's picture flashed on the screen. "He is accused in the sexual abuse of an underage male student."

Just one problem, Rubin not only was not fired, but he also has not been accused of, nor arrested for, sexually abusing anyone.

Oops!

"It appears to me that this was a really big mistake on their part and there will be really big consequences," said lawyer Derek Steenson, who filed the lawsuit on Rubin's behalf in Common Pleas Court.

The suit seeking more than the standard $50,000 in damages accuses the station, KYW, of defamation, malice and invasion of privacy.

Since the story aired, Steenson said, someone has thrown a rock at Rubin's car, while a number of people from his Northeast neighborhood have asked him about the news report - and not in a nice way.

"They have a duty to check their facts," Steenson said of the station.

Rubin had been employed at the Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia, where his contract was not renewed for the 2014-15 school year. In a letter sent to parents a day after the news report, principal James Higgins slammed the report and said Rubin's departure had nothing to do with misconduct.

"Unfortunately, at least one news agency failed to even contact the school or the police before irresponsibly broadcasting this false story, which we have learned was reported to the news agency by an adversary of Howard Rubin's," Higgins wrote in a letter to parents. 

The station did air a correction and apology the next day on its 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, and sent a letter to Higgins.

The station still has not apologized to Rubin, Steenson said.

H/T Philly Daily News

San Antonio Anchor Talks About Placing Her Child for Adoption

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WOAI in San Antonio Evy Ramos said that the hardest thing she ever had to do was place her child for adoption

Ramos got pregnant as a teenager and had the choice to make, an abortion, keep the child, or go the adoption route.

She talked about the difficult decision of giving up a child:

November is National Adoption Month. I try my best to share my story about the beauty of adoption. Placing my child for adoption was the hardest thing I have ever done. But there is no doubt in my mind it was the best decision for him.

That's Not Good

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When CNN hired former Ford Car Commercial Actor Mike Rowe, Jeff Zucker had hoped he was getting a top of the line model.

It appears Zucker might have drove off the lot in a 73 Pinto.

Rowe's CNN reality show "Somebody's Gotta Do It" has fallen 60 percent in the ratings since it's debut. 

CNN was giddy when Rowe's first show pulled almost 350,00 viewers in the demo. But, the smiles quickly left their faces with Rowe's latest demo numbers of less that 150,000.

Most often when a show craters that fast in the ratings, it is quickly pulled from the schedule and  never to be seen again. But, this is Jeff Zucker we are talking about.....so he renewed the failing show for another year. 

SMH

That Didn't Last Long! Boss is Out at the Today Show

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Yesterday, while FTVLive was out of pocket we received a number of tips about a huge blow up between NBC News President Deborah Turness and newly hired Today Show General Manager Jamie Horowitz. 

How bad was it?

Horowitz is out at NBC after just a few months.

When NBC hired Horowitz from ESPN, Turness had this to say about his hiring, “Jamie has the skills, the talent and the experience to lead the Today brand into the future.” 

His future lasted 10 weeks before yesterday's blow up. 

Here is the internal memo that Turness sent out to the staff and was obtained by FTVLive: 

From: "Deborah Turness (NBCUniversal)" <TurnessCommunications@nbcuni.com>
Date: November 17, 2014 at 6:36:35 PM EST
To: "@NBC Uni NBC News All" <NBCNewsAll@mail.tfayd.com>
Subject: Announcement

Dear All:

 I want to let you know that, effective today, Jamie Horowitz will be leaving NBC News.

 Jamie joined us in September as General Manager of the TODAY brand. He's a talented producer and executive, but, together, he and I have come to the conclusion that this is not the right fit.

 Because of the hard work of so many of you, and an anchor team that is hitting on all cylinders, the show has great momentum and is closing the ratings gap. The exclusives keep coming and there is a great energy both on- and off-air, and in digital and social. My focus - as always - is to support this special brand and its amazing and dedicated staff, and to position it for continued success.

 The role of General Manager remains an important one, and will be filled in due course. In the interim, I will work closely with both Don Nash and Jen Brown to oversee TODAY.

 Please join me in thanking Jamie and wishing him the best.

 Deborah

Boy Band Member Pissed at Matt Lauer

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Now Matt Lauer has gone and pissed off the boy band One Direction. 

On the Today Show, Lauer  questioned bandmates over Zayn Malik's rumored abuse problems after the singer was absent from the Today Show appearance.

Malik responded with an angry denial, claiming he was ill.

Malik said Lauer's substance abuse questions were misdirected and wrong.

Hours after Lauer grilled Malik's One Direction bandmates over the missing singer at the boy band's latest album release Monday, Malik fired back.

"I'm really angry and upset by what was said," Malik said. "I was really ill at the weekend, that's why I couldn't fly to America."

When the band told Lauer on "Today" that the 21-year-old singer was missing from the Orlando gig because of a "tummy bug," Lauer dug into the Internet rumors that suggest Malik is struggling with drugs or alcohol abuse.

"Is it something more serious than just a minor illness?" Lauer asked.

You know, because Today asks the tough questions.

H/T NY Daily News

Tamron Hall Tops the list at GetGoodHead.com

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The website GetGoodHead.com (don't ask me how I ended up at that site) is out with another list of Anchor's with great hair.

The site says that, for too long African-American women have gone to extreme lengths to change the natural look and feel of their hair.  This year, more and more female newscasters are showcasing their natural hair on national air! And we couldn’t be happier about it. While we are all for dying, cutting, straightening, blowing, and doing whatever it is you need to do for YOU to be happy with YOUR hair – there is something to be said about a woman not only owning, but ROCKIN’ her natural curls!

The site lists the Anchors with the top hair and at the top of the list is NBC's Tamron Hall.

About Hall, GetGoodHead says on Friday, June 27th, 2014, Tamron Hall got even better. She rocked her natural hair on national television! People freaked out. And for good reason.

I mean, how cute does the up-and-coming queen of morning television look? Even Carson Daily couldn’t handle how much Twitter was blowing-up about this Natural Hair Goddess!

To see the rest of the list, click here

Reporter Puts $600 of Pot on Station's Expense Form

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The times they are a changing....

KPIX Reporter Mike Sugerman expensed a $600 pot purchase to the station for a story he was working on. 

$600 is not cheap but it's for a sweeps story...so it's ok.

Sugerman, who has a medicinal marijuana card, was concerned that the exploding industry is under-regulated, and wanted to test the potency of the medicines that can be purchased, especially the medicinal marijuana that is meant to be ingested, including candy.

“There’s no regulation because the Feds consider it illegal,” Sugerman explained. “The FDA can’t get involved.”

He purchased different kinds of items at random at 12 locations in San Francisco and Oakland.

Sugerman said in testing for the upcoming story, a laboratory found that, “…labels on packages had nothing to do with what was in them. One candy was 1 percent of what it claimed!” And other products contained other chemicals that were not supposed to be there.

Station management encouraged the consumer report, even if it raises eyebrows when the finance department reviews the newsroom expenses.

Sugerman said, “They [the bosses] actually were cool with it. It turned out to be a great story and I think one that will really resonate in the community. We’re flying blind here. And it’s medicine.”

The big question several of Sugerman’s colleagues asked was what happened to the $600 in marijuana after the testing. Sugerman confirms, “The laboratory kept everything.”

Sure Mike....whatever you say.

H/T KPIX

Making Moves Before the Holidays

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OTA is very proud to announce the following client moves:

Jimmy Church joins the second season of Hangar 1 as a commentator on H2 (History 2 Network).  Jimmy will continue to be the long-term fill-in host for Art Bell on the Dark Matter Radio Network.

Haley Hinds jumps 49 markets and joins WTVT in Tampa, FL as a weekend anchor/reporter.  Haley makes the move from weekend anchor/reporter at WINK in Ft. Myers, FL.

Steve Patterson has been promoted to anchor/host of Twin Cities Live at KSTP in Minneapolis, MN from his duties as anchor/reporter at KSTP. 

It’s a homecoming for market veteran Ron Zappolo, who joins his former station KUSA in Denver, CO as a sports commentator.  Ron was at KUSA before he spent 13 years as the primary anchor at KDVR in Denver.  Ron also signs on as host of the football show, “Pregame with Ron Zappolo” at Altitude Sports and Entertainment.  It’s a return to sports for the man who was dubbed, “The Dean of Denver Sports” after his dominating sports coverage for two decades.

Josh Marshall jumps 39 markets and joins KCTV in Kansas City, MO as a reporter.  Josh makes the move from WEYI in Flint, MI where he was a multimedia journalist.

Parker Slaybaugh has been promoted to investigative reporter at WRIC in Richmond, VA from his duties as a video journalist at the station. 

Joe Smith moves back home to New England and joins WFFF in Burlington, VT as a primary anchor.  Joe makes the move from KGW in Portland where he was a reporter.

Lindsay Housaman joins KRCR/KAEF in Redding/Eureka, California.  She will help establish the Eureka newsroom as assistant news director and primary anchor.  Lindsay makes the move from news director and primary anchor at KTBY/KYUR in Anchorage, AK.

Joe Vigil, primary anchor at KTVA in Anchorage, AK adds 10:00 p.m. managing editor duties. 

Jessica Crawford joins KFDM and KBTV in Beaumont, TX as a reporter.  Jessica starts her journalism career only one hour away from home!

 Jimmy, Haley, Steve, Ron, Josh, Parker, Joe Smith, Lindsay, Joe Vigil and Jessica are all represented by Jeff Marcu at OTA Talent.  You can reach Jeff at jeff@otatalent.com or www.otatalent.com

CBS in Retrans Pissing Match with Dish Network

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While DISH has dumped CNN, HLN and other Turner networks from their service, they are getting this/close to doing the same with CBS.

CBS started alerting viewers Friday night that Dish Network could pluck out the Eye in certain markets, in the latest dispute to hit the pay-TV biz.

“Attention, Dish customers! You could soon lose CBS,” the broadcaster’s spots said. Over all, there are 14 CBS-owned stations covered under Dish agreement, plus seven CW, two My Network TV and three independent stations. CBS has relaunched keepcbs.com for the Dish dispute, in a replay of its carriage fight with Time Warner Cable last year.

CBS’s contract with Dish is set to expire Nov. 20. In addition, Showtime and CBS Sports Network could be affected on Dish if the companies fail to reach an agreement.

In a statement, Dish said: “Only CBS can force a blackout of its channels. Dish is actively working to reach a deal before the contract expires and has successfully negotiated agreements representing hundreds of stations in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers. We are unsure why CBS decided to involve customers in the contract negotiation process at a point when there is time for the two parties to reach a mutually beneficial deal.”

The only two things you can count on here, eventually the dispute will be settled and eventually your bill will go up.

That's a fact. 

H/T Variety 

Anchor Takes on News Director Gig as Well

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Some would say that WXXV (Biloxi) Anchor Joe Sullivan has a very cozy relationship with the new News Director.

That's because Sullivan is the new News Director. 

Sullivan, who has been the 5:30 p.m. anchor for WXXV-TV since September 2013, recently was named news director and is continuing his anchor role. He came to the Coast from Jackson, Tenn., where he was the weekday morning news anchor at WBBJ-TV, an ABC and CBS affiliate.

"I had a choice when I was in Jackson, Tenn.," he said. "I could be a reporter in Greensboro, N.C., or take the offer here to anchor and produce, so I chose here. Bobby Edwards talked about the potential for this area and the need for a choice. The station was being started from the ground up."

I'm guessing he has no problem getting the ND to approve his vacation requests. 

H/T The Sun Herald